Kinnick stadium flyover cleared pressbox by 16 feet!

nddons

nddons

Touchdown! Greaser!
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My buddy is an Iowa season ticket holder, and thought the flyover was awesome. Apparently, a little too awesome for the USAF:

http://www.kcci.com/news/27296855/detail.html?taf=des

Fans said they were amazed by how close the jets came to the stadium, and the investigation found just how close. The aircraft cleared the scoreboard by 58 feet.
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The flight lead lost his wings, two months pay, and any chance of ever being promoted again, and is lucky he wasn't jailed. You want to fly in the military, you play by the rules or you suffer really serious consequences.
 
I agree with you, Ron. I love flyovers, and this was a flight of T-38s (one of the most beautiful aircrafts ever flown IMO, and who's tiny cockpit kept me out of the USAF). In the "eye-level" picture on this site, the building immediately East of the stadium is the University of Iowa Hospital. Not smart.

http://www.kcrg.com/younews/109871859.html
 
Didn't anybody learn anything from the too-low flyover at Ga. Tech last year? :dunno:
 
Wow.. I hadn't heard that story. That's pretty crazy considering that Kinninck is smack downtown IA City and, unlike most other places in Iowa, it isn't surrounded by miles and miles of flat terrain.

If he cleared the scoreboard by 58 ft, he was about 59 ft above some spectators' heads - the scoreboard at Kinnick doesn't require much looking 'up' to see it. If you're in the nosebleed seats, you're pretty much eye-level or mayber higher than the scoreboard.
 
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Heh, I'm still trying to figure out the flyover at Cowboys Stadium for the last Super Bowl...
 
Ron Levy said:
...or when they have the blimp overhead a domed stadium showing the folks at home pictures of the roof and parking lot.:dunno:
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Yeah, that's about as useful as the live broadcasts on The Weather Channel 2 days before the hurricane comes ashore. Maybe there's a monthly minimum on their satellite uplink contracts...
 
rpadula said:
Doh! Forgot about that. I guess each branch has to goof up on their own! :thumbsup:
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Yeah -- it took the Air Force like 10 years to pick up on "Loose Deuce" air-to-air tactics invented by the Navy, and they had to rename it "Fluid Two." But if you look at the tactics manuals from that era, about the only differences besides the title were replacing "2-ship" with "2-plane."

Which reminds me of the time we brought a flight of four A-6's into Mountain Home AFB in about 1976. When we walked into Base Ops, some major asked who was leading the formation, and the Skipper, with his typical "wanna make something of it?" attitude hopped up and said, "I was!" The major, a bit startled by the attitude, said, "Really nice four-ship, Commander." The Skipper snapped back, "Those are airplanes, major, not destroyers!" Fortunately, we didn't need the major's signature to depart...
 
Ron Levy said:
...or when they have the blimp overhead a domed stadium showing the folks at home pictures of the roof and parking lot.:dunno:
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Hey now, its called job security. I'm sure the pilots (myself included) wouldn't be too happy if there was common sense involved with showing an NBA game from a blimp, where you can't see a thing.
 
]The flight lead lost his wings, two months pay, and any chance of ever being promoted again, and is lucky he wasn't jailed. You want to fly in the military, you play by the rules or you suffer really serious consequences if you get caught {edited by gismo}.
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Fixed it for ya Ron. I'm pretty sure that a fair amount of rule avoidance occurs on military flights but as long as nothing bad happens and it doesn't get reported the consequences are moot. I'd be willing to bet this wasn't the first time the pilot deliberately flew closer to something that he was supposed to.
 
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gismo said:
Fixed it for ya. I'm pretty sure that a fair amount of rule avoidance occurs on military flights but as long as nothing bad happens and it doesn't get reported the consequences are moot. I'd be willing to bet this wasn't the first time the pilot deliberately flew closer to something that he was supposed to.
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It's happening way less than it used to. USAF has by far the best safety record among the air arms of civilized countries and that comes in part from rather strict policy enforcement. The violations tend to be committed by a small number of hotheads, who are now eased out. That was the major lesson of Colonel Holland's case. Or at least this is the generally accepted picture. I'm sure there's still a small number of pilots who are smart enough to be completely two-faced and are very sneaky in their exploits... stainless steel rats who never whisper about it in a bar.

Come to think of it, I only have 77 hours and already had a few aeronautical experiences that I would never, ever share with anyone, let alone the board. Perhaps USAF pilots get subconsciously selected for it nowadays.
 
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Ron Levy said:
Yeah -- it took the Air Force like 10 years to pick up on "Loose Deuce" air-to-air tactics invented by the Navy, and they had to rename it "Fluid Two." But if you look at the tactics manuals from that era, about the only differences besides the title were replacing "2-ship" with "2-plane."
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I thought they couldn't get along because one had "Aviators" and the other had "Pilots" and they just figured the jobs were different. ;) :idea:
 
gismo said:
Fixed it for ya. I'm pretty sure that a fair amount of rule avoidance occurs on military flights but as long as nothing bad happens and it doesn't get reported the consequences are moot. I'd be willing to bet this wasn't the first time the pilot deliberately flew closer to something that he was supposed to.
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Remember this one?

AP Online
08-20-1998
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) _ The crew of a Washington Air National Guard refueling plane has been grounded for taking off too much.

The crewmen stripped off their flight suits and flew a mission in the nude.

No safety rules were violated, but the prank last month was considered a serious breach of military discipline, Maj. Philip Logan, an Air National Guard spokesman. The …
 
Did a Home Coming flyover at the USAFA stadium one year. All approved by the people that matter. We were directed east to west instead of the normal south to north.

Turned out over the city of C Springs, rocked the wings back and accellerated. Now there is a tall peak just west of the stadium we needed to clear, but were directed to "hold it down" to 1000ft over the stadium floor. Factor in stadium height.

Timing was to meet the closing strains of the National Anthem, both teams on the field for kickoff. Full AB and pitch up at 550knts, we knocked (shook) the football off the tee. The stadium went wild!

Word went around the academy that we lost our wings, we did not.
 
If I were a pilot assigned to do a flyover, I'd do it at 1000 agl just to be safe.

Getting kicked out of the service for a low flyover seems like a stupid way to end your career.
 
One year,when I was teaching IFT at the USAFA, the day after AF beat Navy (football), a Navy pilot decided a low pass and booming the Cadets during midday parade would be a good idea... it wasn't!

Lots of broken windows later and a dishonorable discharge(supposedly) later, this 'aviator' was relieved of his flying duties... But the Navy sure paid for a lot of windows!
 
Rotor&Wing said:
Remember this one?

AP Online
08-20-1998
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) _ The crew of a Washington Air National Guard refueling plane has been grounded for taking off too much.

The crewmen stripped off their flight suits and flew a mission in the nude.

No safety rules were violated, but the prank last month was considered a serious breach of military discipline, Maj. Philip Logan, an Air National Guard spokesman. The …
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No. But unless the crew was female and good looking I probably wouldn't have been interested.:D
 
Jack Spectre said:
If I were a pilot assigned to do a flyover, I'd do it at 1000 agl just to be safe.

Getting kicked out of the service for a low flyover seems like a stupid way to end your career.
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Prolly what you meant but to be safe you want to be 1000 ft above anything attached to the ground within a 2000 ft radius circle.
 
gismo said:
No. But unless the crew was female and good looking I probably wouldn't have been interested.:D
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That sounds to me like a case of "Don't ask, don't tell." ;)
 
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