Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler OT - Blue Angels - BIG TIME!!!!

I just got back from a 4 day business trip. My plan was to get caught up and back in the saddle. Unfortunately, I am being distracted - ALOT.

I'm looking out my 19th floor office window (right now) and watching the Blue Angels practicing for the air show that is scheduled in Rochester this weekend. They are probably 2-4 miles away. What a show. This has been going on for 1/2 hour and I expect there will be a repeat tomorrow.

I may not have noticed except the first fly-by was so close and so loud it scared the bejesus out of me. Fortunately, I took Ajax's advice and have started to wear Depends, so all is well. I am sending this off so I can watch the show. Man - are they ever close!!!

put a sign in your window that says..

T-BIRDS DO IT BETTER...

and see how much closer they get..

i grew up on air force bases, so i fully comprehend the greatness of watching one of their shows.. very amazing!

bigjohn

Yeah, I work right next to Lockheed, which is at Moffet Field in California. When they practice for airshows, they almost fly right over our parking lot. All the car alarms go off, pretty funny. Though it's cool to see the flyovers, stunt planes, vintage planes coming in too.

My dad was a fighter pilot in the early days of jets so I grew up with a love for watching. We happened to live near a navel air base after he left the air force so I have many happy memories of both the Blue Angels and the Thunderbirds coming to perform. Dad always told me the Thunderbirds were better

I was working in SF awhile back, on the 18th floor of a building, and I kept hearing planes go by. It was just a few months after Sept. 11 and I began thinking, "There's no way that downtown SF is in flight paths... I wonder what the hell is going on?!" It turned out that it was Fleet Week, and the Blue Angels were doing a show! We went out on the balcony/roof area of the 20th floor and watched. It was quite a heady experience.

Looks like play time is over today - I just watched them land at the airport. What a show (and productivity buster! ). I ended up with 5 folks in my office watching the antics. Those guys got REAL close to the building I'm in. Fun interlude. Hopefully, they'll be back tomorrow at about the same time.

i have similar memories.. going to all these airshows as a child and seeing the biggest and fastest jets on the planet right before my eyes.. SR-71 blackbirds, C-5 cargo carrier, B-52 stratto-fortress, F-14 tomcats, etc..

we always had a great time.. and we used to be able to climb up in them, i dont know if they still let kids do that these days??

bigjohn

My brother and I were military plane nuts as kids. There was a Navy base nearby, so we saw all kinds of planes all the time, and we also went to a couple air shows.

The most impressive flyover I ever witnessed was when a B-2 did a wide sweeping turn over Berkeley when I was a student. Sure it might be a stealth plane, but it's damn huge, and loud!

The Blue Angels did the Schenectady County Air Show 2 years ago and the Thunderbirds did it last year. During practice and the show, both groups flew right over my head quite a bit, scaring the heck out of the neighborhood dogs and setting off some car alarms. I was more impressed with the Blue Angels (maybe because a Hornet is bigger than a Fighting Falcon, or maybe because the solid navy blue paint job had more impact than the the "bird" paint job).

Try to get closer!

It was my impression too that the deep blue paint job really contributed the drama going way back before the F/A18 and F16. Remember the Thunderbirds flying the F100 and the Blue Angels the F4. Haven't seen either one for a long time now.