Edwards pilots celebrate holiday in California skies

  • Published
  • By 2nd Lt. Brad Kimberly
  • 95th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  Fourth of July is well-known for its barbecues, pool parties and parades, but for nearly half a million people in six Southern California communities, an F-16 flyover from Edwards were part of the festivities.

Flyovers don't just happen. For the communities of Acton, Huntington Beach, Ojai, Barstow, Tehachapi and Burbank, work began months ago to make them a reality.

There are two major steps to getting a flyover -- getting the flyover approved and finding a base to perform it.

"To get the event approved by Headquarters Air Force in the Pentagon, DD Form 2535 must be completed," said Dennis Shoffner, Air Force Flight Test Center public affairs chief of community relations. "This four-page form captures all the information needed to make the decision to approve a proposed event for a flyover."

Once the form is filled out and signed by appropriate event officials, the form must be sent to the Federal Aviation Administration for their coordination before it is sent back to the Pentagon, Mr. Shoffner said.

"The events most readily approved are either aviation-related events, like air shows or open houses at airports, or for the five primary patriotic holiday observances: Armed Forces Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, POW/MIA Day and Veterans Day," said Mr. Shoffner, who coordinates flyover support from Edwards units.

The form, called "Request for Military Aerial Support," is available at www.airshows.pa.hq.af.mil. The Web site also lists all events approved by the Air Force.

Even though event planners submit forms requesting flyovers, they still have to find a base willing do it.

According to Mr. Shoffner, the Air Force Flight Test Center's public affairs office usually starts getting flyover requests at the beginning of each year.

"About six weeks before an event, the request is forwarded to the 412th Test Wing's Operations Group for consideration," he said. "The requests are then brought up at the weekly Operations Group commander's meeting with the commanders of all the flying units here. A week or two later, the decision whether or not to provide flyover support is made."

If the event is approved, Mr. Shoffner said the public affairs office notifies the event requestors of the decision and the squadron volunteering to do the flyover starts planning it.

"Once all the details have been figured out, a package is prepared and circulated to all the affected offices, ultimately ending up on the AFFTC commander's desk for approval," he said.

Traditionally, most flyovers are for either Memorial Day or Independence Day. In May, for example, the 452nd Flight Test Squadron supported six Memorial Day events with one F-16 flight.

Tuesday, the 416th Flight Test Squadron supported six Fourth of July events with two F-16 formation flights. One flight flew over morning parades in Acton, located just south of Palmdale, Huntington Beach in Orange County and Ojai in Ventura County. The second flyover occurred above evening community celebrations at municipal parks in Barstow, Tehachapi and Burbank.

In order to support the flyovers, several Team Edwards members worked the federal holiday.

"It isn't just the pilots that give up this time," Mr. Shoffner said. "Base operations and the air traffic control tower must be manned. Someone from civil engineering must come in to certify the runway's barrier. Also, aircraft maintainers work to get the aircraft ready for the flight and then do more work when the aircraft returns."

Although they spent part of their holiday at work, the Edwards pilots enjoyed performing their special mission.

"I love supporting events like this," said Maj. Sherman Kearl, an F-16 pilot from the 416th FLTS. "It makes me proud to remind Americans that their Air Force is on the job. I've done probably about 10 events like this during my career."

Lt. Col. James Kromberg, an F-16 pilot who also works with the Joint Strike Fighter program here, shares this philosophy.

"We recognize that flyovers take only a few seconds to perform, but we know the memory of them lasts a lifetime."