The Red Bull schedule originally said that a Qantas B747 was going to do the flypast, but it was changed at the last minute. At that altitude, a 747 would have looked more impressive than a 737.
The river is quite wide in front of the city, so the tall buildings are not that close, especially if you fly in a line from over the Causeway to the Narrows Bridge.
I read elsewhere that other airlines were interested in doing flypasts, but were told to pay $10,000 for the opportunity of "free advertising".
It could have been like that Cavalcade of Flight flypast in 2003, where we had a nice variety of types flying over at low level (P-51D Mustang, Citation, Dash 8, Brasilia, Lear 45, RFDS PC-12, Winjeel, DH83 Fox Moth, Tiger Moths, etc). A demo by the AMSA/AeroRescue Dornier 328 and the RAC Rescue Bell 412 would also have been good.
It was great to have the Hornet and Roulettes. However, as the RAAF celebrated the 50th year of service for the C-130 Hercules on the weekend, it would also have been appropriate to have a C-130 display.
Regards,
David