Veteran?s Day Formation Flight

For Veteran’s Day I was asked to participate in a formation flight over the Lincoln County, NC Veterans Day parade.

Not knowing who or what I was going to fly with, I agreed to meet with them with the caveat that I could back out if I didn’t like or see what I was hearing in the pre-flight brief.

What showed up was a 1930’s cabin WACO, a Champ, a Decathlon, and my RV-9. I felt good flying with them all but the question was, could the RV fly slow enough?

We flew a diamond formation with the Champ in lead, the WACO on the left, the RV-9 on the right and the Decathlon in the slot. His job, besides not hitting lead, was to act as the safety steward. If anything was out of sorts, then we would move to an in trail formation.

It turns out everyone was experienced doing formation work, with me being the least experienced. (Trust me, I’m not Team RV protégée.)

With the flaps down I had no problem holding position with the Champ on a rather lumpy and gusty day and the others were able to do a decent job of staying in position as well.

What an honor to fly in support of our many Veterans!

Here are some pictures:
In formation
The WACO
The Decathlon

Good Job

Bill, Thanks for sharing your experiance.
I have been able to fly several missing man formations for funerals for Vets.
It is a privilage to do so.