Fleet Week a homecoming for one Blue Angels pilot
SAN FRANCISCO - Fleet Week is underway, and while the air shows are a few days away the Blue Angels are already in town.
For one of those Blue Angels, it's a chance to perform before his home crowd.
On Monday, the team got a great view of the area where they will be performing later this week.
Before the Blue Angels take to the air over the Bay this year, members took a tour that took them underwater, at the Aquarium of the Bay at Pier 39.
The aquarium's balconies will be prime viewing locations for this week's air shows.
"The views will be spectacular and of course the Blue Angels are spectacular," said George Jacob from the Aquarium of the Bay.
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For Blue Angels pilot Lt. Scott Goosens this weekend's show will be a homecoming.
The pilot graduated from St. Ignatius College Preparatory school in San Francisco's Sunset District in 2006, and remembers hearing the planes flying overhead when he was a student here.
"It's a surreal experience, you know, pinching myself right now, just because being here, this is where it all started for me," said Goosens. "As a kid growing up in San Francisco watching the Blue Angels perform every year over Fleet Week, that was my inspiration."
Patrick Linehan is one of the students who helped bring the pilot back to his alma mater, and says seeing someone who has achieved their dream is an inspiration.
"Someone who went to SI (St. Ignatius College Preparatory) is in the elite of the elite," said Linehan. "Flying above our city, someone who, you know, we're all in class, and we hear him flying by, and we can look out the window and think, 'that's an SI student right there.'"
Goosens said he's happy to be back to inspire those at his old high school to aim high whatever their chosen field.
"Whether you want to be a Blue Angel, whether you want to be a teacher or a doctor, whatever it is you may want to be, pursue that with the best of your abilities, all of your passion," said Goosens.
The air shows kick off Friday and run through the weekend. But as many insiders know, there are practice sessions throughout the week, so there will be plenty of chances to watch the Blue Angels in action.