A CHALLENGE

One of my local colleagues, Mike Matney, an excellent photographer, got involved in a challenge set by other shooter friends: a one-week image diary, black and white, no caption, no explanation. His first image is a light, exquisite flower. I wasn't sure I have the self-discipline for this but I'm going to give it a try. However, I decided to do it more as a day in the life, a single image from the day I lived. And so it begins.

               

WATER'S STILL HIGH

These photos are from a week ago, before the air show started. It's not dramatic by our standards but the Mississippi is still in flood, although dropping. The triangle in the lower right of the first picture is the bottom of the Arch's grand staircase. Just beyond, a street and walkway are still under water. Same street in the second picture below the fence. No helicopter flights in the show.               

  

STUNT PILOT

Sorry no post yesterday. You would think this work stuff would start to leave an older guy like me alone, but no.

Anyway, back at the air show. This was a remarkable aircraft. As you can see, it appears to have two fuselages connected by a single wing.  Another local photographer thought that there is a small jet engine in the center, maybe for the steepest climbs. It seemed go go straight  up, cut power, start to plummet down and then kick in the engines and roar off. No idea how it manages to maintain lift while flying upside down (or how the pilot maintains consciousness). This was very entertaining.          

VTOL

That stands for vertical take off and landing, a military plane that can be used as a fixed-wing aircraft or a helicopter. This sequence of pictures from the air show illustrates how the engines themselves can be rotated from vertical to horizontal. It's amazing that the pilot can maintain control during the transition.              

JUMPERS

Another annual Fair St. Louis event is the air show. It was smaller than usual this year (no biplanes, which I really love) but there was still some cool stuff.

This is the Army's Golden Knights parasailing stunt team. Kind of a weird name since, to my knowledge, there were no parasails during the Middle Ages. Nevertheless, they were tremendously entertaining, swooping around the legs of the Arch..