Jones Beach Air Show

moose135

Once again this Memorial Day weekend saw the Jones Beach Air Show held on Long Island. And as in the past, most of the participating aircraft staged out of Republic Airport, primarily from the ramp at the American Airpower Museum. And yes, I spent five fun filled days and nights shooting all the action.

1 - At the museum, the weekend began Thursday at 4:30am, with a series of live remotes by WABC-7 with meteorologist Bill Evans doing live updates of the weather and stories about the air show.



2 - The headliners for this year's show were the US Navy Blue Angels. Here they are lifting off heading to the beach for a performance.



3 - The two solo pilots in a cross over pass.



4 - The Royal Canadian Air Force Snowbirds were also part of the show.



5 - Snowbirds cross over pass



6 - The only flying Curtis Helldiver was here as well.



7 - The F-22 Raptor did a demo - the F-22 isn't really an airplane, because airplanes can't do what I saw the Raptor do! :huh



8 - Can you tell it was Vapor City down at the beach on Saturday? Here the F/-18F Super Hornet makes a very high speed (but not supersonic) pass.



9 - On Saturday, they had a USAF Heritage Flight formation with the F-22 and a P-51 Mustang. The P-51 had to leave Saturday for the Indy 500 fly over on Sunday, so they added a USN Legacy Flight formation, with the AAM's Corsair and the Super Hornet.



10 - After performing at the beach, the Raptor made a low pass at Republic, before heading back to LI MacArthur Airport, where it was spending the weekend. That's an inbound to JFK in the background.



You know I wouldn't finish this without a few night shots...

11 - B-17 Yankee Lady



12 - Grumman EA-6B Prowler



13 - P-51 Mustang



Many more photos here: http://www.moose135photography.com/Airplanes/Air-Shows/Jones-Beach-Air-Show-2012/23085460_DmgNv8

Thanks for looking!

RyanS

Some of the best airshow shots I've seen this season. The Helldiver, Wow! Love the Raptor shots too. On #4, maybe kick up the contrast a bit to cut the haze a little more?

ront

I hate pictures like these right now:(.

Actually, these are very nice pictures and I enjoyed seeing them a lot. The problem comes in that I live near Fairchild AFB in Spokane, WA. They have gone to an every other year schedule and this year was supposed to be Skyfest 2012. Well, they recently said that they were spread to thin and would not be having the airshow. I am very bummed to say the least!!!!

Thanks for sharing these and any others you have!

Ron

black mamba

As usual, John, you've got some great stuff here. I love the Helldiver shot and your nighttime work is always terrific.

I got to know Hal Buell pretty well. He wrote a first-rate book about his exploits as a carrier pilot in the Pacific during WWII. His book is entitled " Dauntless Helldiver ""..... derived from the fact that he flew both those planes during the war. It is believed that Hal was the only pilot....American or Japanese....that was involved in all five of the major aircraft carrier conflicts during the war.

Tom

moose135

Thank you very much! I really appreciate all your kind words.

Ryan, I'll tweak the contrast on that shot and see how it looks. Shooting down at the beach is always a challenge - it was hazy that day (well, it almost always is), and the sun is pretty much in your face all day.

Ron, I feel your pain. In addition to my "home" show at Jones Beach, I went to McGuire AFB for years. They cancelled the show for about 5 years after 9/11, then returned as an every-other-year show, except for the years they skipped. They had one this year, a couple of weeks before Jones Beach, and most of those shots are awaiting processing.

Tom, I'll have to look for that book - it sounds like Mr. Buell had some interesting experiences, and it's great that you got to know him. I really appreciate the time I've been able to spend with the WWII vets at the AAM, listening to the stories they tell.

Thanks!

torags

Great stuff Moose

Very well done...

RyanS

Moose, on #4 I also think it needs just a tiny bit of warming filter on it. That will take off some of that blue cast and warm the sun back up on those wings. I'll send you a PM with a link to an unlisted edit to show you visually what I mean.

DaddyO

Fine stuff Moose thumb

GSPeP

Great pictures

Newsy

Love those night shots.

Kalamata

Great pictures, hard to pick a favourite

Ed

moose135

Thanks, guys!

JSPhotography

Great shots. Please explain about 7 and 8. I have an airshow coming up this weekend and would love to get that shot. I checked out your Exif so I know the settings. Is this a split second timing thing? What do I watch for? yadda, yadda, yadda. I understand this will be the only show in Michigan with jets this year. Thanks

moose135

There are a couple of different things happening there, Jim, and both were helped by some humidity that day.

In #7, with the F-22, the vapor is being generated as the aircraft is pulling Gs going into a climb. Doing that generates a bunch of lift, causing a low pressure area over the wing. At the lower pressure the air can't hold as much moisture, and you are seeing that condense over the wing. On a relatively humid day, you will see a lot of those sorts of vapor clouds from maneuvering aircraft. To shoot it, just track along and watch for it, especially when they are entering a climb or making a steep banked turn.

Here he is later in the demonstration, making a hard, level, high-G turn. I've even seen airliners generate vapor over the wing when landing, with flaps and slats hanging out generating lift, on humid days.




In #8, with the F/A-18, that's a little more complicated to explain, although it is also caused by a drop in air pressure pulling moisture out of the air. He is flying straight and level, very close to the speed of sound. As he approaches transonic speeds, a high-pressure shock wave is formed by the aircraft, with a region of low pressure behind it. Again, this low pressure causes the condensation of the vapor cone. The phenomenon is known as the Prandtl-Glauert singularity. It's a little trickier to photograph. The airplane was coming at us at low level and high speed, probably 600+ knots, so your panning needs to be sharp, and the vapor cloud seemed to come and go a few times during his pass. I have seen some videos where it is a little more of a steady cone, I guess it depends on conditions.

Here are a couple of other shots from the same pass, and you can see the vapor cone isn't as well defined.





Good luck at the show, and let me know if you have any other questions (or if this explanation was clear as mud...)

JSPhotography

Thanks for the explanations that was perfect. We are supposed to have high humidity so hopefully I can get lucky. And I now know when to have my finger on the trigger. Thanks again.

Angelo

good Lord how I hate these military masturbations but you got some sweet captures Moose


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Cowboydoug

Simply fabulous...
El Delux E O...
And I have to say it... My daddyO was a bombardier on the ole B-17's flew ( 34 ) missions and was there on the big day...
Hmmm... And it just now occurred to me... My sweet little mom just passed away on June 6th...
Love your images...
Thanks for sharing