2008 National Cherry Festival Airshow

Over the Fourth of July weekend, my good friend and old roommate Rob and I went up to Traverse City, Michigan to catch one heck of an awesome airshow. They only hold it every other year, but it's totally worth the 500 mile trek from Dayton. I have heard it's one of the best sites to see the Blue Angels perform, and I can't really argue to the contrary.

Although I have not written about it in quite a long time on here, photography is something I love so combining it with airplanes equals way too much fun in my mind. Rob and I have already been to Louisville and Traverse City this year and will be going to Cleveland and NAS Oceana in Virginia Beach before the 2008 airshow season is out. Not that you're probably surprised to hear of such an aviation obsession from me.

So long story short, we spent three entire days out in the Northern Michigan sun watching airplanes zoom around the sky making tons of noise. And as always, I took lots of photos and videos. The weather was perfect all weekend and the performers put on an excellent show. In particular, the F-15 demo by the Oregon ANG and the Blue Angels (who never disappoint) stood out.

I've posted some photos and videos below, and you can click on any of them to open up the higher-resolution versions over at Flickr. You can also see the entire airshow collection on my Flickr page. And while you're at it, check out Rob's photos too - he's an amazing photographer.

Such a tight diamond from the Blues

Fat Albert low over Grand Traverse Bay

Such precision at closure rates of 1000+ knots

There's just something I love about the A-10

The Aeroshell T-6 team puts on a pretty good show

Seriously, don't flinch...

USCG rescue demonstration

Oregon ANG F-15 with a killer performance


Video compilation of the Blue Angels' performances