Featured Aircraft

AOPA was instrumental in establishing an emergency pilot registry and identification program that convinced the CAA and the military to allow registered pilots to fly. The only other civilian pilots allowed similar freedoms during the war were those in the Civil Air Patrol, which was formed December 1, 1941, and publicly announced the day following the Pearl Harbor attack. The Civil Air Patrol was the brainchild of Gill Robb Wilson, AOPA member number 1.

The flyover

An array of aircraft representing virtually every chapter of general aviation’s storied history will be on display over the National Mall during a spectacular commemoration of the numerous contributions the GA industry provides to our nation. The celebration will coincide with AOPA’s eighty-fifth anniversary in May 2024. This special event will take place over one of Washington, D.C.’s most restricted flight zones—P-56—something that’s never been done with GA aircraft. Spectators on the ground and online will watch the aircraft fly above the Lincoln Memorial, down Independence Avenue, and past the Washington Monument. The flyover will consist of more than 20 different “chapters” telling the story of GA in America starting in the Golden Age with a Beechcraft Staggerwing, Howard DGA–15, Waco, Douglas DC–3, Beech 18, and Howard 500. This T–6 represents the “GA during World War II” period.