Alaska Airshow and C17 Memorial

Wachel

Most people have heard about the C17 that crashed up here on July 28. Four brave airmen lost their lives. Leadership struggled with the decision to cancel the airshow or to press on. With the full support of the families the show went on.

Instead of the C17 demonstration (the crash happened while practicing for this) they had four F22 Raptors fly over with one of them pulling straight up and shooting in to the heavens. The other three continue on with the gap in the formation, representing those who lost their lives. This is known as the missing man formation. Not a dry eye in the house. No photos of the missing man...hard to shoot through tears.

Anyway...here are a few shots. 7D with my 17-55 2.8 IS lens <--- NOT a good airshow lens (for getting close to the action).

1. Starting off with the sad part.




2. Canadian Snowbirds in formation.




3. F22 tearing it up! WOO HOO!




4. Blue Angel against some cool clouds.




5. Blue Angels streaking across the sky. ZOOM!




6. Some more Blue Angels





7. Cool portrait of an LDS missionary.



Hope you enjoyed these few from the airshow! Remember those that have lost their lives serving this great nation.

BPvST

Wow very nice, but I prefer all be in color. Now the b&w looks not really part of the series.

ront

So sorry about the C-17 crew!! This is always very sad!!

It looks like they had a very nice memorial. I enjoyed your photos.

Ron

Wachel

Thanks for the comments! Yeah, the black and white doesn't really fit but I didn't want to start another thread for just that one photo. Yes, the memorial was awesome.

TrulyAlaskan

Knew all 4 of the guys.

I too watched the airshow... I had a seriously awesome view, but no cameras allowed in federal buildings

dudek designs

I actually dig the B&W.

And thanks for posting the memorial shot. Very moving.

moose135

Very nice work, Michael! That's a really nice capture on the Raptor. And thanks for including the photo of the memorial. I lost a few friends while driving jets for the Air Force, and you never forget them.

Wachel

Thank you all for the comments! Truly Alaskan...I am so sorry for your loss.

I was working that day and had to capture and record the radar data to show the flight path. There was also video of the crash and it was very hard to watch. The smoke cloud was so large that we tracked it on radar until it dispersed. A sad day for the entire community.

redleash

Having also lost some friends and family in jet crashes, I know the sadness when you are part of the community and the total ache when you know the person. I am so sorry for the loss of this crew; I am very glad to see the beautiful memorial they were given. I am sure they would have wanted the show to go on--it was a fitting tribute.

As for the photos--very nice series, Michael. The formation shots are wonderful--you really captured the way it looks at the show, especially with the Snowbirds shot that really shows off that nice arc with the blue smoke. For me, though, the F22 shot is the best--all I can say about is, "WOW!!!"

Thanks for sharing-
Lauren

Wachel

Thanks for the comments Lauren! It's always good to hear the nice comments.