October 10, 2010

war machines over San Francisco


click photo for full-size image
photo by Donald Kinney

Friday was a great day to watch old planes, including the newer Blue Angels doing aerobatics.   The weather couldn't have been any more pleasant.   My favorite viewing spot here in Marin County is Point Cavallo, within spitting distance of the north anchorage of the Golden Gate Bridge.



click photo for full-size image
photo by Donald Kinney

San Francisco is the last spot on the Blue Angel's schedule.   They've spent all summer showcasing the high performance capabilities of the latest war machines.

Oh you know, stuff like high-speed passes, slow passes, fast rolls, slow rolls, loop-de-loops, and very tight turns at just below the speed of sound.   All this with their wing-tip 18 inches off their buddy's canopy.

Lucky for us they didn't shoot any missiles or drop any bombs.



click photo for full-size image
photo by Donald Kinney

Above, all six Hornets in formation, but a large part of the show features four of the planes flying together while the two "solos" making mock attacks on the four flying in diamond formation.   Don't worry -- nobody get hurts.



click photo for full-size image
photo by Donald Kinney

These jets flew around full-tilt for almost a full hour.   One has to wonder where the get the money do this, or why they feel they need to do it.   Probably an easy question to answer but I'll save it for another day.



click photo for full-size image
photo by Donald Kinney

"Hey, look over there"...



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4 comments:

John @ Beans and I on the Loose said...

Two good questions which have crossed my mind at times also. I have friends who get all excited about this event. I've never had the desire to go see it myself. Oh well... You got great close-up shots. What size lens did the job for you?

AphotoAday said...

HI SINBAD -- Yeah, I can pretty much take it or leave it, but it's pretty exciting once you get there... Beautiful weather this year... In the Army I trained on a missile system capable of shooting jets down -- it's a long story... As for my lens -- I use a Canon "L" 70-200 on the full frame Canon 5D. Wish I had a longer lens.

Anonymous said...

OMG .... great shots. I've never tried "following" moving targets. Guess I couldn't use my tripod huh? That should let you know who's writing this one. Are you smiling yet?

Loooove that opening shot of the single trail coming from the one jet .... right over SF. It looks like it's totally covering the expanse of the city. Nice work man.

Anonymous said...

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh... beautiful shots!!

We were lucky this year with the weather.

You do this year after year, and yet you still manage to make every shot unique and interesting.

Well done !!!

Tomate Farcie

 
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