Miramar, California September 2023
Fightertown USA, home of the American Airshow. This show is quite the challenge, as it is backlit most of the day. And the heat haze doesn’t help the photographer either. Very nice event though with plenty of aircraft on static and the air power demonstration by the US Marine Corps is fantastic.
Taken from quite a distance as the flyby was mostly backlit early morning. This U-2 Dragon Lady flew from Beale AFB to do the flyby as the opener to the show.
The Flight Line at MCAS Miramar is very nicely located. Those who have seen the original Top Gun movie may recognise this famous piece of tarmac, once graced by F-14 Tomcats. This F-35B is operated by VMFA-214 “The Black Sheep” who used to fly the AV-8B Harrier until recently.
VMFAT-502 “Flying Nightmares” F-35B showing off its hover capability.
US Marine Corps F-35B pulling into the vertical. Here it is very obvious how hard it is to shoot at Miramar during the day.
USMC F-35 coming in for a high speed pass at crowd center pulling some nice vapours.
USMC VMGR-352 “Raiders” KC-130 coming in to land after an air to air refuelling demonstration.
VMFAT-101 “Sharpshooters” legacy F-18D coming in for a high speed pass. This unit was sadly deactivated shortly after the show as the need for F-18 Hornet training has become redundant in the Marine Corps.
AH-1Z Viper coming in to show center in support of the Air Power Demo. This unit is normally based at Camp Pendleton and part of HMLA-57.
The CH-53 Super Stallion has been the heavy lift vehicle of choice within the USMC for many years.
the MV-22 Osprey has had a rocky history ever since its inception into the USMC. This one belongs to VMM-163 “Evil Eyes”.
VMFA-101 Sharpshooters F-18D Hornet performing a high speed pass over MCAS Miramar showing off a beautiful shock cone.
US Navy Blue Angels C-130 transport “Fat Albert” taking off from Miramar for her demonstration.
The best demonstration team in the world are the US Navy Blue Angels. A staple at many shows across the USA, these pilots are the pinnacle in wingtip to wingtip flying.
Blue Angels showing off their wingtip to canopy aerial skillset.
Blue Angel 1 during a high speed pass over the show center.