Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

FAA: Big Tech Challenges For Massive Washington, DC Warbirds Flyover

Posted by samzenpus on from the blast-from-the-past dept.

coondoggie writes: It will be one of the largest gatherings of flying WWII aircraft in history as 56 famous vintage warbirds will fly through restricted airspace over the National Mall Friday in remembrance of the 70th anniversary of VE-Day or Victory in Europe Day. The huge flyover, dubbed "The Arsenal of Democracy," of so many different types of aircraft – from seaplanes to fighters and the only flying B-29 Superfortress – was no easy undertaking. The first plane should be visible along the National Mall around 12:10 p.m. With roughly 90 seconds between formations, the Flyover will end by 1 p.m. Reagan National Airport will be closed to commercial traffic from 12 noon to 1 p.m. to accommodate the flights. The Flyover will be streamed live here.

3 of 54 comments (clear)

  1. Anecdote by youngone · · Score: 4, Interesting

    My Mother's partner FLT/SGT Hudson of the Royal New Zealand Air Force flew in a couple of those bombers during the recent unpleasantness with Germany. His favourite bomber, as a gunner, was the Wellington though, he said that it was possible to shoot huge holes in those and they just kept flying home. In a memoir he dictated before his death, he told of a raid where his aircraft was jumped by two BF-110's over Holland. He managed to shoot one down, but the other one shot out one of the Wellington's engines and blew huge holes in the wings and fuselage. Although the navigator was killed, they made it home for a crash landing. I think the pilot on that flight was 21 years old.

    1. Re:Anecdote by Pope+Hagbard · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I read of an early Wellington getting jumped by German fighters and one of its engines set afire. A crewman climbed out onto the wing (wind, Germans, and fire all) with an "engine cover" (IIRC), sticking his hands and feet through the cloth skin and onto the geodesic frame*, and used it to smother the flames. His plane got home that day.

      Wellingtons are one of my favorite planes too.

      *said frame being why it was possible for shot-up examples to return so often. It was very similar to a rigid airship's frame.

  2. Re:B-29 by willoughby · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Back in '92, as part of the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the first B29 flight, the Boeing Employees Amateur Radio Society (BEARS) had a special event ham radio station on the air. They were set up near the airplane and when one engine was fired up as a demo, their station was unreadable for about 3 minutes. It was pretty neat to hear just over the radio. ...and, yes, I made a contact & got my special event QSL card from K7NWS with a nice photo of a B29 in flight..