Blue Angels

"Break."

 

The Blue Angels US Navy Aerial Demonstration Team breaks up it's 4-ship diamond formation with a simple quick command and numbers 1, 3, 2 and 7 starburst outward in a maneuver they have practiced thousands of times. Note number 7 on the lower right is a two-seater with an observer in the rear seat.

 

While all 4 F/A-18 Hornets here have smoke generators producing trails, both numbers 1 and 3 are also generating small water vapor condensation trails ("contrails") from the extremely low air pressure on their upper surfaces that is briefly generated by a fast maneuvering jet.

 

Joint Base Andrews, just southwest of Washington D.C., holds a major airshow on odd numbered years. 2019 was unusual as it featured both the US Navy's Blue Angels but also the US Air Force's Thunderbirds.

 

Airshows require fast shutter speeds, especially for jet aircraft such as these F/A-18s. Shutter priority mode with the speed set at 1/2000 works well. For slower propeller driven aircraft, a setting of 1/500 is usually fast enough to get a good capture.

 

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