Atlantic City Airshow 2009

Fred W

The Atlantic City Airshow "Thunder Over the Boardwalk" occurs once a year in August, always in the middle of the week. I guess that is to avoid a weekend madhouse with traffic volume. What they don't advertise is that on the day before the show, almost all the performers are involved in an all day practice event. This year I planned to shoot both days, first day from the pier and the second day from the beach. Here are some of my shots from both days.

The F/A-18 Super Hornet was eager to produce vapor cones. The hot and humid weather almost guaranteed a good outcome.

1.



2.



3.



Four F-22 Raptors performed a fly-by with a brief demo.

4.


5.



I was very impressed with the A-10's performances at the show. What they lack in speed, they make up in fire power and manuverability.

6.



7.



8.



The Heritage Flight.

9. and 10.


The Red Eagles were real show pleasers as usual.

11. and 12.


Plenty of sky jumping.

13.



The Thunderbirds were the show closers for well over 750,000 spectators.

14. and 15.


Thanks for viewing. Many more pics in my gallery.

goldenstarphoto

Hey Fred,

You have some real great photos in your gallery on your site. I also like your "the end" photo.

I spent 15 years in the Air Force and the A-10 was always one of my favorites.

DaddyO

Very nice shots despite the harsh lighting.

grimace

DaddyO wrote:

Very nice shots despite the harsh lighting.

I agree. Great looking series. The 3rd and 14th photos are my favorites.

moose135

Really nice work, Fred! I love those Hornet vapor shots!

Fred W

goldenstarphoto wrote:

Hey Fred,

You have some real great photos in your gallery on your site. I also like your "the end" photo.

I spent 15 years in the Air Force and the A-10 was always one of my favorites.

Thanks Doug, I just got a new 100-400L lens in time for the airshow. Previously I used a 70-200mm lens with a 1.4X TC and was just not thrilled with the autofocus.
I'm really enjoying the 400mm reach as well. I need to be careful with this one.

Fred W

DaddyO wrote:

Very nice shots despite the harsh lighting.

Thanks DaddyO, The worst part of two full days of harsh lighting is the sunburn....Oh the Pain !!!:D

Fred W

grimace wrote:

I agree. Great looking series. The 3rd and 14th photos are my favorites.

Thanks Adam. I was at the AC airshows in 2006 and 2008 so I pretty much knew when and where to capture those vapor cones. They don't hang around long so you need to be ready with burst mode when the time comes. See you at the Shootout in Acadia.

Fred W

moose135 wrote:

Really nice work, Fred! I love those Hornet vapor shots!

Thanks Moose. Capturing vapor cones during an airshow is one of my favorite action challenges.

squirl033

nice series... i gotta get to an airshow one of these days!

BTW, the A-10 was never intended to for speed. When North American was designing it, they found some old WWII Stuka pilot who'd flown JU-87 tank-busters on the Russian front, and asked him, what would be his ideal airplane for that mission. he said make it go slow, and give it a big gun. the A-10 is probably the best aircraft in the world for that purpose, and when they finally get retired, the USAF will not have anything anywhere near as effective...

Phil Tompson

Nice job on those. Shot #1 is my fav. Makes me want to go back to an air show. lol.

ElginetPhotos

3 is my fave. It's like he's just come through a time-warp or something!!

I'm also jealous. We just had a show here in Rockford, Il (Rockford Airfest 2009) and only had 2 F-22s, and they only flew one, which malfunctioned 2 out of 2 flights and they had to cancel their demo early, yesterday. Unknown how they did on today's.

Fred W

Phil Tompson wrote:

Nice job on those. Shot #1 is my fav. Makes me want to go back to an air show. lol.

Thanks Phil. I want to go back again too.

Fred W

ElginetPhotos wrote:

3 is my fave. It's like he's just come through a time-warp or something!!

I'm also jealous. We just had a show here in Rockford, Il (Rockford Airfest 2009) and only had 2 F-22s, and they only flew one, which malfunctioned 2 out of 2 flights and they had to cancel their demo early, yesterday. Unknown how they did on today's.

Thanks Bill. Pic#3 shows the vapor cone better than in pic#2. The #2 pic was actually more exciting to shoot due to my location on the end of a pier as the Super Falcon was approaching us almost head-on. As he passed by the pier, we heard a few quick pops and the air just vibrated with the roar of his engines. I actually had to drop my camera and cover my ears.