Flying High: F-15 Fighter Jets Will Soar Over the City Thursday

Image via Massachusetts Air National Guard

A thick blanket of fog that covered the city Wednesday morning was great to gawk at and share photos of, but it may have prevented some fighter jets from making a low-altitude flyover to promote the National Guard.

On Wednesday, the Massachusetts Air National Guard had planned to send five F-15 jets soaring through the skies, passing over places like Fenway Park, and the State House on Beacon Hill, just 1,000 feet from the ground. But due to low-visibility, the publicity stunt was postponed and rescheduled for Thursday, November 13.

The National Guard sent out an advisory this week letting businesses and residents in the direct line of the aircrafts’ flight path know that the jets would be making some noise in the few seconds that they passed by. A subsequent email indicated that the day’s plans had changed, and the flight was pushed back by a day.

After leaving the Barnes Air National Guard Base, the F-15s will pass over Bedford, Salem, Boston, Norwood, Foxboro, Nantucket, and Martha’s Vineyard in just 37-minutes, end-to-end. The “planned training and media mission” was coordinated with the Federal Aviation Administration, according to a release from the National Guard.

“Photographs will be taken of the F-15 fighter jets in formation for the nationally published National Guard magazine to promote Massachusetts as the birthplace of the National Guard,” said Lt. Col. James Sahady, spokesman for the Massachusetts National Guard.

So, just how fast is an F-15 in flight? Below we compared the times on Google Maps versus a car, bike, and stroll across the Commonwealth by foot:

Bedford to Salem: 24 miles

F-15—Three minutes
Car—40 minutes
Bike—Two hours and 30 minutes
Foot—Seven hours

Salem to Boston: 21 miles

F-15—Three minutes
Car—41 minutes
Bike—One hour and 40 minutes
Foot—Five hours and 22 minutes

Boston to Norwood: 22 miles

F-15— five minutes
Car—32 minutes
Bike—One hour and 24 minutes
Foot—Four hours and 40 minutes

Gillette Stadium to Cape Cod: 68 miles

F-15—Nine minutes
Car—One hour and 12 minutes
Bike—Six hours and nine minutes
Foot—21 hours and 46 minutes

Cape Cod to Nantucket: 36 miles

F-15—10 minutes
Car, Bike, Foot (all by ferry)—One to two hours

Nantucket to Martha’s Vineyard: 29 miles

F-15—Five minutes
Car, Bike, Foot (all by ferry)—About one hour