Missing man formation

Pilots assigned to Carrier Air Wing Three (CVW-3) perform a Missing Man Flyover formation, above USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75), during a wreath-laying ceremony held on the flight deck in memory of Capt. Franklin Hooks II, who was killed while taking part in a training exercise on June 27, 2004.

The missing man formation is an aerial salute performed as part of a flyover of aircraft at a funeral or memorial event, typically in memory of a fallen pilot.^[1][2] The formation is often called the "missing man flyby" or "flypast".^[3]

Description

Several variants of the formation are seen. The formation most commonly used in the United States is based on the “finger-four” aircraft combat formation composed of two two-aircraft elements.^[4] The aircraft fly in a V-shape with the flight leader at the point and his wingman on his left. The second element leader and his wingman fly to his right. The formation flies over the ceremony low enough to be clearly seen and the second element leader abruptly pulls up out of the formation while the rest of the formation continues in level flight until all aircraft are out of sight.

In an older variant the formation is flown with the second element leader position conspicuously empty. In another variation, the flight approaches from the south, preferably near sundown, and one of the aircraft will suddenly split off to the west, flying into the sunset.

In all cases, the aircraft performing the pull-up, split off, or missing from the formation, represents the fact that the person (or persons) being honored has died.

History

F-15s in the missing man formation flying over the USS Arizona Memorial in Hawaii (due to the angle from which the photograph was taken, the second element leader appears to be ahead of the others when in fact the pilot has "peeled off" vertically).

In 1936, King George V received the first recorded flypast for a non-RAF funeral. The United States adopted the tradition in 1938 during the funeral for Major General Oscar Westover with over 50 aircraft and one blank file.^[5] By the end of World War II, the missing man formation had evolved to include the pull-up. In April 1954, United States Air Force General Hoyt Vandenberg was buried at Arlington National Cemetery without the traditional horse-drawn artillery caisson. Instead, Vandenberg was honored by a flyover of jet aircraft with one plane missing from the formation.

In December 2004, as a final tribute to Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands's former military role in the Royal Netherlands Air Force, three modern F-16 jet fighters and a World War II Spitfire performed a missing man formation during his funeral.

Motorsport variant

The missing man formation is also used in various types of motorsport to commemorate the death of a driver, rider, or official.^[6] During the pace laps before the race begins, the driver in the pole position drops back a row into the second row and the field paces with no vehicle in the lead position.^[7]

Rolling Honor Guard variant

The missing man formation is also used for the motorcycle Rolling Honor Guards. A common formation of motorcycles is formation of five in front of the hearse: two motorcycles in tandem (#1 and #2, left and right, from the perspective of the hearse), two motorcycles directly in front of the hearse, in tandem (#5 and #6, left and right, as noted), and a solo rider in the resultant #4 position, and the missing motorcycle (in the #3 position) representing the fallen. This is performed for both the loss of a person who was a member of the motorcycle club/organization, or, may be provided as a sign of respect by groups such as the Patriot Guard Riders.

Culture

Several movies and TV series show the missing man formation.

• Courage Under Fire, with four fighters for a helicopter pilot
• The McConnell Story: Squadron with blank
• Several episodes of JAG (in the US Navy)
• Iron Eagle, requested over radio by the friend of a missing pilot
• Heroes: Season 4, Episode 14, "Upon This Rock", ends with a missing man formation over a funeral
• Babylon 5: The episode "Legacies" directly refers to the human traditions of the riderless horse and the missing man formation
• The Right Stuff
• Armageddon: Flyby at the end of the film. 6 fighters with 1 peeling away
• Transformers: Beast Wars: Flying Maximals after Dinobot's death (Code of Hero)
• Ace Combat 5: The Unsung War: 4 fighters with 1 peeling away following Captain Alvin "Chopper" Davenport's demise.
• The Red Baron (movie): The "Red Baron" does a fly-over for an enemy funeral, along with several of his friends.

See also

• Flypast
• Riderless horse

References