A friend in Misawa wrote to say that the Air Festival this year was no fun. Hit by a typhoon downpour, the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force's Blue Impulse canceled its demonstration flight. The U.S. Air Force did not send its acrobatic team because of the budget cuts. She gave up by noon and went to a yakitori bar.

My friend's missive reminded me of two Time articles earlier this year, "Costly Flight Hours" and "Top 10 Most Expensive Military Planes."

From these you learn that, among U.S. Air Force planes, the B-2A Spirit Stealth Bomber costs the most to fly, at $169,313 an hour. It's followed by the E-4B Flying Headquarters at $163,485 and the VC-25A Air Force One at $161,591.