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US Navy Blue Angels at Hillsboro OR... (Read 1189 times)

Aug 25^th, 2004 at 10:53pm

Boss_BlueAngels Offline
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Aawww, my only airshow of the year. Sad

Sad

Due to work, and show on the same weekend, and runway maintenance, all others were a no go, so I only got to see Hillsboro... BUT, the weather, and actual show more than made up for it. Wink

Wink

For the first time in my life, since seeing the Blue Angels every year for the last like 6 years, August 12-15 marked the first time I have seen the Blue Angels with a SOLID BLUE SKY in the background! There has always been some really high stratus, so they can still do a high-show... but it always makes the photos turn out bad, and all back-lit. Well, this year was different! 20 rolls of film later, I have the proof. lol

Here are just a few of the shots, some of my favorites that I've scanned so far.

Only jet team in the world that does this maneuver, the Diamond Dirty Loop. Oh, and I forgot, one day there were a few high clouds, but they made the pics look GREAT! And also, as you can see... the wonderful Hillsboro showline is positioned so the sun is at your back the whhhoooollleee day. lol
http://www.aviationforum.org/forums/attachment.phps=&postid=41602

My sisters favorite maneuver, the Tuck Under Break, very beautiful to see in real life.
http://www.aviationforum.org/forums/attachment.phps=&postid=41603

In the years past my sister has come along with me, taking all the pictures, while I get it all on film... this year she was sick so I took a lot of the pics, did film, and luckily my wonderful girlfriend was there, to take over whatever I was not covering... and she took some GREAT pics!

This flash of jets was only one of about 4 actuall opposing shots my gf and I got. lol Dang that's hard! This is the Opposing Horizontal Rolls.
http://www.aviationforum.org/forums/attachment.phps=&postid=41605

My favorite BA maneuver, the Delta Loop Break
http://www.aviationforum.org/forums/attachment.phps=&postid=41609

The Blue Angels Echelon Parade
http://www.aviationforum.org/forums/attachment.phps=&postid=43487

Blue Angels Delta
http://www.aviationforum.org/forums/attachment.phps=&postid=43489

Blue Angels Delta Break, their last maneuver... all 6 jets come in over the runway about 200 feet, and do individual carrier breaks in order. Here is "Boss" pulling away first.

http://www.aviationforum.org/forums/attachment.phps=&postid=43490

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Reply #1 - Aug 25^th, 2004 at 11:18pm

Boss_BlueAngels Offline
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The previous week the Blue Angels were here in Seattle, and I noticed on TV that the Right Wingman (#2) had been having some difficulty with a few maneuvers, the 5 plane line abreast loop specifically... out of the five performances we saw, he did 2 "correctly" without falling out at the top. Here is one he actually did quite well...
http://www.aviationforum.org/forums/attachment.phps=&postid=43491

Life is better upside down:
This is the Lead Solo flying inverted for "The Fortus" which involves both solo aircraft flying wingtip-to-wingtip in the carrier landing configuration, with the Lead solo inverted, and the other right side up to create a sort of mirror image. This is taken on the extended runway centerline looking at #5 just as he flips inverted.
http://www.aviationforum.org/forums/attachment.phps=&postid=43493

After the two solos cross show center, the Opposing Solo (#6) slides back into his usual position to let the Lead Solo flip back up. This also creates a unique angle, as you can see.
http://www.aviationforum.org/forums/attachment.phps=&postid=43495

The first of the seperation maneuvers, the Diamond Vertical Break! The 4 diamond aircraft pass from behind the crowd stacked down and aft in this formation, then right at center they begin a 60 degree climb, the Slot Pilot (#4) calls, "Go Diamond!" and the 3 wingmen shift smoothly into the diamond formation, and as "Boss" continues to pitch the formation through the vertical calls "Ready Break!" and all 4 aircraft seperate in different directions. Interesting thing... the Slot Pilot does not do a 180 degree roll to seperate, but simply pushes on the stick to about -2 g's.
http://www.aviationforum.org/forums/attachment.phps=&postid=43496

Here you can see them seperating with the smoke on.
http://www.aviationforum.org/forums/attachment.phps=&postid=43497

Oh, how I love the F/A-18 Hornet... ckech this out... after the diamond does their formation loop on takeoff, both solo's takeoff wingtip to wingtip. The Lead Solo pulls back on the stick at 170 kts bringint the tailpipes within mere INCHES of the asphault (you can even see the mains COMPRESS as at the high speed, the airplane is already practically flying) to perform the Dirty Roll on Takeoff. In the background you can see the Opposing Solo with his mains and nose wheel extending as he is just lifting off also... just a bit more smoothly.
http://www.aviationforum.org/forums/attachment.phps=&postid=43506
Compare the lading gear positions to a parked hornet, and one in flight to the landing gear on the #6 jet.

This is what the Lead Solos impressive takeoff looks like from behind... looks like a freakin' rocket takingoff! lol
http://www.aviationforum.org/forums/attachment.phps=&postid=43508

As the Lead Solo completes his dirty roll, the Opposing Solo (#6) seen here continues to accelerate down the runway at full afterburner. Throughout the acceleration, the jet will NOT get any higher than its current position in this picture. In fact most of the times, he only gets lower. (The landing gear on the Hornet requires you to be a bit higher, as it droops a bit as it retracts) Once the wheels up the pilot will keep his aircraft within 10 feet of the runway, while accelerating to about 300 kts. Once at the end the pilot puts the stick in his lap as he pulls 6.5g's and stands the aircraft on its tail climbing almost straight up. Again, when this is done the aircraft merely rotates around the wing for a few tenth's of a second before the aircraft actually starts to climb, again bringing the tail within inches of the asphault.
http://www.aviationforum.org/forums/attachment.phps=&postid=43509

One thing to mention, the pilot of this aircraft, Lcdr. Craig Olsen, graduated from Central Washington University in 1991, with a degree in Flight Technology... I am currently enrolled in the same program at the same school! To say the least, it was quite an honor to talk with him and meet him at this show, knowing he went through some of the very same things I'm going through! Wohoo, go Central! lol

Anyway, for those of you who have never seen a Blue Angels show, I hope you enjoy and can make it to see them either this year, or next year, as I promise you will not be disapointed! I do have a lot more pictures, (Such as Fat Albert's JATO takeoffs from the 2 days performances) and will post at a later time. For those of you who have seen the Blues, I hope this brings back some good memories. For those of you who like the Thunderbirds better, I hope this proves to you why the Blues are better. Wink

Wink

j/k (Don't worry... you can bet I'm going down to Hillsboro next year to see the Thunderbirds down there and get some pics!! They're all awesome!!)

Lemme know what ya think!

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Reply #2 - Aug 25^th, 2004 at 11:59pm

Boss_BlueAngels Offline
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Well, maybe it won't be such a later date... lol here are a few more.

Here is The Blue Angels' beloved C-130 support aircraft, Fat Albert performing a Jet Assisted Take Off... or JATO. They attach 8 solid fuel rockets to the sides of the aircraft which give an additional 8,000 lbs of thrust to enable it to climb out at 45 degrees, up to 1,000 feet. You think afterburners are loud? You should hear these puppys kick in! Wow! And at night its ABSOLUTLY AMAZING! This is how the show starts.

Following that the Blue Angel Diamond takes off. At the end of the runway "Boss" calls, "Check your parking break on, check your trim set, check your nosewheel steering on, maneuver, diamond burner loop with a left turn out." All wingmen check in, "Lets rock and roll" Then he calls, "Smoke On, off breaks now, burners ready now" and the Blue Angel diamond starts rolling.

In the previous picture you can see how all the jets are just starting to rotate for takeoff.

The narrator at this time says, "As the diamond passes before you, you will notice that the smoke is not visible as engines are in afterburner" This is one of my favorite pictures

In this picture you can see the beautiful blue flame on the Left Wingmans (#3) jet as they accelerate and shift into the Diamond formation. The Slot Pilot (#4) is already starting to make his move as he slowly slides underneath the Right Wingman's (#2) jet.

Just after the Soloists takeoff, the Diamond starts things with their tightest formation in the Diamond 360. All 4 aircraft in this formation are within 18 inches of each other!! They are about 200 feet off the ground and only around 350 kts, which is one of their slower maneuvers.

Following right after this, the Solo's start their maneuvers with the Opposing Knife-Edge, as shown. They also come in at about 350 kts, and 200 feet AGL. Durring their Opposing Split-S maneuver, the soloists really get things close, crossing at only about 100 feet AGL, really tucking it in!

OK, last pic guys... again, my favorite maneuver, the Delta Loop Break from another day...

Anyway, hope you've enjoyed them!!

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Reply #3 - Aug 26^th, 2004 at 3:09am

Hagar Offline
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Very nice Boss. You obviously know your Angels & the shots are excellent. Grin

Grin

PS. Might I suggest that you use separate threads for posting stuff like this in future - BA Day 1, BA Day 2 etc. The forum image limit of 500k is per thread, not per post. Wink

Wink

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Reply #4 - Aug 26^th, 2004 at 5:39pm

SideWinder9 Offline
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WOW!!! Great pics and story.Very interesting! Shocked

Shocked

Shocked

Shocked

Sim-V member since 2003!

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Reply #5 - Oct 2^nd, 2004 at 11:09pm

Boss_BlueAngels Offline
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Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed them. I know I certainly did. lol 8)

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Reply #6 - Oct 2^nd, 2004 at 11:16pm

Silver1SWA Offline
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I saw the Angles today in Salinas California at the California International Airshow. Never get tired of seeing them. Ahhh, that deafening roar of those F-18s is music to my ears.... Grin

Grin

My absolute favorite part of their routine is their take-off demonstation. That's why I like seeing them in Salinas rather than in San Francisco for Fleet Week. In SF, yeah they perform over the water and stuff, but you miss out on that awesome take-off routine. Eh, doesn't matter, they are bypassing SF this year anyway... Sad

Sad

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Reply #7 - Oct 2^nd, 2004 at 11:51pm

Nexus Offline
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WOW, look at those jetjockeys, impressive! 8)
Needless to ask what you dream job is eh?

I actually bumped into a Blue Angels pilot when i was at Cleveland Hopkins, he even knew about Swedens display team; Team 60!

That was enough to impress me Grin

Grin

So are Blue Angles better than say Red Arrows or Patrouille de France, there must be some form of competition going on?

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Reply #8 - Oct 3^rd, 2004 at 12:45am

Silver1SWA Offline
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Here is a video I took today with my little Kodac EasyShare camera. It's not the best camera for this purpose, but it works. This is their final pass before they circled to land. I have seen the Blue Angels many times. I try to catch them every year. I know their routine pretty well but I honestly do not recall this particular maneuver. I remember their final pass being a pass from behind in delta formation directly overhead.

Anyway as you can see in this video, they begin in delta formation and break off one by one giving them the correct spacing as they circle to land. I thought it was rather neat to see.

(Right click and "Save As")
http://www.angelfire.com/space2/silver1/video/BlueAngels102.MOV

Nexus
I have not seen any of the groups you mentioned, but I must say of the groups I have seen (Blue Angels, Thunderbirds, Snowbirds...) the Blue Angles are definitely the most impressive.

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Reply #9 - Oct 4^th, 2004 at 12:39pm

Boss_BlueAngels Offline
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Thanks again everyone.

I've only seen the Blue Angels, Thunderbirds, and Snowbirds. Personally, my order of favorites is Blue Angels, Snowbirds, then Thunderbirds. The stuff the Thunderbirds do is too similar to the Blue Angels, and the Snowbirds... well, what can I say, those guys just plain ROCK! They take the cool things the Blue Angels/Thunderbirds do and put it on steroids! lol (ie. double take, lag-back cross, then that cool rolly thing with teh two solo pilots... one is upright, while the other is inverted right above it, canopy to canopy, and do a formation barrell roll... totally awesome!)

But anyway, I really don't think it's right to compare the three, as they fly completely different aircraft and capabilities and all three are increadible to watch!

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Reply #10 - Oct 7^th, 2004 at 10:56am

Tequila Sunrise Offline
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cool shots mate.

I've nevr seen te the BA's or TB's but I've seen the Red Arrows, Patoule de France, Patroule de Suisse, Frecci Tricolorri and Team Aguila, of these its a tie between the Red and the Frecci Tricolorri, however from the shots above there are many maneuvers done by the BA's that are very similar to the Reds notably the "delta loop break" and the "oposing rolls".

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Reply #11 - Oct 10^th, 2004 at 4:49am

Sobby Offline
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There the Blue Angels, But then There Are the Red Arrows, latter of which are better, no offence 8)

Still, AMAZING SHOTS, Grin

Grin

Grin

Grin

Grin

Grin

I love the 2 when the look like one, now that is skill Grin

Grin

Grin

Grin

Grin

Wish they would come to Britian Cry

Cry

Budd

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Reply #12 - Oct 10^th, 2004 at 11:59am

Craig. Offline
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nice shots.
Its impossible to compair the BA's and the red arrows just because of the size of each team.

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Reply #13 - Oct 10^th, 2004 at 12:37pm

Scottler Offline
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Realistically, it would be impossible to compare any two teams because there are so many variables, not the least of which being aircraft variations and the performance parameters of each.

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Reply #14 - Oct 15^th, 2004 at 4:20pm

Silver1SWA Offline
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I am down in San Diego right now (La Jolla to be exact) and I can hear/see the Blue Angels practicing for the Miramar Airshow this weekend! 8)

Such music to the ears.... Grin

Grin

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Reply #15 - Oct 16^th, 2004 at 6:49pm

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The problem I find with looking at pictures of the BA's is that most photo's don't give you the right impression to the distances between each aircraft. From most photo's the aircraft seem to be touching eachother. But then you get the same formation from a different angle and you notice that the aircraft are quite far apart. Take aircrafts 1 and 3 in the first pic for example and the picture of the BA Delta. You can see that there is a good four metres between each aircraft. Now not wanting to start anything but i've seen one of the Red Arrows do a roll while at less that 40 feet down a creek. In my opinion nothing beats the Red Arrows.

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Reply #16 - Oct 17^th, 2004 at 9:11pm

Boss_BlueAngels Offline
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Well, as with any formation team, including the Red Arrows, (which I'd LOVE to see btw) not every formation is flown with the same seperations... especially if they're in a "unique" configuration such as landing gear and tailhook extended like in my first picture. Considering the tailhook is a good 5 feet long, and also all the the extra drag from the weels... they've gotta be a bit farther appart. The formation rolls and loops and the "Diamond 360" are flown in the tighter 18 inch wingtip to canopy formation.

Check this picture out from the backseat in the left wingmans spot (#2) and see how close he is at the top of the dirty loop:

And from the Slot (#4)

And here is a shot from the slot position as the formation sets up for another maneuver. And it should be noted, this is in a more "relaxed" formation as they are just setting up... once they get in front of the crowd they'll move it in closer.

The day is always better when you're flying upside down.&&&&www.fight2flyphoto.com&&&&Canon RebelXT&&Canon 18-55mm&&Sigma 10-20mm F/4-6.3&&Sigma 100-300mm F/4-6.3&&Sigma 50-500mm F/4-6.3

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Reply #17 - Oct 17^th, 2004 at 9:24pm

Boss_BlueAngels Offline
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Well, as with any formation team, including the Red Arrows, (which I'd LOVE to see btw) not every formation is flown with the same seperations... especially if they're in a "unique" configuration such as landing gear and tailhook extended like in my first picture. Considering the tailhook is a good 5 feet long, and also all the the extra drag from the weels... they've gotta be a bit farther appart. The formation rolls and loops and the "Diamond 360" are flown in the tighter 18 inch wingtip to canopy formation.

Check this picture out from the backseat in the left wingmans spot (#2) and see how close he is at the top of the dirty loop:
http://www.news.navy.mil/management/photodb/webphoto/web_030418-N-4534A-001.jpg

And from the Slot (#4)
http://www.news.navy.mil/management/photodb/webphoto/web_031010-N-4534A-001.jpg

And here is a shot from the slot position as the formation sets up for another maneuver. And it should be noted, this is in a more "relaxed" formation as they are just setting up... once they get in front of the crowd they'll move it in closer.

http://www.news.navy.mil/management/photodb/webphoto/web_031010-N-4534A-002.jpg

I got those pics from here: http://www.news.navy.mil/view_galleries.asp

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Reply #18 - Nov 4^th, 2004 at 5:42am

edzmen Offline
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Quote:

So are Blue Angles better than say Red Arrows or Patrouille de France, there must be some form of competition going on?

I think its well known that the Red Arrows set the benchmark for world aerobatic teams.

But as far as teams flying trainers are concerned, i think the Italians aren't half bad either. I saw them at Biggin Hill the other year and they were far better than the French at that particular display.

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