San Francisco Fleet Week

I happened to be passing through SF a week ago while the Blue Angles were
doing their thing. There is no airshow like that anywhere else! The Blues
manage to buzz around the downtown buildings several times during the show,
and even go beat up several other bay area communities. I know of no other
military shows that are done directly over the heads of the observers. Even
though most of the fancy maneuvers are done over the bay, there are
hundreds, perhaps thousands, of boats out there.

The show is so popular that there are virtually no parking spots in the
city. We were forced to crawl through the streets and crane our necks the
best way possible. Mine hurt for a week!

There were only a few ships tied up this year, a sure sign that our Prez is
keeping them busy elsewhere. There were plenty of sailors in town, and they
all looked happy. I wish I has gotten that opportunity in my Navy days!

Getting on a ship for a tour was very difficult. You had to be in line for
a ticket early in the morning and then return later for your tour.

Before you die, be sure to make Fleet Week in San Francisco, it is a sight
you will never forget.

Vaughn

Quite a bit different than when our DD-786 was in dry dock at Hunter's Point.
The Blues were putting on a show for Saturday and I had the Quartedeck watch
observing the practice on Friday afternoon. They came in from 4 points of
compass and then went vertical and all "blossomed" outward but one plane (F-4)
was REALLY putting on a show on the descent,(tumbling towards the H20) when a
chute appeared from his aircraft. We sent a motorwhale boat out and retrieved
the helmet from the survivor. Evidently got a little too close on the ascent
with another player and had problems on the downward segement. Everyone
survived :-). Being a blackshoe, it was quite exciting to watch. Also,
driving from BOQ on TI every morning was exciting, as sometimes we would be
stoned by younger residents just outside of HP on our commute to work. My,
have things changed. I remember also one time when friend was deploying on
Ranger, and not a peep was mentioned in the local fish wrap. Of course there
were only 5000 residents departing their dependents to visit their loved ones!
:-)

"Vaughn" wrote in
:

[snip]

The show is so popular that there are virtually no parking spots in
the city. We were forced to crawl through the streets and crane our
necks the best way possible. Mine hurt for a week!

Of course one could also get a parking spot at one of the many
outlying BART stations, eg, Millbrae and run around town on the
Muni.

IBM

__________________________________________________ _____________________________
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IBM wrote:

"Vaughn" wrote in
:

[snip]

The show is so popular that there are virtually no parking spots in
the city. We were forced to crawl through the streets and crane our
necks the best way possible. Mine hurt for a week!

Of course one could also get a parking spot at one of the many
outlying BART stations, eg, Millbrae and run around town on the
Muni.

Caltrain is rather useful that way, too. Lets off in SF right close to
the waterfront, making it an easy walk to where the ships are.

-Marc
--
Marc Reeve
actual email address after removal of 4s & spaces is
c4m4r4a4m4a4n a4t c4r4u4z4i4o d4o4t c4o4m

"IBM" wrote in message
...

Of course one could also get a parking spot at one of the many
outlying BART stations, eg, Millbrae and run around town on the
Muni.

Yes, that would work fine. My personal choice would have been to take the
ferry from Larkspur, perhaps with a bicycle. Unfortunately, my schedule did
not allow that luxury this year. I have often said that one of the most
useless things you can have in SF is a car. My son-in-law commutes across
the Golden Gate bridge on his bike to downtown and often beats the time it
would take to drive it.

Vaughn


IBM


__________________________________________________ __________________________
___
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On 22 Oct 2003 05:32:24 GMT, (JamesF1110) wrote:

Quite a bit different than when our DD-786 was in dry dock at Hunter's Point.
The Blues were putting on a show for Saturday and I had the Quartedeck watch
observing the practice on Friday afternoon. They came in from 4 points of
compass and then went vertical and all "blossomed" outward but one plane (F-4)
was REALLY putting on a show on the descent,(tumbling towards the H20) when a
chute appeared from his aircraft. We sent a motorwhale boat out and retrieved
the helmet from the survivor. Evidently got a little too close on the ascent
with another player and had problems on the downward segement. Everyone
survived :-). Being a blackshoe, it was quite exciting to watch. Also,
driving from BOQ on TI every morning was exciting, as sometimes we would be
stoned by younger residents just outside of HP on our commute to work. My,
have things changed. I remember also one time when friend was deploying on
Ranger, and not a peep was mentioned in the local fish wrap. Of course there
were only 5000 residents departing their dependents to visit their loved ones!
:-)

Yep, I remember one day in SF when I dropped my keys, and broke my ankle ( I
had to kick them all the way to Oakland before I was willing to risk bending over to pick them up ). :-))

Al Minyard

Glad you got to visit San Fran for Fleetweek...I too was there and shot it
for the International Council of Air Shows (ICAS).

I don't have this year's images posted yet, but I do have last years shots
on-line including the trip I made on board the USS Boxer from San Diego to
San Fran for the kick off...enjoy:

http://www.tvrphotography.com/Aviation.htm

Tyson


"Vaughn" wrote in message
...
I happened to be passing through SF a week ago while the Blue Angles were
doing their thing. There is no airshow like that anywhere else! The
Blues
manage to buzz around the downtown buildings several times during the
show,
and even go beat up several other bay area communities. I know of no
other
military shows that are done directly over the heads of the observers.
Even
though most of the fancy maneuvers are done over the bay, there are
hundreds, perhaps thousands, of boats out there.

The show is so popular that there are virtually no parking spots in the
city. We were forced to crawl through the streets and crane our necks the
best way possible. Mine hurt for a week!

There were only a few ships tied up this year, a sure sign that our Prez
is
keeping them busy elsewhere. There were plenty of sailors in town, and
they
all looked happy. I wish I has gotten that opportunity in my Navy days!

Getting on a ship for a tour was very difficult. You had to be in line
for
a ticket early in the morning and then return later for your tour.

Before you die, be sure to make Fleet Week in San Francisco, it is a sight
you will never forget.

Vaughn