More Than Just The Flyover Will Celebrate The 70th Anniversary Of VE Day

On May 8, the 70th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day, the skies over the National Mall will be filled with one of the most spectacular and diverse arrays of World War II aircraft to be flown at any one time. Organizers of the Arsenal of Democracy: World War II Victory Capitol Flyover outlined plans for the celebration in the nation’s capital at a press conference in the World War II Gallery of the National Air and Space Museum in Washington.

The events include a commemorative wreath-laying ceremony at the National World War II Memorial, and the Arsenal of Democracy Flyover, featuring dozens of World War II vintage military aircraft in historically sequenced formations representing the war’s major battles, on May 8; and Fly-In to Victory, a collection of World War II aircraft participating in the Flyover, on display at the National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center on May 9.

The Arsenal of Democracy Flyover completed a successful practice flight with a single plane on March 18, and has received the necessary approvals from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which said the public interest will be served by “the educational and historic value of this single signature event in commemorating this significant milestone in history.” Flyover organizers have worked closely with the FAA, the Transportation Security Administration, the National Park Service, the U.S. Capitol Police, and the U.S. Secret Service on the event.

Aircraft in the Flyover—which include the P-39 Airacobra, P-38 Lightning, P-51 Mustang, P-47 Thunderbolt, FG-1D Corsair, B-25 Mitchell, B-17 Flying Fortress, and the B-29 Superfortress—are featured in a special May 2015 issue of Air & Space magazine, which hits newsstands today. The magazine includes “spotter cards,” which will allow observers to track the aircraft in the Flyover.The Flyover’s Exclusive Formation Sponsors include Honeywell and Northrop Grumman. GE Aviation and Triumph Group are Formation Wingman Sponsors. Air & Space/Smithsonian is the Media Partner. Aircraft Technical Publishers (in honor of 14th Air Force Captain William L. Daniels), Jet Aviation, the National Business Aviation Association, Signature Flight Support, and The Hill are Gold Sponsors; Aviall, Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation, Jeppesen, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, Southwest Airlines, the Tracy Forrest Foundation, Textron Aviation/Bell Helicopters, and UTC Aerospace Systems are Silver Sponsors; and Bombardier Aerospace, Ogilvy Government Relations, Rockwell Collins, and Ultra Electronics ICE are Brass Sponsors.

“We are extremely grateful to the generosity of our sponsors for helping to make this unprecedented event possible so that we can honor American heroes who served so bravely in the war and those at home who worked tirelessly to manufacture the ships, tanks, and aircraft that made it possible for the United States and its Allies to achieve victory 70 years ago,” said the Arsenal of Democracy Flyover Executive Committee, composed of Commemorative Air Force President and CEO Stephan C. Brown, General Aviation Manufacturers Association President and CEO Pete Bunce, International Council of Air Shows President John Cudahy, National Air Traffic Controllers Association President Paul Rinaldi, and Doug Rozendaal of the Texas Flying Legends Museum.

(Images provided by the CAF)

FMI: www.commemorativeairforce.org