Update May 10:
On-board photos from our Chief Photographer, Dan Shoemaker, are now posted on our Flickr site! See more coverage on our Facebook fan page.
Read news coverage below.
– Joint-Base Lewis McChord
– Seattle Post-Intelligencer
– The Daily Herald
– Lynnwood Times
Friday, May 8, 2020 is the 75th Anniversary of Victory in Europe. The end of WWII for half the world. Cascade Warbirds members will be flying in a special formation over Puget Sound cities that day to commemorate the event. This is part of a national effort by the Veterans Airlift Command’s Tribute Wing and is being coordinated by Cascade Warbirds Commanding Officer John “Smokey” Johnson.
The formation of twelve warbirds, flying with the callsign Victory Flight, plans to depart Arlington Airport promptly at 11:30AM and fly a route south over Naval Base Everett, Paine Field, South Snohomish County, North King County, Downtown Seattle, Boeing Field, South King County, and down to McChord AFB. The planes will then turn northwest to fly over Bremerton Naval Shipyard, where the flight will end.
The pilots for the flight are all volunteers, members of Cascade Warbirds. Most of the aircraft are pilot owned, with one contributed by Historic Flight Foundation. The majority of the planes were manufactured by North American Aviation. All are considered warbirds, as the models have been used by air forces around the world.
The weather forecast for Friday is excellent. During the same time period on Friday, two C-17 Globemaster III aircraft flown by pilots from the 62nd Airlift Wing West Coast Demonstration Team will be flying a special Salute to American Heroes to say thank you to all of the American heroes at the forefront of the battle against COVID-19. The routes for both formations have been coordinated through flight controllers with the FAA and communications between the flight leaders to assure safe skies.
V-E Day Victory Flight Roster
North American AT-6/SNJ
Flight Leader, Pilot-owner John “Smokey” Johnson
Pilot Bob Jones, owner Historic Flight Foundation
Pilot-owner Roger Collins
Pilot-owner Lee Oman
Nanchang CJ-6
Pilot-owner Justin Drafts
Pilot-owner Larry Pine
IAR 823
Pilot-owner Victor Norris
North American / Ryan L-17/Navion
Pilot-owner Dave Desmon
Pilot-owner Dave Osgood
Pilot-owner Eric Olson
Pilot-owner Tanner Matheny
Pilot-owner J F Vallee
It is the goal of Cascade Warbirds to promote the restoration, preservation, operation and public display of historically significant military aircraft; to acquire and perpetuate the living history of those who served their country on these aircraft; and to inspire today’s young people to become the aviation pioneers of tomorrow.
Cascade Warbirds is a tax-exempt charitable organization as defined in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. For information on our youth flight training scholarship, see https://www.cascadewarbirds.org/youth/.
https://www.cascadewarbirds.org
Airshows | Veterans | Youth
