WholeHogSports
Stealth bomber to perform flyover at Hogs-Cats game
Posted on Friday, September 21, 2007
URL: http://www.wholehogsports.com/nwat/57419/
An Air Force B-2 aircraft, based at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, will perform a flyover at the Kentucky-Arkansas football game Saturday following the National Anthem. The 5 p. m. game Saturday at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium will be televised by ESPN 2.
“ We are very excited to have the B-2 performing the flyover, ” said Matt Shanklin, Associate Athletic Director for Marketing / Licensing. “ Sincere gratitude goes out to the University of Arkansas Air Force ROTC and Captain Craig Bench for their efforts in setting this up. Flyovers are always a big hit with our fans and add to the already incredible atmosphere at a Razorback football game. ”
Piloting the B-2 Saturday will be Captain Luke Jayne from Kansas and Captain Joseph Tulloss from Atlanta. The Ground Officer coordinating the flyover will be University of Arkansas alumnus Captain Nick Adcock.
The B-2 Spirit is a multirole bomber capable of delivering both conventional and nuclear munitions. Its combination of stealth, global range, and large payload of precision munitions place it at the forefront of air operations in defense of the United States.
B-2 bombers led the way in the campaigns over Afghanistan and more recently in Iraq, where their accurate payloads of up to 16 2, 000-pound joint direct attack munitions were an integral part of the effort to remove the regime of Saddam Hussein from power.
The B-2 carries a crew of two pilots, and is capable of striking anywhere in the world either by flying directly from its base in Missouri, or by deploying to forward locations outside the United States. The B-2 holds the record for the longest combat mission in aviation history: 44 hours from Whiteman Air Force Base to targets in Afghanistan.
In December 2003 the 509 th bomb wing celebrated the 10 th anniversary of the delivery of the first B-2 to Whiteman Air Force Base, reflecting on a decade of accomplishments in three wars. New weapons in development will soon increase the aircraft’s precision capability five-fold, keeping it at the cutting edge of aerospace power.