Q&A on the News

Q: How are military pilots chosen to do flyovers at NASCAR races? Also, who decides what type of jets will be flown in the flyovers?

—William McKee Jr., Flowery Branch

A: Once an event is determined eligible for a flyover, it is up to the event sponsor to contact U.S. Air Force units to see if they can support it with a flyover, Pamela Friend, a spokeswoman for the aviation support program for the Air Force, told Q&A on the News in an email. In order to offer the flyover program to the public at no cost, the supporting aviation unit uses its operational flying funds. Most flyovers occur in conjunction with a previously scheduled training mission. The pilots are chosen from a combination of things. Sometimes event sponsors request units they are interested in, but that unit must already be on a scheduled training mission that day to perform a flyover. Also, sponsors can request a certain type of aircraft, but there is no guarantee that it will be available, she said. "The Air Force traditionally participates in sporting events that offer us an opportunity to get our messages out to the greatest number of people, both in the stadium and nationally through different media outlets," Friend said. Those events include NFL and college football games, major and minor league baseball games, NASCAR Sprint Cup races and MLS games.