Blue Angels and the Airbus

10/25/2007 English German

Edition # 70
San Francisco, 10-25-2007

With Extraterrestrials Immer wieder Las Vegas" translates to "Again and again Las Vegas" Notary Public The German phrase "Urbane AbkÃ¼rzungen" translates to "Urban The translation of "Lichter aus in San Francisco" to English is The American pension iStockPhoto.com The Newsletter as a Book Blue Angels and the Airbus

Blue Angels and the Airbus

Figure [1]: Six F/A-18 Hornets are flying over San

Francisco.>

Angelika Since 1981, the so-called Fleet Week has taken place every October in San Francisco to honor the men and women of the Navy and Coast Guard. It's a somewhat unusual celebration for the pacifist, left-leaning San Francisco. Large warships dock at the piers of San Francisco and allow naval officers in amusing sailor uniforms to come ashore. The Blue Angels, a Navy unit, are considered the highlight of the festivities for many with their air show featuring six F/A-18 Hornet jets. For others, they are the biggest nuisance, as their daredevil maneuvers over the rooftops of San Francisco are considered dangerous and too loud.

This year, City Councilor Chris Daly even made an attempt to ban the Blue Angels from flying for safety reasons, after one of the pilots crashed during an air show in South Carolina in April. Although the city council rejected this, the right-wing American press railed for days against the anti-military San Francisco.

Figure [2]: Daring maneuver over a densely populated

city.>

In Germany, the Bundeswehr doesn't have a good reputation and everyone makes fun of it, whereas Americans don't like it when people criticize the men and women in uniform in any way. The Blue Angels are meant to spark interest in the Navy through their aerial acrobatics and attract volunteers for the American professional army. Pilots in blue jets are simply better for advertising purposes than returnees from Iraq.

Figure [3]: The Airbus A-380 on a promotional tour in San

Francisco>

The new Airbus A-380 also made a stop in San Francisco during one of its test flights. By coincidence, the giant aircraft was in the city at the same time as the Blue Angels. Someone came up with the idea that it would be nice if the Airbus also performed a low-altitude flyover of San Francisco, just before the Blue Angels' training flights. Suddenly, the giant bird appeared in front of our window, and Michael, who was working from home at the time, cheerfully snapped a few photos. It's amazing what flies over our heads.

\vspace{0.3cm}

All that's missing is the marching music. With almost military proportions:

\vspace{0.3cm}

The translation of "Angelika und Michael" to English is "Angelika and Michael.