Arsenal of Democracy Flyover today!

[Old Guard]

Originally Posted by HokieFan

I'm a ma'am and I'm always up for getting edumacated. Imma go reflect now.

Sorry.

[lqda4]

Well... it was a good show but getting out was a mess all the way around.

[choff5]

We were at the Culpeper airport where most of the planes, minus the big bombers, took off. Wow! We were able to stand at the chain link fence at the end of the runway where they all came down, stopped, then turned and went over to the runway and took off. It was amazing! They just kept on coming, almost an hour till all were airborn, then some flew over as they took off for formation. I feel I saw a better view of these planes that some saw down town. It was amazing.

[car54]

The wife and I are going to take a ride aboard FiFi (the B-29 bomber) this summer. I can hardly wait!

[ICS67]

I made a spur of the moment decision this morning to go downtown for the flyover after seeing the Post's guide to the event and how many planes were participating. Glad I went; it was quite a sight (and I've been to a couple of major commercial aerospace shows with military flight demonstrations). The effect of the flyover was slightly lessened by the fact that there were some long gaps between a few of the formations. Other than one wave of P-51 Mustangs that really seemd to be hightailing it, the most impressive sights, for me at least, were the bombers such as the B-25s (Doolittle raid), B-17s, and a lone B-29. And I don't know why, but the PBY Catalina flying boat has always been one of my favorites. The final formation with the missing man salute got a lot of applause from the crowd.

What struck me was how, in comparison with modern military aircraft, these World War II era planes flew so slowly. And I also had to reflect on the courage of the airmen who flew those planes during the war, such as those B-17 crews who were lucky to survive their 25 assigned missions before rotating out. Hats off to the Greatest Generation; sad to see them fading from the scene.

[Mikemapva]

Originally Posted by ICS67

I made a spur of the moment decision this morning to go downtown for the flyover after seeing the Post's guide to the event and how many planes were participating. Glad I went; it was quite a sight (and I've been to a couple of major commercial aerospace shows with military flight demonstrations). The effect of the flyover was slightly lessened by the fact that there were some long gaps between a few of the formations. Other than one wave of P-51 Mustangs that really seemd to be hightailing it, the most impressive sights, for me at least, were the bombers such as the B-25s (Doolittle raid), B-17s, and a lone B-29. And I don't know why, but the PBY Catalina flying boat has always been one of my favorites. The final formation with the missing man salute got a lot of applause from the crowd.

What struck me was how, in comparison with modern military aircraft, these World War II era planes flew so slowly. And I also had to reflect on the courage of the airmen who flew those planes during the war, such as those B-17 crews who were lucky to survive their 25 assigned missions before rotating out. Hats off to the Greatest Generation; sad to see them fading from the scene.

We took our boat up to watch, and agree with the comments above. Our infant granddaughter was onboard and we were worried about the noise in advance, and the planes really weren't that loud as they passed overhead.