Offutt Air Show - 2012

John Klat will perform at 7 events in 2012.  We were fortunate to see what he can do with an airplane.  Wow!

I didn't expect much from the Soviet built Yak-52.  They were amazing!

The Yak-52 was built as a trainer.  I don't think that they had maneuvers like this in mind.

Gunfighter and Big Beautiful Doll are regulars at the Offutt Air Show.  They are always a challenge to photograph.

The F-86 Sabor was one of the United States first jet fighters.

The Harrier is not a stealth fighter.  It was the loudest aircraft of the day.  It is amazing - able to land like a helicopter.

The USN F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet moves so fast that that it pushes a cloud of water vapor along.

Neither I nor the pilot saw the F/A-18 nearly collide with this large bird.  When you are flying at nearly the speed of sound, you don't want this kind of close encounter.  The depth of focus is very shallow with the 400mm lens I was using.  The bird is in focus so it is the same distance away as the aircraft.  The aircraft passed within a couple of feet of it.

As the F/A-18 departed, I wondered if it is one of the last of its kind.  Will drones take over this type of warfare?  This airshow had some of the first manned fighters.  It may also have had one of the last.