Monday, July 13, 2009

Now that's low flying!


The US Navy received permission for low-altitude flight along the Detroit River recently as part of an air show at a speedboat race. The picture below shows one of their F/A-18 aircraft passing a waterfront apartment building.




Close indeed! I'm sure the pilot enjoyed himself, although I can't help but wonder if any windows were broken by the jet blast.

Peter

6 comments:

TXGunGeek said...

Um, Long Lens! Not really that close it just appears that way due to the lens used.

Anonymous said...

F-18 are very loud aircraft even by military standards. My mom could tell the plane without looking by engine roar when she lived in Virginia Beach.

Gerry

Anonymous said...

damn it, maverick!

J G Pelham said...

What I like is that when the daily mail featured the plane on their website they identified it as an F-15.

For extra points can anyone identify the variant?

Anonymous said...

F/A-18F Superhornet. The USN has taken to calling them Rhinos for the sake of clarity on carriers. This is due to the necessarily different catapult and arrester gear settings, on account of their greater weight compared to legacy Hornets.

As for the windows, as long as the driver had it subsonic it won't break them. I opine that they are quieter than most comparable fighter aircraft, but quieter doesn't mean quiet by any means.

Jim

Anonymous said...

The Thunderbirds and Blue Angels have done this during the Chicago Air and Water show every year, even after 9/11. They fly through the city lower than the height of the skyscrapers over the people on the beach looking out at the water. Scares you if you are not ready for it. This is no worse than the recent Air Force One terror-buzzing of NYC.