#fleetweeksf

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About 10 years ago, I drove to Pampanga (with Anna or my friends) for the hot-air balloon festival to see aeroplanes parked in the hangar, fly kites, and watch airshows. I had thought that these experiences wouldn't be replaced by something better... until Anna and I ended up watching Fleet Week SF (with Donan). It was unplanned; we were parking at the Bay Area Discovery Museum when Anna saw a United Airlines Boeing 777 flying low (which worried us because it's reminiscent of 9/11). 

After visiting the museum, we decided to hike to Battery Yates (Fort Baker) to watch the US Navy Blue Angels' performance. It's an exhibition team of fighter pilots intended to raise public interest in naval aviation.

The exhibition was awesome! For some maneuvers, the planes flew in close formation (one formation has an 18-inch gap between planes). In other maneuvers, the planes released smoke to create shapes. This airshow was more thrilling than the shows we've seen in Pampanga.

Aside from the Blue Angels and the Boeing 777, we also saw a C-130 and a Lockheed Martin F-35B fighter jet. The roar of the aeroplanes reminded me of Top Gun (1986), along with its iconic soundtrack... and sunny afternoons on a sugarcane farm, flying a two-line kite with Anna and Biboy (pretending that it's a jet).

Anna and I have certainly gone a long way.

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