TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Super Bowl Sunday is more than a week away, but the Davis-Monthan based A-10 Demonstration Team is already preparing for the big game.
Maj. Haden Fullam, call sign Gator, will pilot his A-10 as part of an Air Force Heritage Flight flyover at the end of the national anthem in Los Angeles.
Fullam says it is a thrill to not only attend a Super Bowl, but to flyover it in a five plane formation.
"To be able to take these great airplanes right here, go show them off, and be able to do the flyover," Fullam said describing his excitement. "Take this team with us and show off the mission of our team, show off the mission of the Air Force and show off these airman and what we can do. Should be really exciting."
"It's quite cool," said Senior Airman Caleb Spencer. "I've never been to an NFL game so it'll be kind of cool. Sad not seeing the Bills there, but I think we're excited to go show what we can do."
Spencer is from upstate New York. He says the pressure is on the crew to have the A-10 ready to fly Super Bowl Sunday.
The Davis-Monthan based crew will be joined by the F-16, F-22, and F-35 demo teams — along with a Heritage Flight P-51 Mustang.
For Maj. Fullam, this is a much different assignment than the usual air show circuit.
"This is definitely out of our normal scope, doing flyovers in really busy airspace in a really busy city," Fullam said. "Then having that coordinated to a perfect, down to the second, timeline that we have to meet. So, there's definitely a lot that goes into it. It's a little different than our normal day to day operations, but nothing we can't handle. We're excited about it."
Super Bowl LVI is Sunday February 13, at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.
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Pat Parris is an anchor and reporter for KGUN 9. He is a graduate of Sabino High School where he was the 1982 high school state track champion in the 800 meters. While in high school and college, he worked part-time in the KGUN 9 newsroom. Share your story ideas and important issues with Pat by emailing pat.parris@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
