Red, White, and BLUES!!!

I am still working on a good post for my thoughts on camp so I'll let you in on Megan and I's weekend, and it was awesome despite the heat. Many of you know that Pensacola is the heart of Naval aviation and home to the Blue Angels flight demonstration team. I never get tired of seeing them since I love flight so much...So contrary to recommendations from people who have lived here longer than us, Meg and I headed to the beach this weekend for the annual Red, White, and Blues weekend at the beach. Needless to say, it was a wee bit crowded (hardly any sand open and shoulder to shoulder in the water) but when the Blues hit the sky it was awesome as always. Here are a few pics from the show. I recommend watching them if you get the chance....

Here are the four formation angels making their first pass over the water tower before moving into the diamond formation (where there is less than 18 inches between each jet)

Here is the diamond formation flying together with two of the angels inverted. This is impressive considering the precision it takes to hold this and still be in diamond formation.
Here is a great shot of the tight formation that they fly, again it is a matter of inches between the wing of the plane and the cockpit of the next plane
Here is a great cloudburst shot that they do when flying in the delta (6 plane) formation. They come across show center with a move into this "explosion" and then they all do a vertical loop followed by a cross where they seem to all come together and miss each other by inches!
Here is one last shot of the diamond formation. I don't know how they hold it without getting caught up in each other's jetwash.

So there you go, despite a little heat and a large crowd it was well worth the show! I tried to get some shots of the opposing solos (where they come at each other and barely miss), but I was always just a second late from show center. If you ever get the chance to see the blues...Make sure you do! It is an awesome experience!