Fighting Irish Flyover

Maximo Navarro

University of Notre Dame MBA student Maximo Navarro has a great vantage point for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish versus the Miami Hurricanes season opener on Sunday, Aug. 31 in Miami.

Just as the last note of “The Star-Spangled Banner” fades, Navarro (MBA ’27) will make his grand entrance roaring a thousand feet above the field in his F15 fighter jet. Navarro, a United States Air Force Test Pilot School graduate, and four other pilots have the honor of performing a military flyover for the game – an event they actively sought and exerted considerable effort to arrange.

Flying in a four-jet formation, the pilots include Notre Dame alumnus Major Trent “Wreck” McMullen (USAF F-15 pilot), Major Red “Odin” Artz (USAF F-15 pilot), Joe “Sloppy” McGill (USAF F-16 pilot, retired) and Flt. Lt. Simon “Ridders” Ridley (British Exchange F-16 pilot). Navarro, a.k.a. Major Maximo “Money” Navarro, flies with McMullen (ND ’12) in the F-15E Strike Eagle, which is a crew aircraft.

“Think of me like Goose flying with Maverick,” he said.

The crew will take off from Homestead Air Force Base in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The pilots will sync up with a member of the ground crew to ensure they fly over during the very last note of the national anthem.  From there, they circle the field before returning to the base, where a police escort will meet them and rush them back to the field for the rest of the game.

As a test pilot for the U.S. Air Force and current Notre Dame MBA student, the flyover is a meaningful way for Navarro to show up for his new Irish community. “Honestly, I wish I could give you a more noble answer for why I wanted to do the flyover other than I think it’ll be really cool to fly with Trent, who’s a Domer, and especially as a current MBA student.  It’s just being part of the Notre Dame community.”