2014/06/28-29 Dayton Air Show

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I have visited Dayton Air Show end of June.  This year, Blue Angels is back!  But, the military participation was much fewer than before.  I saw Marine Corps AV-8B harrier II, but no flights from Air Force and Navy.  I wish the air shows will be back to the pre-2013 level.

By the way, A-4B Skyhawk based at Waukegan was on static display.  This time Mr. Paul Wood, the owner of this airplane, flew F-86 Sabre, instead of A-4B.  I wish he flies A-4B next time.

A-4B Skyhawk based at Waukegan

The weather forecast was horrible.  Thunderstorms were forecasted for both Saturday and Sunday.  As forecasted, light rain was falling early Saturday.  But, it was not hard enough to cancel the flying demonstration.  In such condition, I don't aim my camera.  I just enjoy watching airplanes flying.

Coast Guard rescue demo.  No problem with low clouds.

I captured the exact moment of Sean D. Tucker's ribbon cut.  Well, I wish I had more light so that the picture was more crisp.

I noticed that the silhouette of AV-8B looking from the front is similar to B-2.  Isn't it?

Patty Wagstaff vs. Jet Truck.

I was worried that the show would be cancelled when the thunderstorm develops.  However, contrary to the forecast, the cloud was getting thinner to the late afternoon.

The sky was not clear, but I could see Blue Angels' flying.  It was a nice show.

Almost captured the Sneak Pass.  I'll try again.

Sunday.  The forecast was even more depressing than Saturday.  Not just thunderstorm, but a severe thunderstorm was predicted.  I was thinking to leave early if it starts raining hard.

Well, but, in contrary to the forecast, the weather was even better than Saturday!  I have a feeling that the forecast is more inaccurate than before.  Just like this one, a local TV station was predicting a severe thunderstorm over Pittsburgh for this Wednesday (7/23), but we didn't have even a drop of water falling from the sky.  Is the weather pattern changing?  I don't know why.

I welcomed the nice error in the forecast.

I wish a pole was not there....

Photo pass of AV-8B was very far.  This was what I got with 800mm lens (if converted to 35mm film).

Of course, I can trim it like this, but it is missing features because it is not using full-resolution of the camera.

Patty Wagstaff  AOPA logo on the airframe.

This time, I aimed Fat Albert portrait position.  C-130 has such a long wing.  If I take with landscape position, the picture will have empty space on the left and right.  I think this picture came out well.

Finally, the severe thunderstorm forecast was completely overturned, and six F-18s took to the sky.

Blue Angels Diamond for some reason flew almost directly above the spectator, instead of showing their backs.  Was it intentional?

Later in the show, I think it was when the diamond was flying a loop before bomb-burst downward (I guess Blue Angels call it Loop Break Cross), the diamond formation ended up passing through a cloud.  Then, the leader called on the radio "Delta Flat Pass".  I think the leader decided that the cloud was increasing and the condition became below minimum for the Loop Break Cross.

We can see Delta Flat Pass only in a low-show or a flat-show, usually.  It was a good opportunity to take a profile view of the formation, all six airplanes in one picture.  The sun was still out.  The lighting condition was good.  I took this picture....

Well, but the background was white rather than blue.  Also the distance from the show center was farther than Latrobe.  This one is obviously better than the above picture.  The picture was not very crisp.  It is not easy to take a delta formation from the side in an air show.

By the way, I tried to take a close-up look of Sneak Pass, but my camera lost focus and missed this time.  I'll try again in Cleveland air show.

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