Great photos of those flying machines. I think all inspiration comes from nature originally, the birds and the bees, the flowers and the trees. I prefer watching the birds and insects in flight, but am often amazed at what man has developed from their original observation.

My favourite is the photo of the super hornets and their trails. I like your musical choice as well. How did you experience the intense sounds they make?

I hope you're enjoying the start of the weekend.

Dreaming of rain

In the sun

Be well and enjoy

Hi all, Hey SP!

Awesome airplane shots sp! Great to see them without the crowds.

I am busy at work so can't hang around... gotta fly.

Thanks for the OT and outstanding photos SP!

happy trails all!

in the Houston area.
It was breathtaking, but the longer I looked around, the more recruiters for the Air Force I saw, in booths, talking to young people.
I wanted to run through the crowd and yell, NOOOOO! RUN!
Beautiful pictures, sp, thanks so much, as always!

compliments you gave me on an earlier political diary posted here. Enjoy your trip. I can't wait to see what camera paintings you post from it. Sp, the first thought I had seeing your images was Taking Flight. Great shots! I wonder how often the Blue Angels update their fleet. Please, no crappy F-35s. Yeah, the climate crisis weather has been weird here, too. I will NOT allow myself to dwell on the upcoming Storm Season! I will say: Bah Humbug!! Anywho, you all stay well. Rec'd!!

I had seen the Blue Angels perform at least two or three times when I lived in Jacksonville. I'm dating myself but I'm pretty sure they were flying A-4s in those days. We had an A-4 squadron in one of the hangars where I once worked. Ironically, I knew a USAF captain there who later became a "skipper" of the Thunderbirds.

I'm mentioned recently that the Thunderbirds were here for the race. The wx was overcast so I think they did the low altitude performance. I only caught one of two low level passes. The run of airliner accidents recently is somewhat concerning to say the least. I've seen more than a few tactical jet crashes onboard and other accidents and incidents personally and have been witness to others indirectly, such as talking to one pilot just before they ejected, and seeing some of the remains/personal effects of a dear friend, thrown on my duty desk. Listening to the high pitched voice of another pilot friend trying to figure out a way to land heavy on the carrier with no electricity, etc., etc. So the recent accidents bring back a lot of memories. Here today, gone tomorrow.

On the positive side listening to experienced airline pilots discuss the recent accidents while looking at videos and listening to the tower pilot voice recordings reminds me of how challenging a profession it is, and how highly trained, skilled and courageous, the pilots I had the privilege of knowing and working with, actually were. Safety first, you snooze you loose, the thing you don't check kills you. The military pilots put their lives on the line every day even during peacetime. I hope they never have to fly in contested airspace or drop a bomb on anything but an exercise target.

Appreciate the quality of these photos. I had a collection once of hundreds of slides of mostly Russian made aircraft for my classes. Well they weren't mine, but I used them every day for years. Some gun camera film as well.