5th and Long

September 9th, 2012 at 9:43 PM ^

Have seen at the Rose Bowl. I expected it to be impressive but when I saw it, it's actually more impressive than imagined - cost to procure - just shy of a billion each - 22 made. Only 20 left. - most likely came from Whitman AFB in Missouri - cost per flight hour estimated at $130k/ hr - $ for flyovers comes from their annual training budget -I'm not a military expert...but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night

DY

September 10th, 2012 at 12:21 PM ^

All of the B2s operate out of Whiteman AFB in Missouri. At that operating cost and distance away, I was wondering what else was on their flightplan, if they did flyovers at any other games on Saturday. Spending the afternoon buzzing football stadiums has got to pretty entertaining. Much different than a "normal" mission.

BlueMan80

September 9th, 2012 at 9:50 PM ^

C5A Galaxy is huge. Back when that plane was being developed, they did test flights over my neighborhood. So large it cast a shadow on the ground when it flew by. Loud, too. The B2 flyover was great. It's amazing what you can build with massive amounts of money and technology.

emozilla

September 9th, 2012 at 11:09 PM ^

With the bald eagle and the B2 there was so much America spirit pre game I was ready to enlist on the spot. I'd seen pictures before but you don't get an appreciation for how thin the aircraft is until you see it coming st you.

A2GoBlue

September 9th, 2012 at 11:22 PM ^

but my favorite flyover was for the UConn game in 2010. I just love those old bombers, and I swear the pilot dipped down into the stadium then pulled back up again to miss the scoreboard. That was pretty sweet.

B-Nut-GoBlue

September 9th, 2012 at 11:39 PM ^

Awesome.  I was hoping someone would post that (at least hoping people would bring up how cool it in fact was).  I was obviously not there but heard earlier in the week the B-2 was "performing"  the flyover.  Only thing to top that would be a couple F-15 wingmen on either side of the Stealth bomber.

On a side note, here in Iowa, a pilot lost his life last weekend during an air show in the Quad City Air Show (flying and older soviet plane).  I always have a huge respect to those flying these fascinating machines (and of course those protecting our country).

Michael

September 10th, 2012 at 1:37 AM ^

I know this is a "cool story bro" post, but I was flying from San Francisco to Detroit 4 years ago, sitting on the window seat of the plane on the left side and the captain got on the intercom and said "for those of you sitting on the left side of the plane, if you look out the window, you're going to see something you'll never forget in about 30 seconds."

About 30 seconds later a B-2 flew directly under our plane in a slow left turn. It's impossible to describe just how close it was, but I could actually see the plane carving its way through the air (if that makes any sense) while filling up my entire window. It was one of those moments that will forever be seared into my mind. Truly breathtaking.

Also, while we're on the general topic of awesomeness, I highy recommend seeing the F-22 in person as well. It's almost like a space ship.

Blazefire

September 10th, 2012 at 10:16 AM ^

It's pretty much impossible to beat an F-15 flyover. I still remember the Toledo Air Show about 10 years ago. During the F-15 demonstration, the pilot went straight up vertical for nearly 2 miles. It was like you could feel the air, feel gravity just say "screw it. I don't get paid enough to deal with this crap", and let it go.

Feat of Clay

September 10th, 2012 at 12:00 PM ^

Thanks for the video--we couldn't see it due to the overhang on the west side, until it was well north of the stadium.

The eagle was pretty cool.  I've seen quite a few bald eagles in my lifetime (my family lives on a flyway and the eagles follow the goose flocks south to pick off the injured).  And yet they never fail to amaze me.  If you promise not to tell anyone I'll confess to getting choked up at the one flying around the stadium on Saturday.

Darth Wolverine

September 10th, 2012 at 12:47 PM ^

I love fighter jets and bombers. I get goose bumps every single time I see a flyover of any sort and I don't know why, but it just happens. The Steelers/Broncos game last night had helicopters flying over and even that gave me goose bumps.