Pregame flyover a precise maneuver

It won’t take more than a few seconds for two Air Force jets to fly over Memorial Stadium at the climax of the ceremonies before today’s Kansas University football game.

But preparations to have the jets fly over Memorial Stadium at the right speed, the right altitude and the right time have been a feat two months in the making.

The athletics department first contacted KU Air Force ROTC Col. Mike Lee in July about the possibility of a flyover as part of today’s pregame ceremonies. Kickoff of the KU-University of Toledo game is 6 p.m.

“We thought it would be a fitting not only for a 9-11 commemoration, but as a show of appreciation for members and veterans of the military for our Armed Forces Day,” said Andrew Steinberg, assistant athletics director for marketing.

Lee worked to get clearance for the flyover from the Federal Aviation Administration and to find an Air Force base that would be willing to supply the planes and pilots.

A commander at Whiteman Air Force Base, just outside of Knob Noster, Mo., agreed to provide two T-38 Talons — small, short-range training jets — for the event.

“He said that even though they had a very critical exercise scheduled for this weekend, for this cause, for the 9-11 commemoration, he was sending airplanes,” Lee said.

Once the planes and crews had been secured, the Air Force worked with the athletics department to complete the complex details of the flyover.

Capt. Jim Price, ground commander for the flyover, will arrive around 3 p.m. from Whiteman to set up a watchpost atop the stadium press box. From this perch, Price will stay in radio contact with the pilots.

Kickoff: 6 p.m.Where: Memorial Stadium.Radio: Jayhawk Radio Network, including 1320 KLWNIn addition to the Band Day parade at 1:30 p.m. downtown, events planned today include:¢ 10 a.m.-noon, open houses at several academic departments.¢ 9 a.m., flag-raising ceremony at the Dole Institute of Politics.¢ 9 a.m.-3 p.m., open house at Monarch Watch, in Foley Hall on west campus.¢ 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Day of Dance at Robinson Center, featuring classes for high school students.

Meanwhile, the four pilots flying the jets that will make the run will meet around 4 p.m. for a briefing session and to prepare the planes.

After checking in with Price, the pilots will take off around 5:20 p.m., approximately half an hour before the scheduled flyover.

It will take the supersonic jets only 10 minutes to travel the approximately 100 miles from Whiteman to Lawrence. Once in the area, the jets will go into a holding pattern south of town, making slow figure eights as they wait for Price to give them the go-ahead.

As the KU Marching Jayhawks begin to play the national anthem and a volunteer crew unfurls a field-sized American flag, Price will call the pilots on the radio and tell them to begin their approach.

The planes will break their holding pattern, accelerate to 325 miles per hour and head toward the stadium about 1,000 feet above ground, flying in a formation that puts them only 3 feet apart.

Lt. Luke Jayne, a Clearwater native and Kansas State University graduate, will be one of the pilots.

“Learning how to fly that close was pretty nerve-racking at first,” Jayne said. “But you get used to it after a lot of training and practice. You have to just have the confidence to maintain it.”

It should take the jets roughly a minute from the time they break the holding pattern to get to the field.

Price, who will have a clear view of the jets’ approach, will be in constant contact with the pilots during this time, telling them to speed up or slow down so they will arrive as the national anthem ends.

And with that, if all goes according to plan, the jets will race over the stadium, coming in from the south.

“Making sure the planes arrive at the exact moment we want is the most challenging part of the flyover,” Jayne said. “It is the only thing we don’t practice on a day-to-day basis.”

Kansas University football fans have the opportunity to be part of a pregame ceremony tonight at Memorial Stadium and get into the game for free.Volunteers are needed to help unfurl one of the world’s largest ceremonial American flags, which will be on display during the national anthem.Volunteers age 13 and older should report to the tennis courts southeast of the stadium between 11 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. to check in. They will receive a complimentary ticket to the game, which kicks off at 6 p.m.