Arsenal of Democracy Flyover Event

[Zack Baughman]

For those of you interested in learning more about the Arsenal of Democracy Flyover event taking place in Washington, DC on Friday May 8 to commemorate the 70th anniversary of VE-Day, please visit http://ww2flyover.org/.

EAA's own B-17G "Aluminum Overcast" will be taking part in the event with EAA Photo staffers Jason Toney and Brady Lane on hand to capture photo and video of the flyover.

For those fortunate enough to attend in person, please feel free to share your photos and/or videos of the flyover here, or on the EAA Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/EAA.

For those of you who can't attend, you can watch the event live via webcast here: http://ww2flyover.org/live-webcast/

Cheers,
Zack

[Mayhemxpc]

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I am working ground support for the event at Manassas. Here is a photo from today.

4 engine bombers are staging out of Manassas (HEF) while the single and twins are staging out of Culpepper (CJR). On the ramp at HEF this morning was the B-17 Texas Raiders (CAF), B-17 Aluminum Overcast (EAA), B-24 Diamond Lil (CAF) and B-29 FiFi (CAF). An AT-11 and a P-51D were also on the ramp, with the Mustang providing flights for WW2 vets. Today was ramp inspections by the local FSDO, some media and media flights (NBC, Fox, Hearst) and general prep work for tomorrow and Friday. Tomorrow will be rehearsal, with aircraft departing and practicing joining up. It will also be a major media day. There will also be Congressional staffers from USAF and aviation committees. Some wounded warriors will also visit and be allowed to fly in the aircraft during the rehearsal.

Main event, as Zack notes, on Friday.

-- Chris

[Zack Baughman]

Fantastic Chris! Thanks for sharing!

[crusty old aviator]

Will the postman from Florida be there, flying along in his wee Gyronimo? He flew to protect our democracy, too! What better arsenal than a man with a passion, a piece of paper, and a pen?

[Mayhemxpc]

4723Thursday. Dress rehearsal and media day. Bombers launched on time, practiced join up and returned to HEF. Fighters launched 15 minutes earlier from CJR. All crews report that everything went well and are ready for tomorrow. Media were allowed to ride on these flights, but will not be so privileged tomorrow. When I left, Aluminum overcast was being fitted with cameras to record the flight. There were also several wounded warriors who got to ride today. I enclose a picture of Chris and Ed pulling the props through on Aluminum Overcast. Ramp will be closed tomorrow before launch except for a select few (in addition to minimum required aircrew) who passed TSA and Secret Service screening. I intend to be across the airfield at the EAA Chapter house, photographing the departures from the deck. After departure I will be graciously allowed back to the other side to help with recovery.472047214722

Sorry for the poor quality photos. iPhone 5s snapped while I am working support. Will bring a real camera tomorrow. One more picture. After a school "incident" I put my son on "punishment detail' cleaning Aluminum Overcast under the supervision of the Crew Chief, Jeff.4724

[Zack Baughman]

Keep 'em coming, Chris! And thanks!

[Mayhemxpc]

VE Day + 70 years. The Main Event. I won't write about what it was like on the Mall, because I wasn't there. I was at Manassas airport, where the 4 engine bombers departed from and recovered to. The initial plan -- as dictated by the TSA and Secret Service was that NO ONE except aircrew and a very select ground staff would be allowed on the ramp after 0800. By name roster cleared 45 days in advance. Then several hundred of the public showed up, wanting to see the bombers off. TSA and SS relented and they were allowed into the fenced off area on the ramp we had used for the general public yesterday (Thursday.) The aircrew were airlifted to Culpepper (CJR) where the singles and twins were, for their final airshow brief, returning about 1015. (Note: in full disclosure, I was not among the select few cleared by SS. Therefore I was not allowed on the ramp until after the bombers departed. Instead, I shot touch and go's on the parallel runway, landing when the pilots returned from CJR. Out of deference to security concerns I removed the dummy ordnance from my pylons as part of my pre-flight. After landing I watched from the deck of EAA chapter 186. Actually closer to the take off runway that I would have been on the bombers ramp.) The planes started engines later than briefed…one bomber crew in particular, which I will not name, always seems to be somewhat later than the rest. (It is NOT Aluminum Overcast.) Nonetheless, departure was only a couple of minutes later than briefed…plus the delays for 3 minute interval departures.
4751
Here is Diamond Lil departing. You can see the crowd behind the barriers by the terminal
4752
And EAA's Aluminum Overcast departing next
4753
Like most others, we went inside and watched the event live streaming, grilling hot dogs and hamburgers at the chapter house awaiting the return.
475447554758
After that it was back over to the terminal to help bed the planes down and get ready for tomorrow. The CAF B-24, Diamond Lil, their B-29 FiFi and the EAA's B-17 will remain at HEF for the next few days for tours and flights. I am told that we already have 76 flights pre-booked!
47564757
back again tomorrow to play tour guide!

[rwanttaja]

Gentleman on POA posted some of his pictures from the event...

https://www.flickr.com/photos/namistaisound/sets/72157652420931816

Ron Wanttaja

[rwanttaja]

Cspan coverage...pretty good. About 45 minutes:

http://www.c-span.org/video/?325808-1/world-war-ii-victory-europe-70th-anniversary-flyover

Ron Wanttaja

[Jim Rosenow]

Some good vids on youtube also. Watched one last night of them staging and departing the airport. Great stuff!

Jim

[Mayhemxpc]

The day after...

Good publicity and public interest generated a huge turn-out today. Almost all of the advertising (excuse, me "public information") only mentioned that aircraft from the fly-over would be on display at Udvar-Hazy today. The four bombers, however, are still at Manassas and three of them: the B-29, the B-24, and the EAA B-17 are available for tours and flights. Somehow, there was enough awareness that hundreds of people showed up at Manassas today. In fact, 89 seats had pre-booked on Aluminum Overcast alone for the time it is here, and all seats for all scheduled flights today were pre-sold. Overflow parking was a very serious problem. Despite the size, the crowd was friendly and cooperative. This was especially important as low clouds delayed the start of flying by two hours. I played tour guide for Overcast (one of several). I was amazed by the number of people there whose fathers had flown on fortresses. Many brought memorabilia, such as their A-2 jackets, hats, other uniform items, and medals. All wanted to see the position their father (or grandfather) sat in on a B-17 and have their picture taken. It was wonderful to be able to help out. Overcast, Diamond Lil, and FiF will be available at Manassas through Wednesday -- although I can't imagine that tomorrow will be as busy as today. (Hey honey, to celebrate Mother's Day, the boys and I are taking you to the airport to see some real WW2 bombers!)

The value of flying history is clear when you see things like this. The ability for these flying memorials to come to where the public is, the ability for them to see these machines, touch them, have their questions answered is a necessary supplement to the fine museums where people can go to see examples in, well, museum quality preservation.

Unfortunately, I was too busy today and forgot to take photos.

Edit: Actually, I did take one picture.
4763
Diamond Lil arriving at the end of the last passenger flight of the day. Shot enroute to the EAA 186 Chapter House for a barbecue for the bomber crews. CAF's Texas Raiders was still on the ground, so they were able to come over, too. I heard that huge crowds went to NASM Udvar Hazy on Saturday. Unfortunately, because of the weather, only one airplane, a C-47 -- made it from CJR to IAD.

I saw that AOPA has a couple of very nice slideshows of what was going on at CJR and over the Mall.

[Zack Baughman]

The value of flying history is clear when you see things like this. The ability for these flying memorials to come to where the public is, the ability for them to see these machines, touch them, have their questions answered is a necessary supplement to the fine museums where people can go to see examples in, well, museum quality preservation.


Spot on assessment! Couldn't have wrote it any better.

[FlyingRon]

Someone (and not the Smithsonian) was giving out bogus information if they said "all the planes" were to be at Dulles. That was NEVER the case. The bombers were always going to be at HEF because they operate their revenue-generating activities (mostly rides) all weekend. The Smithsonian doesn't permit that. As of Friday afternoon, 23 planes indicated intent to come to Udvar-Hazy on Saturday. Blame the EAA and the people operating the other bombers for not getting the word out that their revenue-generating operations were at HEF.

The weather was crap. It was low IFR at CJR until the afternoon. Even IAD didn't go marginal until around noon. The only plane willing and able to come in IFR to Dulles was the C-47 and they got there on time. The Smithsonian and MWAA kept the option for other arrivals well past what people were told (and the crews new this). A few more (including the Marauder) got in right before closing time. Still the center had record crowds and finally after cramming cars every place they could (including on the ramp space that wasn't occupied by aircraft) they finally had to shut down the exit from Route 28 as traffic was snarling.

The Smithsonian has been lucky over the years that they never got a bad weather day on days they were trying to bring flying aircraft (we did have marginal conditions one morning for pilot day but even then IAD was offering special VFR for the show planes). The luck ran out the day they had some really interesting stuff scheduled to show up.

[Mayhemxpc]

Ron, I checked my posts very carefully and I never said that anyone claimed that ALL of the planes would be there. Neither do I blame the Smithsonian for not advertising a CAF/EAA event. The plan to have some planes at Dulles was their exhibition and they have no obligation to mention that some planes would also be available elsewhere. In fact, EAA did advertise the the continued presence of the bombers at KHEF and I heard several spots on the radio. The AoD flyover website (which is not the Smithsonian) did not mention continued presence at KHEF, they only mentioned that "an assortment of planes" would be at Udvar Hazy on Saturday. Every non-EAA email I received only referenced the AoD website. Others may have had a different experience.

My only intended point was that given such limited exposure I was amazed at how many people came to Manassas on Saturday. Being decisively engaged there, I do not know what Culpepper was like on Saturday (other than low clouds.) I can only report on those that I was involved with…4 of the 75 (or so) planes that participated. (5 if you include the CAF C-45, which split its time between HEF and CJR.)

Sunday was busy, too. I guess people DID want to celebrate Mothers' Day by going to see the bombers. Yesterday was quiet. Nonetheless, both EAA and CAF added extra flights thru Thursday morning to the schedule to accommodate the demand. All in all it was quite heartening to see the public interest.