{"id":28656,"date":"2024-05-13T18:15:50","date_gmt":"2024-05-13T18:15:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/saj.pachecostudios.com?p=28656"},"modified":"2024-05-13T19:56:55","modified_gmt":"2024-05-13T19:56:55","slug":"national-celebration-of-ga-flyover-thrills-those-in-the-air-on-the-ground-and-viewing-livestream","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/national-news\/national-celebration-of-ga-flyover-thrills-those-in-the-air-on-the-ground-and-viewing-livestream\/%20","title":{"rendered":"National Celebration of GA Flyover Thrills Those in the Air, On the Ground and Viewing Livestream"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

AOPA photo above – David Tullis in a Piper Tri-Pacer.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the Beechcraft Model 17 Staggerwing took off from\nFrederick Municipal Airport on Saturday\u2014after 16 months of planning, intense\ncoordination with 11 government agencies, focused pilot preparation, and\nclosely watching the weather radar\u2014a wave of excitement, pride, and relief\nwashed over the general aviation community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
AOPA President Mark Baker smiles from the flight deck of his Beechcraft Model 17S Staggerwing as he receives word that the airspace above Frederick Municipal Airport\u2019s is turned over to him dozens of aircraft representing various phases of general aviation for a flight across the National Mall in Washington, D.C., May 11, 2024, to help celebrate the eighty-fifth anniversary of AOPA. Photo by David Tulis.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The National Celebration of GA D.C. Flyover featured 55\naircraft flying over the National Mall and some of the most prominent D.C.\nmonuments. The flyover comprised 15 different \u201cchapters,\u201d telling the story of\ngeneral aviation in the United States, from the Golden Age and general aviation\nafter World War II, to the general aviation trainer era, vertical flight,\nbackcountry flying, seaplanes, corporate and business aviation, technically\nadvanced aircraft, homebuilt aircraft, airshow performers, and other examples\nof general aviation aircraft that support public service missions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFrom start to finish, this special event could not have\nbeen more amazing,\u201d said Mike Ginter, AOPA Vice President of Airports and State\nAdvocacy, and event \u201cair boss.\u201d “I can\u2019t thank enough the countless people\nwho made this day happen\u2014from the team at AOPA to our government partners,\nsponsors, and all of the pilots and aircraft owners who gave of their time and\naircraft. And best of all, the weather was as spectacular as the event.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The special event took place over one of Washington, D.C.\u2019s\nmost restricted flight zones, Prohibited Area P-56, something that\u2019s never been\ndone with general aviation aircraft since September 11, 2001.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AOPA President Mark Baker led the flyover in his\nStaggerwing, which represented the Golden Age category.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWow. That was amazing. I want to thank the entire group for\nits commitment and time over the last year and pulling this incredible event\ntogether,\u201d he said. \u201cPeople have volunteered their airplanes, their fuel, and\ntheir time, so I want to give a big thanks to them. And the agencies\u2014they were\nso excited about this special day. A lot of people came together and worked\nhard to make the flyover something special.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
AOPA Photo<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Even the most seasoned and celebrated aviators marveled in\nthe once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was great, it was flawless from my standpoint,\u201d said\nBill Finagin, pilot of the Pitts S2C\u2014which flew in the Airshow Spectacle\nchapter. \u201cVery-well organized,\u201d Brad Kline piped in, who flew with Finagin and\nowns the aircraft. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rusty Herrington, who flew the 1946 North American Navion in\nthe Post-War Boom chapter, said the flyover was \u201ca wonderful experience.\u201d He\nhighlighted how rare this opportunity was. \u201cA new perspective, that you only\nget on television, we get it firsthand,\u201d said Herrington. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dave Hirschman, AOPA Pilot Editor at Large, flew a Van\u2019s\nRV-4 in the Homebuilt category and participated in one of only two formation\nflights within the flyover, alongside two Van\u2019s RV-8 aircraft. He spoke to the\nnovelty of the experience. \u201cIt was so unusual because I\u2019ve spent a lot of time\nflying in this region in the last 15 years and yet I have never flown in that\nairspace in that position,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s so close but it felt so foreign\nbecause it was all so novel.\u201d  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

AOPA photo above – David Tullis in a Piper Tri-Pacer. When the Beechcraft Model 17 Staggerwing took off from Frederick Municipal Airport on Saturday\u2014after 16 months of planning, intense coordination with 11 government agencies, focused pilot preparation, and closely watching the weather radar\u2014a wave of excitement, pride, and relief washed over the general aviation community. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":28676,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[116,115],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-front-page-slider","category-national-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/David-Tulis-in-Piper-Tri-Pacer-edit-1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28656","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28656"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28656\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28675,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28656\/revisions\/28675"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28676"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}