AFW | October 2009 | Fort Worth Alliance Air Show | Mo' Blues.....

The diamond formation in echelon formation pass from behind the crowd over show center for their next maneuver.

I think this one is called the Delta Break where the diamond formation each break a different direction with the slot, Blue Angel 4, remaining level. If you look closely you can see forming vortex condensation clouds over the LERXs of the aircraft that are in the break.

Say hi to the Boss (Blue Angel 1) as he blasts over the crowd.......

Here the diamond while in echelon formation starts the Tuck Under Break- each team member starting with the Boss breaks right into a 360 degree roll that brings them under the flightpath of the aircraft next in the sequence.

The entire team in the delta formation performing the Delta Roll. This maneuver is the most difficult for the outermost members of the team who are having to make the most adjustments in thrust, roll, and pitch to maintain the tight formation during the roll. 

Not the best shot of what I got that day but for some reason the way this one came out really catches my eye. This is Delta Loop Break- the whole team starts out in delta formation, passes across the show center into a loop. As they pass the top of the loop and are vertically pointed straight down, the entire team breaks simultaneously in different directions. When the Boss calls the break, the Slot (Blue Angel 4) has to execute a quick 180 degree roll before making its break. You can tell from the picture which plane is the Slot from the twist in its smoke trail.

Last of the Blues before I move onto the other aircraft:

One of my sharpest shots of the Blues, here's the Slot (Blue Angel 4) rocketing over the crowd to reposition with the diamond behind the crowd line.

Last one of the Blues in the air, this is the final Break-to-Land. Blue Angels 6 is out of the field of view to the left flying next to Blue Angel 5 (they're the two solos) and Blue Angel 4 (the Slot) has made it's break to hand. Interestingly they all landed with a tail wind- they took off from 34R at the start of the show but landing on 16L and I didn't appreciate that big of a change in the winds during the show.