I didn’t get to see the F-15s when they did the flyover for the Huskies game, but the Sunday gave me a chance to head out and see what might be possible to shoot.  I bumped into my friend, Jeff, at the spot I was hoping to try, and it was immediately clear it would not work because a bunch of spare 737s had been parked in the line of sight.  With the weather being overcast, we both decided to head across to the terminal to see what our options were.

Then Jeff found out his friend, Clint, was working on the field that day and was happy to give us a ride.  The F-15s had already fired up so we were a bit concerned whether we could meet up with him in time or not.  However, it is always a long time between engine start and taxiing and Clint came and got us with plenty of time to spare.  We stopped at one location to photograph the jets taxiing towards us but a bizjet pulled out in front of them, so we made tracks to the other side of the field.

We picked a spot which we thought would be good for them having already rotated and then waited.  They were lined up behind the bizjet and it was waiting for its airways release so, eventually the tower had them taxi across the runway to make space for the F-15s to launch.  They then lined up and were blasting past us.  I hadn’t brought any hearing protection and things were a touch loud, but it was brief.  I was a little foolish playing with some low shutter speeds but a few of the shots worked out well.  The second jet kept things nice and low so the photographers further down the field would have been very happy.

Before they would return, Clint had some tasks to perform so he took us along while he sorted out what needed to be done.  We kept the football commentary on the radio so we would know when the flyover had taken place.  Then the jets came back into sight stopping across the lower end of the city before they lined up for landing.  We picked a spot close to where we expected touchdown and, again, got lucky.  The second jet even obliged with the speedbrake – a bit like their original arrival.

What a fantastic bit of luck and thanks to Clint and Jeff for allowing me to tag along.  There is nothing quite like seeing these jets at close quarter.