It was a textbook day at the 2017 AirVenture in Oshkosh on the second to last day of the show. The weather was beautiful, the crowds were plentiful and the flying was spectacular. One of the most impressive flyovers of the day was a super-rare three ship formation of all three of America’s strategic bombers. The Boeing B-52 BUFF, Rockwell B-1 Bone, and Northrup B-2 Spirit dominated the skies in a single pass. The formation was led by the B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber. After the ‘modern’ pass of our nation’s current bombers, the only actively flying B-29s flew in a tight formation followed by the B-25.
More than just a simple flyover.
While the primary purpose of the formation was not propaganda, world events made it impossible to ignore the fact that three of America’s most powerful weapons were on display just 24 hours after Kim Jong Un launched his most powerful nuclear-capable missile yet from North Korea. Un launched and ICBM technically capable of striking almost anywhere in the United States, including Oshkosh, Wisconsin at 6,308 statute miles from Pyongyang.
In addition to the flyover in Oshkosh, President Trump also ordered B-1 flyovers over the South Korean Peninsula as a show of force in response to the illegal missile launch. Two supersonic B-1 bombers were escorted by Korean fighter jets on Sunday.