Stealth Bomber to Give Wake-Up Call for the Rose Parade
After a night of New Year’s Eve reveling, Pasadena residents will get a morning wake-up call Wednesday so they don’t miss the start of the Rose Parade.
The noise will sound something like an earthquake, but will be coming from the sky in the form of the Air Force’s B-2 stealth bomber, which will lead off the 108th Rose Parade with an early morning flyover just 1,000 feet above Colorado Boulevard.
In its first parade appearance, the bomber Spirit will swoop east above the Ventura Freeway at a speed of 200 to 250 knots toward Pasadena. At exactly 8:05 a.m., it will turn on to the parade route and follow Colorado Boulevard.
“It won’t be any louder than an airliner,” Lt. Col. Janice Gunnoe said of the high-tech aircraft from the 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri.
Nonetheless, Pasadena Police Cmdr. Mary Schander said the flyover was at one time meant to be a surprise, but the city decided that it was better for residents not to be caught off guard.
“We want people to know and not be concerned if they suffer a disproportionate amount of noise and vibration,” she said.
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