For one Blue Angels pilot, Fleet Week is a homecoming and dream come true

SAN FRANCISCO (KTVU) - You may have seen the unmistakable streak in the sky, or heard a loud noise. The Blue Angels are back in town. They've been running practice drills over the Bay Area Thursday.

But for one of these pilots, it’s a homecoming and a dream coming true.

U.S. Navy Commander Ryan Bernacchi grew up in Los Altos, attended Mountain View High School and says he always wanted to be a pilot with the Blue Angels.
        
"I really joined the Navy because of the Blue Angels. Watching the air shows in San Francisco and Moffett Field as a kid," said Bernacchi.
 
Bernacchi joined the Blue Angels just last year. And he is not only a pilot but a flight commander.
         
This weekend he’ll be diving and darting in an FA-18 Hornet jet over his home turf.

"This is my first air show for Fleet Week. So I am very excited about that," said Bernacchi.
 
Training for the Blue Angels is intensive.  They practice six days a week, flying two and three times a day for months, until everything is precise.

"You just get your game face on. The focus is extreme and unbending from the time we get in the jet until the time we are back out," he said.

One of the best parts, he says, is being part of a team.

"It is something you wouldn't even dare to dream. But it sure is special,” he said.

He also says he also can see people on the ground, waving, taking pictures. He remembers being one of them.

"You sometimes pinch yourself and say wow. And say I can't believe they are looking up and I am actually in this plane." said Bernacchi.

The air shows are scheduled for Saturday and Sunday beginning at 3 p.m.
And that young boy from Los Altos many years ago will be living his dream at 700 miles an hour.