United States - Florida - Gulf Coast Salute 2009 - Tyndall AFB, Panama City - 03/28/09

[Mickey]

Google is your friend!

C-17 serial-number list...

Altus AFB history from their website...

[tropicdiver]

BTW, I looked up where the Altus AFB was and it seems to out in the middle of nowhere in Oklahoma. Google earth shows it is a nice large air base. Is there anything special about it or a special reason it is where it is located?

Altus AFB is 26 miles from the town I grew up in (Mangum). It is where I attended my very first air show, many years, ago, as a kid. There is a whole lot of nothing out there in southwest Oklahoma besides granite mountains, red clay and rattlesnakes. I remember as a kid climbing the granite mountains to the north of the base and the C5's coming overhead and wondering how in the world something so big could just hang up there in the sky and appear to be almost standing still.

[Steve Rice]

Bob,

Didn't post them since I think they pale in comparison to yours and the others who have posted.  However, since you dared us....   

Here's one from Saturday and one from Sunday.   I shot mine with both eyes closed 


Chris

Coz, excellent photos. I especially like the nose-on-nose opposing solos.    I'm not sure if I've seen a catch like that before.  Well done.  Oh, yeah - thanks for the beverages Sunday evening for me and the rest of the pit.

[BigRedDogATL]

It's okay, Cliff. Us white lens guys know how difficult it is for you Nikon folks to multitask.

Ok Bob, we Nikon folks can multitask just fine. We can also deal with the worlds largest, busiest, and best airport, Atlanta's Hartsfield Jackson Airport, just fine. It seems you Canon guys have a tough time with that place. It is great to have such a wonderful place to call as my home airport.

Here are a few of my Blue Angels crossing shots from Saturday and Sunday. I haven't done any color correction or sharpening to them yet, these are the raw images, just cropped a bit.








And this final one isn't really a crossing shot, but it is a nice shot. I just wish I had gotten it on Sunday instead of Saturday, so the sky would have been nice and Blue.

[Steve Rice]

Here are a few of my Blue Angels crossing shots from Saturday and Sunday. I haven't done any color correction or sharpening to them yet, these are the raw images, just cropped a bit.

[Mod Edit: Dup pic removed, please read the FAQ]

Clifford, the alignment of your first shot is perfect - I like it.  Well done.    Now back to the rest of your 5,000. 

[BigRedDogATL]

Clifford, the alignment of your first shot is perfect - I like it.  Well done.    Now back to the rest of your 5,000. 

Steve:

I also like that shot. That is why I put it first. It is one that I intend on sending off to World Airshow News, along with some others that I haven't posted yet. I wanted to give them first stab at getting the photos before I put them out publically, but after Bob's challenge I just had to respond.

I also love the last shot. I am just going to have to Photoshop the Sunday blue sky over the Saturday grey one. After all, who will know? 

I get another weekend of photographing the Blue Angels starting tomorrow in Tuscaloosa. Now that I know what this year's routine is, I will be better prepared to catch the crossing shots and plan to get another batch, maybe even better than these.

[Craig Scaling]

Nice shots Clifford! I especially like that first one!   

I do, however, feel for you! 5500 shots is ALLOT to go through.........sheesh! I'll bet my big ole ' head is in at least half of them!   

See you down in the land of the tCrimson Tide,

Craig

[BrittMac]

Well heck, I guess I could throw up a couple more.  I haven't gone through everything yet, still getting ready for this weekend.  But here are a few that I have looked at.

These are some of BA 5 taking off and the high speed pass on Saturday.

[BrittMac]

On Saturday, it was so humid that two of the ships in the diamond had vapor on the very first pass (you know, the relatively slow pass).  Nuts.

On the takeoff, there was beautiful white vapor streamers coming off of every single wingtip.  It was hard to choose which photo to choose, so I just pointed at the monitor with my eyes closed to choose one.

And last is the max turn I think. 

[BrittMac]

The solo mirror pass.

And for some comic relief......
I found some writing on the C-130 on Sunday morning.  It says, "Im a dirty girl" lol.  The other side said "wash me" but the crew had already rubbed it clean.

And something that the sharp-eyed Craig Scaling found lying around on the ground........reminds me of A Christmas Story.  Instead of "you'll shoot your eye out", this is, "you'll chimp your eye out".  I amuse me at least.....

[Joe Shepherd]

Here's a couple of mine from Sunday.

[Joe Shepherd]

and a couple more

[BrittMac]

Ooh, I really like the F-18 and the Raptor shot just below it.  Very nice.

[Kevin Joyce]

A couple of Raptor shots.

[Steve Rice]

On Saturday, it was so humid that two of the ships in the diamond had vapor on the very first pass (you know, the relatively slow pass).  Nuts.

On the takeoff, there was beautiful white vapor streamers coming off of every single wingtip.  It was hard to choose which photo to choose, so I just pointed at the monitor with my eyes closed to choose one.

And last is the max turn I think. 

Brandon, good work with the 50D.