This beautiful photo was taken on July 7, 2011 by US Navy Mass Communication Specialist Andrew Johnson, during a practice session over Pensacola Beach. [Flickr]
This beautiful photo was taken on July 7, 2011 by US Navy Mass Communication Specialist Andrew Johnson, during a practice session over Pensacola Beach. [Flickr]
EckyThump
Tuesday, July 12, 2011 at 8:22 AMSorry, I’m not seeing the point here, if they were doing something cool in the shot maybe!
red t-rex
Tuesday, July 12, 2011 at 3:00 PMThis is not so extreme in normal level flight for any airforce pilots but if you take a look at the orientation with the ground they are performing a loop in formation. They almost need their brains wired together to synchronise a loop at that distance.
I took a combat fighter joy ride recently where you get to be passenger as 2 airforce pilots go head to head in a simulated dogfight (http://www.fciwa.com/). One of the most awesome experiences ever. They tame it down a bit as it is meant to be a “joy flight”. My pilot, an RAAF instructor, said he could easily make me throw up but the idea was to enjoy the flight. They were happy to scale it up or down as desired.
They did loops, barrel rolls, stalls and then went head to head in a dogfight. They fly in formation from and to the airfield and even take off and land in formation in calm winds. All the time barely a couple of metres from one wingtip to the other.
Highly recommended to get a bit of a glipse of what it is really like. Makes you really appreciate the skill of war time pilots. Keeping your eye on the other guy when he is trying to lose you is damn near impossible.
EckyThump
Tuesday, July 12, 2011 at 4:50 PMWhilst I appreciate your enthusiasm on what they actually do, the point I’m making here is that it’s a boring photo! I’ve seen a couple of air shows and plenty of air show programs, and their are more dynamic photo’s to be seen, I’m sure… #]
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Tuesday, July 12, 2011 at 8:47 AMyeah i flip my plane in perfect timing with my buddies all the time, Gosh Gizmodo!
Shane
Tuesday, July 12, 2011 at 9:58 AMAt less then 1m clearance between wing tips in at speeds closing to 500-600ks, do this in my sleep :P
Shane
Tuesday, July 12, 2011 at 9:59 AMOh did I mention, only watching the person next to me for my visual queues…
DaveL
Tuesday, July 12, 2011 at 12:33 PMAnd with only one hand on the wheel so you can take the photo…
Sam
Tuesday, July 12, 2011 at 11:28 AMGuy in the last comment, have you seen how ridiculous some of the things these people do are? and how close they do it to each other at crazy speeds, get in a plane and try doing it yourself :P
Glenn
Wednesday, July 13, 2011 at 9:50 AMRead the comments,the photo is taken by communications expert not a pilot. My guess, is the photo is taken from Blue Angel 7 the dual seat with a pax in the back on a photo mission.
If the Pilot ever took a photo in tight formation inverted, he wouldn’t have made teh grade in the first place :-)