Fifty-six World War II warbirds will fly over the National Mall Friday morning in honor of the 70th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day, also known as V-E Day. The day will commence at the World War II Memorial, with a wreath laying ceremony from 10:30 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. Paul Feldman, who organized the Arsenal Democracy Flyover event, stated that there will be four hundred World War II veterans there to participate in that ceremony. The planes will fly in fifteen formations, in historical sequence, representing battles from the Pearl Harbor era to Midway, D-Day and Iwo Jima. The final flyover will involve a missing-man formation. Flyovers will last from ninety seconds to two minutes, and will be at an altitude of at least 1,000 feet, flying west to east along Independence Avenue on the south side of National Mall. The first plane should be visible at around 12:10 p.m., and it will end at about 12:50 p.m. Reagan National Airport will be closed to commercial traffic from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. to accommodate the flyover.
