Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes it was the Blue Angels but the purpose was a photo shoot. That's why there were 6 jets flying in formation and then a 7th over to the side -- the 7th jet was a photography unit. They did flyovers of the Washington Monument and the White House for sure, likely to get photos of the gets aligned with those landmarks. I would bet they also did photos with the Capitol and other parts of the National Mall as well, given the number of flyovers.

It cannot be stated enough how expensive that was.

I would also assume some of the motivation has to do with the current rebrand of the DoD as "Department of War" and a desire to show off some of our most expensive weapons of war in a way they can associate with this administration. The photography plane also indicates they were taking relative close ups of the planes, potentially with pilots visible in the photos. I am wondering if Hegseth or other VIPs were in the planes.

The entire thing was a very, very expensive branding exercise. Paid for with tax payer dollars while vital federal services are either paused or being performed by unpaid workers at the moment.

Cost concern troll is very concerned about the cost

Uh, those are demonstration pilots and they HAVE to fly (more often than most other pilots) in order to maintain skill proficiency. Blue Angels or Thunderbird pilots can’t sit at a desk 20 days a month and go fly every week or two for a few hours like other military pilots often do - they have to fly much more frequently to practice their routines.

So whether they’re flying to do photos over DC, or flying to an air show appearance somewhere, or flying in practice, they’re still going to be flying somewhere. So that money was already being spent, whether they’re flying flew over DC, or over Pensacola Florida.


Did you have the same fiscal concerns and make a fuss about USAID spending hundreds of thousands of dollars a year on drag shows in Ecuador and Peru?…. Or was that different?

Anonymous wrote:Hopefully the aliens are coming to take the leader

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes it was the Blue Angels but the purpose was a photo shoot. That's why there were 6 jets flying in formation and then a 7th over to the side -- the 7th jet was a photography unit. They did flyovers of the Washington Monument and the White House for sure, likely to get photos of the gets aligned with those landmarks. I would bet they also did photos with the Capitol and other parts of the National Mall as well, given the number of flyovers.

It cannot be stated enough how expensive that was.

I would also assume some of the motivation has to do with the current rebrand of the DoD as "Department of War" and a desire to show off some of our most expensive weapons of war in a way they can associate with this administration. The photography plane also indicates they were taking relative close ups of the planes, potentially with pilots visible in the photos. I am wondering if Hegseth or other VIPs were in the planes.

The entire thing was a very, very expensive branding exercise. Paid for with tax payer dollars while vital federal services are either paused or being performed by unpaid workers at the moment.

Cost concern troll is very concerned about the cost

Uh, those are demonstration pilots and they HAVE to fly (more often than most other pilots) in order to maintain skill proficiency. Blue Angels or Thunderbird pilots can’t sit at a desk 20 days a month and go fly every week or two for a few hours like other military pilots often do - they have to fly much more frequently to practice their routines.

So whether they’re flying to do photos over DC, or flying to an air show appearance somewhere, or flying in practice, they’re still going to be flying somewhere. So that money was already being spent, whether they’re flying flew over DC, or over Pensacola Florida.


Did you have the same fiscal concerns and make a fuss about USAID spending hundreds of thousands of dollars a year on drag shows in Ecuador and Peru?…. Or was that different?

Anonymous wrote:Yes it was the Blue Angels but the purpose was a photo shoot. That's why there were 6 jets flying in formation and then a 7th over to the side -- the 7th jet was a photography unit. They did flyovers of the Washington Monument and the White House for sure, likely to get photos of the gets aligned with those landmarks. I would bet they also did photos with the Capitol and other parts of the National Mall as well, given the number of flyovers.

It cannot be stated enough how expensive that was.

I would also assume some of the motivation has to do with the current rebrand of the DoD as "Department of War" and a desire to show off some of our most expensive weapons of war in a way they can associate with this administration. The photography plane also indicates they were taking relative close ups of the planes, potentially with pilots visible in the photos. I am wondering if Hegseth or other VIPs were in the planes.

The entire thing was a very, very expensive branding exercise. Paid for with tax payer dollars while vital federal services are either paused or being performed by unpaid workers at the moment.

Anonymous wrote:Yes it was the Blue Angels but the purpose was a photo shoot. That's why there were 6 jets flying in formation and then a 7th over to the side -- the 7th jet was a photography unit. They did flyovers of the Washington Monument and the White House for sure, likely to get photos of the gets aligned with those landmarks. I would bet they also did photos with the Capitol and other parts of the National Mall as well, given the number of flyovers.

It cannot be stated enough how expensive that was.

I would also assume some of the motivation has to do with the current rebrand of the DoD as "Department of War" and a desire to show off some of our most expensive weapons of war in a way they can associate with this administration. The photography plane also indicates they were taking relative close ups of the planes, potentially with pilots visible in the photos. I am wondering if Hegseth or other VIPs were in the planes.

The entire thing was a very, very expensive branding exercise. Paid for with tax payer dollars while vital federal services are either paused or being performed by unpaid workers at the moment.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Friend said she just saw four in missing man formation over DC. But she had heard others earlier, too.

Saw it from work. Looked like missing-man formation. Looks like one of our brave pilots has passed, sadly.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes it was the Blue Angels but the purpose was a photo shoot. That's why there were 6 jets flying in formation and then a 7th over to the side -- the 7th jet was a photography unit. They did flyovers of the Washington Monument and the White House for sure, likely to get photos of the gets aligned with those landmarks. I would bet they also did photos with the Capitol and other parts of the National Mall as well, given the number of flyovers.

It cannot be stated enough how expensive that was.

I would also assume some of the motivation has to do with the current rebrand of the DoD as "Department of War" and a desire to show off some of our most expensive weapons of war in a way they can associate with this administration. The photography plane also indicates they were taking relative close ups of the planes, potentially with pilots visible in the photos. I am wondering if Hegseth or other VIPs were in the planes.

The entire thing was a very, very expensive branding exercise. Paid for with tax payer dollars while vital federal services are either paused or being performed by unpaid workers at the moment.

great info thx. the first flyover was very low/loud compared to the later ones and it sounded like it was just one airplane (didn't see it). any idea why if that's the case?

Anonymous wrote:Someone just sent me this.

10/28/2025 9:14 AM [AlertDC] NCR Flyover: National Mall (October 28)
[AlertDC] The U.S. military will conduct an aircraft flyover in the National Capital Region (NCR) over the National Mall on Monday, October 28, at approximately 11:15AM to 11:30AM.\\

https://hsema.dc.gov/alerts

Anonymous wrote:Yes it was the Blue Angels but the purpose was a photo shoot. That's why there were 6 jets flying in formation and then a 7th over to the side -- the 7th jet was a photography unit. They did flyovers of the Washington Monument and the White House for sure, likely to get photos of the gets aligned with those landmarks. I would bet they also did photos with the Capitol and other parts of the National Mall as well, given the number of flyovers.

It cannot be stated enough how expensive that was.

I would also assume some of the motivation has to do with the current rebrand of the DoD as "Department of War" and a desire to show off some of our most expensive weapons of war in a way they can associate with this administration. The photography plane also indicates they were taking relative close ups of the planes, potentially with pilots visible in the photos. I am wondering if Hegseth or other VIPs were in the planes.

The entire thing was a very, very expensive branding exercise. Paid for with tax payer dollars while vital federal services are either paused or being performed by unpaid workers at the moment.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes it was the Blue Angels but the purpose was a photo shoot. That's why there were 6 jets flying in formation and then a 7th over to the side -- the 7th jet was a photography unit. They did flyovers of the Washington Monument and the White House for sure, likely to get photos of the gets aligned with those landmarks. I would bet they also did photos with the Capitol and other parts of the National Mall as well, given the number of flyovers.

It cannot be stated enough how expensive that was.

I would also assume some of the motivation has to do with the current rebrand of the DoD as "Department of War" and a desire to show off some of our most expensive weapons of war in a way they can associate with this administration. The photography plane also indicates they were taking relative close ups of the planes, potentially with pilots visible in the photos. I am wondering if Hegseth or other VIPs were in the planes.

The entire thing was a very, very expensive branding exercise. Paid for with tax payer dollars while vital federal services are either paused or being performed by unpaid workers at the moment.

They are making assets to put on social media when they want to claim that DC is under attack, so the upcoming war will be justified.

Anonymous wrote:Yes it was the Blue Angels but the purpose was a photo shoot. That's why there were 6 jets flying in formation and then a 7th over to the side -- the 7th jet was a photography unit. They did flyovers of the Washington Monument and the White House for sure, likely to get photos of the gets aligned with those landmarks. I would bet they also did photos with the Capitol and other parts of the National Mall as well, given the number of flyovers.

It cannot be stated enough how expensive that was.

I would also assume some of the motivation has to do with the current rebrand of the DoD as "Department of War" and a desire to show off some of our most expensive weapons of war in a way they can associate with this administration. The photography plane also indicates they were taking relative close ups of the planes, potentially with pilots visible in the photos. I am wondering if Hegseth or other VIPs were in the planes.

The entire thing was a very, very expensive branding exercise. Paid for with tax payer dollars while vital federal services are either paused or being performed by unpaid workers at the moment.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Friend said she just saw four in missing man formation over DC. But she had heard others earlier, too.

Saw it from work. Looked like missing-man formation. Looks like one of our brave pilots has passed, sadly.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Friend said she just saw four in missing man formation over DC. But she had heard others earlier, too.

Saw it from work. Looked like missing-man formation. Looks like one of our brave pilots has passed, sadly.