San Francisco Fleet Week 2007 - Awesome Photos

Discussion in 'Off-Topic Discussions' started by Bruce, Oct 11, 2008.

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  1. Bruce

    Bruce Moderator

    I didn't take these pictures, I wasn't there, and I don't even know the person who did take them; this is one of those things passed around the Internet, but these photos are amazing.

    The pics of the high-speed, low-altitude "sneak pass" by the Blue Angels are my favorites;

    http://home.comcast.net/~bzee1a/
     
  2. BillDayson

    BillDayson New Member

    It so happens that Fleet Week 2008 is happening as we speak, yesterday, today and tomorrow. The Blue Angels will be doing their awesome thing this afternoon from 3-4 pm.

    My favorite spot is at the end of Pier 39. Planes moving west-east and breaking right out of their formations kind of aim for Coit Tower as their landmark, so you get fighter jets screaming right over your head at almost roof-top height. Wa-OOM! Children screaming in both joy and terror.

    [​IMG]

    It really is a beautiful scene. Hundreds upon hundreds of small (and not so small) boats out on the bay (they get a super view of the planes whose airshow performs right over their heads), boats sometimes almost bumper to bumper with small Coastguard boats among them like nautical cop-cars. Crowds of hundreds of thousands all along the shore, North Beach bustlin' (the Italian community's Columbus Day parade is today) everybody happy and having a good time... Great.

    [​IMG]

    Navy warships pull in and hold tours. Some years that's better than others, depending on what kind of maneuvers are happening out in the Pacific I guess. Some years there's lots of foreign warships which is certainly interesting. The Canadians are there most years and I remember seeing Chilean and Japanese warships. The lines to get aboard the ships are usually really long, so I don't typically do that.
     
  3. Bruce

    Bruce Moderator

    Bill, that photo of the Blue Angel plane is amazing; did you take that?
     
  4. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

    Those photos are fantastic!

    Hey Bruce! Have we got anything like that "Fleet Week" out here on the right coast?
     
  5. Bruce

    Bruce Moderator

    Unfortunately, no; the closest thing we had was the USS John F. Kennedy would visit Boston, but she was decommissioned last year.

    The Thunderbirds (Air Force flying team) visit Hanscom Air Force base every few years, and put on a fantastic show.
     
  6. BillDayson

    BillDayson New Member

    No, it just illustrates what it looks like when they go over. What it doesn't capture is the sound. Those babies are loud, especially after they pass overhead and are moving away. The sound is half the fun, you can feel it on your body. High-performance machines! (Eat your hearts out, Corvette owners.)

    I was there on Saturday taking it all in. The Blue Angels were as blue-angely as always. It's amazing to watch their precision piloting. If they roll 90 degrees, it's not 89 or 91, it's 90. And that's going to be a snap-roll, performed in a split-second, nothing gradual about it. All their control movements are amazingly quick and decisive. And the pilot is feeling all kinds of violent forces on his body and sees a rapidly moving view outside his canopy while he's doing it, but he doesn't get disoriented or confused. It's impressive.

    As for Fleet Week 2008, it was pretty anemic this year. Crowds were visibly smaller than in the past. (My guess is that maybe people were freaked out by the financial crisis and stayed home.) And I didn't see any Navy ships tied up at the piers. There was something in the newspaper about ship tours, but I didn't see any ships. Maybe they were docked at a different part of the waterfront this year or something. Could be that's where the rest of the crowd was. I don't know what's up with that. (Damn, I knew I should have read those newspaper articles that I skipped over.)
     
  7. Paul S Rogers

    Paul S Rogers New Member

    :) The same show in Chicago on Lake Shore Drive. However, there is lots of compliants from the high-rise residents (condos, apartments, Co-ops) about the noise and safety.
     

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