The Town of Addison and the Cavanaugh Flight Museum joined forces for an "Addison's Salute to Heroes" flyover Friday morning.
The historic warplanes took to the skies at 11 a.m., kicking off Memorial Day weekend and recognizing first responders, essential workers and veterans.
"I've never seen anything like this before," Retired Air Force Col. Rick Evans said about the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Evans and Eric Stroud flew a 2-seat T-37 "Tweet" in the flyover for first responders and veterans.
"It's unique to see 13 airplanes with such a vast background, heritage, and legacy all coming together to honor these healthcare workers," Stroud said.
The flyover consisted of a collection of planes from the Cavanaugh Flight Museum's collection, including a B-25, P-40, and T-6 formation. Also, a rarely seen Beechcraft Starship, one of four in the world, and the T-37 Tweet owned by the Service Air Corps participated in the flyover.
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The planes departed the Addison Airport at about 11 a.m. before flying over seven area hospitals. The planes also flew down Belt Line Road and over Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery.
"Wow, I hope they feel that we're recognizing all the effort that they've done for us," Evans said about COVID-19 first responders. "They're really putting themselves in harm's way."
The flyover ended just after noon.
"We wanted to show how much we appreciate all of our first responders, front-line medical workers and essential employees during this time of COVID-19 crisis," Addison Director of Communications Mary Rosenbleeth said. "We thought that since the Blue Angels missed Addison, a flyover of the wonderful, historic planes from Cavanaugh Flight Museum would be a great tribute to the hard work of our citizens."
"We were happy to share our historic aircraft and partner with the Town of Addison to honor these heroes," Doug Jeanes, executive director of Cavanaugh Flight Museum, said. "Visitors can also see our planes up-close at the museum, which will be open Friday and Saturday of Memorial Day weekend."
The Addison Airport partnered with locally-based Million Air to provide fuel for the flyover.
