Come Fly With Me - Blue Angels edition
-
Watch this full screen...
Link to videoWhat struck me, other than the remarkable precision, is how the pilot is constantly adjusting the throttle with his left hand. At least, I assume that's the throttle in the F-18.
-
@89th said in Come Fly With Me - Blue Angels edition:
You'd think:
- A gust of wind would be catastrophic.
I thought the same thing, but that gust would affect all planes in such a tight formation.
- One jet's impact on the airflow isn't causing issues for the other jet.
Probably is, but they're compensating for it, because the airflow is constant?
I'll wait for @Copper to chime in.
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
-
What struck me was that even though they were so close, they're still moving about a bit relative to one another - I actually found it quite hard to watch. I once saw a Red Arrows (the RAF equivalent) display live, and felt much the same way.
-
@George-K said in Come Fly With Me - Blue Angels edition:
Probably is, but they're compensating for it, because the airflow is constant?
I'll wait for @Copper to chime in.
That sounds right to me.
I've posted here before, that I worked as instructor with a former Air Force Thunderbirds commander.
I asked him about the crash in 1982 where 4 Thunderbirds crashed, 3 of whom followed their commander who had a jammed stabilizer. Those 3 guys never knew the ground was coming at them, they just kept their eyes on the commander and all flew into the ground together.
The key to flying that formation is keeping your eyes on the front guy, or the guy next to you.
The commander told me he once had to fire a guy for sneaking peeks out the window.
-
