The image quality is really not bad considering these planes were moving and it is a $1000 150-500mm zoom. Are those photos were taken at the far end of the zoom?
If u r in the States & considering buying this lens, Abe's of Maine has it in stock with very good price - $890 with free ground shipping(they also have a $10 off coupon floating on the web, google shall help you in this aspect). The store is authorized sigma dealer. They might try to upsell you other staff like memory cards/filters etc. All you need to do is to firmly say no. So far I have not had any problem with them.
Thanks for your recommendation. Yeah, I hate upsell. That's why I usually buy stuffs from B&H. They have very good reputation. The only problem is their prices are not competitive.