College football is chalk full of traditions, and for at least part of one season there will be one less. Prior to Air Force Falcons football games there would be a flyover, but that practice will be placed on hold for at least through the end of September.
Air Force would then have no flyovers for games against Colgate which is their season opener, Utah State and Wyoming; that is half of their home football schedule.
Flyovers are not just stopping for Air Force football games, but all public flyovers are being put on ice until the end of the fiscal year, which ends on Sept. 30. The reason for the move is due the current sequester that is ongoing with the United States government. If things do not get better with the budget then who knows how long the flyovers will be placed on hold.
These public flyovers were not costing the tax payers money, as they would take place during training hours, and would help these pilots practice the tactics that are involved in flying over a certain area. The training hours were cut by as much as 18 percent, meaning these public flyovers were the first to go.
Brig. Gen. Les Kodlick, who is the director of public affairs said that he had no choice due to the budget cuts:
"Engaging with the public is a core Air Force mission and communicating and connecting with the public is more important today than ever before. However, faced with deep budget cuts, we have no choice but to stop public aviation support," said Kodlick. "The Air Force will reevaluate the program at the end of the fiscal year and look for ways to curtail the program without having to cancel aviation support altogether."
Unless they are some massive changes in the Air Force's budgets by September, college football will be missing a great tradition. This tradition has even taken place on road games such as the Michigan game from last season, and a game at Notre Dame in 2011. So, this tradition goes wide and far beyond just the confines of home Air Force football games.
Here is an example of a flyover at Falcon Stadium: