fly-by

3 7.5

A low flight by military planes over people watching on the ground

noun
/ˈflaɪˌbaɪ/

: sobrevuelo

The pilot executed a smooth fly-by at a low altitude, impressing everyone at the event.

Yeah, so it's a quick fly by.

Examples

The military conducted a low fly-by over the stadium to showcase their aircraft.
What if the pilots had needed to do a fly-by for a second approach?

Blog text (14)
I'm doing a fly-by over the Firebase Alpha.

Blind Fury (1989)
There was then a very brief delay as we waited for the fly-by, and the Rosecrans attendant who had guided people through protocol for the military honors invited us to sit "in quiet contemplation."

Blog text (29)
During the air show, the fighter jets performed a thrilling fly-by above the spectators.

Synonyms

flyover

vsfly-by

7 4.6

A low flight of planes over a place for a ceremony

is a military low-altitude action over spectators rather than a general public event

pass

vsfly-by

Jargon

6 7.8

A flight over an area to observe or attack

is a low-altitude action over spectators with display or training focus rather than mission work

overflight

vsfly-by

Specialized

4 7.5

A plane flying over another country's land or waters

is a low-altitude event over spectators rather than merely crossing airspace

flyby

vsfly-by

2 5.8

A plane passing low over people for a show

is a military low-altitude event over spectators rather than a brief observational run

flypast

vsfly-by

7.6

A short low flight of planes over people to honour or remember something

is a military low-altitude flight over spectators with operational or training purpose

low-level flight

vsfly-by

5.8

A plane or helicopter flying very low above the ground

is a low-altitude display over spectators with military intent not only operational flying

How Ceremonial

flypast

7.6

flyover

7 4.6

fly-by

3 7.5

overflight

Specialized

4 7.5

Surface Forms

fly-by singular

fly-bys plural

Morphology

fly-by = fly (semi-transparent) = by + fly

The components 'fly' and 'by' are clear, but the specific meaning of a low-altitude flight over spectators is specialized. [Postprocessing: moved 'by' from base_words to prefix]

Etymology

The word fly-by comes from the simple parts fly ('move through the air') and by ('past' or 'near'), so a fly-by is literally a plane flying past people, often low above the ground as a salute or for an air show.