Every Super Bowl Flyover, and the Aircraft That Flew It

The F-16 Fighting Falcon has flown over more Super Bowls than any other aircraft: 13 of the 30 games where the flyover aircraft are on record. The F/A-18 Hornet family is second with 8, and the F-35 is catching up fast with 5 since 2020.

The most recent was Super Bowl LX on Feb. 8, 2026, when eight Air Force and Navy jets crossed Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara. As of October 2026, no flyover has been announced for Super Bowl LXI, set for Feb. 14, 2027, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood.

Below is every Super Bowl from I to LX with what flew over it, where the record exists. The record has holes: nobody wrote down what flew over most games before 1985, and we say so rather than fill them in.

1. F-16 Fighting Falcon: 13 Super Bowls

The F-16 Fighting Falcon owns this list. It first appeared at Super Bowl XXIII in Miami in 1989, flown by the 31st Tactical Fighter Wing from Homestead Air Force Base.

Two years later came the most famous flyover of all. Four F-16s from MacDill Air Force Base crossed Tampa Stadium at the end of Whitney Houston’s anthem at Super Bowl XXV in January 1991 during the Gulf War.

Most of the count comes from the Air Force Thunderbirds, who flew their first Super Bowl in 2007 and have done six in total, the latest over Allegiant Stadium in 2024. Nellis Air Force Base, the team’s home, sits only about 15 miles (24 km) from that stadium.

F-16s also flew as single ships in mixed formations: in the 2018 Heritage Flight from Shaw Air Force Base and in the five-generation flyover at SoFi Stadium in 2022.

2. F/A-18 Hornet and Super Hornet: 8 Super Bowls

The Navy’s F/A-18 Hornet got there first among the demonstration teams. The Blue Angels made their first Super Bowl flyover at San Diego’s Jack Murphy Stadium in 1988 and returned in 2008 and for Super Bowl 50 in 2016.

Fleet squadrons flew the rest. Navy Hornets from NAS Oceana crossed Cowboys Stadium in 2011 with the roof closed, and the F/A-18 Super Hornet flew in the joint formations of 2005, 2020, 2023 and 2026.

The 2023 flight in Glendale was a first of its own: every crew member was a woman, marking 50 years since the Navy’s first eight women began flight training at Pensacola in 1973. Two F/A-18Fs of VFA-122 flew with an F-35C of VFA-97 and an EA-18G Growler of VAQ-129.

3. F-35 Lightning II: 5 Super Bowls

The F-35 is the newcomer, and it has flown in five of the last seven Super Bowls. Every service that flies it has now sent one.

A Marine F-35B from VMFAT-501 at MCAS Beaufort joined the Navy in Miami in 2020, an Air Force F-35A from Hill Air Force Base flew at SoFi in 2022, and Navy F-35Cs flew in 2023 and 2026. In 2025 two Marine F-35Bs of VMFA-542 led the Superdome flyover with four MV-22B Ospreys.

4. F-15 Eagle: 3 Super Bowls

The F-15 Eagle flew with F-16s at the Superdome in February 2002, a flyover dedicated to first responders and service members five months after 9/11. Four F-15Cs of the Florida Air National Guard’s 125th Fighter Wing had Miami to themselves in 2010.

Its third was Super Bowl LX in 2026, when two F-15Cs came from Fresno Air National Guard Base in the eight-ship formation.

5. The bombers: B-2, B-1B and B-52

A lone B-2 Spirit stealth bomber crossed Raymond James Stadium in Tampa at Super Bowl XXXV in January 2001, the first stealth aircraft on this list. It came back to the same stadium 20 years later.

At Super Bowl LV in February 2021, a B-2 from Whiteman Air Force Base led a B-1B Lancer from Ellsworth and a B-52 Stratofortress from Minot. The Air Force called the three-bomber formation a “first-of-its-kind trifecta,” and it is still the only Super Bowl flyover to bring all three of the Air Force’s bombers together.

The B-1B is the only one of the three to return since, leading the 2026 formation. For how the three compare as aircraft, see our ranking of the best bombers in the world.

6. F-22 Raptor: 2 Super Bowls

The F-22 Raptor made its Super Bowl debut in Jacksonville in February 2005, still under its early F/A-22 name. Two Raptors flew in formation with two Navy F/A-18 Super Hornets.

Its second was the 2022 flyover at SoFi Stadium, which put five aircraft spanning the service’s history in one formation to mark its 75th anniversary: a P-51, an A-10, an F-16, an F-22 from Joint Base Langley-Eustis and an F-35.

7. P-51 Mustang and A-10 Warthog: 2 Super Bowls each

These two always fly together at the Super Bowl. In Minneapolis in 2018, the Air Force Heritage Flight brought one F-16, two A-10s and the P-51 Mustang “Sierra Sue II,” flown by civilian pilot Steve Hinton.

It was the Heritage Flight team’s first Super Bowl, and the formation flew at about 315 to 345 mph (507 to 555 km/h), 1,000 feet above the stadium. Hinton was back in 2022 at SoFi, this time flying the Mustang “Wee Willy II.”

8. Army helicopters: AH-64 Apache, Black Hawk, Chinook

The Army has flown two Super Bowls, both with helicopters. AH-64D Apaches of the Texas Army National Guard’s 149th Aviation Regiment crossed Reliant Stadium in Houston in 2004.

The bigger one came at MetLife Stadium in February 2014: nine helicopters in a V, three each of the UH-60M Black Hawk, the AH-64D Apache and the CH-47F Chinook.

9. The one-timers: F-4, T-37, C-130, B-52, EA-18G and MV-22

The oldest flyover with named aircraft is Super Bowl VI in New Orleans in January 1972: eight F-4 Phantoms from Eglin Air Force Base, with one jet pulling up in the missing man formation.

The least likely is Super Bowl XIX at Stanford in 1985, flown by four T-37 Tweet trainers of the 455th Flying Training Squadron from Mather Air Force Base. Super Bowl XXXII in San Diego in 1998 got C-130 Hercules transports from the 43rd Airlift Wing at Pope.

The MV-22B Osprey made its only appearance in 2025, when four of them from VMM-774 and VMM-764 flew with the F-35Bs to mark the Marine Corps’ 250th birthday.

Super Bowl LX in 2026: the eight-ship formation

The 2026 flyover put eight jets from two services over the stadium: two B-1B Lancers from Ellsworth Air Force Base, two F-15C Eagles from Fresno, and two F/A-18E Super Hornets and two F-35C Lightning IIs from NAS Lemoore. It marked America’s 250th birthday.

A B-1B of the 28th Bomb Wing led the formation, and the second B-1B trailed behind it. The Super Hornets came from VFA-2, the “Bounty Hunters.”

The jets launched from Moffett Federal Airfield, less than 10 miles (16 km) from the stadium, and held in an orbit 10 to 15 miles (16 to 24 km) south of it until their run. Planning started the summer before.

How a Super Bowl flyover hits the last note

The target is the word “brave.” Pilots describe hitting their time over target at “home of the brave,” and they cannot slow down or circle if the pre-game show runs long.

For the 2019 flyover in Atlanta, the Thunderbirds started their run about a minute before the anthem began, flying at about 400 mph. A controller on the stadium roof timed each line of the song by radio and called corrections to the formation.

Getting it wrong has happened: the jets at Super Bowl V in 1971 arrived five minutes after the anthem had ended. Planning for a modern Super Bowl flyover typically starts six to eight months before game day.

A roof does not always cancel the flyover. The 2011 Navy Hornets crossed Cowboys Stadium with its roof closed, and the Superdome got flyovers in 1997, 2002 and 2025. Other domed games, including those in Detroit in 2006 and Indianapolis in 2012, have no flyover listed.

Who pays for a Super Bowl flyover

The military does, out of the flying hours it was going to fly anyway. The Air Force describes flyovers as “time-over-target training” at no additional cost to taxpayers, and says it does about 1,000 flyovers a year.

The request process is public. An event files a DD Form 2535 at least 90 days ahead, requests inside 30 days are not considered, and the flight needs public affairs and local FAA approval. The FAA then sets a temporary flight restriction around the stadium for game day.

The table above shows how much the lineup changes from year to year. If you want to know how the two jet teams in this story differ, our Blue Angels vs Thunderbirds breakdown covers the jets, the flying and the schedules.

Super Bowl LXI in 2027: what is known

Super Bowl LXI is set for Feb. 14, 2027, at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California. As of October 2026, no service has announced a flyover for it.

The last game at SoFi, in 2022, drew the five-aircraft Air Force anniversary formation. Announcements usually come in the week before kickoff, and this page will add the 2027 lineup when it is confirmed.