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Blue Angels No. 2 pilot Lt. Cmdr. John Hiltz gives a high five to a Seeley Elementary School student after the pilots landed from their final practice before beginning the air show season today. (ELIZABETH VARIN PHOTO / March 15, 2013) |
NAVAL AIR FACILITY EL CENTRO — Before the crowds flock onto the base, before the stands and chalets fill up, before all the vendors arrive, Seeley Elementary School students got a sneak peak at the headliner performance set to take to the skies today.
Fifth- and sixth-graders from Seeley Elementary School watched the Blue Angels F/A 18 Hornet jets and C-130 Fat Albert take off and maneuver through the skies.
The students were really excited to come and watch the Blue Angels fly, said Lupita Rosas, a sixth-grade teacher with the school. A few of the students who live on base have experienced it before, but for those from Seeley and the surrounding area, it’s really exciting.
“I think it’s a great experience, for the kids and myself,” she said. “I’m an air show fanatic.”
The event was a really good experience, because it doesn’t happen too often for each of the different classes, said Hector Tamayo, 10, a fifth-grader. He had gone out to the base three or four years ago, and it was great to be back.
“I like to see Fat Albert because it’s amazing how such a big plane can fly so high,” he said.
Eric Moreno, 11, also said he liked to see the airplanes fly so high, he said. However, his favorite part of the event was watching the jets take off.
A lot of students, even though they hear the sounds nearly every day, are afraid of the noises the jets make as they fly overhead, said Lindsay Franzen, 12, a sixth-grader. However, Lindsay said the sound doesn’t bother her because she lives on base and hears it all the time.
Being invited to watch the practice before the air show makes Lindsay feel like the Seeley school is special, a well-behaved good school, she added.
Ximena Sagastuma, 11, a sixth-grader, nearly didn’t have words, she was so excited to watch the Blue Angels fly.
“I like that it’s special that they invite us here, and I think it’s a great, amazing view,” she said. “I’m just grateful they keep inviting us out here.
“I love that sound,” she said as one of the jets flew overhead. “It seems like it would be annoying and sometimes it is. … I hope I can come tomorrow.”
Gates open at the base at 8 a.m., with jets set to take to the skies at 10 a.m. The air show is set to last until about 4 p.m.
Digital Media News Editor Elizabeth Varin can be reached at evarin@ivpressonline.com or 760-337-3441.
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