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The missing man formation is an aerial salute performed as part of a flypast of aircraft at a funeral or memorial event, typically in memory of a fallen pilot. The formation is often called the "missing man flyby" or "flypast".
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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 a pair of two-aircraft elements. 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, is honoring the person (or persons) who has died, and it represents their departure.
History
In the movie Hell Divers from 1932, the closing flyby shows a missing man formation.
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. 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.
On November 26, 1999, four Air Force F-16s flew the missing man formation over Kyle Field to honor the 12 Aggies who died during the Aggie Bonfire collapse.
The Delaware Air National Guard flew the missing man formation over the Dover International Speedway on June 3, 2001 to honor NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Sr., who had perished in a wreck on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500 race on February 18.
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.
On May 25, 2012, the Royal Norwegian Air Force performed the flypast at the funeral of World War II resistance fighter Gunnar Sønsteby, Norway's most highly decorated citizen.
The missing man formation was flown at a family memorial service in Indian Hill, Ohio on 31 August 2012 in honour of former American astronaut, US Navy pilot, and test pilot Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the Moon.
In November 2014 the state memorial service for former Australian Prime Minister Gough Whitlam, who had served as a navigator in the Royal Australian Air Force during World War II, concluded with a missing man formation flight conducted by four RAAF F/A-18 Hornet fighters.
On 29 March 2015, the Republic of Singapore Air Force's Black Knights attempted to fly the missing man formation as an aerial salute to long-serving Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew during his funeral procession from Parliament House to the University Cultural Centre of the National University of Singapore, but was unable to do so, due to poor weather conditions.
On March 11, 2016, Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II, also known as the Warthog, perform a missing man formation flyover at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va. The Warthogs flew over the burial service for retired U.S. Air Force Col. Avery Kay, considered the father of the A-10s.
Motorsport variant
The missing man formation is also used in various types of motorsport to commemorate the death of a driver, rider, or official. In case of a rolling start, 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. Similarly, the pole position on a starting grid can be left empty for a standing start.
In drag racing, the variant of the missing man formation only is put into place if a driver has lost his/her life sometime before the race but after having qualified. Should that happen, the deceased driver's lane remains vacant for what would have been his/her quarterfinal race and the opposing driver, who must cross the finish line without being disqualified in order to proceed, will slowly drive their car (referred to as "idling") down the track as a sign of respect for the fallen opponent (a recent example occurring when Robert Hight did this in honor of Scott Kalitta, who was killed in a qualifying crash in 2008).
American football variant
The missing man formation is used by American football teams to commemorate the death of a teammate. This is performed when on the first play in which the fallen player would have appeared the team takes the field with only 10 men, leaving their position in the formation open.
On September 1, 2007 the USC Trojans college football team performed the missing man. After scoring their first touchdown, USC lined up for the PAT without a kicker in tribute to teammate Mario Danelo who died just after the 2006 season.
On December 2, 2007 the NFL's Washington Redskins lined up for their first defensive play of the game with 10 men in honor of safety Sean Taylor who died on November 27, 2007.
On September 3, 2016 the Nebraska Cornhuskers college football team lined up in punt formation without a punter on their first fourth down in their game against the Fresno State Bulldogs to honor punter Sam Foltz, who died in a traffic accident on July 23, 2016. Fresno State declined the resulting delay of game penalty.