Culpeper
Regional Airport near Brandy Station, VA was host to some of the Arsenal of
Democracy World War II Victory Capitol Flyover aircraft. Manassas Regional Airport would be host to
the larger aircraft; B-29, B-24 and B-17.
The event was held to honor the heroes who fought in WWII and those on
the home front who produced the tanks, ships and aircraft that enabled the
United States and its allies to achieve Victory in WWII. It would be one of the most diverse and
largest gatherings of WWII aircraft ever assembled to fly over Washington D. C.
in recent memory. This was to be a
monumental event….over 50 old WWII vintage airplanes would be flying in
arguably the most restricted air space in the USA. Who got the clearance to do this? Someone must have been doing some serious arm
twisting….but it WAS going to happen on May the 8, 2015. May 8, 2015 was also an important date for me
personally….my bride and I would be celebrating our 50th wedding
anniversary on the 8th. My
wife, Linda, knew how much I wanted to see this event so instead of leaving on
the 8th for our 50th anniversary, around the USA trip,
like we planned for about 5 months….we….WE decided to leave on Sunday the 10th
so I could immerse myself in this once in a lifetime aviation adventure then
have a day to recoup before launching on our over 7000 mile odyssey. A little give & take….that’s probably why
we were celebrating 50 years together!
I
knew the airport would be very busy and crowded with the event preparations
leading up to the 8th….and that on the 8th it would
probably be shoulder to shoulder standing room only. AND they were in the middle of construction a
new tower and office complex for the airport!
Linda & I visited the airport May 4th to see if there was
an alternate location to capture some video on the 8th. I knew the “normal” places would be jammed
with people on the 8th so we explored the opposite side of the
airport where the industrial park is. We
located what looked like a good location and secured permission from the
property owners, Hardwood Artisans, to come back later in the week to take
pictures from their property. They gave
us a hearty YES and I knew this was going to be fun!
May
6, 2015….My aviation minded friend, Lou, and I visited the airport to check out
what was going on. It was raining a
little when we arrived but it soon stopped while we queued up to take a ride around
the ramp in a multi seat golf cart. The
airport didn’t want people aimlessly roaming around the airplanes and there were
other security issues that needed to be considered. Also some of the airplanes were running their
engines and taxiing around the ramp.
When our turn came up go in the cart, we shared it with a WWII Veteran,
a 506th FG Veteran. He flew
the VLR, Very long Range mission from Iwo Jima to Japan in a P-51. He had his wife and a friend accompany
him….he was a hoot. We toured all the
airplanes on the ramp and when 4 Mustangs were taking off our driver asked the
Veteran if he wanted to get closer to the runway to watch them….a very emphatic
YES was heard from the front of the cart!
After the take off we were going back to the gate and the driver asked
the Veteran if he wanted to take his picture next to a P-51….another loud YES
and we stopped by the nearest Mustang for a photo op. After that we said our goodbyes and planned
for the next day. This is the video for the day; https://www.youtube.com/user/502SizeMatters/videos The stills are here; https://www.flickr.com/photos/53063560@N05/sets/72157650078769014
May
7, 2015…. I did some camera set up and testing while the airplanes took off and
landed. They were rehearsing for the big
push the next day. There were all kinds
of airplanes in the sky, on the ramp….taking off and landing. It was a very busy couple of hours for
me. The heavies from Manassas joined up
and did some formation practice in the airspace around the airport. It was just intense. The only way I could capture the activity was
to video everything. So you need to
check out my YouTube video of the day at; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUxGhpCbk10 I was satisfied that the location I had
picked out would be the best vantage point….especially for the 8th
launch time, the sun would be to our back and the airplanes would be lit up
just right till they all landed after the event.
May
8, 2015…. Lou & I met up at the
Southern States gas station on Rt. 29 and drove to our reserved spot near the
Hardwood Artisans back lot. We set up
our chairs and waited for the historic event to unfold. The weather was perfect….this was going to be
fun. We heard the low rumble of open
exhausts coming across the runway….the engines were warming up….the event was
underway. The rendezvous point was
around Leesburg, VA (about 50 air miles away) so the slower airplanes would be
taking off first. A JSDF T-34 was the
first airplane to leave followed by three Piper L-4’s (civilian J-3) then six
Stearman biplanes…..this was going to be big!
Every manner of Warbird was leaping into the sky and pointing their
trusty steeds N-NE to form up the historic fly over of DC. It was nonstop for about an hour….the only
way to appreciate it is to watch the video I took.
The
route from Leesburg was to follow the Potomac River into Washington DC, about
35 miles. Then South out of the city
then return to the airports that they left an hour ago. Some would leave DC and return to their home
airports, like PA, OH, MD and other parts of our Country. But some would return to Culpeper. After the last group launched we waited for
them to return….in about ½ hour the first two came low over the fence….two
P-40’s…..followed by two flights of 4 T-6/SNJ’s in echelon formation and did a
fighter break to land….just too cool. It
was a very busy few hours that I wouldn’t have traded for anything. That my Dad was involved in WWII as a Fighter
Pilot flying a P-51 just added to the experience for me. It’s a day I won’t soon forget. Video;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vs2ssvcVj_o
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