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Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Miramar Air Show 2012 - Celebrating 50 Years of Marines in Space Exploration

For 2012 the Miramar Air Show celebrated 50 years of U.S. Marine Corps involvement in space exploration. On February 20, 1962 Col. John Glenn (USMC) became to first American to orbit the Earth.

I spent two full days at the air show this year. From a photography standpoint Friday was certainly the better of the two days, with lots of fluffy clouds in the sky. It was pretty hot and bright, with no clouds at all, on Saturday. Both days were a lot of fun though, as I was with friends from our local photo group on each.

Here are a few of my favorites from the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, California 2012 Air Show. 

There is always a nice selection of older aircraft at Miramar.



This is Executive Sweet, a B-25 Mitchell bomber built in 1944. 


That B-25 is packing 13 .50 caliber machine guns, a Norden bomb sight, and an operable bomb bay. 

And now for something completely different - this sailplane has a wingspan of over 57 feet.


Here's a P-51 Mustang - taken during the Heritage Flight with the F/A-22 Raptor.


Sean Tucker and his "Oracle Challenger" are always one of the crowd favorites.


Here's a really different view of the Third Marine Aircraft Wing Band.


While the band was playing the U.S. Army's Golden Knights Parachute Team "dropped in" with the U.S. flag for the opening ceremonies. 


I spotted this KC-130J Super Hercules aerial refueling tanker on my way back to the car on Friday afternoon. It's job was finished for the day. You can see a shot of it in action, refueling an A/V-8B Harrier, in the MAGTF gallery.


One last shot, looking towards the setting sun through a row of parked USMC F/A-18 Hornets from the Third Marine Aircraft Wing.


Click here to see more images from the 2012 Marine Corps Air Station Miramar Air Show on Friday and Saturday, October 12 and 13, 2012.

I'll follow this post with separate posts for the Blue Angles, the Patriots Jet Team, the USMC MAGTF Demonstration, the F/A-18 and A/V-8B Harrier Tactical Demonstration, and the F/A-22 Raptor Tactical Demonstration.
   

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San Diego, California, United States
About me . . . When I'm not working I like to be out exploring and photographing. I do this blog just for fun, and to be able to share these images with friends. I hope you enjoy viewing these images as much as I enjoyed creating them.

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All of the content and images on this site (c) Frank B. Baiamonte. If you would like to use any of these images please contact me via email at frank@frankbaiamonte.com to discuss terms of usage. Note that images from the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park are not available for commercial usage. You can also see more on my Instagram page @frankbaiamonte.

Header image: Cibola National Wildlife Refuge, Cibola, Arizona. End image: Downtown San Diego, California skyline from Coronado Island. Profile picture: Craters of the Moon National Monument, Idaho, by Heather Baiamonte.