The Crazy Story Behind the 2025 Rose Bowl Flyover Picture

[@ChainsawFPV]

Any time a B2 takes to the air, it's cause for celebration. Screw the costs. Epic photo!

[@Klust413]

Flyovers are coordinated bombing practice, just without the dropped bombs. They're practicing to be in a specific place at a very specific time. It's kind of dark when you think about it. The display to look cool is them showing they can hit targets where and when they need to

[@gwcrispi]

The pilots that did the B2 flyover at the Indy 500 were asked about this. They said they bombed two bridges that day. One on the way to Indy and one on the way back.

[@angryox3102]

Besides it also being great for military recruitment.

[@paulmj1]

Mark is a real gent. I wrote him that I took an aerial shot of the Rose Bowl in 1964. Illinois vs. Washington. Military flyovers hadn’t been invented yet. Just me piloting a Cessna 172 while getting my shot through the open window. Mark was kind enough to send me a good quality image which is now the wallpaper on my 24” iMac. Thanks, Mark.

[@MyToxicMasculinity]

It's a fkn training mission. Probably one of the best for ground attack because of the accuracy needed in both space and time.

[@beardown6574]

AV geek myself. B2 is so iconic such a great shot! Cool story behind the picture.

[@steveolive9991]

the first military flyover of a sports event was the first game of the 1918 World Series (WWI was still going on) in Chicago: 60 biplanes flew over Comiskey Park.

[@BTBEV3469]

I knew all this already, but I wanted to see how credible the posting was. Very nice job!!

[@CrashTestPilot]

Flyovers are rolled into training, they're not out there playing around. They're flights they'd be taking anyway. They need to be over the stadium at a precise moment in the Anthem. In combat this would be referred to as "TOT" or, time over target. They're more or less practicing attack runs when they do this.

[@5710fpilot]

F the budget. We da guvmint😂

[@motomuso]

As a young man I drove an office supply truck in the 80s. The Thomas Guides were essential. Using them not only worked but they worked extremely well. We always knew where we were because we weren't just blindly taking "Turn here" directions.

[@PunaJussi]

The tax money is allready spent. The sporting events are just another training mission. And it's a great training mission because it actually matters a little bit more that you get it right. They would fly a similar training mission anyway.

[@markkempton4579]

Interesting. Thanks for sharing. Michigan Sky Media went viral in 2023 for their shot of the same event and I assumed this year's was them again. I did not realize someone else came up with this concept. This is certainly bucket list material for any photog. I wonder what I can pull off at a smaller scale. :-/

[@fullupfinish12]

I've been luckily enough to be on the roof with the B2 guy on the Rose Bowl roof a couple years back shooting pyro. I have no doubt we have the best people doing this and I am in total awe of their ability to project into the future exactly when they will pass over a point in space even with the variability of the national anthem being sung.

[@SpyderGuyC8]

More people see flyovers than Blue Angels or Thunderbirds airshows. It is a great recruitment exercise.

[@jamesmcadams6231]

There is a similar photo of the B2 over Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.

[@positivelybobby]

Michigan State beat Stanford in the 2014 Rose Bowl - this featured the 2014 NC game, held at the Rose Bowl, instead. Bummer… I’d love to see that MSU shot.

[@steve318k]

I guess I'm living under a rock, this is the first time I saw this picture.

[@JohnCena-nx4of]

The "university" at 4:15 is actually Palisades Charter High School, a High School.

[@Odin029]

The waste of tax payer money people are idiots. US Air Force pilots have fly a certain number of hours each month. Whether that B2 flew over the Rose Bowl or over the Mojave, it was going to be in the air.

[@fullupfinish12]

Also, the Rose Bowl/ Rose Parade pays for the flyover

[@gregory596]

If only there were some strategic value to having military pilots practice flying a bomber over a specified location at a precise time. That could actually make it a proper use of the taxpayers' money.

[@Klust413]

​@@gregory596Yeah, it's pretty dark to realize fans are a fake target in a coordinated bombing where they just don't drop the bombs this time. Good practice and gets to impress the fans, but it's definitely striking how consistent they get the timing down.

[@MichaelSmith-kr9qw]

All Military Pilots must stay proficient in their respective aircraft, so the military flyovers are usually scheduled around a training sorties so it isn't a waste of taxpayers money, Quit snivelling about how we train our pilots because believe it or not it takes some serious skill to do a flyover especially during a sporting event with a very narrow time frame. It is just a intense as making a bombing mission over a target. You have to be there at the precise time to do the most damage and take out the potential target.

[@sherryswisher8911]

These are training hours. Fly overs are targets in reality. We think it is cool but the crews are really working.

[@davidnise]

Answer at 2:20, great video!

[@ukar69]

I think there’s far more government financial wastage to worry about than flyovers.

[@gfrerking]

IDK, I'd much rather pay for a pilot getting some good training than paying for some stupid study trying to figure out whether tequila or gin makes a fish more agitated or drag queen shows in Ecuador.

[@stevesoller4571]

Do these Scrooges think all our military hardware just sits in hangars until war? They just program the flyover as a training flight. And given the precise timing and navigation necessary, it is highly valuable training.

[@austinthrowsstuff]

I don’t think that Jordan photo is that great. Looks like an Ispy book

[@user-sx4yu3nw4j]

“… acrobatic moves in the air” There’s a word for that; aerobatics. Acrobatics are performed by athletes on a padded floor.