Wings Over Houston Saturday 2012

Soloist Dave Tickle makes a high speed pass southbound. Tickle has his lips pulled tight, a common reaction to the exercises used to prevent blackouts. Blue Angels do not use G-suits and rely on abdominal tightening and breathing exercises to keep blood from draining out of the head during high G maneuvers.

F-22 Raptor showing the surface finishes that make up a stealth design. This was a close pass, so click on original size to see more detail. An aircraft's RCS (Radar Cross Section) is its equivalent size on radar. On radar, an F-22 shows up about the size of a marble!

Nose art was a perk allowed by Army Air Force commanders to boost morale in the most dangerous job in WWII-bomber crew duty over western Europe.

The Galveston Gal P-51 flew directly over me to afford this belly detail photo. This immaculate aircraft was destroyed in a tragic accident on Oct 23, 2013 near Galveston, Texas.

F-22 Raptor coming out of a dive right at us. The first run of F-22's was 187 airframes. They had a total cost of $67.3 billion based on public information totals, or about $359 million each. The Pentagon says the first 187 only costs $137 million each. Don't you love governmental math?

Underside view of an F-22 Raptor shows its beautiful proportions. Notice the absence of right angles to the flight path- a key to steath design, but just the beginning of what it takes to strike a small radar signature.

Blue Angels soloist takes off at beginning of show.

An ME109's view of a WWII B-17 bomber.

North American B-25 bomber. On May 27, 1944 a B-25 on its maiden combat sortie scored a direct hit on a Japanese airfield at Rabaul. Drifting out of the bomb bay with the deadly ordinance was a 65 foot long scroll with the names of 35,000 Oklahoma school kids who raised $109,670.00 to "build their own" plane!

Legends of flight. From bottom up, Lockeed Martin/Boeing F-22 Raptor stealth fighter, McDonnell Douglas F4 Phantom, Republic P-47, North American P-51.

A patriotic concession stand at the airshow.

Blue Angels take off southbound to start show.

Curtiss SB2C Helldiver.

All 6 Blue Angels complete a loop in tight formation at far end of field.

Classic diamond formation.

Blue Angels F-18's are almost pure factory stock. One change is the stick pressure, which has 40 pounds of resistance dialed into it to force constant pressure and eliminate the zero zone of motion play. The smoke pipe is the other primary add and gets its smoke oil from a tank placed where the guns normally rest. These aircraft come directly from normal fleet inventory and are fully combat ready except for the aformentioned changes.

Move the cursor to the photo and select "Original" size to see the pilots watching a spot on the Flight Commander's lead aircraft to keep formation. There is no time or need to look forward or anywhere else while in tight formations. Each day they bet their life on the Commander's skills.

The start of a tall, sweeping team barrel roll.

Tip and tail of the Diamond in an inverted posture.

Lead soloist C.J. Simonsen on the highest speed pass of the day. Fellow photographer Scott Meyer and I estimated his altitude above ground at less than 150 feet. Blue Angels are restricted to 700 MPH top speed at public airshows, and I suspect we got everything he was allowed to give us.

This F-22 Raptor was a beautiful aircraft to watch fly-almost spooky in its smoothness and very quiet unless you were behind it. Its radar transmitter uses a secret design that does not broadcast the aircraft's position like other onboard radar systems in use today.

Nearly 10,000 B-25s were built and about 30 are still flying today. One of those 30 was bought at auction in excellent flying condition back in 1969 for only $3,500.00. The B-25 was the only bomber used by all combat branches of the service, the most versatile airframe in our inventory, and had the most varied combinations of bombs, rockets, guns, cannons, torpedos and fuel tanks in the war.

A V-22 Osprey shown here in high speed "plane mode". It can vertically lift 40 combat ready troops and fly them at 300MPH to an engagement, then set down vertically in the field. Air blasters in the nacelles divert the dust cloud from a desert landing away from the landing area so the troops can see during the disembarkation. Early accidents plagued the design but no unusual incidents have occurred during the last 10 years and field performance has been great.

The B-17 was the mainstay of the 8th Air Force bomb groups. It could haul 6000 pounds of bombs deep into Germany-not a full bomb load, but the fuel for the trip took up the rest of its lifting capacity.

Bell P-39 Aircobra. Engine is behind pilot which caused problems for pilots unfamiliar with the turning characteristics. Many were sold to Russia in WWII.

Douglass SBD Dauntless, made famous at Midway. Nicknamed "Slow But Deadly", the rugged Dauntless had the lowest loss ratio of any U.S. combat airplane. How rugged? Pilot Stanley Vejtasa was jumped by 3 Zeros. He shot down 2 and rammed the last one head on, cutting off its wing, then flew home to the carrier without incident. This was a bomber-not designed to dogfight!

Carrier based Douglas A1 Skyraider, used in Vietnam primarily for ground support. Considering it's fighter plane size, it could carry an amazing variety and weight of ordinance-TWICE as much as an 8th Air Force B-17! It was hardy, reliable, and loved by its pilots.

Curtiss Helldiver. It was faster and heavier than the SBD Dauntless it replaced in 1944.

Navy/Marine F4U Corsair, made by Chance Vought. Some variants had a monstrous 2400 horsepower. As a child I lived only 1 mile from the plant in Grand Prairie, Texas where they were made. Both of my parents worked there in the 1950's.

F8F Bearcat, made by Grumman who championed radial powerplant use.

F4U Corsair. It carried multiple nicknames like Bent Wing Bird, Whispering Death, U-Bird, Hog Nose, and Ensign Eliminator. The long nose was needed to (1) get the large propeller away from the ground and (2) hold an auxiliary fuel tank in the best balance spot, in front of the pilot. Adding that much fuel to the wing tanks would have hurt agility and increased the risk of getting into an unrecoverable spin due to centrifugal forces.

F4 Phantom, the most popular jet of the Vietnam era. A fuel guzzing but tough fighter plane.

The F-22's biggest drawback may be the lack of optic or laser targeting, which limits precise ground placement of ordinance. This is a big disadvantage during insurgent warfare which is so prevalent today. The F-22 costs about $20,000 per HOUR to operate, $45K/hour if you include support base and deployment costs. A10's and attack helicopters are better suited for that purpose and with far less monetary risk.

F8F Bearcat. It arrived too late in WWII to make an impact, but was the fastest of all propeller driven fighters.

Pulling the gear up on an F-18.

Grumman F4F Wildcat. Chicago's O'Hare airport is named after Navy F4F ace, Butch O'Hare. In 1942 O'Hare was in the only airborne fighter plane close to his fleet when a surprise attack came from Japanese bombers. Low on fuel, he shot down three enemy bombers so fast that all were falling toward the ocean at the same time. He immediately damaged two others. Now out of ammunition, he continued to make intimidating passes and startled the attackers to the point that they broke off and ran. His single-handed efforts likely saved the vital carrier USS Lexington and other support ships.