Tag Archives: demo

Departure of the USAF F-35A Demo

Being up the tower at BFI during Seafair was a fantastic opportunity. I have photographed a bunch of F-35A departures at Boeing Field in recent years, but an elevated location was hard to beat. The A and B jets were parked together on the far side of the field so a little distant for a clean shot but, as they taxied out, it was still worth a go. Passing the Golden Knights jumpship and all of the people watching from the ramp was also rather cool to see.

The takeoff is a brutal affair. The power of that engine is impressive and, as they got airborne and held it low, you knew that anyone at the north end of the field was in for a treat as they blasted across the airfield perimeter. Looking down on the jet was epic. I was taking a chance with some lower shutter speeds but letting the camera make up for my lack of skill by letting me have a lot of shots to choose from. What a moment of sensory overload!

Flares Aplenty

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The USAF has started using flares more in some of their displays recently. I have seen shots of the F-22 Raptor demo pumping out flares at the top of a loop to great effect. The willingness to use flares is dependent on where you are – no point starting a wildfire for a display. Seafair is over water so no risk at all there. Consequently, The F-35A demo this year incorporated flares too.

I was pleased to get some shots with the flares being dispensed. They were not thrown out in quick succession, which was a shame as a closer spacing would have made for a better shot. Even so, having some flare shots was a nice addition. Seafair’s display axis is a long way from the shoreline, so things were a bit distant, but they were still not too bad.

Tango Really Does Like to Get Those Jetpipes Close

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Those that have seen photos from the air show scene in 2024 may well have seen the spirited departure that the Royal Canadian Air Force Hornet demo includes. The CF-188 gets pulled aggressively to the vertical and the speed of rotation is chosen carefully so that the engine nozzles get very close to the ground, but the airframe is already lifting and climbing so that no contact is made. It makes for some cool shots. At Abbotsford and Comox, I was nowhere close enough to get a good look at the moment of rotation, but Bremerton provided a better chance. Rather far away so a bit hazy but still pretty cool. Shame the special demo jet broke again, and we had the twin tub instead.

Evening Raptor Demo at Last

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The “at last” in this title is not that I haven’t seen an F-22 demo in the evening. I saw one once at Chino and it was very cool. This is more about the fact that the Raptor demos in recent years have not strayed far west very often. They did a demo in Australia but only had one demo west of the Mississippi for one season. However, Canada did attract the team, and Abbotsford provided a chance to see them for me.

The pilot for the demo for the last two years is a guy that was a regular attendee of air shows in the Midwest when I lived there. I know some of his friends, but he was quite young then and I can’t claim to know him. Even so, it is rather cool to see him have made it to his chosen airframe of the F-22 and then to become the demo pilot. Only near the end of his second year did I finally see his routine and it was a good show. I know he has used flares at a number of events, but warm dry weather probably has meant that the fire risk precluded that. Even so, the evening light made for a great show.

Nicely done, Sam. Excellent performance. Hope you have enjoyed it for the last two years.

Canadian Air Force 100th Anniversary Hornet

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The Comox AFB air show was the first public display of the special anniversary painted CF-188A Hornet for the Canadian Air Force’s 100^th birthday. There had been some photo sorties undertaken in the weeks before the show to support some upcoming appearances, but this was its first public outing. They pulled the jet out to the center of the crowd line for crewing and start up and it returned there after its display was complete.

The paint scheme is really impressive, and I hope the aging jet can stay serviceable throughout the season, so air show attendees get to see it in the air. It does look very good. The RCAF does seem to have a good history of painting demo jets really well and they must be very pleased with this one. The light was a bit variable while it flew but I was happy with some of the shots I got of it. One the ground it also looked great, particularly close up.

F-35A Snorting it Up at Abbotsford

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I saw the USAF F-35A demo at SeaFair in 2022 and it was impressive but, unfortunately, a bit distant over the lake. Abbotsford in 2023 was my first chance to see the performance closer in and that combined with the evening show to give good lighting conditions. I was not disappointed. The demo was a great routine, and it really tore up the skies as the pilot wrung the jet out for our entertainment. The honking great engine means it is never quiet and, while it might not be as agile as an F-16, there is plenty of control authority for some rapid changes of direction. The evening light made the airframe look even better. These are some of my favorite shots from the display.