VE Day - 70 years ago today

[killbilly]

70 years ago today, the Allies declared victory in Europe.

Yesterday, I spent a good chunk of my day talking with some CAF aircrews who fly Fifi - the last B-29 Superfortress, and Diamond 'Lil, a B-24A Liberator. Nice folks all around.

At some point, the B-29, B-24 and a pair of B-17s fired up and rolled out of HEF to join with some other warbirds out of CJR to practice for today's flyover.

The sound of 16 monster radial engines coming to life is a unique experience that I highly recommend. And I watched as my wife, who has spent the last 15 years discovering who her grandfather really was, boarded Diamond 'Lil for the practice flight. In her hand, were two small, but precious bits of metal;

Her grandfather's wings. He was a B-24 captain.
His Colonel's rank from his hat.

Generations of people struggle for what matters to them. Flawed as they may be in other ways, subjective as they might be, the courage shown by the Greatest Generation is something we cannot really measure because we, their children and grand children, have never been faced with a challenge of the same scale.

She clutches his rank and wings in his hand, and does her job, which is really to tell the stories of others doing theirs. And as I watch this I think of the endless hours she spent in the Archives, combing through mission reports, photographs and news reels. I try to imagine her frustration and the sheer, seeming endlessness she must have felt trying to find him...and the joy she must have felt when the puzzle came together.

And it choked me up some. I know how sentimental this must sound, but I was moved by the idea of Col. Richard Harris - in some talismanic way, taking a Liberator ride with his granddaughter.

No way to know what the world would have been like without the sacrifices made in that war. But it struck me that it's much easier to grasp when you break it down into millions of individual struggles instead of one big one.

Easier to grasp, yes, and even more awesome at that particular scale of reality.

Just something I was thinking about.

 

[ahw01]

It's a welcome distraction from the horror politics we're seeing today.

Looking forward to see some flypast footage.

 

[Crockrocket94]

Yup, good stuff!

 

[queeno]

 

[queeno]

In the foto above the young guy in the left seat was one of my first trainers at ZAU, Frank Johnson, man what a journey Happy 70th VE day to all you that are left!

 

[killbilly]

I just got back from the flyover.

It was pretty cool, but I have to say the ceremony honoring the veterans was actually better in terms of being moving. It was amazingly hot and humid today - we forget that DC was built on a swamp.

The flyover was done at 1000' MSL along the south edge of the Mall, west to east. They turned south again just before the Capitol to head for DCA. The P-51s got the biggest cheers.

I'll post up some photos when I get them back from m'bride.

 

[A Life Aloft]

Wish I could have attended. You are so fortunate to have been able to be there for this event. It must have been just stunning in person. Can't wait to see your pics and hear more about the experience.

Been following online though:

The vintage fighters and bombers will flew just 1,000 feet off the ground – nearly twice the height of the Washington Monument – in formations representing significant battles during the war. Planes scheduled to appear include:

• Curtiss P-40 Warhawks from the attack on Pearl Harbor.

• B-25 Mitchell bombers, which were adapted for the aircraft carrier Hornet for the Doolittle Raid over Japan. Dick Cole, who will turn 100 on Sept. 7 and who was co-pilot of the first bomber flying off the Hornet, is expected to attend.

• Bell P-39 Aircobras and P-63 Kingcobras from Guadalcanal.

• Consolidated PBY Catalinas, Grumman F4F Wildcats and Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bombers from the Battle of Midway.

• Lockheed P-38 Lightnings from the mission that shot down Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto, the architect of Japanese naval strategy who planned the attack on Pearl Harbor.

• Consolidated B-24 Liberators, the type of bomber featured in the movie Unbroken, and North American P-51 Mustang fighter escorts from the Ploesti Raid targeting Romanian oil refineries.

• Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers from Operation Argument to destroy German aircraft manufacturers.

• Douglas C-53 Skytrooper and C-47 Skytrain cargo planes that dropped supplies into Europe for the D-day invasion.

• Grumman TBM Avengers, F6F Hellcats, F8F Bearcats and a Curtis SB2C Helldiver from the Marianas Turkey Shoot.

• Republic P-47 Thunderbolts from the Battle of the Bulge.

• Vought F4U Corsairs from Iwo Jima.

• Boeing B-29 Superfortress nicknamed Fifi, the only known model still flying, which was the type of plane that dropped atomic bombs on Japan.

• A TBM Avenger. The Avenger was the largest single-engine plane in the war, weighing 18,000 pounds with 1,900 horsepower, said Graves, who has flown vintage aircraft with the Commemorative Air Force and Texas Flying Legends Museum. The difficulties flying in formation offer him a glimpse of the challenges that wartime pilots faced during missions five or six hours long.

"It wears you out," Graves said. "It's an opportunity to honor these men and women who sacrificed so much to protect our freedoms and our liberties."

After the flyover, some of the planes will be on display Saturday from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. at the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va.

A sincere and heartfelt thank you to all our Vets former, and current. You make us proud and grateful for your courage, your sacrifice and your unwavering call to duty.

 

[killbilly]

Wish I could have been there. You are so fortunate to have been able to be there for this event. It must have been just stunning in person. Can't wait to see your pics and hear more about the experience.

Been following online though:

The vintage fighters and bombers will flew just 1,000 feet off the ground – nearly twice the height of the Washington Monument – in formations representing significant battles during the war. Planes scheduled to appear include:

• Curtiss P-40 Warhawks from the attack on Pearl Harbor.

• B-25 Mitchell bombers, which were adapted for the aircraft carrier Hornet for the Doolittle Raid over Japan. Dick Cole, who will turn 100 on Sept. 7 and who was co-pilot of the first bomber flying off the Hornet, is expected to attend.

• Bell P-39 Aircobras and P-63 Kingcobras from Guadalcanal.

• Consolidated PBY Catalinas, Grumman F4F Wildcats and Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bombers from the Battle of Midway.

• Lockheed P-38 Lightnings from the mission that shot down Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto, the architect of Japanese naval strategy who planned the attack on Pearl Harbor.

• Consolidated B-24 Liberators, the type of bomber featured in the movie Unbroken, and North American P-51 Mustang fighter escorts from the Ploesti Raid targeting Romanian oil refineries.

• Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers from Operation Argument to destroy German aircraft manufacturers.

• Douglas C-53 Skytrooper and C-47 Skytrain cargo planes that dropped supplies into Europe for the D-day invasion.

• Grumman TBM Avengers, F6F Hellcats, F8F Bearcats and a Curtis SB2C Helldiver from the Marianas Turkey Shoot.

• Republic P-47 Thunderbolts from the Battle of the Bulge.

• Vought F4U Corsairs from Iwo Jima.

• Boeing B-29 Superfortress nicknamed Fifi, the only known model still flying, which was the type of plane that dropped atomic bombs on Japan.

• A TBM Avenger. The Avenger was the largest single-engine plane in the war, weighing 18,000 pounds with 1,900 horsepower, said Graves, who has flown vintage aircraft with the Commemorative Air Force and Texas Flying Legends Museum. The difficulties flying in formation offer him a glimpse of the challenges that wartime pilots faced during missions five or six hours long.

"It wears you out," Graves said. "It's an opportunity to honor these men and women who sacrificed so much to protect our freedoms and our liberties."

After the flyover, some of the planes will be on display Saturday from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. at the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va.

A sincere and heartfelt thank you to all our Vets former, and current. You make us proud and grateful for your courage, your sacrifice and your unwavering call to duty.

The day was pretty hazy and the sun directly overhead, so 1000 MSL was kind of high to make out details, especially on the smaller aircraft.

There was 1 P-38, and a few P-40s - quite a few of the lesser-known aircraft were hard to identify because everything was in pure silhouette for a good chunk of the flyover.

Given the heat, and the toll it was taking on some of the veterans (more than one was faint) we wondered why they didn't do it early in the morning, but I suppose that would have messed up traffic at DCA, which was closed for 1 hour during the flyover.

 

[Flying Saluki]

Apparently one of the warbirds had a hydraulic leak and ended up having to land at KDCA.

 

[killbilly]

Apparently one of the warbirds had a hydraulic leak and ended up having to land at KDCA.

Saw that. He peeled off pretty darn quick from the formation about 1/3 of the way down the mall. The guy next to me asked, "Was that the missing man?"

"I don't think so," I said. "Possibly missing airplane parts. Betting that's an emergency landing."

 

[derg]

Wish I could have been there. You are so fortunate to have been able to be there for this event. It must have been just stunning in person. Can't wait to see your pics and hear more about the experience.

Been following online though:

The vintage fighters and bombers will flew just 1,000 feet off the ground – nearly twice the height of the Washington Monument – in formations representing significant battles during the war. Planes scheduled to appear include:

• Curtiss P-40 Warhawks from the attack on Pearl Harbor.

• B-25 Mitchell bombers, which were adapted for the aircraft carrier Hornet for the Doolittle Raid over Japan. Dick Cole, who will turn 100 on Sept. 7 and who was co-pilot of the first bomber flying off the Hornet, is expected to attend.

• Bell P-39 Aircobras and P-63 Kingcobras from Guadalcanal.

• Consolidated PBY Catalinas, Grumman F4F Wildcats and Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bombers from the Battle of Midway.

• Lockheed P-38 Lightnings from the mission that shot down Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto, the architect of Japanese naval strategy who planned the attack on Pearl Harbor.

• Consolidated B-24 Liberators, the type of bomber featured in the movie Unbroken, and North American P-51 Mustang fighter escorts from the Ploesti Raid targeting Romanian oil refineries.

• Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers from Operation Argument to destroy German aircraft manufacturers.

• Douglas C-53 Skytrooper and C-47 Skytrain cargo planes that dropped supplies into Europe for the D-day invasion.

• Grumman TBM Avengers, F6F Hellcats, F8F Bearcats and a Curtis SB2C Helldiver from the Marianas Turkey Shoot.

• Republic P-47 Thunderbolts from the Battle of the Bulge.

• Vought F4U Corsairs from Iwo Jima.

• Boeing B-29 Superfortress nicknamed Fifi, the only known model still flying, which was the type of plane that dropped atomic bombs on Japan.

• A TBM Avenger. The Avenger was the largest single-engine plane in the war, weighing 18,000 pounds with 1,900 horsepower, said Graves, who has flown vintage aircraft with the Commemorative Air Force and Texas Flying Legends Museum. The difficulties flying in formation offer him a glimpse of the challenges that wartime pilots faced during missions five or six hours long.

"It wears you out," Graves said. "It's an opportunity to honor these men and women who sacrificed so much to protect our freedoms and our liberties."

After the flyover, some of the planes will be on display Saturday from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. at the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va.

A sincere and heartfelt thank you to all our Vets former, and current. You make us proud and grateful for your courage, your sacrifice and your unwavering call to duty.

Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

 

[Flying Saluki]

Saw that. He peeled off pretty darn quick from the formation about 1/3 of the way down the mall. The guy next to me asked, "Was that the missing man?"

"I don't think so," I said. "Possibly missing airplane parts. Betting that's an emergency landing."

What was it?

 

[killbilly]

What was it?

I don't honestly know....it was hard to see from where we were standing....I mean, we had a good spot, but we were far enough away from the loudspeakers that there was reverb preventing us from hearing all of the commentary clearly. So I saw the airplane peel off, but I didn't have enough time to figure out what all was supposed to be in the formation.

I think it might have been one of the Helldivers, but I can't say for sure...it was a big wing...any other details are probably unreliable for me. I'll see what I can dig up.

EDIT - could have been a Dauntless, too. Just have to wait until the report comes out.

 

[killbilly]

@Flying Saluki -

Confirmed it was the Helldiver.

 

[knot4u]

Was FIFI in the lead or trail position? Was the formation based on the timeline?

 

[killbilly]

Was FIFI in the lead or trail position? Was the formation based on the timeline?

Most of the flyover was broken up into 3-5 ship elements. So you'd get a few airplanes passing over. Then a wait for a few minutes, then a few more...etc. I had expected bigger flyover elements, but that wasn't the plan, apparently.

Fifi was the last airplane before the missing man, and she was solo.

The best formation, in my opinion, was Diamond Lil' (B-24) with a 4-ship group of Mustangs behind her. They Mustangs were doing a bit of bobbing and weaving.

But overall it was kind of...sedate.

Out at HEF yesterday, it was pretty cool to watch Fifi do her runups, and then shut down a pair of engines for taxi.

 

[knot4u]

Fifi was the last airplane before the missing man, and she was solo.

Sounds about right. If it seemed a bit sedate I'd assume that's because it was a memorial and not an air show.

 

[Runincolorado]

I was planning to go to the Mall for the show but some pressing things came up at work. I figured if they were coming down the Potomac they would be easy to see so I sat out on the deck and tried to see them. I think they were more over NOVA than the river so I missed a lot of the good show. I did see Fifi come in and really missed hearing all of the engines. It looked like a great and moving fly over.

I have always been interested in the Greatest Generation and what they did in WW2. Thank you for sharing your wife's story. It certainly puts perspective on when everyone pulls together for a common cause, just how much can really be achieved. For all Vets out there, thank you for your service. Your service gives me many of the freedoms that I enjoy. For that, I am always grateful.

 

[AAPalmTree]

@Flying Saluki -

Confirmed it was the Helldiver.

Runway 119 must be a secret one at DCA.

 

[killbilly]

View attachment 31382 Runway 119 must be a secret one at DCA.

When you fly a HellDiver and you have an emergency, you can invent any old runway you want!