James H. Harvey III, who retired from the Air Force as a lieutenant colonel, is set to lead the parade’s return to D.C.
It was May 1949, outside Las Vegas. He was 25. And his team was piloting the old F-47 against teams in the propeller class flying newer F-51s and the even newer F-82s. The competition was intense. One F-82 crashed, killing the two men aboard.
The honor comes with the debut last week of the new aircraft action movie, “Top Gun: Maverick,” a sequel to the 1986 film about the Navy’s fighter weapons school, which was established in 1969. The parade was also not held live in 2021, although a diminished version was staged for TV on the Mall with no crowds present.
In 1949, the Air Force held the first gunnery competition at what was then Las Vegas Air Force Base, now Nellis Air Force Base. The best pilots in the Air Force were invited.