This past weekend the United States Navy’s Blue Angels performed in Honolulu, flying out of Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, which is adjacent to the Honolulu International Airport. It’s the first air show I’ve had the good fortune to attend since I was a child, and despite the blazing sun, the heat, the crowd, and the traffic jams getting into and out of the base, it was a terrific day.

I brought my camera along and I took some pictures, but seriously, why did I bother? I was there with my daughter, Dallas Nagata White, a renowned Honolulu photographer who has been an invited photographer at other military air shows. “Do you want to use my pictures for your blog post?” she asks me. “Well, YES!”

Find Dallas online at DNW Photo. You can follow her on twitter @dallasnagata.

Enjoy!

Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor
The F-22 Raptor performed shortly after we arrived, displaying amazing capabilities.

Boeing C-17 Globemaster III
The C-17 plays a big role in my novel The Red: First Light. At the air show, I was finally able to look around inside a C-17 named after Hawaii’s long-time senator–The Spirit of Daniel Inouye. Unfortunately, the line to view the cockpit was so long I wasn’t able to see that section.

Another C-17 performed in the air, demonstrating flight speeds, maneuverability, and the ability to do a combat landing, with a very short run from touchdown to full stop.

Rainbows!
It was hot on the tarmac, but there was rain, and rainbows, in the mountains behind Honolulu/Pearl Harbor. For an image of an F-18 in front of rainbow, visit Dallas’ Instagram account.

McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet
The Blue Angels, flying their F-18’s, performed last, demonstrating amazing acrobatics and precision flying, with a famous 18-inch separation between planes.

I should mention that because the air show was right next to Honolulu International, all traffic in and out of the civilian airport was stopped during each performance–which must have required an amazing coordination effort. I hope you enjoy the photos. And a big thank you to Dallas for letting me use them!

All photos in this post are copyright © 2014 Dallas Nagata White and are used by permission.

Posted on: Monday, September 29th, 2014 at 2:02 pm
Categories: Hawaii.
Tags: air show, Blue Angels, Dallas Nagata White