Blue Angels in San Francisco

Every year, around mid-October, the Blue Angels return to San Francisco to put on a couple of air shows for Fleetweek.

And like every year, as soon as people hear the planes, the huge, endless debate about whether or not the planes should be invited back resumes.

One the one hand, you have those who argue that they're loud, expensive, dangerous, and nothing more than a blatant military display.

On the other hand you have those who argue that the deafening sound the planes make is the sound of Freedom and if you don't like it, you're free to leave the country.

And then you have people like me, who choose to completely ignore the military propaganda that goes along with the show, simply because they enjoy watching the aerobatics way too much, and sometimes, you just have to focus on the positive, because if you don't, what is the point of getting up in the morning?



They seem to always come from the West (Sutro Tower on the left). As soon as I hear the planes, I run to the window with my camera. I was so excited that I completely forgot to set my camera to high resolution, so the pics aren't very good, but you get the idea :)



Some lucky people are already out on their balconies overseeing the entire Bay. Others quickly try to access the roof of the buildings they work at or live in, in hope of seeing this ...





or that









.. and off they go!



These photographs were taken during practice, on Thursday and Friday. They day after, the fog rolled in and they had to cancel the show. At the time of this posting, I don't know if the air show went forward today. Oh, well, hopefully there is always next year!

Click here to see better photographs of the Blue Angels in SF, and here is a little video