There used to be an Air National Guard airbase near us. The squadron was moved about a year ago but when they were here, there was an air show at the base every year and sometimes the famous
US Air Force Thunderbirds would be there. I never got to the air show itself but, with them flying at nearly the speed of sound, it was hard to keep that kind of action in a small area. We would see them practicing or flying over us as they turned to make another pass over the grandstands at the show. So, one clear and sunny day, we saw them practicing for the upcoming show. I snapped these pictures as they flew near our office. These pictures are from August, 2007.
The top picture shows them at my camera's maximum zoom level as they made a turn over the parking lot. The next picture (to the left, also zoomed way in) shows them flying straight down toward the ground. Of course, with me cropping the pictures to fit in this space, it's hard to tell if I didn't just turn the picture 90 degrees to make it look like this. I guess you just have to trust me! I wouldn't do that. I can't imagine going that fast and seeing the ground coming up on you quickly. They weren't that far off the ground at this point. Too bad I didn't get this picture with the ground included so you could see how close it was. Believe me, I tried but they were moving so fast it was tough to just get the pictures I did.
The next picture does show how close they flew over the trees. Besides being so close together, they also had to worry about their altitude. I couldn't even do this as a passenger. I've seen various news stories where the reporters fly along with the Thunderbirds or the
Blue Angels (the Navy and Marine Corps' precision flying squadron). So, they did it while holding a camera, too. Amazing!
There were actually five planes flying that day. I don't know where the fifth guy hung out. He would come and go and I never saw just one plane flying by itself. We'd just see five planes and then we'd see four. It was like magic. The next picture shows a five plane formation in the form of a cross. In this picture, they flew right over my head but this is, again, zoomed way in so they weren't
right over my head :-) I think the noise would have deafened me.
The final picture at the bottom was a lucky break. I happened to get another picture of the cross formation as they passed over our flag. I had to zoom out to fit the Thunderbirds in with the flag but it's still obvious they are in the cross formation. The planes are in the upper left and if you click on the picture, you'll see it larger.
There used to be an Air National Guard airbase near us. The squadron was moved about a year ago but when they were here, there was an air show at the base every year and sometimes the famous US Air Force Thunderbirds would be there. I never got to the air show itself but, with them flying at nearly the speed of sound, it was hard to keep that kind of action in a small area. We would see them practicing or flying over us as they turned to make another pass over the grandstands at the show. So, one clear and sunny day, we saw them practicing for the upcoming show. I snapped these pictures as they flew near our office. These pictures are from August, 2007.
The top picture shows them at my camera's maximum zoom level as they made a turn over the parking lot. The next picture (to the left, also zoomed way in) shows them flying straight down toward the ground. Of course, with me cropping the pictures to fit in this space, it's hard to tell if I didn't just turn the picture 90 degrees to make it look like this. I guess you just have to trust me! I wouldn't do that. I can't imagine going that fast and seeing the ground coming up on you quickly. They weren't that far off the ground at this point. Too bad I didn't get this picture with the ground included so you could see how close it was. Believe me, I tried but they were moving so fast it was tough to just get the pictures I did.
There were actually five planes flying that day. I don't know where the fifth guy hung out. He would come and go and I never saw just one plane flying by itself. We'd just see five planes and then we'd see four. It was like magic. The next picture shows a five plane formation in the form of a cross. In this picture, they flew right over my head but this is, again, zoomed way in so they weren't right over my head :-) I think the noise would have deafened me.
1 comment:
That's nice shooting honey.
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