Air Force cutback still allows roaring fly-by at game today

[unhappycamper]

A military jet flyover highlighted pregame ceremonies at Fenway last year before the first game of the division series against the Angels. Playoff games will still be eligible for the flyby.


Air Force cutback still allows roaring fly-by at game today
By David Abel
Globe Staff / April 8, 2008

When Lieutenant Colonel Dave Smith leads a squadron of four F-16s from Burlington, Vt., to Fenway Park this afternoon, the fighters will circle over Cambridge, dropping to 1,000 feet and screaming over the baseball field at about 350 miles per hour as the final note of the national anthem ends.
more stories like this

The round-trip journey, which will cost taxpayers about $100,000 for fuel alone, has become as much of a tradition as the ceremonial pitch on Opening Day.

In fact, it can seem there's hardly an event without a flyover these days. The roar of jet engines is heard at everything from Major League Baseball games to NASCAR races to town fairs and community parades. With requests for flyovers rocketing nationwide - to 3,623 last year, a 37 percent jump from the previous year - the Air Force says it is cutting back.

Instead of providing flyovers at 108 NASCAR races, as they did four years ago, Air Force officials this year approved 38. Some National Football League teams used to have flyovers at every home game; now they're lim ited to four flyovers a season. And Major League Baseball teams are also now limited to four flyovers a year: for the season opener, the first games of the playoffs, and the World Series.

~snip~

He isn't concerned that the journey from Burlington to Boston will cost about $32,000 an hour in fuel and requires special arrangements with the Federal Aviation Administration. He said the money is being spent on training, and he compared the flyover to a bombing mission.

Rest of article at: http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2008/04/08/air_force_cutback_still_allows_roaring_fly_by_at_game_today/

[kevinmc]

1. I've been wondering about that for a while ..

they do those over everything nowadays and it's at all of the games not just championship games. Waste of wear and tear on those planes and a waste of money.