Fly Like an Eagle

By Richard Mineards   |   May 21, 2020
Above at 2,000 feet are the Four F15C Eagle Fighter Jets of the 144th Fighter Wing from the California Air National Guard over Santa Barbara County honoring our healthcare workers (photo by Priscilla)
Proudly holding photographs of their cousin Major James Hastings and the F-14 Fighter Jet are Cole, Elliott, and Hastings Perkins-Tift with their grandmother Annie Perkins (photo by Priscilla)

The spectacular flyover by four California Air National Guard F-15C Eagle fighter jets honoring frontline healthcare workers was particularly poignant for longtime Montecito resident Annie Perkins.

Her nephew Major James Hastings of the 144th Fighter Wing, who lives in Paso Robles, was one of the four pilots who took off from Fresno and soared over hospitals, medical centers, fire stations, and government buildings during the two-hour flight which first headed towards Sacramento before banking west over the San Francisco Bay, then soaring over Santa Barbara and Bakersfield before heading back to the Central Valley.

The original flight plans also included Los Angeles, but changed course to accommodate a Southern California flyover by the U.S. Air Force’s Thunderbirds two days later.

“It was quite a spectacular display,” says Annie.

Viewing the flyover from Elings Park is Jessica Bixler, a friend of Annie Perkins, and Major Hastings (photo by Priscilla)
 

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