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The Blue Angels are in town (Fleet Week started today)

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Der Blaue Engel Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Oct-06-05 05:35 PM
Original message
The Blue Angels are in town (Fleet Week started today)
Speeding over the San Francisco bay, and past my office window.

I hate the sound of it; it gives me the willies. (My screen name notwithstanding.) I keep looking up expecting terrorists, even though I know what it is. It's just unnerving.

Who wants them here? Why do they spend money on this? How much fuel do these jets use, anyway? Oh, wait, I just found the answer, from http://www.blueangels.navy.mil/geninfo/faq.html:

How much fuel does an F/A-18 Hornet use in a show?
On the average, one F/A-18 uses approximately 8,000 pounds or 1,300 gallons of JP-5 jet fuel.

How much fuel is used over the course of a year, including transportation, training, etc.?
Over a one-year period, the squadron, including Fat Albert, uses approximately 3.1 million gallons of fuel.
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indie_voter Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Oct-06-05 05:37 PM
Response to Original message
1. Yep. My son loves it (he is 5), I HATE it. n/t
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Demobrat Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Oct-06-05 05:38 PM
Response to Original message
2. Have you lived here long?
I've been in SF 20 years, and the Blue Angels don't faze me any more than the noon whistle on Tuesdays does. You'll get used to it.
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Der Blaue Engel Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Oct-06-05 05:43 PM
Response to Reply #2
4. 16 years, actually
I never noticed it much before 9/11, except to roll my eyes at the show of militarism. Now I'm jumpy. (I guess I can thank the terra propaganda for that.)
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indie_voter Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Oct-06-05 05:47 PM
Response to Reply #4
5. LOL! Me too, been here 16 years too
Edited on Thu Oct-06-05 05:57 PM by indie_voter
It used to drive me nuts when they woke my kids from naps.

I just don't like the noise. I also worry they'll crash in to each other over my head (I think I've read Chicken Little one too many times.)

However, to borrow a page from a classic Neo-Con hypocrite, we're probably taking the kids this weekend.

Now where did I put those earplugs.... ;)
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Sandpiper Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Oct-06-05 05:48 PM
Response to Reply #4
7. What makes me roll my eyes
Is that we spend the people's money so the Navy and Air Force can have stunt flying troupes.

Each jet's about $20-$30 million a pop.
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MildyRules Donating Member (739 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Oct-07-05 06:39 AM
Response to Reply #7
20. And each jet is capabale
of being used in combat if needed.

Face it, the BA and the T-birds are great recruiting tools for the Navy and Air Force.
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Sandpiper Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Oct-06-05 05:39 PM
Response to Original message
3. Obscene waste of tax dollars
Along with the Air Force's Thunderbirds.


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Nictuku Donating Member (907 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Oct-06-05 05:48 PM
Response to Reply #3
6. I enjoy Fleet Week (eom)
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Sandpiper Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Oct-06-05 05:49 PM
Response to Reply #6
8. I'm not talking about Fleet Week
I'm talking about the Blue Angels in particular.
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davepc Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Oct-07-05 06:48 AM
Response to Reply #8
22. Every nation has a demonstration team or two
If countries that spend a fraction of their GDP on defense related items can find space in their budgets for their air force/navy stunt pilots, why can't we?
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MildyRules Donating Member (739 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Oct-07-05 06:55 AM
Response to Reply #22
23. The British
and Italian teams are extremely good. As are the Canadian and French.
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Oeditpus Rex Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Oct-06-05 05:55 PM
Response to Original message
9. I was at a press conference with a Blue Angels pilot
for the first California International Airshow in 1980. He rather proudly said the Angels are the Air Force's best recruiting tool.

I do hope they're getting their money's worth. :sarcasm:

In those days, I lived about a mile from the Salinas Airport. Those bastards would fly over my house at 500 knots or more, "on the deck," rolled about 75 degrees. I swore the windows would shatter.

I wonder what the fuel costs work out to per "ooh" and "aah."
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Der Blaue Engel Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Oct-06-05 06:03 PM
Response to Reply #9
10. I saw the 1980 show at Davis Monthan AFB in Tucson
My sister's new hubby was in the Air Force, so the whole family went. I thought the pilots were hot, so I waited around for their autographs afterward. (I was 14. :D ) I'm sure they are a great recruiting tool...it all seems so cool and sexy to young impressionable minds.
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jmowreader Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Oct-06-05 06:56 PM
Response to Reply #9
15. Are you sure he said that?
The Blue Angels belong to the Navy; the Thunderbirds to the Air Force.

I love the Air Force, I really do. They're the only one of the five uniformed services whose official theme song talks about getting killed in the line of duty. "We live in fame or go down in flame / Hey! Nothing can stop the US Air Force!"
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Oeditpus Rex Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Oct-07-05 12:42 AM
Response to Reply #15
16. Oops... thinko
Good catch. :D

But it's "We live in planes or go down in flames."
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MildyRules Donating Member (739 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Oct-07-05 06:22 AM
Response to Reply #16
17. Nope. It really is "We live
in fame or go down in flames..."
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LeftCoast Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Oct-06-05 06:05 PM
Response to Original message
11. I think they're pretty cool to watch fly by, especially on a beautiful day
like we're having here in SF, today. Fog's rolling in though, so they'll probably be done soon (if they're not already).
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Silverhair Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Oct-06-05 06:11 PM
Response to Original message
12. I have watched them many times, and the thunderbirds too.
I never get tired of it. Enjoy them both.
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RebelOne Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Oct-06-05 06:18 PM
Response to Original message
13. I don't really give a shit how much fuel they are eating up.
Edited on Thu Oct-06-05 06:18 PM by RebelOne
My office is directly across the street from Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta, GA. They were here a year ago for an air show and I could see their practice runs while standing in the office parking lot. They are totally awesome. The entertainment value is worth the price of the fuel that my tax dollars pay. I just wished that I could be up there in one of those planes.
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Der Blaue Engel Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Oct-06-05 06:27 PM
Response to Reply #13
14. That's fine
You're entitled to your opinion. But why the "I don't really give a shit"? I've noticed a lot of this around here lately...people are snapping each other's heads off. Have I personally offended you by not being a fan of the Blue Angels?
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EFerrari Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Oct-07-05 06:31 AM
Response to Reply #14
18. There is a tension here that is over the top.
When I was a kid in Sunnyvale, we'd go to Moffet Field or up on the roof to watch.

The other night, I had a nightmare that we were being invaded by -- our own military. Tons of flying machines speeding across the sky. I bet the dream was sparked by hearing the BA. It's a very discrete sound, and in this climate, not a welcome one. They may be beautiful in some way but the gut reaction that comes out of all the fake Terra alerts, I could do without.
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RebelOne Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Oct-07-05 06:44 AM
Response to Reply #18
21. I am immune to the sounds of fighter jets.
My office is directly across the street from an air reserve base and the Naval Air Station is close by, so I hear and see jets, planes and helicopters all day long.
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RebelOne Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Oct-07-05 06:38 AM
Response to Reply #13
19. OK, I'll take back the "I don't give a shit"
and instead say "I don't really care."
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