Continuing to intermittently share my pictures from The Great Colorado Air Show a couple weeks ago. This was one of the two military aircraft I was most looking forward to seeing.

The A-10, affectionately nicknamed the Warthog, is absolutely legendary. It is a plane, quite literally, built around a gun – a beast that shoots 30mm rounds at nearly 4,000 rounds per minute. That gun and the other armament the plane can carry make it perfectly suited for its mission of providing close air support to ground troops. Titanium armor helps to protect the pilot and the essential aircraft systems from ground fire.

For the air show, the demonstration team showcased the plane’s maneuverability and demonstrated attack maneuvers like what are used in combat. These planes may not be the prettiest or the fastest but they are nothing short of incredible.

Photographer’s note: I thank you for continuing to indulge me while I share some pictures of “birds” far different from what you normally see on this page. It was a fun and challenging event photographing the planes at the air show and don’t worry, feathered birds and furry creatures will certainly continue to dominate the pictures you see here.

Being a sailor, you can of course guess how much I loved seeing these! It has been 20+ years since I last saw the Blues perform and this was a good year to do it as they transitioned to the Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet.

Arriving at my campsite last Thursday, I was greeted by the familiar sound of roaring military power as the Blue Angels wrapped up their practice for the day. The next day I watched them practice from the campground and then Saturday and Sunday from the The Great Colorado Air Show itself.

Several hundred pictures later, I am not entirely sure which ones to share but here is a batch of my personal favorites, mainly because at least a few are uncommon views of this amazing team at work. It certainly brought back memories of my time in the service working in aviation and being on the deck of an aircraft carrier.

My thanks to my shipmates for their service and for a show well done. Bravo zulu!

Definitely not the usual type of birds I photograph but I couldn’t resist. I had long planned for this, making reservations at Boyd Lake State Park six months ago and buying tickets for the show the second they were available. Mother Nature played nice and it was a great way to wrap up our camping season watching stunt planes, parachutists and, of course, the Blue Angels. My thanks to all of the people that worked hard to make this show happen, the volunteers, and the performers. Please do it again soon!

I’ll be incommunicado this weekend while I hang out with some warthogs and hornets and watch some lightning. 😉 More pics to come on Monday.