What, exactly, was the breath taking about it?
Seriously, I understood it to just be a fairly routine flyby.

John,

Had the Raptor made a simple unaccompanied pass over the parade field, as is
often done by other aircraft during USAFA parades, then "routine" might
describe the event. However, this Raptor made the flyby as an adjunct to a
USAF photographic flight over the Academy. The white and orange chase F-16 was
a station wagon model that carried a USAF photographer in the back seat. The
Raptor made numerous passes over the parade field, the Cadet area, near the
chapel, near the mountains while performing steep banks and climbs for the
benefit of the photographer. The F-16's position during these passes was
clearly to photograph the Raptor with the Academy buildings and environment as
a backdrop.

However, even after 1,600 hours of fighter time, countless open houses and
airshows that I have attended as well as participated in, and many Thunderbird
performances that I have watched, a low altitude flyby for my benefit (as a
spectator) still puts a lump in my throat and gives me a strong exhilaration.
I'm sure it will do this to me until I take my last breath. Flying is in my
blood! I got excited at the anticipation of flying my father's Cessna 172
after I left the USAF prior to each flight up until he recently sold it. The
pilot of the aircraft need not throw the machine all over the sky for the flyby
to excite me (although it certainly helps!). For me, a flyby may be routine,
but being "routine" does not diminish the pleasure and excitement that it gives
me. I'm not alone.



Kurt Todoroff


Markets, not mandates and mob rule.
Consent, not compulsion.