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I went to the Miramar Air Show on Friday, and I returned with pics. Unfotuneately, my camera's lens can only zoom 3X, so many of these pics are cropped so you can actually see what the hell is going on.


First up is the USN's Legacy Flight, which consisted of an F8F Bearcat, an F-86 Sabre, and an F/A-18E Super-Hornet


Next up was this custom-built Oracle biplane, which is possibly the most maneuverable fucking plane on the face of the Planet. The aircraft was flying sideways at a few points, fucking sideways. It is hard to see in this photo but a rippon was strung between those two poles and I managed to photograph the pilot while underneath one of the ribbons.


The Patriot's jet team. these dudes were pretty fucking sweet, and pulled off some pretty amazing stunts. (And my employer sponsors them)


F/A-18E Super-Hornet demonstration. The plane very nearly broke the sound barrier during the show, as evidenced by these pics.


Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey. Nice plane, if you ignore it's cost, and safety record, and carrier footprint. Still a sweet airplane.


Assorted Blue Angel porn ahead.










It was a fun show to be at. I'm kicking myself that I didn't take pics of the static display aircraft that were there. Such as a KC-130H, which rolled off the assembly line 2 weeks ago and had only been flown once, a B-1B Lancer, and a DC-10 that was outfitted to dump water.

EDIT: Added another Blue Angel pic.

I was in the area this weekend. We thought about going to the air show but ended up going to Camp Pendelton to see where my friend works. I don't think the the 2 year old and 4 year old we had with us would have like an air show that much, too noisy for them.

The Blue Angels were here in the Bay Area last weekend but I missed them too.

skyman8081 wrote:First up is the USN's Legacy Flight, which consisted of an F8F Bearcat, an F-86 Sabre, and an F/A-18E Super-Hornet

Those flights are cool, we get them every year at the Toronto air show too. This year they had the F-86 Sabre, F-15 Eagle and F-22 Raptor flying together in formation. In past years they've flown a P-51 Mustang with an F-15 or F-16, and they did an F-18 with Spitfire combo a few years back.

What are the regs with regards to the speed of aircraft at airshows? I'd love to see a plane break the sound barrier some time, but wouldn't know where to go to see it happen.

skyman8081 wrote:Next up was this custom-built Oracle biplane, which is possibly the most maneuverable fucking plane on the face of the Planet. The aircraft was flying sideways at a few points, fucking sideways. It is hard to see in this photo but a rippon was strung between those two poles and I managed to photograph the pilot while underneath one of the ribbons.

Hey! I've seen that plane too! That's Sean Tucker's Oracle Challenger plane, he flew this year at the Toronto air show and put on an amazing demo. He flew it sideways, upside down, backwards, looped & spun in ten directions at once, it's a miracle that the plane can stay in the air through all that.

Ubiquitous wrote:What are the regs with regards to the speed of aircraft at airshows? I'd love to see a plane break the sound barrier some time, but wouldn't know where to go to see it happen.

I don't think planes are allowed to break the sound barrier at air shows, at least not anywhere close to the ground where you can see it, however it happens accidentally (or maybe not so accidentally) from time to time.

Ahhh... the Grumman Bearcat - the last, greatest piston engined fighter. Now if WWII had just lasted another year, people would be wanking to the Bearcat instead of the Mustang.

Ubiquitous wrote:What are the regs with regards to the speed of aircraft at airshows? I'd love to see a plane break the sound barrier some time, but wouldn't know where to go to see it happen.

They did it with a F-105 once IIRC-- perhaps another plane, I don't really remember, back in the 1950s. Crowd loved it-- and shattered windows all down the streets nearby. That's why they don't do it anymore.

J wrote:

skyman8081 wrote:Next up was this custom-built Oracle biplane, which is possibly the most maneuverable fucking plane on the face of the Planet. The aircraft was flying sideways at a few points, fucking sideways. It is hard to see in this photo but a rippon was strung between those two poles and I managed to photograph the pilot while underneath one of the ribbons.

Hey! I've seen that plane too! That's Sean Tucker's Oracle Challenger plane, he flew this year at the Toronto air show and put on an amazing demo. He flew it sideways, upside down, backwards, looped & spun in ten directions at once, it's a miracle that the plane can stay in the air through all that.

Not a miracle - just applied physics.

But I won't spoil the magic trick with an explanation.

(Actually, once you start understanding what goes into a performance like that, and how it works, it gets even more amazing on a different level than just "oh... wow...!")

Ubiquitous wrote:What are the regs with regards to the speed of aircraft at airshows? I'd love to see a plane break the sound barrier some time, but wouldn't know where to go to see it happen.

I don't think planes are allowed to break the sound barrier at air shows, at least not anywhere close to the ground where you can see it, however it happens accidentally (or maybe not so accidentally) from time to time.

The FAA frowns very hard on supersonic booms over inhabited areas or groups of people. The regs say "no". It wouldn't be impossible to get a waiver, but you might need a semi to haul the paperwork.

aerius wrote:

skyman8081 wrote:First up is the USN's Legacy Flight, which consisted of an F8F Bearcat, an F-86 Sabre, and an F/A-18E Super-Hornet

Those flights are cool, we get them every year at the Toronto air show too. This year they had the F-86 Sabre, F-15 Eagle and F-22 Raptor flying together in formation. In past years they've flown a P-51 Mustang with an F-15 or F-16, and they did an F-18 with Spitfire combo a few years back.

Wha? No love for the Phantom? Cause they skipped that generation. Criminal, those things are as ubiquitous as it gets for old fighters -- they were only built like trucks.

This is a better representation of the last 3 generations of USAF air superiority, no skipping.

SPC Brungardt wrote:Wha? No love for the Phantom? Cause they skipped that generation. Criminal, those things are as ubiquitous as it gets for old fighters -- they were only built like trucks.

And the dog fought like them too. </cheap shot>