Link to a photo album I found by Bernard Zee which features some spectacular digital photos of aviation-themed shows.  His 2010 album from San Francisco's Fleet Week features some stunning closeups of visible shock waves glancing off the nose and fuselage of a Navy Blue Angel FA-18 in a sneak pass over the spectator fleet.  Some shots you can also see the shock waves hitting the water.

These guys had to be near trans sonic as some of the spectators appear to be totally unaware of a Hornet just dozens of yards away with the sound obviously quite a ways behind the action.

I had a sailboat back in Washington state and would take friends (mostly of the female persuasion) out for a 4th of July airshow and fireworks.  A water vantage point is an entirely different experience than land-based spectators get.  The late Art Scholl (who was killed during the filming of the Top Gun movie) was one of the show highlights one year.  He flew a Super Chipmunk — often with his dog in the cockpit.  

We had F-106s from McChord AFB's 318th FIS put on some high speed low level passes.  As they'd yank and burn, sometimes we were looking right into the tailpipe of the J-75 engine of the F-106.  The mammoth J-75 was used in the U-2, F-105, F-106 and F-8U.

Enjoy.

BZ Fleetweek 2010

Sample shot of BZ's 2009 Fleet Week album.

Do you feel?  Feel the need for speed?

His website has his full spectacular works.

Or this one of a California ANG F-16 in full burner loaded with Sidewinder and Sparrow missiles.

Both the USAF Thunderbirds and USN Blue Angel teams employ a main diamond formation of 4 aircraft and 2 solo aircraft.  Many of the same maneuvers are flown by both teams.  One common routine is the "sneak pass" where the diamond formation will perform a very graceful echelon roll and as everyone is snapping pictures of the diamond exiting show center one of the solo pilots comes in from behind in max burner.  Flying at near sonic speeds, none of the sound reaches the spectators until the aircraft has overflown the crowd then the thunderous noise hits in one deafening KABOOM!

I've been watching the shows since I was a kid and the T-Birds were flying the F-100 Super Saber so I've sorta learned what to expect.  Except once in the early '90s at a show at McChord AFB in Tacoma, WA.  I was with some friends and wasn't watching for the sneak pass.  Yeah, I was a bit "startled."

BZ was ready! As you can see from this shot, the spectators on the boats are still lookin' in the other direction, not realizing what is about to hit them...  Not too many more scenic backgrounds for an airshow than SF.




Not enough humidity to form the vapor cone but you can see the optical distortion from the shock waves just ahead of the vertical fin and from the canopy.  Several of his shots show the wake left on the water from the shock waves hitting.




Try searching on YouTube for "sneak pass" and you'll find video/sound of several examples.

Nice!