Sea And Air Parade, Air Races Kick Off San Diego Fleet Week
This undated image provided by Red Bull Air Race shows Britain’s Nigel Lamb leading American Mike Mangold, back, and Hungary’s Peter Besenyei on a recent demonstration flight over San Diego skyline before the weekend competition, May 3-4, 2008. The Red Bull Air Race World Series features the world’s best pilots in a competition based on speed and skill using lightweight racing planes to navigate a low-level aerial race track of air-filled pylons. (AP Photo/Red Bull Air Race, Joerg Mitter)
This year’s Fleet Week activities kicked off Saturday as tens of thousands of people watched the “Sea and Air Parade” in San Diego Bay.
The parade, complete with military flyovers, is the flagship event of San Diego’s annual Navy celebration, which stretches five months to this fall’s Miramar Air Show.
A guided-missile cruiser, frigate, guided-missile destroyers and two amphibious dock landing ships took part, according to the Unified Port of San Diego, the event’s sponsor.
The tall ships Californian and HMS Surprise had a mock cannon battle.
Following the parade, qualifying for the 2008 “Red Bull Air Race” got under way in the skies above San Diego Bay.
Twelve pilots will race over two days in the second leg of a 10-city international flying competition. The pilots navigate a winding low-level course at high speeds that can subject them to 10 G-force.
About 20,000 people went to Naval Air Station North Island to walk through Pit Lane to view the planes and meet defending champion Mike Mangold, race organizers said.
Mangold, of Victorville, was third in his first qualifying flight, behind Paul Bonhomme of Great Britain and Kirby Chambliss of Tucson. A second qualifying round is set for Saturday. The finals are scheduled for Sunday.
There have been no reports of incidents among the thousands attending the events, according to the San Diego Harbor Police.
(CBS News 8)
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