Earlier in the week I was waffling on whether I wanted to take Friday off but then I figured that since I work at home and live near the airport, I would hear the planes and would regret not taking the day off. Anyway, usually on the Friday before the air show, they have what amounts to a full practice for the air show. There are some acts that don't go up but there are many that do. Best part about it is that is is free.
I thought the Blue Angels were starting later than they ended up starting up, so I only got to see them as they flew around Ypsilanti. I didn't get any pictures of them. I made it in time to catch the first Thunderbird practice. I ended up sitting near the Kalitta hangars. It was a decent enough spot but I was sure that actually being at the show would be better (it turns out that I was right).
They are doing work on one of the runways at Willow Run and I think because of that, some of the groups ended up staging out of Selfridge. I think they were also following COVID protocols. The Thunderbirds came out of Selfridge.
I didn't get too many side shots of them since I was practically in line with show center. But I do like this shot.
A line abreast formation. During the show, this is usually tighter.
I think this was one of the opposing solo aircraft.
They were practicing with a three ship formation.
The diamond.
The diamond climbing.
What they call the bomb burst.
Another shot of the diamond.
This hawk was giving an airshow of his own.
They had an A400M Atlas that was put through its paces by its Luftwaffe (German Air Force) crew.
The A400M is built by Airbus and apparently the cockpit looks like the cockpits in their other planes. I think because of that, if you can fly the other Airbus planes, you can fly this one with a little familiarization.
This plane fills many of the same roles that the C-17 fills. But it also fills many of the roles that the C-130 fills.
I think they can even use it as a tanker if they want.
A head on shot. The bulges on the side house the landing gear so that the cargo area is as clean as possible.
Next up was an E/A-18 Growler.
The Growler is the electronic attack plane based on the Super Hornet frame. It was produced to replace the EA-6 Prowler. It is an electronic attack plane and is used to jam enemy radar. I think it can be used for other things. It wouldn't surprise me if they figured out a way to use it for a cyber attack someday.
It was pretty cool.
Next up was the A-10 Thunderbolt being put through it's paces.
I'm not sure where this one came from but I know it wasn't from the Selfridge wing.
Another view of the A-10.
The Thunderbirds came back to go through their show practice at roughly the same time they would be performing in the air show. I think that gives them a chance to see how the light and shadows behave.
The mirror formation from a different angle than what it is supposed to be viewed at.
The top plane flips over. That makes this look like a picture from an airplane guide.
I think this is called an echelon formation.
One of the solo planes.
The diamond coming in.
This formation breaking up.
Another one of the solos.
The five ship formation climbing.
And coming back.
A line abreast formation.
The two solo planes.
The six planes in the delta formation.
One more pass of the diamond formation.
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