Flying West...comments welcome.

[IzzieK]

The missing man formation is an aerial salute performed as part of a flyover of aircraft at a funeral or memorial event, A pass is first made in diamond formation as seen in the first photograph, followed by the Missing Man Formation. As the flight passes overhead, the #3 wingman, trailing white smoke pulls skyward from the formation then banks west out of sight – The Missing Man.

The remaining three aircraft hold course, leaving open the position left by their missing wingman. (#4 image)

1 I hope there's a place, way up in the sky
Where pilots can go when they have to die.
A place where a guy could buy a cold beer
For a friend and a comrade whose memory is dear.



2 A place where no doctor or lawyer could tread,
Nor a management-type would e'ler be caught dead!
Just a quaint little place, kind of dark, full of smoke,
Where they like to sing loud, and love a good joke.



3 The kind of a place that a lady could go
And feel safe and secure by the men she would know.



4 There must be a place where old pilots go,
When their wings become heavy, when their airspeed gets low,
Where the whiskey is old, and the women are young,
And songs about flying and dying are sung.



5 Where you'd see all the fellows who'd 'flown west' before,
And they'd call out your name, as you came through the door,
Who would buy you a drink, if your thirst should be bad,
And relate to the others, "He was quite a good lad!"



6 And there, through the mist, you'd spot an old guy
You had not seen in years, though he'd taught you to fly.
He'd nod his old head, and grin ear to ear
And say, "Welcome, my Son, I'm proud that you're here!



7 For this is the place where true flyers come
When the battles are over, and the wars have been won.
They've come here at last, to be safe and alone,



8 From the government clerk, and the management clone;
Politicians and lawyers, the Feds, and the noise,



9 Where all hours are happy, and these good ol' boys
Can relax with a cool one, and a well deserved rest!
This is Heaven, my Son. You've passed your last test!"



Written by Captain Michael J. Larkin, TWA (Retired), this piece first appeared in the Air Pilot magazine of February 1995. I had used this poem in a video I made for the Red River Swift Wing when I attended their annual fly-in. (Yes, I do get into trouble most of the time with the Swifters.)

Before I did published this I asked permission from Captain Larkin via email who worked with Bill when they were both with TWA. All is well...

[Donald]

Well done, Izzie. That is a beautiful merging of images and poetry to produce a very fine piece of work. I think you should be very proud of that.

[marlunn]

+1 for Donalds comment

[Rita]

A very nice presentation Izzie.

[wilgk]

Lovely indeed.

[Dave Humphries]

Agreed - well done Izzie

[rpcrowe]

Great job Izzie...

[Benjy]

Excellent Izzie....

[John 2]

I enjoyed that Izzie. A story well told. Great set of images and in MHO, no.4 is a stand out.

[rtbaum]

You have done well, Izzie

[flashback]

I don't even have to see #3 pull up, just seeing the 3 plane formation fly over brings a chill the same way as when I hear the lone bugler blow taps and a piper playing amazing grace. Great shots, love #3 flying into the sun! Great job, you did justice to the poem but, more importantly to what the missing man formation stands for. Strong Work.

[LePetomane]

Izzie, Nicely done.

[xpatUSA]

Lovely shots, Izzie, especially that one with the lowering sun in the picture . . .

[Shadowman]

Nice series and poetic captions.

[Manfred M]

I hate to be a total party-pooper, Izzie as I agree the composition is excellent, but the shots all look quite underexposed.

I see you were shooting on manual, but f/16 as an aperture setting and WB set to tungsten?

[IzzieK]

Thanks Donald, Mark, Rita and Kay for your kind words. 'Appreciate your passing by to comment...

[IzzieK]

Thank you very much, Benjy and Richard.

Richard, 'am expecting you'd seen many of these done on a Friday afternoon at airshows. Why Friday afternoons, I haven't found out--yet.

Thank you both for your nice comments.

[IzzieK]

Appreciate with a big thanks to both John (2) and Randy for your comments.

[IzzieK]

I don't even have to see #3 pull up, just seeing the 3 plane formation fly over brings a chill the same way as when I hear the lone bugler blow taps and a piper playing amazing grace. Great shots, love #3 flying into the sun! Great job, you did justice to the poem but, more importantly to what the missing man formation stands for. Strong Work.

Thank you very much, Jack...our usual Piper is from the Texas wing of Bill's association, but he did not make it. So we had the digital version of the bugler playing Taps. It happens so quickly I did not have time to think because I was almost late to the ceremony and had to stand there listening to the rolling names of members from the past who had gone ahead of us.

Yes, my favourite song -- Amazing Grace -- would have been nicer with our Scottish piper like what I always wanted and got when we had our event here in St. Louis. Most of our members are vets who served and still serving in the military and services. It is a nice way to honor them...goose pimples all around as no matter what one believes in the afterworld, we believe that they are with us when we honor them, even for a brief moment of that salute flyby once a year in June.

Thank you very much for your kind words and comments.

[IzzieK]

Thank you very much, Paul, Ted and John (Shadowman) for passing by and commenting.

Yes Ted...those are two of my favourites and didn't really know where to put them in the sequence. Captain Larkin's poem is not really hard to place amongst them images but his words cut through the heart where it matters most. I sent him a copy of the link to this thread. He was grateful for that.