Mike Jeswald took to the skies on a beautiful Friday to share his love for the Bills.
Jeswald flew his small plane over Orchard Park and his path created a Bills logo over Bills Stadium and the area. He was in the air for about 90 minutes.
While he said it was a coincidence that his flight is leading into the game against the Jets, he noted it was appropriate.
"This was something I planned two years ago," he told The News. "I drew it out on an aeronautical app on my iPad by plotting geographical points to plot the Bills logo. I've tweaked it over the past couple of years.
"It's 79 degrees in October and I wasn't working today so I went out and did it. I made it big enough to not be impractical too ... it worked out to the size I determined, and I was able to trace my flight path with the airplane in real time."
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Using Bills Stadium as his midpoint, the path was seven miles to the east of the stadium, seven miles to the west, seven miles to the south and four miles to the north.
"I thought it turned out pretty good," he said, adding with a laugh. "It was definitely better than (when) Josh Allen drew his logo," during a recent social media post.
Once the design was published on Flight Radar, it drew the attention of the Bills' social media team, which tweeted the images to its 1 million-plus followers.
Spotted in the sky above Buffalo. 😍#GoBills | #BillsMafia pic.twitter.com/4dyrfGTn2t
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) October 23, 2020
"My actual flight path recorded on the airplane was a little crisper looking, and the winds were brutal today!" he responded to the Bills' tweet. He added that as fun as it was to do, "the response has been more fun."
"People are famous for writing for funny words or pictures with aircrafts," he said. "I didn’t think anything like this had been done in Buffalo. I wanted to represent the Bills and Bills Mafia."
He said he expected someone would figure it out, but he didn't expect it to be noticed so quickly. He said he was packing up his gear after the flight when messages started.
Jeswald also provided a link to his flight plan.
"I just want to promote general aviation in Buffalo, and of course the Bills and Bills Mafia," he said. "I need to thank the Buffalo air traffic controller for working with me. Without them, it would have been a lot more difficult."
Born and raised Buffalo, he has always been a big Bills fan and said his three elementary school aged children are helping get him into the team even more. He has been a professional pilot for about 15 years.
"They're getting to the age where they are playing football and excited about it," he said, "and that's gotten me more into it like my dad got me into it."
