More than 4,000 people arrived at Historic Flight Foundation in Everett, Wash., on Saturday, Sept. 3, to experience the beauty and nostalgia of vintage aviation. Visitors were greeted by live swing band music and invited to wander among more than 50 vintage aircraft that flew in from all over the Pacific Northwest.
The highlight for many was the fly-by featuring the Boeing Model 40c, currently the world’s oldest flying Boeing aircraft, in formation with a Douglas DC-2 owned by the Museum of Flight in Seattle. These two aircraft each mark critical turning points in the history of aviation, and especially the evolution of passenger service. In the morning Vintage Aircraft Weekend hosted a presentation by Addison Pemberton and William E. Boeing Jr. about the restoration of the Model 40c and how this aircraft saved the Boeing Company during the Great Depression.
Other highlights of the show included a wide variety of vintage warbirds and other aircraft taking to the air for individual and formation fly-bys. Historic Flight’s own Waco UPF-7 biplane, Spitfire Mk IX, P-51B Mustang, B-25D Mitchell, and F8F Bearcat all flew, as well as the Flying Heritage Collection’s P-47 Thunderbolt, the Tillamook Air Museum’s A-26 Invader, and the Heritage Flight Museum’s P-51D Mustang and A-1D Skyraider.
Six North American T-6 Texan trainers from all over the Pacific Northwest took off and joined up in formation, and the Skajit Aero Education Museum brought down an extremely rare collection of aircraft, including a Ryan ST-A Special air racer. The Cascade Warbirds flew in with many of their aircraft, including Aeronca L-3 scout planes and Nanchang CJ-6 trainers. Local private aircraft owners also brought their own vintage aircraft, including Piper Cubs, Globe Swifts, vintage Cessna 140s and 150s, Stearman biplanes, and many others.
Anyone who missed out on Vintage Aircraft Weekend will have a few more chances to see some of these amazing aircraft in the air before winter sets in. The Mukilteo Lighthouse Festival on Sept. 17 will feature a fly-by of the Historic Flight Foundation’s de Havilland Beaver and Waco UPF-7. Later this month, Historic Flight will pair its B-25D Mitchell bomber with the B-25J owned by the Flying Heritage Collection for a Free Fly Day on Sept. 24 from 12-1 pm at Paine Field. That same day the F7F Tigercat and F8F Bearcat will take to the skies over Boeing Field at the Museum of Flight’s Centennial of Naval Aviation Fly-In.
For more information: HistoricFlight.org
