David Hingtgen Posted June 9, 2004 Share Posted June 9, 2004 Yeah, I know, this could be considered political, but I'm posting it here for the sheer "aviation coolness" of the event. Should be this afternoon/early evening. So keep your TV's on! PRESS RELEASE -- Secretary of the Air Force, Directorate of Public Affairs Release No. 0608048 Jun 8, 2004 Air Force flyover scheduled for funeral WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Air Force will perform a 21-ship flyover Wednesday over the District in honor of former President Ronald Reagan as part of the funeral procession. The expected route is from south to north up 4th Street S.W., crossing the National Mall and Constitution Avenue at 1000 feet. A single fighter aircraft will lead five four-ship formations spaced at 10 second intervals. The final formation will perform the missing man maneuver as the planes cross Constitution Avenue. In a missing man maneuver, a wingman will break formation, rocketing skyward, leaving a hole in the formation, in honor of and signifying the loss of a fellow comrade in arms. The flyover will consist of F-15E Strike Eagles assigned to the 4th Fighter Wing at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C. The F-15E Strike Eagle is a dual-role fighter designed to perform air-to-air and air-to-ground missions, able to fight at low altitude day or night in inclement weather. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jolly Rogers Posted June 10, 2004 Share Posted June 10, 2004 Well that was a disappointment... I saw it on MSNBC and they appeared as tiny dots for the most part. The cameras didn't even get close enough for you to ID what planes were flying overhead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Hingtgen Posted June 10, 2004 Author Share Posted June 10, 2004 CNN saw them first, MSNBC actually tracked the missing man performer, FoxNews was by far the best. Could see the tailcodes and fin-stripe colors even, and I swear one had a Luke AFB code, not Seymour-Johnson. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mislovrit Posted June 10, 2004 Share Posted June 10, 2004 Well David thank you for the notice. Also watched it on FOX. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mechamaniac Posted June 10, 2004 Share Posted June 10, 2004 Cool, but being an Army guy myself, and given the fact that President Reagan was a very well known horseman. The Caparisoned Horse during the funeral procession this afternoon was very touching for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynx7725 Posted June 10, 2004 Share Posted June 10, 2004 From a strictly aviation fan POV, I just wish the flyby could have been conducted by '14s... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shin Densetsu Kai 7.0 Posted June 10, 2004 Share Posted June 10, 2004 me 2 dude! especially in high viz 80s squadron schemes that were around during his time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Hingtgen Posted June 10, 2004 Author Share Posted June 10, 2004 (edited) A lot of people (including me) were hoping it'd be the USS Ronald Reagan's airwing doing the flyover. (They are currently in the area I believe, not out in the Pacific or something) The Navy benefitted more than any other service due to Reagan I believe. ::edit:: It's of the coast of south South America, but the airwing probably could have made it. Currently all-Hornet though, like the Nimitz. Also, the Navy (unlike the Air Force) does do "massive" formations all the time. I've got a shot of 24 Tomcats (two full squadrons) in formation. As well as 2 24-ship formations together (the entire fighter/attack wing). If it had been the navy doing it, it would have been one single awesome 21-plane formation, not 5 groups of 4. ::edit:: Found it, 21-plane F-14 formation, the Navy does it right. Far more impressive. Black Aces leading the wing. Edited June 10, 2004 by David Hingtgen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KingNor Posted June 10, 2004 Share Posted June 10, 2004 (edited) DH, wanna post the pic of the 24 f-14's? i'd like to see that. **edit** ::edit:: Found it, 21-plane F-14 formation, the Navy does it right. Far more impressive. Black Aces leading the wing. don't keep me waiting so long next time. Edited June 10, 2004 by KingNor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Hingtgen Posted June 10, 2004 Author Share Posted June 10, 2004 The really neat shots I only have in books. But I'm looking up military pics tonight, will post if I find any good ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaijin Posted June 10, 2004 Share Posted June 10, 2004 I was wondering if the RR was going to fly a formation. Thanks for the info and pics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neova Posted June 10, 2004 Share Posted June 10, 2004 David, GREAT shot! Any bigger ones? I think that was very fitting for our ex-president. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Hingtgen Posted June 10, 2004 Author Share Posted June 10, 2004 (edited) 1. That is a shot of what SHOULD have been. That's simply the Black Aces and the Tophatters "coming home" after a deployment. Biggest pic online I could find of a cool, Navy formation flyover. 2. No good shots of the flyover for Ronald Reagan, since they weren't really in formation... Random formation pics: Representative airwing, F-14, F-18, A-6, E-2, S-3, and I'm betting the lowest A-6 is actually an EA-6B. http://www.swordsmen.org/aviat-gall/form1.jpg Proof that Tomcats can fly with their wings at whatever setting that they want: http://ssnider.com/navy/JPJones/JPJ_flyover.jpg Edited June 10, 2004 by David Hingtgen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Hingtgen Posted June 10, 2004 Author Share Posted June 10, 2004 Ok, official USAF pic. Here's 4 of them. Just imagine 5 of these in a row, and there you go. http://www.af.mil/media/photodb/photos/040...F-3050V-187.jpg 2000x1500. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agent ONE Posted June 10, 2004 Share Posted June 10, 2004 Impressive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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