SF Air Race Show and Fleet Week 2006!

Once a year San Francisco has what is called Fleet Week! The Navy brings in ships and vessels, including air craft carriers and destroyers. It is sometimes hard to listen to the propaganda about joining the armed forces, but they are still amazing to look at.

This aircraft carrier from San Diego had jets flying off and landing on it as it was moving in the bay.

After the fleet comes in (all those sailors in San Francisco... nice), the air race begins. The air race is a year-long race of single engine planes flying through huge pillars (air-filled).

They start where they finish, flying through the checkered pillars then they head towards their next pillars, sometimes they have to fly straight up into the air and do some other tricks before coming back down and heading towards their next pillars.

Currently the US flyer, Kirby Chambliss, is in the lead... but there is one more race to determine the ulitimate leader.

It is hard to explain the exhiliration of watching these single-engined planes twisting and turning and lifting and swooping through their paces, all in the hopes of being number one. Each pilot has two runs and there were two pilots who didn't finish their first run, but they had their second run to try to beat the current leader.

Each plane must pass between the pillars at the blue or red line, if they are above a certain level or below, they are deducted 3 seconds, well actually, they have 3 seconds added to their time. So it is hard to know who wins just by watching, but their website says Chambliss wins again!

Check out this website to get a better idea of what the flying is like and to see who is in the lead: http://www.redbullairrace.com/

After the race the Blue Angel's did their air acrobatics, which were truly amazing. They actually get, when in form, only 18 inches from each other! Can you imagine moving that fast and only 18 inches from the next one, yikes!

Are they copying the bird or is the bird copying them?

What do you think they are saying to each other? "Do I look fat in this jumpsuit?"

This is how close these planes get to the crowd, the sound of them flying directly overhead is deafening!