Bell TH-1S HueyCobra (N102JG)

I tried to get closer, but the downdraft from this ex-warbird's rotors was kicking up a ton of dirt, grains of sand, and bits of small stones (in other words, typical desert "pavement" - grin) as it began climbing away, so this was as close as I could get.

Gary - the dust and grains of sand kicked up by the rotor wash are very abrasive and tough on a camera lens and/or any optical glass filters mounted in front of the same... not to mention the photographer behind the camera!!! :-)

*F*I*V*E* Stars!!!

I like it, and I think that's close enough!

Cliff & Greg ... Hey, guys (Wave). Howdy to you both ... and Thanx for the comments.
Cliff, you are absolutely right! Just one tiny stone blasted into a lens by those whirling rotors can chip a lens very badly. And rotor-blasted sand can scour a lens like a Brillo pad. And as for what can happen to a photographer - I was once hit on the right side of my forehead by an insignificant pebble that actually gouged out some flesh. If I had taken that one in my right eye, it would have been a whole lot worse. So, as Greg said, I was close enough. (Thumbs Up)

Gary - You are welcome, my friend... and thank you for the very descriptive comment too! There's been a couple of instances in my life when I had to turn away from a photo op due to such so as to shield my camera lens and/or my face from airborne sand and debris!!!

By the way, you were quite fortunate on that pebble to the forehead strike incident... could have easily been a much worse outcome!!!

I learned that lesson when the USMC was at Redding and I found out when the 'Venom" departed.....standing in a similar position to yours here. The 2 Cobras at Redding are too far away to get a shot like this - 5 Cobra stars*****nice.