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ICAS has revealed that the Super Bowl flyover this year will feature a trio of Bombers: A B-1B Lancer from Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota, a B-2A Spirit from Whiteman AFB, Missouri, and a B-52 Stratofortress From Minot AFB, ND. The flyover will take place at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers stadium on Sunday, February 7.

A FLYOVER TRIFECTA

In a U.S. Air Force first, three Air Force Global Strike Command bombers will join up over Super Bowl 55 in Tampa, Florida on February 7th during the National Anthem performance.

Included assets:
B-1B from Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota
B-2 from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri
B-52 from Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota

This article confirms that the B-2 will lead the formation.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/air-force-ca ... r-bowl.amp

Also, B-1 + B-2 + B-52 = SB55

I've posted here a few times that I play a lot of flight sim with some friends, and we decided to stage a virtual version of the flyover using the new MSFS and some custom aircraft. Of course, they announced the B-2 would be leading the day after we recorded this...

Check out this video of the B-1 getting refuled by a MacDill KC-135 on the way to Tampa. The B-52 is also in the video.

You saw the video, now check out these incredible shots of tonight’s Super Bowl flyover!

Photos courtesy of Mike Killian Photography

Great shot of the anthem flyover at the Super Bowl in Tampa, FL.

Things looked pretty dicey for the B-1 from some angles! Behind the others at the start, and then passing underneath the B-2 at the end!

A friend and I were debating why it looked a bit messy. He suggested that the B-1 had to fly faster than the other two, so it was a carefully coordinated overtake in exactly the right position (and if that was the plan, it worked, because for a split second it looked perfect from the stadium just before they were right overhead). But I find it hard to believe they couldn't fly at a speed acceptable to all three aircraft, so my theory was that the B-1 was lagging behind, tried to catch up before they reached the stadium, overdid it slightly and had to descend under the B-2 as a result.

Can anyone shed any light?

Adam wrote: ↑Mon Feb 08, 2021 11:47 am Things looked pretty dicey for the B-1 from some angles! Behind the others at the start, and then passing underneath the B-2 at the end!

A friend and I were debating why it looked a bit messy. He suggested that the B-1 had to fly faster than the other two, so it was a carefully coordinated overtake in exactly the right position (and if that was the plan, it worked, because for a split second it looked perfect from the stadium just before they were right overhead). But I find it hard to believe they couldn't fly at a speed acceptable to all three aircraft, so my theory was that the B-1 was lagging behind, tried to catch up before they reached the stadium, overdid it slightly and had to descend under the B-2 as a result.

Can anyone shed any light?

Totally agree, it looked really nice over the stadium but once I saw a camera angle of them after that I was really stunning at how close the B-1 came to the B-2. They were at about 50% wing overlap at one point!

I'm sure they didn't plan on an overtake when they could easily find a speed to work for all three. I was originally thinking the B-2 may have slowed down on the run in for timing and the B-1 just ran up on them, but after seeing how far behind they were on the run in, I'm guessing that the B-1 just gave it a big bump of throttle to 'rush' in and carried a little too forward. These aren't fighters after all, and momentum can be a bitch!

Even aside from that, I can't believe how tight they were. The timing was fantastic too!

Here's a video I made with different angles of the flyover, rehearsal flyover, and some bonus footage of aerial refueling