"The training flights are going to take place whether the planes fly over the stadium or over Whitehouse Field," Tilley wrote in an email. "Either way, the cost is the same. If the game day flyovers are discontinued, no monies will be saved - but much in the way of good will, patriotic pride and recruiting stands to be lost."

"It was productive flight time and does relate to what would be a real-time mission," wrote retired Air Force aviator Paul W. Ambs, who said he was involved in many flyovers during his career.