F-104 Starfighter Three Ship photo and more...

[RMAllnutt]

Thought you guys might like to see some photos from the Joint Services Open House airshow at Andrews AFB this past weekend. It was a bit rainy, but the show still went ahead. Highlights for me were the Starfighter three ship formation, and the Heritage Flight. Really enjoyed meeting a lot of he vets and service men and women who came by to see Panchito too. Even got to crawl around inside a B-52, which was terrific fun (many thanks "Pusher"). One thing the poor weather did though was make for some fantastic water vapor trails from the fast movers.

Cheers,
Richard









Brig.Gen. Steve Ritchie in one of the Starfighters...















Somehow, this little guy slept through the F-22 demo!



For a few more shots, please go here

http://www.rmallnutt.com/AndrewsAFB2008/

[maxum96]

Is it just me or do those F-104's look bitchin? I gotta go see those guys fly in person some day.

[K5DH]

Is it just me or do those F-104's look bitchin? I gotta go see those guys fly in person some day.

Nope, it ain't just you! They really do look biiiiiiiiiitchin'!!!!

I got to see one of them fly at the Alliance air show (KAFW) a couple of years ago. They had a second aircraft on display in the static area as well, for the all-important closeup inspection and drool session. Cool!

Cheers!

Thought you guys might like to see some photos from the Joint Services Open House airshow at Andrews AFB this past weekend. It was a bit rainy, but the show still went ahead. Highlights for me were the Starfighter three ship formation, and the Heritage Flight. Really enjoyed meeting a lot of he vets and service men and women who came by to see Panchito too. Even got to crawl around inside a B-52, which was terrific fun (many thanks "Pusher"). One thing the poor weather did though was make for some fantastic water vapor trails from the fast movers.
Cheers,
Richard

Great Shots Richard! I was there on Saturday, May 17 (the one good weather day) and I really enjoyed seeing the beautiful 3-Ship "Starfighters" formation and the Heritage Flight.

[n5151ts]

their "show" is a bit hard for the average non pilot to enjoy but I love seeing them fly! the only fighter you need to fly with spurs! (some of you will get the humor!)

[lmritger]

Madre De Dios, those are STUNNING photos, Richard! What kind of camera are you using for these?

Lynn

their "show" is a bit hard for the average non pilot to enjoy but I love seeing them fly! the only fighter you need to fly with spurs! (some of you will get the humor!)

I don't know that I am the "average" non-pilot , but I love their show and almost any flyby or performance of vintage jets from the fifties and sixties....

[warbird1]

their "show" is a bit hard for the average non pilot to enjoy but I love seeing them fly! the only fighter you need to fly with spurs! (some of you will get the humor!)

Good one, n5151ts, I get it! I thought that some of the other Century series fighters required ejection seat foot spurs? I can't remember. Were the spurs uniquely a Lockheed product?

[Pat Carry]

The F-104's are nice but the F-4 rocks!

[Old SAR pilot]

Richard,

Super pics of the -104s!!! Add 'nother

[dors]

I was going to put some of mine up but I don't know if I can follow those pics. Some of my ground shots turned out ok. So here goes:

[RMAllnutt]

Many thanks everyone! Nice shots too Dors.

Did any of you come by Panchito? Sorry if I missed you, it would have been nice to chat.

Lynn, I use a Canon 1Ds MkII and a 1D MkIII. The lens for these was a 100-400mm IS, which is probably the more important piece of gear for these images. Jets are much easier to shoot than props, because you can set the shutter speed much higher. Couple that with servo tracking, image stabilization and it usually yields super sharp images. Many thanks again for your comments too, I really appreciate them all.

Cheers,
Richard

PS. I have included a couple more, including a close-up of the F-104 cockpits. You can see how the pilots in the trailing aircraft are focused completely on the aircraft immediately to their left, whereas the lead pilot is staring straight ahead. It's a lot clearer in the full-res image, but is still interesting even cranked down like this.











Oh, and here are a couple more F-4 shots Pat... hope you enjoy them!

[mustangdriver]

Awesome F-4. Alos glad to see that the C-123 made it. I worked on that aircraft when it came back from the desert.

[Robbie Roberts]

F4 Phantom- What a JET should look like! Sexiest pointy nose bird going... Used to love watching them overfly my college campus at 1055 going out for anti-submarine patrols from McGuire AFB, way back in the 80s... 2 at a time...

One of the very few turbine a/c I actually like...

Robbie

[AIRIC]

Nice shooting. Looks like it was a great time.

Eric