What's New — 75th World War II Commemoration

Co-Chairs of the 75th Commemoration of the End of WWII announced the pending arrival of 14 classic combat aircraft slated to participate in Oahu flyovers as part of the commemoration events.

The Warbirds arriving in Honolulu on August 10 are:

A North American SNJ/AT- 6 Texan which was the most widely used advanced training aircraft in the allied inventory and will be piloted by John Johnson. Four AT-6 Texans will be piloted by Kim Middleton, Jason Karlin, Joe Fisher, and Bruce Graham.

A North American B-25 Mitchell owned by David Prescott, represents a medium bomber used by almost all allied air forces. B-25 bombers were used in the famous Doolittle Raid on Tokyo.

Michael Polley will pilot a Grumman FM2 Wildcat that was a carrier and land-based fighter flown by the U.S. Navy and Marines in battles such as Guadalcanal, the Coral Sea, Midway and the Solomons.

A Grumman F8F Bearcat, owned by John O’Connor was the next generation of Grumman, and is still considered one of the foremost piston-engine fighter designs of the WWII era.

A Boeing-Stearman Model 75 was the type of aircraft most widely used primary training aircraft in WWII. More than 10,000 units were built. Later, many civilians purchased them to use them for crop dusting and aerobatic demonstrators. Dustin Mosher will fly the Stearman.

Grumman TBM Avenger, brought into service in 1942, Avengers were the primary US Navy torpedo bombers in WWII and were used for the first time Battle of Midway is provided by Bruce Graham.

Kendall Wagner will fly a North American P-51 Mustang which excelled as a long-range, high altitude bomber escort. The Mustang became well-known for escorting the bombers over Europe and was one of the first escorts over Berlin. It was also the favored fighter of the 332nd Fighter Group of the famed Tuskegee Airmen.

Two Consolidated/Boeing Canada PBY Catalina, made possible by Cory Pfaff and John O’Connor were primarily used for long range patrol and reconnaissance missions, anti-submarine warfare, as well as search and rescue. 33 of these aircraft were destroyed during the attack on Pearl Harbor, leaving only 6 serviceable aircraft by the end of Dec. 7.

A new type of trainer emerged following WWII, as our air technology exploded. A piston engine aircraft used by the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Navy beginning in the 1950s, a North American T-28 Trojan was used as a trainer and has continued in civilian use as an aerobatics and warbird performer. Dan Hill will pilot the T-28.

You can check out photos of some of the Warbirds below.