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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.

11 of 54 comments (clear)

  1. We should divert it .. by BarbaraHudson · · Score: 3, Funny

    They should overfly Texas, just so we can watch the crazies on Fox and the far right lose it (Jade Helm prequel).

    --
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  2. What tech challenges? by Zargg · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I don't get it, what is the big tech challenge to overcome here? Seems like the biggest issues are legal (exemptions from the FAA already made though) or logistical.

    1. Re:What tech challenges? by tlambert · · Score: 4, Informative

      I don't get it, what is the big tech challenge to overcome here? Seems like the biggest issues are legal (exemptions from the FAA already made though) or logistical.

      Lack of modern istrumentation, radar transponders, and other equipment which is normally used by modern air traffic control systems. You will recall that the newly overhauled system went online 7 days ago (30 Apr 2015):

      http://www.usatoday.com/story/...

      The primary issue won't be in the corridor itself, it'll be getting into and out of it from shared public airspace, and avoiding collisions between the aircraft themselves, many of which do not have anti-collision systems or even radars.

  3. B-29 by ArchieBunker · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Seeing and hearing the B-29 fly over is quite impressive. I try and imagine what it would be like in 1945 to see a sky full of them. They do a flyover here during the summer and you can pay for a ride although its not cheap.

    --
    Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
    1. 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..

  4. 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.

  5. Re:How much does this cost taxpayers? by Deadstick · · Score: 3, Informative

    Basically, a few thousand gallons of gasoline. The airplanes are privately owned.

  6. Re:How much does this cost taxpayers? by sls1j · · Score: 3, Funny

    Well, if those bombers could take just one more load of bombs...

  7. Arsenal of Democracy Ignorance by istartedi · · Score: 4, Informative

    I'm seeing a lot of ignorant comments about the phrase "arsenal of democracy". Please educate yourselves. This phrase comes out of the WW2 era in which these birds flew. Manufacturing weapons was a huge part of the US contribution because we could do it without having to worry about Axis bombers hitting our plants. The AoD helped kill the Axis. Please try to separate it from the modern issues. This is history we're talking about.

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    For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
  8. The largest gatherings of such aircrafts was WW2 by iceco2 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Depending on how you define an event, the most WW2 planes flying at once could have been one of several raids.
    Good candidates include the bombing of Dreseden, Berlin, Hamburg or London.