Last day of the California Capital Airshow! The main event, the US Air Force Thunderbirds.
Most of the crowd was over by where the Thunderbirds were parked. It was an imposing sight with eight F 16 Fighting Falcons, cockpits ajar, lined up waiting for pre-flight check.
I hung out behind several rows of people while the pilots and their ground crew inspected the 'birds and performed the necessary flight checks.
I love this picture. All of the distortion is jetwash after they started the engines. It looked amazing and I thought the crewmember was quite brave to stand there! Obviously he is standing beside it and not directly back from the engine.
While the jets taxied out to the runway, the ground crew put on a coordinated show of their own. I was very happy to see the pretty, young woman in the crew (who can also be seen assisting her pilot into the cockpit in one of the photos above)!
As soon as the crew finished, I speedwalked to the other end of the tarmac so I could get a spot with less people and also be closer to my car so I could beat some of the crowd. It was a wise decision and I happened to get a primo spot.
It.
Was.
Awesome!
Takeoff! Thunderbirds are a go!
Okay...I know this is silly but I totally saw this cloud and had to post it. It looks like a jet! There is a barrel and a nose cone! And the dark spot is a wing! Just me? Okay... lol
Back to the real planes. lol
Vapor trails are sooooo hot! FYI, this is not the smoke that comes from canisters attached to the planes nor is this the normal contrail seen in the sky left by vapor in the exhaust of a plane.
This is a "wing-tip" or "lift-generated" trail created by the flow of air which creates a distortion. It mixes with the humidity in the air and forms a thin trail that lasts for just a few seconds/minutes. You can also see one forming off of the body of the jet if you look above the "feathers" of the closest wing. These occur most frequently at "high-G". In layman's terms, when the jets are hauling ass.
Sacramento has relatively low humidity and you'll be able to see this phenomenon much better in my pictures of the Blue Angels taken in San Francisco on 10/9/15. When I eventually post them of course. haha
I'm thrilled that I got some photos of it. My lens is manual focus and when the planes are going by sooooo fast, it's hard to focus and get a clear picture when I see a trail form.
Now this? Is smoke. Pretty smoke.
And this? Is awe inspiring. So much skill.
And this? Is the end.
xoxo
