McDonnell Douglas FA-18 Hornet —

Now THIS is what I call a "Wingman" for sure! Look at how close the wingman is.

And ... look at how low they are. True, I was standing on top of Rattlesnake Mountain when they came blistering in out of the south behind me so I was already quite high in the sky. And because I was looking down at RNO to the northwest of my position, I was not prepared to have a pair of Hornets come haulin' ass from behind me. Gotta say, when I got to the top of The Snake and looked down at RNO and saw that there was nothing there (33 flights canceled yesterday), I was figuring it was a wasted trek -- but then, WHAMMO! These two came out of nowhere and blasted by so close above me I simply could not stay on them while simultaneously aiming overhead and spinning around 180 degrees from south to north as they went past. And it was windy up there even before they came by, but I swear I was pushed around by their jet blast within seconds after they went past.

Judging solely by the diamond shapes in the band along the top of the tail, these two are VMFA 323 "Death Rattlers."