ESPN’s Fandom blog has a great post about how flyovers over sports stadiums are seemingly always able to hit their mark right as the singer finishes the Star Spangled Banner or some other perfectly timed cue.
How do they do it?
How do aircraft traveling at high speeds — sometimes from long distances — manage to hit their marks with military precision?
Well, the answer might lie partially in that one word: military.
A flyover becomes a military mission — calculate time for takeoff, distance, and air speed; create a holding area to circle and kill time if necessary; use a talented forward air controller inside the stadium for last-minute updates.