In Chicago the flyover was billed as a tribute to health care workers, and the flight path included the suburb of Oak Lawn, home to trauma center hospital Christ. (I didn’t name it.) In the local area, I’d say this was a good morale boost if nothing else. It coincided perfectly with the lunch break at work, and most of us 10 or so people were outside looking for the Blue Angels. We were sufficiently south of the city proper to not be able to see anything, however. (You can see roughly the top 2/3 of the sears tower where we are, so it was worth a shot.)
I don’t know if the con man ordered the flyover, but I doubt it. If it was on Trump’s order, you can bet Chicago would have been denied.
I know at least one person who works at a local hospital that had a stealth bomber flyover (or at least they claim it did, but who could tell ) who was not at all impressed, nor did he feel particularly appreciated by the gesture.
And you can bet that if we found ourselves in an active war, with missions that called for elite piloting skills, those hotshot pilots would be assigned to those missions without even waiting the 2-3 years.
Just racking up flight hours? Have you ever flown in formation? Each plane is flying a different flight path and adjusting speed in order to make it look like a singular flight as they turn. It is the polar opposite of routine. Here’s a pictureof the Blue Angels and Thunderbirds together over NYC.
The rolling formation turn is one of the most difficult maneuvers to do. Cite: Believe it or not, our most difficult maneuvers are the ones that look the simplest. When we roll into formation, that’s actually very hard but it looks very graceful. Our high-speed crossing maneuvers are the ones that look the hardest, but they’re often the easiest.
On the other hand, you have to be pretty damn amazing to fly wingtip-to-wingtip like they do at any altitude without crashing. Not sure how high they were flying today, but from the airshows in the past I know that they don’t fly OVER the skyscrapers, they fly BETWEEN them (I have actually been in one of the Loop towers and looked DOWN at one of those jets passing by). That sort of flying requires a level of skill and discipline which is just not that common.
It’s not just being “stunty”, either - being able to cover hundreds of miles to arrive over a precise spot at a precise time is another form of precision. Not sure if in-air fueling is involved in any of that, but it might be and if it is that’s another skill to be practiced.
You know what’s funny? I’m actually a pilot but I don’t feel I have enough knowledge to speculate on what sort of tasks go into a demonstration team proficiency flight.
Frankly, I don’t know how many discrete tasks these pilots do in one of these fly-bys. I do know that part of their “mission” is outreach and showing the public what the hardware looks like in motion.
And you are, in fact, wrong - formation flying at the distance and speed they do IS a type of stunt flying.
And do you suppose Air Combat Command sets a requirement for commuting time between the base and the range? No? Well, then it’s a necessity but doesn’t count for anything.
Next you’re going to tell me that the Blue Angels are based in all fifty states and not in Pensacola.
Why yes; both as pilot within 50’ of another single engine fixed gear plane and in the back of an F-16 when doing a formation landing at Andrews within maybe 15’. Your point…?
Who needs to get to a different location? The pilots, for training hours? As above, it’s questionable whether the Blue Angels are an actual necessity for combat readiness, but there are good arguments that those pilots are just rotated in and out of their regular combat duties every few years anyway, and the savings from shutting them down would be miniscule at best.
The bigger question is whether we can scale down military spending in response to the coronavirus, to redirect funds where they’re more needed. But the answer to that is generally “it’s not that easy to quickly scale the military up or down”. Probably a matter of political will more than anything. Sure didn’t take much to spin up a Space Force out of thin air, no pun intended. Anyway, the question of our overall military expenditure is probably too out of scope for this particular thread. :shrug:
As for morale, eh, I guess I can see some people getting excited about decades-old fighters flying across our cities leaving a roaring wake and air pollution behind them. On the other hand, having heard them in Chicago earlier today, it pissed me off so much I immediately jumped online to rant. “There goes another few tens of thousands of dollars! Like the F35s didn’t waste enough.” Again, the fuck-all is combat readiness good for, with next-gen fighters and well-trained pilots who will probably never see combat action, when our citizens are already dying left and right in peacetime, even before the coronavirus? It’s not very different from the stupid parades North Korea puts on to impress their dying citizens.
Want to salute our healthcare workers? How about we pay them more to begin with, give them better working conditions, negotiate on their behalf vs private hospitals, mobilize federal resources to give them PPE and housing, or you know, just actually have managed this crisis better to begin with so as to not endanger so many of them?
Fuck the distracting planes. Yes, I get that they’re ultimately an inconsequential part of the federal budget, but just… what a fucking slap in the face from the DoD.
Here’s an almost 16 minute video of today’s Chicago flyover. These guys were flying over neighborhoods. Tell me that wouldn’t be spectacular- to stand in your front yard and watch these guys fly by, at a time when putting on a mask and taking a walk around the block seems like a fucking thrill.
You think flying wing tip to wingtip at 500 feet off the deck is routine?
I see groups flying to the airfield near me all the time. Whether it’s helicopters or F-15’s it’s quite common for them to fly in formation for the practice.
50’ is not a formation flight. You might as well say you’ve flown to Oshkosh.
I’ve flown in formation before. It’s not easy. And why would you even mention you were a passenger in a plane that flew formation? How does that demonstrate you know what goes into making that happen? More important, how do you not know a rolling formation flight is one of the most demanding maneuvers. I even cited it from a Blue Angel Captain.
They need to stay proficient, the flyovers help maintain that proficiency.
Oh, hell. As pissed as I am about everything right now, I’m glad SOMEONE is getting a kick out of 'em. I’m not even against air shows in particular; in a regular year I might’ve even snuck a peek Just, in context, the feds are fucking up in every other possible way, and THIS is what they’ve managed to coordinate while thousands die? It’s such an in-your-face, let-them-eat-cake moment. Just what America needs during a healthcare crisis, more jingoism! Even as a PR stunt, it backfired on me at least, but hey, I was clearly never the target audience.
So go on, enjoy the show. Makes me feel a LITTLE better knowing some people actually appreciate it. Sigh. Now back to more mortal things like not flying planes and worrying about bills.
) who was not at all impressed, nor did he feel particularly appreciated by the gesture.
Just, in context, the feds are fucking up in every other possible way, and THIS is what they’ve managed to coordinate while thousands die? It’s such an in-your-face, let-them-eat-cake moment. Just what America needs during a healthcare crisis, more jingoism! Even as a PR stunt, it backfired on me at least, but hey, I was clearly never the target audience.