There I am, sat at my computer browsing the boards. I hear a jet noise. I dismiss it. Then I hear another one, so I go to my window…
Oh, its’ just the red arrows.
<brain turns on> The F****G red arrows?!
The next few moments leave me glad I was already dressed because if I wasn’t I’d have a sock on my ear, my underpants on my head and my t-shirt on my legs. I was that frantic to get out and catch a few shots of them (camera) before they sod off.
I don’t know how globaly well known they are but I can bet every single Brit knows exactly who/what they are. It’s not every day you see them out your bedroom window.
aerobatics. They are a synchronised flying team (using red jet planes) they do all the biggest events - Queen’s Jubilee, British Grand Prix etc…
I am in the process of getting a picture (that I took) of them onto the internet (I am trying to find web-publishing wizard in windows XP)
I had the honor once of seeing the Blue Angels in the very best arena possible.
A not-for-profit corporation involved in oil-spill clean-up emergency preparedness got permission to anchor in San Francisco Bay at the very edge of the no-sailing zone for the performance. I was invited along as a family member.
Imagine standing at the rail of a small ship watching fighter jets go by at hundreds of miles-per-hour with their wings perpendicular to the waves–wingtips seemingly inches from the water–passing each other with a few feet to spare–and all just yards in front of you.
My poor words cannot express just how awesome it really was.
Standing in a crowd on the ground squinting way up in the sky at tiny-seeming planes will never cut it again.
I see the Snowbirds (Canadian equivalent of the Red Arrows, or Blue Angels) flying by every so often. I think I live under a flightpath between some of their bases.
Ack! You’re correct Lobsang, that link description did say aerobatics, not acrobatics. I was sort of tickled that Red Arrow could turn up such diverse results.
E d’Mann– Yep they’re cool to watch and always willing to come give presentations at local schools, too. I wish I could remember how it felt to see them for the first time, it’s all so old hat these days. Sheesh, I can see them flying around from the balcony some evenings and we all curse them when they go rattling the tea cups with a flyover. The older guys are all great to know, the younger pilots are gasp a bit arrogant. When you consider the skill involved, their pride is deserved (and cute to see).
Every year (except 2001,the year of 911) the US Navy’s Master Jet Base Oceana in Va. Beach Va. has an air show, I take my kids and they love it. Last year I had the pleasure of seeing the Snow birds and thought “Wow, they’re really good.” Then at the end of the show the Blue Angels flew. HOLY COW! I’d forgotten just how crazy thos guys are. They do their synchronized flying within 18 inches of each other!
I may not have been on a small ship but I was less than 1/4 mile away and could hear the anouncers commentary. A B2 stealth bomber flew there too. Scarey man, real spookey. It looked like a black hole in the sky when overhead but when it was coming toward us (and leaving) it was very hard to see as huge as it is. Just a thin black line in the sky.
Part of the show was local Navy F-14’s and USAF F-16’s, they push their planes almost to the sound barrier and the air around the plane gets compressed so much that light won’t pass through it the way your used to it doing. It reminds me of science fiction movies where a spaceship kind of goes almost invisible. Truely a wierd thing to see.
Air shows are neat to watch until you realize that most of what you see is made to kill people.
I’m glad they’re ours at least. These things are so fast that by the time you hear them they have gone past you, I gues if you hear them they’re likely after something elsewhere or the weopon is slow on delivery.
I’ve seen some spectacular aerobatics at the Abbottsford Air Show near Vancouver. It’s always a thrill seeing what they can do. (This year it’s on August 8, 9, and 10.)
Every year, for as long as I can remember, the Blue Angels are here for the fleet week celebration in October. When I moved into this apartment, one of the perks was the fabulous views from the roof - I really can see most of the bay and both bridges :D. The first time I was here for fleet week, I made plans to watch the airshow - and it was amazing. As part of their routine, they swoop (not correct term ;)) over the hills here - and over my building! I swear I could have touched them if I was a little taller - and a whole lot faster
WooHoo! It’s funny how in San Diego (home of the US Navy on the west coast), 747s and DC10s are “noise pollution”. The Blue Angels are “Get the hell out of my way! I’ve got to get outside to see them!!!”
I was lucky enough to grow up in Abbotsford, from 1984(?)-1999. Every year, without fail I went to the air show. The last couple of years that I was there, it wasn’t as good as the years previously. Of course, that may just be because before I was watching through a kids eyes…
Our house was on a small hill, with our porch looking out towards the airport. It was a ways away, but you could still see and hear all of the jets doing their thing. And, when the jets flew in, they always went over our house. I can remember many frantic runs outside just to catch a glimpse. The best was when the SR-71 Blackbird was there
Sorry for the minor hijack, but that post brought back a flood of memories for me. Has anyone been to the shows lately? Have they improved? If they have I might just make a trip back to see it.
Growing up in Las Vegas Nevada, with a dad who was a jet engine mechanic for Nellis Air Force Base (civil service) I was lucky to see “up close and personal” air shows. I think it was the “Thunderbirds” that were the biggies back in the 60’s and 70’s…that was some RAW POWER, I tell you!!
The Blue Angels are big up here in the Northwest (Washington State) Seafair up here is the big thing, hydro races on lake Washington…they almost always do an air show.
I work aboard Naval Air Station, Jacksonville, birthplace of the Blue Angels (even if they are based in Pensacola now) and they do an annual air show here. In November of 2000, we watched the show from our boat anchored just off the end of one of the runways. At one point, two of the Blues were headed straight down at us in a screaming dive. Seemed like they waited till the last possible second to pull up, but for those few seconds, it was such a rush staring straight up at the nose of a jet heading straight down! :eek:
I don’t know how many times I’ve seen them fly since I was a brand new baby sailor in San Diego (29 years ago!!) but it’s always an amazing experience for me.
My former father in law was as Major in the USAF and stationed at Eglin. We were on his sailboat off Santa Rosa Island a few years ago and had the opportunity to watch the Blue Angels practice for a bit. A very nice time - laying on the bow, sunning, and watching them scream around.
