Navy to celebrate 100 years of flight with huge air show

In a massive choreography of planes, boats and automobiles, more than 120,000 people gather around San Diego Bay on Saturday for an historic parade of Navy air power.

Nearly 200 current and vintage military aircraft will fly over the Coronado Bridge and up the belly of the bay to celebrate 100 years of naval aviation.

The finale will be a formation flyover of about 35 planes that make up the air wing of the aircraft carrier John C. Stennis, in town from its home port of Bremerton, Wash.

According to a preliminary count, more than 70,000 people watched the show from the NAS North Island in Coronado. The Coronado Bridge was blocked and came to complete stop…. You can see the cars on the bridge in the background of some of my shots…. You'll see the cruise ships between the two tall green buildings. The water is full of boats, canoes, paddle boards, and the sky is full of aircraft…. sort of a wierd movie look…..

Navy's flying roots can be traced to San Diego

It started here because of the weather. The brilliant businessman who sold the Navy its first airplane had tried to launch his flying business in rural New York state. But winters there are less than ideal for planes that land on water.

In 1911, Curtiss got a lease at North Island. Little more than jack rabbits at the time, the island would become the birthplace of naval aviation. “The city was extremely friendly toward this kind of business environment because we were actively trying to get the Navy more involved in San Diego, which was still kind of a dusty little resort community near the Mexican border,” he said.

San Diego was also the birthplace of the forerunner to the Navy’s Blue Angels precision flying team. In 1927, a competitive young Navy pilot watched the Army’s aerobatic aviation team perform at a Washington state air show. He promptly went back to North Island and formed his own squad, the Three Seahawks, the Navy’s first.