New Footage of DC GA Flyover

An enhanced video of AOPA's National Celebration of General Aviation Flyover of Washington, D.C., includes previously unreleased footage and the best look yet at the epic aerial parade.

The video, which can be viewed on AOPA's YouTube channel, presents the May 11 spectacle during which 54 aircraft flew from Frederick Municipal Airport in Maryland to Washington, D.C. The aircraft flew in chapters, tracing GA's history from the golden age of the 1930s to the most advanced machines flying today.

AOPA livestreamed the event on that Saturday; however, because of all the agencies involved, and to satisfy security requirements, air-to-air imagery from the media helicopter and countless shots from cameras mounted on some of the participating aircraft could not be immediately broadcast. The route crossed into some of the most restricted airspace in the United States.

That footage, along with additional perspectives captured from participating aircraft and cameras on the ground, has been incorporated in this new video. The finished product gives viewers a unique view of the aviation parade, from the staggered takeoffs in Frederick to over the Potomac River, past the Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument, and over the National Mall at 1,000 feet.

Viewers will get an enhanced look at some of the most interesting, beautiful, and historically significant GA aircraft from 1920 to the present. To mention just a few, the parade was led by a Beechcraft Model 17 Staggerwing (flown by AOPA President Mark Baker), followed by more than 50 other aircraft, including helicopters, a Grumman HU-16 Albatross, the distinctive Fire Boss (a water bomber in the public service segment), a Douglas DC-3, a Cirrus SF50 Vision Jet, and Daher's TBM 850 representing the current state of the art. Ending the parade were the Titan Aerobatic Team's three rumbling North American T-6 Texans with smoke on.

The show was narrated from the roof of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History by AOPA's longtime editor-in-chief, Tom Haines, and noted broadcast news journalist Miles O'Brien, adding valuable information and fun tidbits about the aircraft as they flew by.