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| The Diamond (Public Domain) |
Moi? I sit here, high atop the battlements at Chez Sarge and ponder the infinite.
Actually I'm counting the days, hours, minutes and seconds until The Missus Herself returns from her sojourn in California. Yeah, it's lonely at the top. Or so I'm told.
In my never ending quest to bring you the finest in aviation and military related video fare, I stumbled across the following gem. Mr J.C. King has some nice videos at his place on the Tube o' You (as Buck likes to call it). I recommend them to you.
So what's it like to fly with angels? It has to be something like this.
(Some of you will recognize the locale over which the Blues are flying...)
Oh yeah, you're gonna want to go full screen on this one. Trust me. I needed a cold shower after watching.
Seriously.
And if you see my Muse? Tell her "she got some 'splainin' to do!"
Nice vid and thankfully cheesy-music-free. Apropos o' not much, I could never be a fighter pilot... or even a Nasal Radiator... as I got a mild case o' vertigo watching this thing in full screen. We know our limitations.
ReplyDeleteYou almost get the full effect from videos like this. Nothing to get the fluid in the inner ear sloshing around though. Need a chair mounted on gimbals. Heh.
DeleteI feel your pain regarding the cheesy music Buck. So when I find stuff like this, I think of you as I post it. (That and I try to warn you of bagpipe music, when it happens.)
imaginis non verba! Bravo!
ReplyDeleteIndeed. One of the best I've seen!
DeleteCouple of comments.
ReplyDelete1. Is your house in any of the shots?
2. How many accidents were there on the bridge when they flew by towards the end?
3. Even on video, I don't like negative G.
4. I felt my stomach doing the M-1 maneuver (Anti-G thing) several times.
5. Dang, they're close!
6. Think the guy in the back took a nap there about 2/3rds through it.
7. Sierra Foxtrot Hotel!
Oh and ...
Delete8. If this is what you produce when your Muse is on leave, I'm doomed when she get's back.
My house is not in any of the shots.
DeleteThat is an awesome video innit?
FWIW, my Muse is not on leave. She is AWOL. And yes, she is in trouble.
DeleteYou'll never be doomed, your stories are just too good. The occasional video lets our readers get a feel for what you fighter jocks get to experience.
Besides which I didn't shoot the videos, I just post them. I also encourage the readers to check out the other videos by the same guys. There's lots of good stuff on YouTube but separating the wheat from the chaff can be a challenge at times. But I try.
Wished we'd had Go-Cams back when I was doing that flying thing. Holding a 1985-ish shoulder mounted VCR just wasn't all that feasible.
DeleteI think of that a lot. Would have been nice to see some HD cockpit footage from old Double Ugly!
DeleteI'm sure some of you have seen the 8mm film of the AF fighter (F-86?) midair from bitd. WARNING, OBJECTS IN THE VIEWFINDER ARE CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR!
DeleteOh, if there was only a way to do memory to digital video...
DeleteHhmm, I may need to track that video down...
DeleteCan you imagine what kind of videos we'd see if the bubbleheads had windows in their submarines?
ReplyDeleteNice work, Sarge.
(I mean the finding and posting.)
I'd think, in general, it would be dark and quiet!
DeleteThanks Skip. (I find, I post. I pick things up, I put them down.)
DeleteAs to the submarine footage, it would depend on what depth they were at. If they had windows, then they couldn't go that deep anyway.
DeleteAm I right?
All yuh'd need is transparent HY-80 steel. How hard could it be? :)
DeleteGood point PA.
DeleteWhere's Scotty when you need him?
DeleteI just want to know who you have to know or blackmail to get that ride?!!
ReplyDeleteNo kidding!
Delete@Russ/
DeleteI did/got the next best thing--was briefly assigned as the backseater in an F-4C to an ex Thunderbird jock (Maj [in 1968] Bob McAdoo) when arrived in the UK @RAF Bentwaters late in '68. He was smooth as silk. I made my first deployment to Wheelus AB in Tripoli with the 91stTFS in his backseat for bomb&gun practice. before I was eventually assign to the 78thTFS in nearby RAF Woodbridge. I learned a lot, but only on rare occasions did I ever approach his effortless smoothness in the air.
Dan Cherry was one of the high muckety mucks in the 8TFW when I got to Kunsan. He'd been, I think, Thunderbird 1. Gotta agree with you, VX. Flying on his wing was a piece of cake, made even a 1Lt look good!
DeleteHeh, 1st Lt, eh? One of the advantages of flying a single-seat fighter. Although I was ac-qualified as a 1stLt by the time I got to the 78th, my (old,old school) SQ CO told me when I complained about not being assigned to the front seat as I was fully qualified, he replied: "Lt, you will NOT be designated an ac in the F-4D aircraft until you make Capt." LOL! (It actually had to do with having a bunch of Sr Maj Navs in the Squadron and a little delicate thing about OERs, lol.
DeleteFor those who haven't guessed yet, here's a clue as to the location.
ReplyDeleteThe river below the Blues is the Severn.
Guesses will be accepted in 3, 2, 1...
The Blue Angels appear at the Seattle Seafair Hydroplane races on Lake Washington on a North/South Axis. I had a house above the Renton airport on the South end of Lake Washington. We would have friends over, sit on the deck, and have the best seats in the area for the show. No crowds or parking hassles either. Did get to see the Thunderbirds at airshows a couple of times. Both groups are beyond awesome.
ReplyDeleteAlrighty then, no guesses?
ReplyDeleteThat's the Trade School on the Severn. Ya know, the United States Naval Academy, Annapolis.
Seriously though, when Juvat and Virgil (and sometimes Dave) get going ya can almost see them "shooting their watches" (i.e. waving their hands around as fighter jocks are wont to do).
I love this stuff!
Speaking of Dave, if you're around Dave, I owe you a long-mail--will be in touch this weekend...
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