Red Baron Acrobatic Team

[Canonada]

Shot at the NAS Blue Angels Home Coming show at Pensacola FL. on 09/11/07

http://www.sandiescritters.com/photos2/Red%20Barons1.jpg

Here is a close crop 1:1 of the above. Notice that the plane on the left is spewing flames from it's exhaust and the pilot appears to looking at the flames as well as the pilot of the other aircraft. In fact, when I zoom in on the other two pilots above they appear to be looking at the flames as well. This is likely a coincidence as the flames have just started as you can see the end of the smoke from the exhaust directly behind the plane. What impresses me is that they guys are looking around at 200mph as they scream toward the ground!

http://www.sandiescritters.com/photos2/Red%20Barons2.jpg

Thanks for viewing.

Joe

[PhotosGuy]

Good catch. I notice that the props are almost in sync too! :D

[Canonada]

Thanks Frank
Joe

[Andrushka]

wow that is crazy - very cool shot - i love how the diving maneuver makes your mind try to reorient the photo to landscape - nice! good thing no one was riding in the front seat of that plane with the flames - they came out alright huh?

[FlyingPhotog]

Nice photo. Good exposure and (from the 100% crop) nice sharp focus. Could do with a bit more prop blur (IMO.)

From a flying perspective (and if you know this already, I apologize in advance but others may find it interesting):

Look again at the two exhaust stacks. The one on the left is only smoke, the one on the right is showing flame. (The exhaust is under the plane between the wheels...not down the side of the cowling like on, say, a P51 Mustang...)

The pilot on the left is the Team Leader and he's able to freely look around (and he should be doing so, too.) The pilot on the right isn't looking at the flames, he's "painting" on the leader's plane (keeping his eyes on one specific spot) and he keeps his focus there at all times when they're in formation. The two wingmen and the trailing slot pilot do NOT look around when they're in formation! Taking their eyes off the leader could be fatal.

More than likely, because they're on the backside of a loop, they have their throttles retarded pretty much to idle so the flames are probably due to a backfire just like race cars backfire when the drivers lift off the accelerator pedal. It's actually a nice catch because it probably didn't last beyond the bottom of the loop. Once they roll up on the throttles again, it should have gone out.

[RCoulter]

Great catch!

[Canonada]

wow that is crazy - very cool shot - i love how the diving maneuver makes your mind try to reorient the photo to landscape - nice! good thing no one was riding in the front seat of that plane with the flames - they came out alright huh?

Thanks Andrushka. I am not very knowledgeable when it comes to acrobatics or flying but one thing I found out is that the acrobatic pilots sit as far back as possible to improve the performs of the planes. I believe that's why these guys are in the rear seat and no occupies the front seat. Check out FlyingPhoto's input below. His explanation of what is going on sounds spot on.

Nice photo. Good exposure and (from the 100% crop) nice sharp focus. Could do with a bit more prop blur (IMO.)

From a flying perspective (and if you know this already, I apologize in advance but others may find it interesting):

Look again at the two exhaust stacks. The one on the left is only smoke, the one on the right is showing flame. (The exhaust is under the plane between the wheels...not down the side of the cowling like on, say, a P51 Mustang...)

The pilot on the left is the Team Leader and he's able to freely look around (and he should be doing so, too.) The pilot on the right isn't looking at the flames, he's "painting" on the leader's plane (keeping his eyes on one specific spot) and he keeps his focus there at all times when they're in formation. The two wingmen and the trailing slot pilot do NOT look around when they're in formation! Taking their eyes off the leader could be fatal.

More than likely, because they're on the backside of a loop, they have their throttles retarded pretty much to idle so the flames are probably due to a backfire just like race cars backfire when the drivers lift off the accelerator pedal. It's actually a nice catch because it probably didn't last beyond the bottom of the loop. Once they roll up on the throttles again, it should have gone out.

Thanks very much FlyingPhotog for all your comments. I really appreciate your comments and explanations. I will be posting more shots from the airshow that my be of interest to you.

Joe

[Canonada]

Great catch!

Thanks

Joe

[FlyingPhotog]

^^^^^

Cool, love aviation shots of all kinds!

You can see mine at:
www.pbase.com/flyingphotog Come have a look!

[adamsti]

Good catch, but as mentioned 1/2500, way too fast. 1/250 should be max shutter speed. Also ISO 400 in the bright sun is not needed. Bright sun=ISO 100 all the time.

[FatAlbert]

You came a long way for that shot. Great capture. I was there as well and noticed the flames by the naked eye. Was this on the Saturday? I didn't take many shots of them as I don't like bi-planes. As I recall they did make quite a bit of noise.

[Canonada]

Good catch, but as mentioned 1/2500, way too fast. 1/250 should be max shutter speed. Also ISO 400 in the bright sun is not needed. Bright sun=ISO 100 all the time.

Thanks for the pointers

You came a long way for that shot. Great capture. I was there as well and noticed the flames by the naked eye. Was this on the Saturday? I didn't take many shots of them as I don't like bi-planes. As I recall they did make quite a bit of noise.

We camped in the area, Gulf Shores State Park, for 5 weeks in Oct. and Nov. This was just one of the many our highlights of the trip. We were there on Fri.

Regards,
Joe

[FlyingPhotog]

Very sad to read that Red Baron Pizza has decided to discontinue their association with this display team. Hope they can find a new "sugar daddy" and keep on flyin!!

[andrewhuxman]

Dont know if people know but the Red Barons are being forced into retirement.
Here is a link of that info.http://www.airshowbuzz.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=2247

[P51Mstg]

Red Barron Pizza actually ownerd the team and the planes and they are shutting them down. Look a the link above. Its a shame after 25 years.

All those years of buying their pizza because I knew they were supporting the Stearmans. Well now I don't have to eat anymore crappy pizza, I can get a decent one delivered.

Mark H