Air Show Fun

One of the most popular events of the summer here in Rhode Island is the Air Show in Quonset.  It’s held along with the Rhode Island National Guard Open house and is great family fun with proceeds benefitting the Hasbro Children’s Hospital.

It’s also a great place to take pictures of planes and people.  I’ll be sharing my Strangers series soon – in the meantime, here are some flying beauties…

Starting with the Army Black Daggers jumpers

The U.S. Army Black Daggers start things off

Sean D. Tucker took our breath away with his bright red Oracle plane

Sean D. Tucker

John Klatt thrilled us

John Klatt

The Jelly Belly plane brought color and made us laugh

Jelly Belly Plane!

And more…

P-51 Mustang

C-130J Super Hercules

I’m a little biased in favor of the helicopters – my dad was a helicopter pilot in Vietnam (thanks, Dad!).  There was only one this time, the Black Hawk.  I texted my dad during the show and he said he never flew one, but he supervised putting the first one together at Ft. Eustis!

Black Hawk

The Geico Skytypers were pretty amazing

Geico Skytypers

And, the grand finale… The Thunderbirds!!!!

USAF Thunderbirds

Amazing

As you can see, it was a beautiful day.  I was shooting with my Canon 55-250mm IS – it seemed to like the Thunderbirds most of all.  Probably not the ideal lens for an air show (I may have been a little jealous of my friend’s 500mm), but it was fairly light to hold all day and got the job done.

Nature in the Neighborhood

The other night I had a dream about a parrot who turned into my mom’s cat.  I woke up to a hawk sweeping past my bedroom window.  What does it all mean?  No clue, but I grabbed my camera and found a couple critters hanging around when I took the dog out.

These two are deadly, but so beautiful…

I'm watching you - all of you...
Hawk-Eye

I’m not sure what kind of hawk they are – possibly Cooper Hawks.  They are huge!  The first one swooped over Woody, and was about the same size, or bigger.  If anyone knows about birds, please comment and let me know what you think.

Update: A coworker helped me do a little research, and we think they are Red-Shouldered Hawks – probably young ones.

Turn around, Bright Eyes
I blend in, right?

When the hawks took off, a little friend came to visit…

I like toast, but...
...but I was just wondering...
...Got nuts?