Local formation fliers Wayne Harclerode, Bill Johns, Lester Town and Jim Breckenridge are set to flyover nine Memorial Day services Monday. They perform for free throughout the year at military funerals, parades and other events. (File Photo)
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Pilots offer an airborne tribute to the ‘Missing Man’
Formation fliers honor those who have served, fallen with flyovers
By Catherine Odson, catherineodson@miconews.com
The quartet of planes makes a pass over the crowd below, soaring over the Garnett Airport in an echelon falling back to the right.
Bill Johns floats his plane behind the leader, moving into position on the left side of the group.
Behind him, Jim Breckenridge and Lester Town bring their planes to the right side, creating a staggered formation called the right fingertip, which looks like the four fingers on the right hand.
As the group approaches the Garnett Airport one last time, they shift once more before the outside planes break away. Johns pulls up and to the left while another pulls up to the right, leaving two of the planes below him as he turns toward the Miami County Airport.
The local formation fliers made their first appearance of the year Saturday at Garnett’s Airport Day. It was a much-needed warm-up, they said, for Monday, when the pilots will appear at nine different Memorial Day services.
Over each, Wayne Harclerode, Johns, Breckenridge and Town will fly the “Missing Man” formation. They start in the same right fingertip formation, but then one pilot — the ring finger spot, usually flown by Johns — pulls out of the formation. He flies up and west, symbolically into the sunset.
It’s a maneuver they have flown at least a hundred times, Town said, with nine or 10 services each Memorial Day for the past few years. The group, which started as a performance at Airport Days in the 1980s, also flies over funerals and parades, Town said.
Last year, the four pilots logged four hours of flight time on Memorial Day, Harclerode said, but the route has been shortened this year.
They will start in Louisburg and Paola, then take a break before ceremonies in Osawatomie, Spring Hill, Wea, two Missouri towns, Bucyrus and Hillsdale.
“And on the seventh day, we rest,” Breckenridge joked.
The hardest part is coordinating their approach with those on the ground, he said. The flyovers are most meaningful during taps, the pilots said.
“If we can coordinate with someone on the ground,” Harclerode said, “we can arrive during taps, make it kind of nice.”
The key in the air is maintain the level of focus needed, Town said. Formation flying is only 20 percent ability, he said, while the other 80 percent is discipline.
“You have to remember the leader is the boss,” Town said.
Town is the only member of the group who flew in the military. Johns and Harclerode were both in the Navy, but neither flew.
While the group is similar to the performance squadrons of the Blue Angels and Thunderbirds, the difference is these men would do anything for a seat in a fighter jet.
“We’re fighter-pilot wannabes,” Harclerode said.
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Bill Johns floats his plane behind the leader, moving into position on the left side of the group.
Behind him, Jim Breckenridge and Lester Town bring their planes to the right side, creating a staggered formation called the right fingertip, which looks like the four fingers on the right hand.
As the group approaches the Garnett Airport one last time, they shift once more before the outside planes break away. Johns pulls up and to the left while another pulls up to the right, leaving two of the planes below him as he turns toward the Miami County Airport.
The local formation fliers made their first appearance of the year Saturday at Garnett’s Airport Day. It was a much-needed warm-up, they said, for Monday, when the pilots will appear at nine different Memorial Day services.
Over each, Wayne Harclerode, Johns, Breckenridge and Town will fly the “Missing Man” formation. They start in the same right fingertip formation, but then one pilot — the ring finger spot, usually flown by Johns — pulls out of the formation. He flies up and west, symbolically into the sunset.
It’s a maneuver they have flown at least a hundred times, Town said, with nine or 10 services each Memorial Day for the past few years. The group, which started as a performance at Airport Days in the 1980s, also flies over funerals and parades, Town said.
Last year, the four pilots logged four hours of flight time on Memorial Day, Harclerode said, but the route has been shortened this year.
They will start in Louisburg and Paola, then take a break before ceremonies in Osawatomie, Spring Hill, Wea, two Missouri towns, Bucyrus and Hillsdale.
“And on the seventh day, we rest,” Breckenridge joked.
The hardest part is coordinating their approach with those on the ground, he said. The flyovers are most meaningful during taps, the pilots said.
“If we can coordinate with someone on the ground,” Harclerode said, “we can arrive during taps, make it kind of nice.”
The key in the air is maintain the level of focus needed, Town said. Formation flying is only 20 percent ability, he said, while the other 80 percent is discipline.
“You have to remember the leader is the boss,” Town said.
Town is the only member of the group who flew in the military. Johns and Harclerode were both in the Navy, but neither flew.
While the group is similar to the performance squadrons of the Blue Angels and Thunderbirds, the difference is these men would do anything for a seat in a fighter jet.
“We’re fighter-pilot wannabes,” Harclerode said.