Blue Angel pass at S.F.

[427TJ]

Short clip of a Blue Angel solo making a pass during the Fleet Week show at San Francisco a few weeks ago. He's right on Mach 1 as evidenced by not only the speed but also the visible shock wave that's formed around the jet as it goes transonic in the humid air. I love the speed rush that the video captures.

http://jumpcut.com/view?id=C009AF727...89000423CF037A

[Woj]

And those guys get paid to do that. What a deal.

Great video clip.

Phil Woj.

[Xplantdad]

That is crazy cool...

[Belair62]

Damn he was right there wasn't he !!! Should have pushed the pedal past the carpet and he would have had it !!!

[x Baldwin Motion]

amazing to catch that on the video cam

[sixbrl440]

That takes a great pilot and a great hand on the video camera.
Thanks for posting!!

[427TJ]

By the way, you hear two jets in that clip. First, the opposing solo (which you don't see) makes a fast pass from the opposite direction to get the crowd's attention and then the transonic guy surprises eveyone with the .99 Mach pass you see on the video. The second jet sound you hear on the video is the transonic F-18 making that death-shriek right at Mach 1. Because he's right on the Mach his sound is "behind" him by a split-second.

In 1972 (when I was 10) my dad, a newspaper reporter, got us a whole day at sea on the U.S.S. Enterprise as part of a press and family day cruise out of NAS Alameda near San Francisco. Once we got out past the fog into sunny skies (about 30 miles off the coast) they put on one hell of an airshow. My dad and I and a few other fathers and kids were up on the ship's island just aft and outside of the Bridge and about 60 feet above the deck. From my perch on the railing I could look down on the deck and see all the launches and it was incredible. An F-4J Phantom made a few "bolters," which is a landing that does not catch an arresting hook, and roared past in a rush of noise right there below us. Then, during the airshow, it suddenly got quiet. I was standing on the railing looking out over the deck and the ocean when all of a sudden this jet shape went past on the port (left) side, level with us, having approached the ship from the stern. My 10-year old brain said, "What the..." and then KA-BOOM! It was an F-4J Phantom and he was doing about 800 knots, or about Mach 1.1 to 1.2--well past the speed of sound, and he was about 300 feet away and at eye level. It just hurtled past the ship in complete silence and then the sonic boom just flattened everyone. The deck crew down below had all kneeled down to watch the pass and I didn't put 2 and 2 together. I let out an animal cry of terror and several men, my dad included, who were standing behind me all chuckled in unison as I jumped out of my skin. They all knew the Phantom was coming past supersonic and were ready. I can still see my dad standing there behind me with his pipe clenched in his teeth, fingers in his ears, and chuckling as I spun around in shock to learn what had just happened. The Phantom pulled straight up into an incredible vertical climb and banged-off several vertical rolls as his speed bled off. Okay, then about 20 seconds after the Phantom boomed the ship an RA-5C Vigilante came past in the opposite direction, also through the Mach, and boomed us. I just about keeled over in shock from the sonic booms. Hey, I was 10. It was one of the coolest things I have ever seen.

[Dog427435]

WOW - Makes that last pass down the strip seem like I was pulling into a parking space!

Great shot!!

[Verne_Frantz]

That same year (72) I was in the Navy aboard the U.S.S. Forrestal as an ET. Several times I found myself up on the O-10 level (ten stories above the flight deck) on a radar platform watching the Phantoms launching and recovering. IT was a sight and sound I'll never forget.

Verne

[Chevy454]

That clip quite possibly might be the coolest thing I've ever seen...