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Inside the Super Bowl LVI Flyover

Air Force Heritage Flight Foundation pilot Steve Hinton reveals secrets of the flyover’s split-second timing and tight formation.

p-51 mustang wee willy II
A vintage P-51D Mustang named “Wee Willy II” will take part in Sunday’s Super Bowl flyover. [File Photo Courtesy AFHFF]
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Key Takeaways:

  • The Super Bowl LVI pre-game flyover, celebrating the U.S. Air Force's 75th anniversary, features a formation of five historic and modern U.S. military aircraft, including a P-51D Mustang and four contemporary jets.
  • Executing the flyover requires intricate planning, practice, and precise "time on target" coordination among the U.S. Air Force, the Air Force Heritage Flight Foundation, the NFL, and the FAA to ensure the aircraft appear exactly as the national anthem concludes.
  • These flyovers serve as valuable "time-over-target" training for military pilots and crew, showcasing capabilities and inspiring patriotism and aviation enthusiasm at no extra cost to taxpayers.
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During the final notes of the national anthem at Sunday’s Super Bowl LVI in Los Angeles, most fans will be thinking about the matchup between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Los Angeles Rams. Others will be looking up, scanning the sky for the flyover. 

The pre-game flyover is a Super Bowl ritual more than half a century old. Although it only lasts a few seconds, for many pilots and aviation enthusiasts, it’s one of the most thrilling moments of the game. Previous flyovers at the NFL championship game have included the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds, U.S. Army helicopters, and even three different types of bombers. 

Thom Patterson

Thom is a former senior editor for FLYING. Previously, his freelance reporting appeared in aviation industry magazines. Thom also spent three decades as a TV and digital journalist at CNN’s bureaus in Washington and Atlanta, eventually specializing in aviation. He has reported from air shows in Oshkosh, Farnborough and Paris. Follow Thom on Twitter @thompatterson.

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