May 6, 2015

Photo/Lawrence Emerson

“FiFi,” a B-29 that rolled off the assembly line 1945, has flown in from Texas for The Arsenal of Democracy events Friday and Saturday. Here the big bomber lumbers over the southern edge of Warrenton just after noon Wednesday.

A B-29, representing the bombers that helped win World War II, flew at low altitude over Warrenton early Wednesday afternoon.Over the next couple of days, “FiFi” and other vintage “warbirds” will take to the Northern Virginia sky. The Arsenal of Democracy website explains what will happen:“To honor the heroes who fought in the War and those on the home front who produced the tanks, ships, and aircraft that enabled the United States and its Allies to achieve victory, one of the most diverse arrays of World War II aircraft ever assembled will fly above the skies of Washington, D.C., on Friday, May 8, the 70th anniversary of Victory in Europe (V-E) Day, as part of the Arsenal of Democracy World War II Victory Capitol Flyover.”The first planes should arrive over Washington around 12:10 p.m. Friday.“The flyover will include dozens of World War II aircraft, flying in 15 historically sequenced warbird formations . The formations will represent the war’s major battles, from Pearl Harbor through the final air assault on Japan, and concluding with a missing man formation to ‘Taps.’ Never before has such a collection of World War II aircraft been assembled at one location, to honor the large assemblage of veterans gathered at the World War II Memorial for a ceremony.”Many of the aircraft will fly over Fauquier.“The Arsenal of Democracy aircraft will start their flights from the Culpeper Regional Airport and from Manassas Regional Airport about 40 minutes before the flyover begins at 12:10 p.m. These aircraft will then proceed to a holding point about 10 miles west of Leesburg, where they will begin the flight down the Potomac River towards D.C. As they approach the Lincoln Memorial, they will turn east and proceed down Independence Avenue. At the completion of the flyover of the World War II Memorial, the aircraft will turn south and begin their flight down the Potomac River and back to their original airports.The group has test flights planned over the Manassas airport, starting at 11:25 a.m. Thursday, InsideNova reports On Saturday, May 9, a selection of the planes will be featured at the National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center at Washington Dulles International Airport. The exhibition will be open to the public from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. No advance tickets are required. Click here for details.