For anyone watching the final round of TPC Sawgrass today, here’s a throwback to last year’s TPC flyover and a breakdown of what’s going on in the video:

1. 3 F-15s (it was supposed to be 4, but one jet ground aborted) holding 10-15 miles away from show center (in this case, the famous “Island Green” on hole 17)
2. Two Ground FACs (Forward Air Controllers) communicate with the flight lead about what’s happening on the ground.
3. We have a general idea of when the National Anthem will start, but if the ceremony is running even 30 seconds early/late, it will screw the timing up big time, so nothing happens until the Ground FACs announce “National Anthem Start” (0:02)
4. This triggers the jets to turn in towards show center and announce how far away they are, “13 miles” (0:11)
5. As part of the mission planning, we calculate what speed and distance is needed at different parts of the song to cross over the flag at exactly the right time (this is the paper they’re looking at…”Middle column, 357[kts of groundspeed], 11.8 [the distance the jets should be away from show center at that part of the song])
6. The Ground FACs continue to call out ranges based on the words in the song (0:24, “10.3” correlates to “and the twilight…”)
7. The flight lead is speeding up or slowing down based on the ranges being called. For example, if 10.3 is called, but we’re 12 miles away, we need to go faster, and vice versa. In this particular flyover, we were farther away so we had to speed up. The wingmen are solely focused on staying in formation by staring at the flight lead.
8. It’s easy to see the show center using big landmarks during some flyovers, but TPC is notoriously difficult. It’s surrounded by trees and neighboring golf courses, so at 1000′ and 400kts+ you really have no idea where show center is until a few miles out. (Several years ago, this flyover mistakingly went over the wrong golf course 🤦‍♂️)
9. We’re back at the correct range, so you’ll hear “Pulling it back a bit” to let the wingmen know we’re slowing down (1:13)
10. You can hear in the Gournd FAC’s voice a tone of concern as he says “3.9” (1:33) because he still doesn’t see the jets (reference point number 8 as to why he’s concerned).
11. You can hear the relief in his voice when he finally sees us pop over the trees (1:50)
12. We’re on time and we found the right location, so now it’s time to make it loud. “Burners, burners, now” to let the wingmen know we’re about to accelerate (1:59)
13. Lighting the afterburners are always a bit of a risk because if one person goes into AB even a fraction late or the engines are just a little slower to light on one jet than the other, it can force one jet to fall behind the others a bit (2:08)…probably why you never see the Thunderbirds do flyovers in AB.
14. The jets will immediately land and be met by a police helicopter that will pick up the pilots after they shut down and then fly them to the golf course. This was a military appreciation event (the day before the tournament started), so they invited all the pilots and Ground FACs to the concert stage.
15. Flyovers are “break even at best.” A lot of things need to go just right to get over show center at exactly the right time and look good while doing it. If it goes well, few people are impressed. If it gets screwed up, your squadron mates will be quick to let you know. Part of the fun dynamics of fighter pilot culture!

Happy St. Patty’s Day! 🍻

https://www.dvidshub.net/video/875732/tpc-sawgrass-military-appreciation-day-flyover

dvidshub.net

TPC Sawgrass - Military Appreciation Day Flyover

The Players Championship hosted a Military Appreciation Day March 7, 2023 at the Tournament Players Club at Sawgrass, Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. During the main event the 125th Fighter Wing conducted a flyover of three F-15s strategically timed with the … Continue reading