Bay Curious The Navy Jet Generations of SF Kids Played On
Mar 12, 2026
Aaron Van Lieu, a local whose childhood play on a Navy jet in Carl Larsen Park sparked this story. He recalls climbing the cockpit and canopy. The show traces three jets that lived in the park, why surplus Navy planes became playgrounds, safety concerns and removal, and the restored F-8’s surprising new home at a museum.
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Neighborhood Kids Played On A Real Navy Jet
- Larson Park had a real Navy jet kids climbed in and pretended to fly for decades.
- Dennis O'Neill and Aaron Van Lieu recall sitting in the cockpit and playing on the plane on 19th Avenue at Vicente Street.
Surplus Military Jets Became Playground Trends
- San Francisco installed real surplus military jets as playground equipment during the Cold War and space-race era.
- The first F-8 arrived in 1958 from Moffett Field because surplus planes were cheap and fit the era's fascination with flight.
Wear, Safety, And Lead Paint Ended The Jet Era
- Kids wore the jets down roughly every decade, creating a cycle of replacement and removal.
- By the 1990s safety concerns, broken metal, lead paint and injuries led officials to decide in 1993 to remove the last playground jet.