July 2024
Fargo, North Dakota.
Please indulge me with my love of aviation for this Independence Day post. This week, Friday is the 248th celebration of Independence Day in the United States. To honor our country’s celebration on the Fourth of July 2025, I am featuring a series of photos captured at the Thunder Over Fargo air show in July 2024. If you are near Duluth, Minnesota, on the Fourth of July weekend in 2025, the Blue Angels will appear at the Duluth International Airport for the Duluth Air & Aviation Expo. I found this schedule for those not near Duluth and would like to visit an air show this year.
I captured shots of vapor cones developing on jet aircraft for the first time at this air show. A vapor cone forms when a high-speed jet creates a low-pressure area around itself. This sudden pressure drop also causes a decrease in temperature. If the surrounding air is humid enough, the temperature drop can cause the water vapor to condense into tiny water droplets, creating a visible cloud. This phenomenon is often mistaken for a jet breaking the sound barrier, but it can occur at speeds below supersonic. The critical factor is the creation of a low-pressure area around the aircraft.
This is an advanced variation of the Diamond Formation, often called the Double Farvel in Blue Angels’ terminology. The “Farvel” indicates an inverted jet, so with two inverted, it takes the name “Double Farvel.”
An “echelon formation” stacks the Blue Angels diagonally, either behind and to the right (a “right echelon”) or behind and to the left (a “left echelon”) of the aircraft ahead. The maneuver highlights the team’s elegance and discipline. The staggered alignment requires immense focus and trust among the pilots as they maintain their positions at high speeds and close proximity.
This maneuver is called the Knife-Edge Pass. I missed the moment when the two aircraft were vertically aligned as they passed each other. They fly horizontally toward each other and then precisely go vertical as they pass each other. In this image, they are already starting to return to horizontal flight. This dramatic and high-precision display highlights the incredible skill and coordination of the Blue Angels pilots. I found a video here on YouTube that demonstrates this thrilling maneuver.
For those who’d like more photos of aircraft featured at the Thunder Over Fargo 2024 (and who wouldn’t?), you can click here to visit my Flickr album. Above the photo on the right is a slide show icon (indicated by the red arrow in this image). Click on that slideshow icon to start the slideshow.
Happy Independence Day to us (U.S.)
John Steiner
Journeys with Johnbo 
I didn’t know about the vapor cone. I learned something new. Thank you for sharing these amazing aviation photos, John!
Thanks, Dan! That show was the first time I’d seen one for myself.
John, what a great way to honor our country’s July 4th celebration! Your Blue Angel photos are amazing! I love airshows! It’s been a few years since we went to one. Thanks for these images to remind me of how much fun it is to see the precision moves the pilots make. Enjoy your Independence Day Weekend!
Thanks, Beth! My only disappointment is that Fargo doesn’t have an air show this weekend. >frown<
It is scary simply to see the photos and read your description of the maneuvers. Amazing skills those pilots have! Happy 4th!
Great captures John!
Thanks, Anne! Happy Fourth!
You too!
Hurrah for the Blue Angels, your photos, and our country’s birthday!!
Thanks, Janet!
I love air shows! Some of my family lived in Brunswick, Maine. Not too many years ago, before the govt closed the Navy (Naval Aviation) base there, the Blue Angels would come every year for the annual air show. They liked to practice the day or two before the show, flying at treetop level to scare the residents. One summer, I was sitting on the deck when two jets came screaming overhead wingtip to wingtip, so low that I could count the rivets on the undersides! Woowee! What a thrill.
They come to Fargo every two or three years. The Fargo shows. I wish they were every summer.
Well captured, John!
Thanks, Sue!
What incredible captures, John! I bet you jumped for joy when you caught the vapor cone! When we lived in Sacramento, we were a few blocks from Mather Field, a decommissioned AF Base. From our house and nearby park, we watched the Thunderbirds and Blue Angels practice runs. Happy Independence Day (weekend)!
Thanks, Terri! That weekend was a great weekend for vapor cones. In addition to the Blue Angels, the F22-Raptor demonstration had the best vapor cones. It was so much fun processing the photos.