2024 Fleet Week Airshow stuns spectators with one of the best performances in years
Photo Story
By Jonah Rossiter, Archie Williams High School
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October 16, 2024
Jonah Rossiter
The Blue Angels diamond performs the barrel roll break during the 2024 Fleet Week Airshow.
During the Oct. 11-13 Fleet Week Airshow, an annual spectacle in the San Francisco Bay Area, an array of aircraft perform 10-12 acts for audiences around the bay. Aircraft perform various aerial maneuvers, including loops and barrel rolls, often in synchronization with each other. The show’s headliner is the Blue Angels, an elite navy squadron dedicated to recruitment and showcasing the power of the United States Navy. The team flies as close together as possible, sometimes only 18 inches apart at speeds of over 400 miles per hour. A staple of the show is weather interference from San Francisco’s famous fog. This year, the Blue Angels’ Saturday show was canceled due to low cloud cover, but thankfully they were able to perform for crowds on Sunday. Other highlights of the show include appearances by United Airlines and the Patriots, a civilian formation team, similar to the Blue Angels.
The two Blue Angels solos cross over each other during one of many opposing passes during the 2024 Fleet Week Airshow. (Jonah Rossiter)“Razz” Larson pulls a tactical pitch in the F-22 Raptor during his Sunday performance at 2024 Fleet Week. (Jonah Rossiter)“Razz” Larson’s F-22 Raptor creates vapor cones during the high-speed pass at his Sunday performance at 2024 Fleet Week. (Jonah Rossiter)Blue Angel #5 approaches the sound barrier, creating a vapor cone, during a sneak pass in the 2024 Fleet Week Airshow. (Jonah Rossiter)The Blue Angels complete their Sunday performance with the delta flat pass at the 2024 Fleet Week Airshow. (Jonah Rossiter)The United Airlines 777 opens up Sunday’s show with a low flyby at 2024’s Fleet Week. (Jonah Rossiter)The Patriots Jet Team solo #2 passes low in front of Alcatraz Island on Sunday of 2024’s Fleet Week. (Jonah Rossiter)“Razz” Larson rips through the minimum radius turn maneuver in the F-22 Raptor during his Sunday performance at 2024 Fleet Week. (Jonah Rossiter)
This story was originally published on The Pitch on October 15, 2024.
![NEW CHALLENGE, NEW TEAM MEMBERS: Every season, VEX creates a new game that robotics team members are faced with and have to build a robot to compete in. This year’s game forces students to create a robot that is able to stack rings onto mobile goals in order to score points. The change in games each season is something that robotics teacher Audrea Moyers appreciates.
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