US Airshow (56K warning, 10 MB of pics)

[BloodBane611]

These photos were taken 3 or 4 years ago at McGuire AFB, NJ. My friend is a captain in the AF reserve who was deployed with the 305th Air Mobility Wing to Guam in order to support the war in Afghanistan. He liked to tell me stories about how he had to order cases of glowsticks for the crews of B1-Bs so they could see their instruments on lights out bombing runs. Some were pretty funny, but this is a serious thread, so back on topic.




I'll start off with some Blue Angels shots. The Blue Angels are the US Navy's Flight Demonstration Squadron, and they are bloody good at what they do.










This is the Angels' C-130. That is an unassisted 45-50 degree climb on 4 turboprops. They unfortunately did not use JATO bottles on this one, I would have liked to see that.








This is a B-1B lancer, the US swing-wing strategic bomber. It's a beauty. In the first picture you can see the space for the wings to swing back, its right above the engines and to the left of the wing, looks like the top and bottom have some black material hanging into it.





Of course an airshow wouldn't be complete without an A-10, and the ubiquitous big gun shot.






The F-15. These are currently grounded, so get a good look while you still can.







One of my favorite planes, the F-16. The thing I remember most about this plane is that it had an extremely intense afterburner roar. It sounded like raw power.














This is one of the primary mid-range loadlifters for the US Military, the C-17. I believe these effectively replaced the C-141 starlifter.






This is the US Air Force's primary refueler, can refuel anything from a UH-60 to a B-2.





The OH-58 Kiowa is the sister helicopter to the OH-6 Little Bird(really the cayuse). It is primarily used as a spotter and light utility helicopter. The angled metal struts are wire cutters, to keep the helicopter from being tangled in any power lines.






Old Reliable, the Huey. They look nice, but these are effectively out of US service except for the USMC, who keep a few on hand.







UH-60s are not generally equipped for the pylons you see here, but they can mount fuel tanks, hellfire missiles, 2.75 inch rockets, sparrow missiles, and probably some other stuff I don't know about.







The Stratofortress is the biggest bomber in the US inventory, and its not very common any more. Most of them have been retired, but I will say that this plane deserves its nickname, BUFF.





This is my only picture of a Bradley, wish I had gotten more.

[agentscar]

These are very nice man.Wish I could've been there...But one quick thing,the chopper above the "Huey" ,you said was a Littlebird,is actually an OH-58 Kiowa.Want more of M2 Bradley...

Nice Pics. !

[Harrelson]

the flaps on the B-52 bomber are HUUGE!

[LekyIRL]

I think I'll upload those pics of the B-1B at Ellsworth Airforce Base,South Dakota,I have.

Anyways great pics!Love the F-16 shots

[LtSoucy]

Great pis. Shame about the F-15 but we are getting the NEW F-22 or F-35 soon so!

[Jedimushroom]

This is the US Air Force's primary refueler, can refuel anything from a UH-60 to a B-2.

How the hell would a UH-60 keep up with it though?

I wish you had gotten more pictures of the B1, that thing looks so mysterious.

[BloodBane611]

TBH I think that refueling a UH-60 from a KC-10 extender (the big bird up there) is probably never done, just because even going at max speed the UH-60 can barely keep up to the KC-10 running at stall speed. Since only 160th SOAR (and a few other small units) are capable of inflight refueling I imagine they normally use the C-130 refueling variant.

[Fatal1ty]

blue angels are good, but no match for the red arrows lol.

not surprised they didn't have any B-2's on display lol..........

[Mouse]

The lancer is massive, I thought it was quite small, its massive!

[BloodBane611]

If I ever get a chance to see the red arrows I'll definitely jump at it. They're pretty awesome. Even so, you've got to give the angels their due. No one who can put a plane within 10 feet of another while inverted and approaching at over 800 miles/hour is a bad pilot. The Angels focus on a smaller number of performers, with the C-130 generally getting a good roar and getting the crowd going, while the Red Arrows are entirely a jet squadron who are fantastically good at their tricks. So different approach, but both are beautiful to watch.