Aerial Photography of USS Nimitz Transiting San Francisco Bay June 27, 2012 June 22, 2013 / By Megan Templeman / Aerial Photography Super-carrier USS Nimitz arrived in San Francisco on May 27 in commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the opening of the Golden Gate Bridge. This aerial photograph shows the Nimitz as she is departing the San Francisco Bay area. Preceding her arrival, Nimitz departed from Naval Station Everett Washington, where sailors, accompanied by their friends and family, embarked on a three-day Tiger Cruise, which allowed the guests to experience a taste of life at sea. The Nimitz is an aircraft carrier in the United States Navy, and is one of the largest war ships in the world. Her length spans a staggering 1,092 feet (333 meters), she weighs 101,600 tons and the landing area (located on the flight deck) is only 300 to 400 feet long! To put this into perspective, let’s compare a land based airport runway to the Nimitz landing area. Generally, a land based runway can span anywhere from one to over four miles long. That is an huge difference to the Nimitz mere 300 to 400 feet of landing area. To stop incoming planes is no picnic. The ship is equipped with four arresting wires connected to a hydraulic system, which is meant to trap the aircraft, making it come to an abrupt stop in a span of two-seconds. The pilots are guided into the landing area by the Landing Officers. Pilots know they are on the correct glide path if an amber light on the deck, known as the ball, is lined up with the horizontal row of green lights. If the ball is too high, so is the plane. This indicates to the pilot that an immediate go around must occur, known as the bolter. All Nimitz class carriers are run on nuclear energy, which means their power will virtually never shut off. To stop the ship, power must be reduced to about one or two knots, at which point, the ship is extremely susceptible to wind and water conditions. This is why the Nimitz is accompanied by two smaller ships (as shown in the aerial photograph above) known as pilot tug boats. The outer sides of these boats are lined with rubber so that they can maneuver the carrier in the direction of its anchoring and docking location. Due to the massive size of the Nimitz, it takes at least a mile or more for the ship to come to a complete stop after reducing its speed. Understandably, the Nimitz was unable to dock in San Francisco, so she was maneuvered to her anchoring area, which is an extremely exciting ordeal, because the Nimitz had not anchored for two years prior to her arrival in San Francisco. When the ship passed under the Golden Gate Bridge, one could not help but notice sailors lining its edge. Known traditionally as manning the rails, this is a method of saluting or rendering honor when entering or leaving ports. Knowing that the Nimitz was currently on a Tiger Cruise, one can assume that the entire crew was on board, including their family and friends. This would bring the number of people on board to roughly 5,000 (not including family and friends). Its passing was definitely a sight to see, and will be remembered for years to come. Image ID: AHLB9288 © Herb Lingl/aerialarchives.com More aerial photography of San Francisco More aerial photography of San Francisco bay Navy USS Nimitz site
Aerial Photography Transbay Transformation San Francisco June 4, 2012 June 22, 2013 / By Herb Lingl / Aerial Photographs, Aerial Photography, Construction Numerous construction sites around the Transbay Center development site and its proximity to the SoMa district in San Francisco promise to transform a portion of the city and its skyline in the next several years. This aerial photograph shows the One Rincon Hill tower and the western ramps of the Bay Bridge in the foreground, the Transbay Terminal Center construction site toward the center, the San Francisco financial district behind it and the amount of space still available for development in this part of the city. Image ID: AHLB9288 © Herb Lingl/aerialarchives.com More aerial photography of the Transbay Center and vicinity More information about the Transbay Transit Center More information about aerial photography of San Francisco More aerial photography of San Francisco architecture
Aerial Photography Davis-Monthan aircraft boneyard May 24, 2012 June 22, 2013 / By Herb Lingl / Aerial Photographs, Aerial Photography This aerial photograph of the aircraft boneyard at the Davis-Monthan Air Force Base shows a number of disassembled Boeing B-52 Stratofortresses. Image ID: AHLB3543 © Herb Lingl/aerialarchives.com More aerial photography of the Davis Monthan aircraft boneyard Prints and licenses of Davis Monthan boneyard aerials Print discount coupons
Aerial Photography San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge Construction May 14, 2012 June 25, 2013 / By Herb Lingl / Aerial Photographs, Aerial Photography, Construction This aerial photograph shows work on the 525 foot self-anchored suspension span support tower for the replacement of the eastern span of the San Francisco Oakland Bay bridge. Image ID: AHLB9161 © Herb Lingl/aerialarchives.com More aerial photography of the San Francisco Oakland bay bridge
Aerial Photography Compilation San Francisco Bay Area May 9, 2012 June 22, 2013 / By Herb Lingl / Aerial Photographs, Aerial Photography, Video A compilation of still aerial photography of the San Francisco Bay Area including sailing on the bay, San Francisco, headquarters of Apple, Facebook and Google, Stanford University and Hangar One at Moffett Field. Music by John Ming Video ID: AHLM2018 © Herb Lingl/aerialarchives.com More aerial photography of San Francisco More aerial photography of San Francisco bay More music by John Ming, aka John Poot
Aerial Photography of Facebook Headquarters, 1 Hacker Way, Menlo Park May 7, 2012 June 23, 2013 / By Herb Lingl / Aerial Photographs, Aerial Photography Aerial photograph of Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park. Image ID: AHLB9169 © Herb Lingl/aerialarchives.com More aerial photography of Menlo Park More aerial photography of Silicon Valley
Aerial Photography of San Francisco Bay May 1, 2012 October 5, 2014 / By Herb Lingl / Aerial Photographs, Aerial Photography A winter storm passes through San Francisco bay. This aerial photograph shows the Richmond San Rafael bridge in the foreground, Angel Island and Tiburon in the middle of the photograph and the City of San Francisco and the Bay Bridge in the background. Image ID: AHLB9095 © Herb Lingl/aerialarchives.com More aerial photography of San Francisco bay More information about aerial photography of San Francisco bay More information about aerial photography of San Francisco
Aerial Photography Transbay Transit Center Construction San Francisco April 24, 2012 June 22, 2013 / By Herb Lingl / Aerial Photographs, Aerial Photography, Construction This aerial photograph shows construction on the Transbay Transit Center as it appeared on April 14, 2012. Adjacent roads were closed for Cement Deep Soil Mix shoring wall work. This construction is part of a bold vision for a new San Francisco neighborhood with a well connected, elegantly designed transit center that will bring together many forms of public transit. Image ID: AHLB9151 © Herb Lingl/aerialarchives.com More aerial photography of the Transbay Center and vicinity More information about the Transbay Terminal Center More information about aerial photography of San Francisco More aerial photography of San Francisco architecture
San Francisco Bay Area High Resolution Aerial Photography and Satellite Imagery April 20, 2012 June 22, 2013 / By Herb Lingl / Aerial Photographs, Aerial Photography, Satellite Imagery This aerial photograph showing the Virgin America terminal at the San Francisco International Airport ("SFO") is part of a high resolution aerial photography data set that covers the entire San Francisco Bay Area acquired in 2011. The imagery has a resolution of a 1' pixel -- one pixel or picture element covers one foot on the ground. The imagery is suitable for printing up to an approximate scale of 1"=100'. Included in the coverage of this data set are the following Bay Area counties: San Francisco, Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Sonoma and Napa. High resolution satellite imagery is acquired even more frequently. The most recent acquisition of San Francisco has a 50cm pixel resolution and was acquired yesterday, April 19, 2012. Additional recent high resolution satellite imagery of the San Francisco bay area was acquired April 8 and April 4, 2012. Image ID: AHLV3608 More information about high resolution satellite imagery Aerial maps of San Francisco More information about aerial maps
Aerial Photography Hangar One Moffett Field Mountain View April 16, 2012 June 22, 2013 / By Herb Lingl / Aerial Photographs, Aerial Photography, Historical Aerial Photography Hangar One was built in the 1930s for the naval airship USS Macon. Designed by German air ship and structural engineer Karl Arnstein, it is the world's largest freestanding structure covering eight acres. Hangar One is over 1000 feet long and 198 feet high and is an example of aerodynamic architecture. The hangar rests on a reinforced pad which is anchored to concrete pilings. The US Navy has evaluated a variety of options for remediating lead, PCBs and asbestos used in the construction of the hangar, and Google executives have proposed participating in cost of restoring the hangar as part of an agreement to store their corporate aircraft in Hangar One. The lower aerial photograph shows Hangar One's structure under its skin (photographed April 14, 2012) at the doors originally designed to shield the USS Macon from winds as it moved in and out of the hangar. Image ID: AHLB5504 (upper); Image ID: AHLB9139 (lower) © Herb Lingl/aerialarchives.com More information about aerial photography of Moffett Field View aerial photography of Mountain View Aerial photography of Silicon Valley