Boston Portsmouth Airshow

Went to the airshow at Pease Airport in Portsmouth, NH (why the name? marketing!).

I took several pictures of this fire engine before I realized it said U.S. Air Force instead of U.S. Fire Department:

The lines to go into the "static displays" were long even at the very start of the day, and even at the far edges of the airshow. The lines only got worse as the day went on.

I liked the effect here, a spiral around the straight-shooters:

The Blue Angels, as the headlining act, went last. But they parked the planes, in order from 1 to 6, right in front of our area to tantalize us the entire show.

A parachutist:

Many of the flight paths (and resulting contrails) gave the impression of a roller coaster... without rails:

Another corkscrew effect:

He's out of control!! He's heading right for us!!!

Again and again, the pilots deliberately performed stunts that looked a lot like WWII planes in distress (shot down and free falling from the sky). Very impressive, but a bit odd when you think about it.

They also simulated some "near misses", although no one else approached the Blue Angels' 18" separation:

Loop de loops:
Criss-crossing:
Parabolas:
Corkscrew:
I liked the arc as these two planes crossed paths:

Low-flying, very fast planes approach each other head-on:

A few close-ups:

Tandem vertical ascents & descents:

Faces in the crowd - I can't believe that L is already losing her baby teeth!!! She's only 6!!!

A photogenic bunch:

Mother-daughter secrets? It starts early! L was telling her mom about the story the neighbor boy told her the other day after a community camp-out. It was apparently the story of 5 little girls who would not be quiet in their tent even when they were asked very nicely by one of their fellow campers. I have a problem suspending disbelief for this kind of super-unrealistic, avant-garde modern fiction.

I think someone said this was the C-120, but I'm going to have to double-check. It is very cool:

I thought this one looked like just the right size for my personal travel needs:

But this one was very popular with the pre-teen set:

Sure, it's a clichéd airshow scene, but totally amazing:

Absolutely LOVE this heart contrail:

The Blue Angel crews start marching toward their vehicles...

Wouldn't you know it, my camera battery died as the Blue Angels started up!!! They were amazing though. And we saw them Sunday again when we were out sailing -- they go pretty far out to turn around and regroup.