Update, 9/26:
Arsenal of Democracy has canceled the flyover today due to weather. The event had already been postponed once because of the weather and poor visibility.
“Since our authorization to fly through that restricted airspace will expire today we don’t be able to reschedule the flying portion of the program,” reads a post on the group’s Facebook page.
Organizers are presenting a video tribute — streaming online now — that features footage of the aircraft, crews and veterans involved in the Arsenal of Democracy event.
Some, though, did catch the vintage World War II-era planes practicing over the Culpepper Airport in Virginia.
https://twitter.com/AugensteinWTOP/status/1309170296021225473
Update, 9/25/20:
The flyover is postponed due to poor visibility related to weather and will be attempted again Saturday morning, organizer Arsenal of Democracy confirms via a post on Facebook. “Well, we tried, but we never got the weather visibility we needed for the #ww2flyover so today’s flight is off,” reads the post. “The weather was supposed to clear in time but it never cooperated with us so we will try again tomorrow at 11:30am EDT.”
Original:
Even though the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum is still closed, there’s another way to see a pantheon of vintage aircraft this week.
About 70 World War II-era planes will fly over the Potomac River and National Mall on Friday. Organized by the group Arsenal of Democracy, the event will honor the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II.
Vintage warbirds will fly south over the Potomac River from Northern Virginia in sequence. They’ll fly east over Independence Avenue along the National Mall before turning around near the U.S. Capitol and heading back to Virginia.
The first formation is scheduled to fly over the Lincoln Memorial at 11:30 a.m. Each of the formations will represent one of the war’s major battles, ending with the Missing Man formation.
The event comes just a few days after the opening ceremony for the new Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial near the National Mall. Both the opening and the flyover were originally scheduled for May 8, the 75th anniversary of V-E Day, but were postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. A similar flyover took place in 2015 on the 70th anniversary of the end of the war.
The Arsenal of Democracy cancelled a number of other events associated with the flyover because of continued concerns over large crowds, including a ceremony at the World War II Memorial and a public viewing of the landed aircraft. Instead, organizers suggest people watch on the National Mall, the Key Bridge or the Old Town Alexandria waterfront.
The last D.C. flyover in early May drew large crowds despite warnings from city officials. The Navy’s Blue Angels and Air Force’s Thunderbirds flew over the District on a beautiful spring day. Images on social media captured people — some masked, some not — crowded together on the National Mall.
This story was updated with information that the flyover is postponed.
