Blue Angels Over Hawaii

F-22 Raptor midflight

I was exposed to the wild world of airshows this past weekend out at Hickam Airforce Base here in Honolulu, Hawaii. Getting to see the static displays of new and vintage aircrafts was pretty interesting, but the demonstrations of flying prowess by the F-22 Hornet, and the Blue Angels Team flying in F-16 Hornets. It was amazing!
The F-22 Raptor seemed to defy gravity at points and then on the next pass hit nearly supersonic speed. These aircraft fly over me while I surf all the time but seeing it this up close and personal was a real treat.

F-22 Raptor

A-4 Skyhawk

C-130

The middle performance of the day was of the big boy, a C130 Hercules nicknamed "Fat Albert". It seemed a bit overshadowed by the theatrics of the smaller fighter planes but the C130 was pretty amazing in its landing. It came to a stop shortly after touching down. This must be a huge asset at all of the shorter run ways across the world.

The Blue Angels

F/A-18 Hornet

We had to wait until 4pm for the Blue Angels to hit the sky. Luckily it was an overcast day which kept it from getting to hot and muggy. Eric, Jess, Josh, Heidi and I all had prime seats for the show which lasted all day. As it was nearing 4:00 everyone was getting very excited.

Near vertical takeoff

Two Planes!?

Even after seeing the more advanced F-22 in action, I was still blown away by the teamwork and near misses during the Blue Angels performance. It is something everyone has to see at some point in their life.