Blue Angels Near Collision
by Rick Bures
Title
Blue Angels Near Collision
Artist
Rick Bures
Medium
Photograph - Photograph
Description
Blue Angels Near Collision. In this horizontal composition, two brightly-colored blue and yellow fighter jets of the Blue Angels flight demonstration team, make an extremely close pass, apparently narrowly avoiding collision. Each jet is trailing white smoke, tracing their paths against the clear blue sky. The nearer jet is seen dorsally and from a rear quarter, and overlays the farther jet, which is seen ventrally and from a forward quarter. The lighting, the nearer jet fully lit and the farther mostly in shadow, adds a bit of depth to the image, while the telephoto lens employed compresses the distance, perhaps making the jets appear a bit closer than they actually were. The closeness and angles at which the jets pass each other is impressive, and imparts the feeling of a near collision.
The Blue Angels, founded in 1946, is the second oldest aerobatic team (still flying) in the world. This Navy flight demonstration squadron uses pilots from both the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Marines. The Blue Angels typically fly in about seventy air shows a year.
The Blue Angels currently fly the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet (with the McDonnel Douglas-Boeing merger, it is now the Boeing F/A-18 Hornet). The F/A-18 Hornet is a multirole fighter designed to fly in all weather conditions and to take off and land on aircraft carriers. This supersonic jet has a top speed of Mach 1.8, or nearly 1200 mph, and is powered by twin General Electric F404-GE-402 turbofans producing a total of nearly 36,000 foot-pounds of force with full afterburner, approximately equal to the aircraft’s loaded weight, resulting in a climb rate of about 50,000 feet per minute. The F/A-18 is 56 feet in length with a wingspan of 40 feet. The fighter jet is armed with a single 20mm M61A1 Vulcan 6-barrelled Gatling cannon, and can carry a wide variety of rockets, missiles, bombs, and counter measures. The F/A-18 Hornet first saw action in 1986 and has been involved in several conflicts since, especially in the 1990’s and early 2000’s. It is used not only by the U.S., but also by Canada, Australia, Kuwait, Malaysia, Spain, and Finland.
This photo of the Blue Angels was taken at the 2015 Oregon International Air Show at the Hillsboro airport, near Portland, Oregon. See my many other photos of the Blue Angels, as well as many other military and stunt aircraft photographed at the Oregon International Air Show. See also my many other photographs of military and classic aircraft taken at air museums around Oregon.
Uploaded
July 13th, 2017
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