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RV over Phoenix NASCAR 50-year Celebration

RV6_flyer

Well Known Member
Benefactor
Looks like this weekend may see a few RVs over The Phoenix International Raceway.
Looking at the KC Flight Formation Team Facebook page, I found this:
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KC Flight Formation Team getting ready for NASCAR in Phoenix,AZ Be sure and watch opening ceremonies to see if we hit the Time Over Target, "Home of the Brave!" last note of the National Anthem.

Looking at the Phoenix International Raceway schedule, it appears that Sunday's Race starts 1300 Phoenix Local time. (I believe that is MST.) I will be watching for an RV Formation overflight a little after 1300 local time (2000Z) on TV Broadcast.

If anyone is local, please post links to photos, videos, and local news stories to this thread.

50-years of NASCAR. Will this be a 50-RV flight? I know they had 49-RV Formation flight for the 13 October 2013 KC Chief's came and there were more than that who wanted to participate so a 50-RV flight is possible.

Wish I could have been there. Have not had very much good flying weather in Southwestern Pennsylvania. I do miss my west coast friends and the flying weather. I do not miss the high cost of living.
 
I live a few miles north of PIR and saw a 7 ship approach and overhead break at Goodyear Airport yesterday around 6 pm. I know they will be practicing today and tomorrow and I have my camera ready. I hope to see them on Sunday as a group. I have other obligations but we'll see if I can get there in time. If I do I'll be sure to post here.
 
Fly over

They just made a practice run over the speedway... Looked good on TV... Maybe 15-18 planes...
 
I have several flying buddies from the Midsouthrvators who are participating in the flyover. They do ind plan to do a 50-ship formation. Our group there is being led by Gerald Loyd and Bulldog Flight. As I get further texts and emails, I will post their progress .
Homie
 
Even though we need the rain, Sunday sounds much better than Saturday WX-wise -

Saturday Showers and possibly a thunderstorm. High near 68. Breezy, with a south southwest wind around 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.

Saturday Night A 50 percent chance of showers. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 51. Southwest wind 5 to 11 mph becoming south southeast after midnight. New precipitation amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch possible.

Sunday A 20 percent chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 69. Calm wind becoming south southwest around 5 mph in the afternoon.
 
They did the flyover for the Nationwide Race just now....
Maybe 12-15 planes.....

Looked pretty good, except the smoke systems on both planes were marginal..
 
10-Ship Nationwide for the Nationwide Race

We had a 10-ship for the nationwide race. Not the main event, but a good warmup. Bill Gill nailed the timing as the national anthem ended.

I had my first 3-seconds of fame. Hopefully, we'll add another 5 seconds tomorrow.

Echo 3
 
We had a 10-ship for the nationwide race. Not the main event, but a good warmup. Bill Gill nailed the timing as the national anthem ended. I had my first 3-seconds of fame. Hopefully, we'll add another 5 seconds tomorrow.

Echo 3

Agreed...... Timing was PERFECT.......
 
Weathered out

Two attempts at practice today were foiled by weather conditions. Had a very thorough briefing followed by a lot of time 50 RV pilots spent wishing they were flying. Weather should be better for tomorrow.
Homie
 
ABC on DirecTV

This is what I saw. Yes it is an iPhone photo of the TV.



I will try to do the same with the 50-RV Flight tomorrow.
 
Today's NASCAR fly over

It's been quiet as to how many planes will be involved today's flyover at the Phoenix NASCAR race. Well, a friend of mine works at the airliner conversion center at Goodyear airport and told me that he watched 55 take off for a practice session. Hmmmm......... A new record attempt?
 
Wow!

Just watched the flyover on the tube. Totally impressive.

Jim Diehl
7A N891DD
Based at Lock Haven, Pa.
 
KC flight team rocks

Just watched the National Anthem at the NASCAR race. The KC flight team rocks!
 
Totally Cool!

Very nice job guys!

My phone is blowing up with people asking me how many airplanes!!!

Observation: Looked like more drivers, pit crews and fans looking at the fly-by than ever before at an event like this!
 
Exciting

I counted 50. Really exciting! Too bad the average person does not know the whole story of what goes into these things. Great job folks!
 
Phoniex Flyover

Great job, looked very impressive. Thanks to everyone who flew and worked to put together the flyover.

RV-6 Danny
 
Awesome

See all the drivers looking up? Lotsa a pilots among the NASCAR Guys.
Great show!
 
Hi everybody,
We had a great time flying together today. What an awesome group of people! Hats off to everyone who put in all the time and effort to make this happen. Yesterday's weather was too rainy to get in a rehearsal, so we got one in this morning followed by the real deal at 13:02:45 EXACTLY. Bill Gill did a superb job of leading Speedway Flight, and I'm sure the NASCAR organizers are very happy with his ability to hit the time over target (TOT) right down to the nanosecond with 50 airplanes.
 
IMG_6227_zpsa0ad6a8e.jpg

Well, that's enough amateur photography from me. I'm sure there will be many more higher quality pics coming out soon. These are just a couple from my daughter's iPhone in the backseat. I can't wait to see the professional shots taken by the photo airplane!
 
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50-ship Line Up

Here's the 50-ship participants lineup.

Three 16-ship Diamond of Diamonds with two "Connecters"

BeeGee Diamond of Diamonds
Alpha
1 Gill (BeeGee) smoke
2 Schult (Jazz) smoke
3 Geer (Jarhead) smoke
4 Stuckey(Boomer) smoke

Bravo
1 Loyd (Bulldog) smoke
2 Christopher (Christo)
3 Burns (Drone) smoke
4 Warren (Digger) smoke
5 Smith (KB) -- Connector

Charlie
1 Newhouse (Joker)
2 Bray (Tater) smoke
3 Japundza (Pooner)
4 Schlatterer (Slats)
5 Cone (Slick)-- Connector

Delta
1 Yohe (Yobo) smoke
2 Hoffart (Q) smoke
3 Lamb (Ripper) smoke
4 Kitchens (Driller) smoke

-----
Falcon Diamond of Diamonds
Echo
McCurdy (Falcon)
Card/Buono (Scoot)
Card (Cookie)
Richmond (Lizard) smoke

Foxtrot
Walker (Shorts)
Jackson (Shiner) smoke
Friedeman (JJ)
Lucroy (Luke) smoke

Golf
Redden (Tank) smoke
Glasser (Zen)
OConnor (Sabre) smoke
Wells (Cyclone) smoke

Hotel
Farrell (Goose) smoke
Eulitt (Cougar) smoke/Randolph (Spike)
Ishii (Turbo) smoke
Page (Weeble)
----------------
Nasty Diamond of Diamonds
India:
Mills (Nasty)
Peacock (Wingnut)
Rosales (Rosie)
Gashler (Gash)

Juliet:
Payne (Shifty)
Harris (Dallas) smoke
Hall (Sunblock)
West (Nordo) smoke

Kilo:
Blank (Shadey)
Miller (Lava)
McFarland (Deuce) smoke
Albritton (Shorty) smoke

Lima:
Dulaney (Dula)
Prewitt (Prewitt) smoke
Tohikian (Eddy) smoke
Felix (Soup) smoke
------------------------------
Spares
Brownd (Jawbone) PHOTO SHIP

Spike had a flat after practice, so he jumped in with Cougar, Goose took the lead, and the spare Weeble moved in as 4.
 
Driver, Fan and Media reaction to the flyover

First, congratulations to the KC Flight Formation Team for doing such a great job yesterday at PIR. The reaction from the drivers, fans and the media was incredible.

Claire B Lange, Nascar reporter, had this to say:

flyover301.jpg


Motor Racing Network:

flyover302.jpg


The drivers all looked up as the formation flew over:

flyover306.jpg


flyover307.jpg


The fans loved it. I wonder how many pictures were taken of the KC Flight Formation Team flyover?

flyover305.jpg
 
Just curious, do these type of races warrant the stadium TFRs or is that just football games ?
 
Great weekend of flying with a bunch of good friends from all over the country!

There was a TFR, and that is typical. Lots of prep and paperwork. While BeeGee runs the flight lead ops, Phil "Ripper" Lamb, Kent "Yobo" Yohe, Steve "Boomer Stuckey and Keith "Jazz" Schult did a heap of FAA, Airport, Tower, FBO, NASCAR, ground transpo and hotel liaison grunt work. Incredible effort! All the pilots did their share, as weather was a big factor…both getting there, and while there. Several pilots left a day or more early to be sure to be there for the event. Not everyone had that option, and 2 pilots were Wx cancelled beforehand (we missed 'em!). We had 1 Mx (maint.) cancel at showtime. In the end, we flew 51 aircraft (50 + photo). Great effort by everyone there to make it happen!

KC Flight always makes a great event out of these flyovers, and they were supported by Falcon Flight, Mid-South RVators, Rocky Mountain Renegades and West Coast Ravens (I'm sure I'm forgetting others…but just a great group!)

To add to what Scoot said on types, I did a quick count, and IIRC, it broke down about like this:
RV-4 - 5
RV-6 - 14
RV-S6 - 2
RV-7 - 6
RV-8 - 21
RV-S8 - 1
RV-9 - 1
HRII - 1

Here's a pic from the planning page. This is an iteration before the Wx and Mx cancels, but gives you and idea of the line-up. KC Flight had others that showed the build-up, flyover and break-up stages as well.

Image%25201.jpg


The logistics behind getting 50 airplanes off the ground together, over the target, and then separated and back on the ground is a real choreography. It was a great plan, very well flown! And FUN!

Cheers,
Bob
 
Smoke Bomb

Check Gash's post #31. Looks like a bomb blast in the smoke trail of the white RV-8. Looks cool. Very impressive flyover. I was watching the race on tv and a friend of mine called and said it looked like a bunch of my planes flying over Phoenix. I'm a month away from flying my 8. Good job KC flight.
 
Max coordination efforts rocked

I don't know how Bee Gee, RIpper, Jazz, Boomer and Yobo got it all organized on such short notice but somehow they did.

The KC Chiefs BCA flight last Oct by comparison had at least 5 mo. to prep.
I'm guessing that putting together the PHX flight was only possible due to having already done a bang up job on the KC Chiefs flight earlier.

Y'all made Cat Herding look easy.

Weeble
 
Great job folks, and some great PR for all of us!

I don't think we can estimate just how much goodwill this type of flight spreads....especially during last years sequestering.
You've just shown that 'those little plane guys' are competent, capable, patriotic, and want to share the freedom of flight with everyone else.

For a little while, at least, we aren't just a bunch of rich playboys who zoom around disturbing the peace and polluting the air.

thanks to everyone involved!
 
Jay Pratt in the middle? Wish I saw it in person. I did capture it from FOX onto a DVD. What a great job by all! The drivers were obviously impressed.

Carl

That would be Steve "Shifty" Payne in Juliet 1.

And +1 on the excellent organization by KC guys Bee Gee, Ripper, Jazz, Boomer and Yobo, as well as Leads skills of BeeGee, Falcon, and Nasty... Well done!
 
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Nascar Race

Fantastic job Guys..well done ..

Send it to a few of my ex-Air Force buddies, they were impress..

On a different note ,Please find a new Trumpet player...wow that was painful:eek:

A+

Bruno
 
Fantastic job Guys..well done ..

Send it to a few of my ex-Air Force buddies, they were impress..

On a different note ,Please find a new Trumpet player...wow that was painful:eek:

A+

Bruno

Immediately after our debrief was over on the ramp, we were looking at youtube video put up by a friend of mine and the general consensus was "Man, there is no way we looked any worse than that trumpet sounded." Formation flying is all about "Don't let it be you." Many thanks to the trumpet player :).
 
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