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Sunday, December 07, 2008

Stealth bomber flyover this afternoon

B2-bomber Did any of you see the B2 bomber flyover awhile ago (of course you did!).  Isaac Garcia is on top of things, and has fresh new pictures.  Check ’em out.

BTW, our inside sources say it wasn’t a Rose Parade rehearsal, but a former Defense Dept. bigwig who was having his funeral at Pasadena First United Methodist Church today and earned the flyover.

UPDATE 9 PM: Just got the obit: there was a 1 PM funeral for Verne Orr, President Reagan’s secretary of the Air Force and a champion of the B1 and B2 programs, at Pasadena FUMC, and the flyover was for that — of course, if the B2 is flying over Colorado Boulevard anyway it could also have taken in a little practice run over the Rose Parade route as well.  (We have our suspicions that last month’s U2 flyover was not just about the Hollywood air show, either).

Posted on Sunday, December 07, 2008 at 02:46 PM in Watch the Skies |

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Comments


IsaacGarcia said…

For what its worth – I’ve received two offlist emails from folks insisting it was a Rose Parade practice run because the Bomber “overshot” the parade route last year.

Whatever the reason – it was GREAT to see today! It did a double pass!


Willythekorn said…

The Air Force is engaging in illegal torture of my poor self. Yesterday I was frantically searching for whatever overflew the Rose Bowl, which I could hear clearly enough but not see. Today, I was on the phone and, looking out my window, saw the B-2 going by at an outrageously low altitude. By the time I got off the phone and outside with my camera. It was gone.

UNFAIR!


Altadenablog said…

Well, my response is (1) the ex-Mrs. Altadenablog, who goes to Pasadena UMC, said that Pastor Trotter warned them at the service this morning that there would be a B2 overflight for the funeral, so do not be alarmed.

And if you remember, the B2 did not overfly the 2008 Rose Parade — Naval Hornets did, because the head of the Tournament at the time was a Navy guy and wasn’t going to let the Air Force get their licks in:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdPrKJAUtyI

And yes, it was great — we saw it from South Pas, and it was fun to watch it turn around and swoop again!


IsaacGarcia said…

I’ve clearly been misinformed. Thanks for the clarifications.


Bill said…

I would have to agree that this was indeed a flyover in Honor of Verne Orr. And what an honor indeed. What better way to pay tribute to someone who had such an impact on modern avaiation.


Caltechgirl said…

I knew you’d have the answer. What an awesome sight!


Basstrup said…

I just happened to look out through our kitchen window when the B2 came flying pretty much right over our house on NY dr. Awesome sight. Interesting how little noise it actually made at such a low altitude. I was afraid it could collide with the PD birds that has a tendency to circle around here.