Blue Angels flying by my windows
This is so cool. Maybe a little too militaristic a symbol in these trigger-happy days but still very cool to see the Nay's Blue Angels fly by my windows and hear the roar of their engines. They're practicing for this weekend's annual display for Fleet Week, started in 1981 by then-mayor Diane Feinstein according to the San Francisco Chroncile.
The Blue Angels, the U.S. Navy's precision flying team, will take to the Bay Area skies today with practice runs for this weekend's Fleet Week festivities.
There's definitely mixed feelings about the Blue Angels in the Bay Area: There are some who hate the noise and the show of military might; there are others who love the excitement and feel a sense of patriotic pride.
...The six-jet team will practice its stunts over San Francisco and the bay today and Friday. The real deal is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, with afternoon air shows.
The elite F/A-18 Hornet jets used by the Blue Angels are built to fly at Mach 1.8, or nearly twice the speed of sound. But since sonic booms are outlawed over populated areas, the pilots will slow down to a mere 620 mph. Still, there's no mistaking when they're in town. The roar is loud enough to make windows shake, dogs hide under the bed, and kids cover their ears -- when they look up in awe.
Since I live in one of the tallest buildings on Alamo Square (which is one of the several hills that crown the city of San Francisco, for those of you not familiar with SF), I'm pretty high up. As I sit here and blog, I can see the fighter planes take several passes to fly around my building and can even make out the two pilots on one of the planes.
The sky's pretty grey today and the dark grey of the fighter planes is a surreal contrast against the distant skyline of downtown's skyscrapers including the triangular Transamerica building.