Arsenal of Democracy flyover honors veterans
By Mike Collins
The National Mall in downtown Washington, D.C.—and rooftops in all directions—were filled with spectators Friday, May 8, for the Arsenal of Democracy: World War II Victory Capitol Flyover, commemorating the seventieth anniversary of Victory in Europe Day. But the most important audience was the group of veterans gathered at the National World War II Memorial.
They watched, transfixed, as 56 vintage World War II military aircraft, in 15 historically sequenced formations representing the war’s major battles, flew east past them, 1,000 feet above Independence Avenue, before turning south just before the Capitol.
The aircraft staged that morning from Culpeper Regional Airport and Manassas Regional Airport/Harry P. Davis Field in northern Virginia, and the event appeared nearly flawless to the crowds. One pilot reported smoke in his TBM Avenger and made a precautionary landing at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport; it turned out to be a mist of hydraulic fluid from a leak. The airplane was repaired and flew out of the airport that evening.
Pilot Bob Hill and co-pilot Robert Cope, both of Nashville, felt privileged to fly Jerry Yagen’s Virginia-based PBY Catalina in the event. “I feel like we represent every PBY crew during World War II,” Cope said of his role in the event. “And what an honor to have the call sign we’ve got: Strawberry 5. That was the call sign of the PBY that spotted the Japanese fleet, which started the Battle of Midway.”
Hill hoped that the event would provide inspiration. “If we can inspire young people to do something, it will be worthwhile”—whether it’s to consider an aviation career, the military, or learning to fly, he said.
The flyover, which ended with a missing man formation choreographed to Taps, honored those who fought in the war, as well as those on the home front who produced the tanks, ships, and aircraft that enabled the United States and its allies to achieve victory. It was organized by the Commemorative Air Force, General Aviation Manufacturers Association, International Council of Air Shows, National Air Traffic Controllers Association, and Texas Flying Legends Museum.
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Participating aircraft
8 P–51 Mustangs
8 AT-6/SNJ advanced trainers
6 Light liaison aircraft
5 Stearmans
3 P–40 Warhawks
3 B–25 Mitchells
3 FM–2 Wildcats
3 FG–1D Corsairs
3 TBM Avengers
2 B–17 Flying Fortresses
2 PT–19s
1 C–45 Expeditor
1 PBY Catalina
1 SBD Dauntless
1 P–38 Lightning
1 B–24 Liberator
1 C–47 Skytrain
1 C–53 Skytrooper
1 SB2C Helldiver
1 A–26 Invader
