There are few things more exhilarating than standing in your own backyard, looking up, and seeing a B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber fly over your head. That is how I ushered in the new year this morning in Los Angeles.
B-2 Stealth Bomber Flys Over My House Enroute To Rose Parade
I’m currently out of my own house and staying in a rental in the Shadow Hills neighborhood of the city of Los Angeles. My house is on massive lot with a hill up the back that takes you to point in which you can look out over the San Fernando Valley with breathtaking 360º views, including of Burbank Airport just a short distance away.
This morning, I climbed up the hill ahead of the start of the Rose Parade at 8:00 am PT, knowing that the Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit would be flying overhead once again after a mechanical issue last year scrapped the annual flyover.
About 7:50 am I saw it circling over the San Gabriel Mountains as it waited for the start of the parade. Earlier in the day, it took off from Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, which is currently where the B-2 bombers are stationed.
At 8:03 am I saw it approaching and was thrilled when it flew directly over my head.
I love the United States of America and proudly served in the United States Air Force Reserves. There’s a certain pride in knowing that the US military remains strong and that the B-2 Spirit in particular remains a powerful symbol of American air power. There is also a certain thankfulness that this B-2, which is equipped to carry nuclear bombs, was flying over a parade and later a football game rather than embarking on a “real” mission.
With 2024 shaping up to be a turbulent year from its very inception with wars, rumors of wars, and a presidential election, I am thankful for this beacon of strength, but mindful that we must do everything to preserve our fragile democratic experiment.
So neat. I once saw a B-2 flyover. It wasn’t flying very high. My guess is that it was flying at 3,000 ft., a little higher than the top of the spire of 1 World Trade Center might be if the building was situated there, which it wasn’t.
What a great shot! Lucky you!
Nice you got a good shot of it. Oops, probably shouldn’t have said it that way.
Loved seeing it fly over the Rose Parade on TV this morning. Not as quite as exciting as in real life but still pretty cool.
I was fortunate to go inside the cockpit briefly about 6 years ago. It was definitely smaller than I thought it would be but still very impressive.
Such a beautiful jet. Can’t wait to see the B21 Raider fly over someday down the road!
When I was younger I went to several air shows and watching fighter jets and the Blue Angels fly is always spectacular to me. Watching the B-2 is just strange because it looks like something from a Batman movie. I was lucky to spend some time on an aircraft carrier and watching landings/takeoffs was always a big deal to me. I was fortunately to take off and land on a carrier in a cargo plane and that takeoff sensation is bizarre when the momentum of the catapult goes away and the plane starts to dip like you are going to crash into the ocean.
Yes, it is nice to know we have a plane that can rain death from on high anywhere in the world and get its pilots home in time for the kids’ little league game. Air power like this enabled our military to install a vibrant democracy in Iraq and the oust the Taliban from power in Afghanistan.
You might enjoy the Palm Springs Air Museum which has among many planes an F117 Stealth Fighter that was retired in 2011.
Flew over a pair of them a few years back (commercially, the pilot made an announcement even).
One of the coolest looking planes to any kid-at-heart.
I hope you had a similar pleasure several decades ago watching an SR-71 (mach 3+ reconnaissance aircraft known to fly operational at 85,000 ft) doing one of its few flyovers of the Lockheed Skunk Works co-located with BUR!