Behind Maj. Rick Rose stands ‘Fat Albert,’ a C-130J Hercules aircraft, on Oct. 7, 2021, at Oakland International Airport. After the pandemic resulted in fleet week being cancelled in 2020, a large mass convened Oct. 8 to 10 to the Marina Green to witness the air acrobatics. (Matthew Cardoza / Golden Gate Xpress) (Matthew Cardoza)
Behind Maj. Rick Rose stands ‘Fat Albert,’ a C-130J Hercules aircraft, on Oct. 7, 2021, at Oakland International Airport. After the pandemic resulted in fleet week being cancelled in 2020, a large mass convened Oct. 8 to 10 to the Marina Green to witness the air acrobatics. (Matthew Cardoza / Golden Gate Xpress)

Matthew Cardoza

Hundreds flock to San Francisco for Fleet Week return

Large crowds gather at the Marina Green to enjoy the last day of aerial performances, fleet week festivities

Matthew Cardoza, Matthew Faludi, and Albert Gregory

Oct 13, 2021

Hundreds of people lined the Marina Green, Fort Mason and Aquatic Park in San Francisco on Sunday, to catch a glimpse of aerial stunt performances, including the return of the Navy Blue Angels.

Spectators from across the Bay Area enjoyed food and live entertainment such as the Navy “Leap Frogs” Parachute Team, Red Bull stunt planes and the Navy Blue Angels air show that capped off the event at 3 p.m.

“One of the shows we really look forward to is San Francisco,” said Maj. Rick Rose, 32, a Marine and the pilot of the Blue Angels’ C-130J Hercules aircraft known as “Fat Albert.”

“It’s a challenging show site, but it’s also extremely fun,” Rose said. “So that’s why we kind of save it for the end of the season.”

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About the Contributors
Photo of Matthew Cardoza
Matthew Cardoza, Copy Editor
Matthew Cardoza (he/him) is the copy editor for Golden Gate Xpress. He is majoring in journalism and minoring in political science. He was born and raised in San Francisco, and still lives in the city. He was previously a part of The Guardsman, the campus newspaper of City College of San Francisco. Matthew likes to write about politics, culture and interesting events on and off campus. In his free time, he likes to drive around San Francisco, rock climb, play video games and hike in the wilderness.
Photo of Matthew Faludi
Matthew Faludi
Fourth (and hopefully last) year Journalism major at SF State currently serving as Arts and Entertainment editor for the Golden Gate Xpress. Currently residing in San Francisco's outer Sunset district. Faludi's writing has also appeared on Surfline. His interests include surfing, backpacking, grammar, dad-rock and taking crummy analog photos.
Photo of Albert Gregory
Albert Gregory
Albert is the multimedia editor and a fourth-year print/online journalism student at SF State. He is a freelance writer/photographer, and his work has appeared in The Press Democrat and USA Today. Albert was born in Portland, Oregon, but grew up a military brat on a Coast Guard base in Novato, California. He currently lives in Sonoma County.

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