Top 10 Low Pass Flyby's Of All Time

[trof]

God, this used to be a lot of fun.
Juvenile...OK.
Frat boys with fighters.
But still a tremendous rush for the pilot.
And the spectators, I guess.

The last one is at San Francisco Bay.
It's the pilot's last flight with the Blue Angels.
Reportedly blew out some windows of a few yachts in the bay.
Guess he wanted to go out in a blaze of glory.
:evilgrin:
http://biertijd.com/mediaplayer/?itemid=19448

[RebelOne]

1. What a thrill it would be to fly in one of those planes.

The only flying I have done was in single-engine planes. Would have loved to be in the Air Force and learned to fly those jets.

[trof]

4. It was a thrill. And it was single seat, single engine.

But quite fast.
;-)

[taterguy]

2. What could go wrong?

Seriously, educate us civvies about what could go wrong.

Looks dangerous as hell.

[trof]

3. Well...let's see...Yeah, it's dangerous.

Mainly for the pilot.
In my day (60s) we didn't have radar altimeters and ground avoiding autopilots.
When you got below 500' at speeds in excess of 300 knots, you were operating strictly on judgement, guts, and cojones.
"How low can you go?"

Sure, we're showing off.
:-)
"Look at ME! See what I can do?"
But it's a real adrenalin rush, as I said before.
"I pushed the edge of the envelope so far I bent it. Beat THAT!"

It can be dangerous to the observers, but MUCH more so for the pilot.
It's "Look, I'm putting my ass on the line (For no good reason except my ego. Pilots, especially fighter pilot, have ENORMOUSLY huge egos. :-))

And sometimes you did it where no one else could see.
Just to 'prove' yourself TO yourself.

Clipping wave tops in the Gulf of Mexico when no one else was there.
Just to see the salt spray on the front of your canopy.

It's hard to explain, the Fighter Pilot Mystique.
:-)

[oneshooter]

5. Some times the guy on the ground gets a thrill too!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEnOeITKZAA

[edbermac]

6. #3 can't be real

That guy would have been knocked down when that flew past.

[krispos42]

7. Okay, #1 is freakin' awesome!

I'd rate this one at #3 though...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvDDDKnNhuE

[Skittles]

8. thanks trof

here's my bf's comment: The last guy put up what we called a "rooster tail." It depended on your wingspan how low you had to fly because it happened when your wingtip vortices met. In the F-4 you had to be below 36'. it only worked over the water or over the desert. #2 flew lower.

I have to say - when I was 19, 20 and working with USAF pilots processing their paperwork - what a cool mixture of intelligence, bravado and almost childlike sense of fun and daredevil they had. :D

[Skittles]

9. trof could you respond to brigid; thanks

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=105&topic_id=9805871&mesg_id=9805871

[trof]

11. Done. Thanks for the reference.

[csziggy]

10. Pretty cool!

Back when we first bought this farm we were on the edge of the plantation owned lands - thousands of acres with almost no one living between here and the next town. Our farm is on the top of a north-south running ridge and we put our first barn along the top of the ridge. Apparently our barn became a landmark for the fighter jet pilots when practicing low level maneuvers while flying between the bases in Panama City and Valdosta.

At least once a month we'd get a series of jets flying not much above tree top level directly in line with the barn. If you were standing in the barn yard as they came over, you got the feeling you'd be sucked into their scoops. Fortunately the jets went by so fast, the horses didn't freak out. By the time the noise hit, the jets were gone, the horses would look around and not see anything to get upset about, and just relax.

On the other hand, when the crop dusters that were supposed to be spraying the farm next door screwed up and sprayed our farm too, the horses went crazy. Big flying things swooping back and forth for an hour were terrifying to them. I ended up having to threaten legal action and get the FAA involved before those finally stopped.

About twenty years ago we started getting a lot of development around here and I guess the bases started getting complaints about the jets coming over. They have not come over in a very long time. I almost miss them!

[trof]

12. Eventually we were restricted.

Had to fly low altitude/high speed practice missions in specified corridors.
Mainly over unoccupied land.

Of course those were 'official' missions.
There was still a fair amount of 'free-lance' buzzing going on.

[csziggy]

13. Yeah - once this area got more population the pilots had to quit

But thirty four years ago, there were few houses out this way and lots of unoccupied land. Our barn made a great landmark - I think that was one reason we got the flyovers. It marked the western edge of the plantation land between Tallahassee and Monticello.

Now we just get the low level cargo choppers flying between Valdosta and Panama City. Those we can hear coming for a very long time before they come in sight and they take a long time to come over. At the beginning of the first Gulf War they were our first indication that missions were being set up from one of the bases since there was a lot of ferrying between the bases.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

14. that was awesome. thanks for the link. n/t