The previous week the Blue Angels were here in Seattle, and I noticed on TV that the Right Wingman (#2) had been having some difficulty with a few maneuvers, the 5 plane line abreast loop specifically... out of the five performances we saw, he did 2 "correctly" without falling out at the top. Here is one he actually did quite well...
Life is better upside down:
This is the Lead Solo flying inverted for "The Fortus" which involves both solo aircraft flying wingtip-to-wingtip in the carrier landing configuration, with the Lead solo inverted, and the other right side up to create a sort of mirror image. This is taken on the extended runway centerline looking at #5 just as he flips inverted.
After the two solos cross show center, the Opposing Solo (#6) slides back into his usual position to let the Lead Solo flip back up. This also creates a unique angle, as you can see.
The first of the seperation maneuvers, the Diamond Vertical Break! The 4 diamond aircraft pass from behind the crowd stacked down and aft in this formation, then right at center they begin a 60 degree climb, the Slot Pilot (#4) calls, "Go Diamond!" and the 3 wingmen shift smoothly into the diamond formation, and as "Boss" continues to pitch the formation through the vertical calls "Ready Break!" and all 4 aircraft seperate in different directions. Interesting thing... the Slot Pilot does not do a 180 degree roll to seperate, but simply pushes on the stick to about -2 g's.
Here you can see them seperating with the smoke on.
Oh, how I love the F/A-18 Hornet... ckech this out... after the diamond does their formation loop on takeoff, both solo's takeoff wingtip to wingtip. The Lead Solo pulls back on the stick at 170 kts bringint the tailpipes within mere INCHES of the asphault (you can even see the mains COMPRESS as at the high speed, the airplane is already practically flying) to perform the Dirty Roll on Takeoff. In the background you can see the Opposing Solo with his mains and nose wheel extending as he is just lifting off also... just a bit more smoothly.
Compare the lading gear positions to a parked hornet, and one in flight to the landing gear on the #6 jet.
This is what the Lead Solos impressive takeoff looks like from behind... looks like a freakin' rocket takingoff! lol
As the Lead Solo completes his dirty roll, the Opposing Solo (#6) seen here continues to accelerate down the runway at full afterburner. Throughout the acceleration, the jet will NOT get any higher than its current position in this picture. In fact most of the times, he only gets lower. (The landing gear on the Hornet requires you to be a bit higher, as it droops a bit as it retracts) Once the wheels up the pilot will keep his aircraft within 10 feet of the runway, while accelerating to about 300 kts. Once at the end the pilot puts the stick in his lap as he pulls 6.5g's and stands the aircraft on its tail climbing almost straight up. Again, when this is done the aircraft merely rotates around the wing for a few tenth's of a second before the aircraft actually starts to climb, again bringing the tail within inches of the asphault.
One thing to mention, the pilot of this aircraft, Lcdr. Craig Olsen, graduated from Central Washington University in 1991, with a degree in Flight Technology... I am currently enrolled in the same program at the same school! To say the least, it was quite an honor to talk with him and meet him at this show, knowing he went through some of the very same things I'm going through! Wohoo, go Central! lol
Anyway, for those of you who have never seen a Blue Angels show, I hope you enjoy and can make it to see them either this year, or next year, as I promise you will not be disapointed! I do have a lot more pictures, (Such as Fat Albert's JATO takeoffs from the 2 days performances) and will post at a later time. For those of you who have seen the Blues, I hope this brings back some good memories. For those of you who like the Thunderbirds better, I hope this proves to you why the Blues are better.
j/k (Don't worry... you can bet I'm going down to Hillsboro next year to see the Thunderbirds down there and get some pics!! They're all awesome!!)
Lemme know what ya think!
by Boss_BlueAngels » Wed Aug 25, 2004 9:53 pm 
