We’ve all seen jet fighter flyovers add a patriotic zinger to the National Anthem at big sporting events, but the deafening show of force never loses its cool. If you like ’em too, stay close to the TV and turn up the sound just before kickoff in this year’s Super Bowl, when four Carrier Air Wing 7 fighter jets will roar over that billion-dollar Cowboys Stadium in Texas.

An F/A-18 Super Hornet assigned to Carrier Air Wing 7 launches from the deck of the carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower in 2007. // U.S. Navy, Mass Communication Specialist Seaman David Danals
What’s odd is that if you do, you’ll have the same view as the folks in the stadium, albeit on a much smaller screen. The NFL has already announced that the stadium’s retractable roof will be closed for the Feb. 6 game because of the possibility of freezing temperatures. (Heaven forbid that the national football championship should be played in winter-like conditions!) So while the crowd inside watches the flyover in heated comfort on that near-60-yard video screen, the fliers — from Strike Fighter Squadrons 83, 131, 103 and 143 — will be seeing this:
Officials could not possibly crank up that audio system’s sound loud enough to replicate the roar of those Hornets and Super Hornets. But as always, it’ll look great. Play ball!
Who’s your pick? Me? I think it’s the Packers’ year.
2 Comments
Ummmm…I doubt very seriously that we see or hear that flyover if we are not at the game. I don’t know how many times they’ve cut away to commercial during the flyover in the past. It never ceases to annoy me. With commercial space coming in at such a premium these days, I imagine the SSB will be cut out of the TV programming as well sooner or later.
I would like to see the Super Bowl played in Green Bay.