Flypast
They serve to show respect, display aircraft, showcase flying skills and as a form of entertainment to delight the public, for example, during their annual appearance after Trooping the Colour.
King George VI attended a flypast at the opening ceremony of the Empire Exhibition, Scotland 1938 at Ibrox Stadium on 5 May 1938, with his consort Queen Elizabeth.
Headed by the Lancaster with 2 Hurricanes and 2 Spitfires (Battle of Britain Memorial Flight), the 49 aircraft in 9 formations included Typhoons, Jaguars, Tristar, VC10, C-17A Globemaster III and E-3 Sentry.
On 31 March 2021 the Red Arrows performed a flypast as part of a series of commemorative events taking place in Australia to mark the centenary celebrations of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF).
In Finland, during Independence Day parade on 6 December the Finnish Air Force has traditionally performed a flyover of four fighters at the moment when the honour company of the Air force passes the podium where a representative of the war veterans, a representative of the city and the commander of the military province in question receive the parade troops marching past, the Helicopter battalion of Utti Jaeger Regiment has also performed flyovers timed to happen at the same time when the honour company of the Finnish Army provided by the Utti Jaeger Regiment passes the podium.
The Royal Air Force used the upper dams of Ladybower Reservoir to practise for the Dambusters raids and this is occasionally commemorated in flypasts by the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.
The largest flypast in history occurred on the signing of the Japanese Instrument of Surrender which formally ended the war between Japan and the allied powers in Tokyo Bay on 2 September 1945.
"[11] This flypast was apparently led by Douglas Bader (RAF hero commemorated and portrayed by Kenneth More in the film Reach For the Sky.)
Over the weekend of 19–20 August 1995, the 50th anniversary of VJ Day was marked in London, including "a two-minute silence which...was ended by an Avro Lancaster bomber overflying The Mall and dropping about a million poppies over the site.
[14] Later, it flew over the veterans at Arromanches, concluding a memorial service with a 47-aircraft flypast of modern military jets led by the RAF Red Arrows.
[16] On 10 July 2005, the 60th anniversary of VE Day was marked by a flypast of vintage aircraft which again dropped one million poppies on crowds in The Mall.
[17] The 60th anniversary in 2003 of the Dambusters raid was marked by a flypast of the last operational Lancaster over the cliffs at Reculver, site of secret tests of inventor Barnes Wallis's bouncing bomb.
[18]) On 16 May 2008, Les Munro, the last surviving Squadron Leader, and Richard Todd, star of the celebrated film The Dambusters, attended the 65th Anniversary service and flypast over Ladybower Reservoir.
[19] In 2003, the Royal Australian Air Force commemorated Anzac Day with a flypast of four aircraft - Harvard and Winjeel - over the Cenotaph in Ballarat, Victoria.
Modern aircraft performed a flypast along with four World War II planes provided by Vintage Wings of Canada who made a "once-in-a-lifetime formation".
Aircraft expected to take part include the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk, Bell P-39 Airacobra, Vought F4U Corsair, North American B-25 Mitchell, Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, Douglas C-47 Skytrain, Avro Lancaster, Supermarine Spitfire, and Hawker Hurricane.
[23] In London, a flypast consisting of the Red Arrows and Battle of Britain Memorial Flight was to be held on 8 May, but was subsequently cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
[29] The funeral of Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti was sealed by a flypast from Frecce Tricolori over Modena Cathedral, his native town, on 8 September 2007.
[30][31] The memorial service for former Australian Prime Minister Gough Whitlam on 5 November 2014 concluded with a flypast by four RAAF F/A-18 Hornets in missing man formation.
