Flyover Planned Friday For Coachella Valley Healthcare Workers

COACHELLA VALLEY, CA — The Palm Springs Air Museum will join Friday in an airborne salute to health care workers amid the coronavirus emergency, sending three vintage aircraft into the skies above the Coachella Valley for a series of flyovers.

The museum's three World War II planes — a twin-engine C-47 Skytrain transport, along with a P-51 Mustang and P-63 King Cobra, both fighters — are slated to depart Palm Springs International Airport about 1 p.m. Friday and fly a route that takes them over JFK Memorial Hospital in Indio, as well as city halls in Coachella and Indio.

Last week, the museum's planes crossed the west valley, winging over Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, where hospital workers stood outside and cheered the triangle formation.

March Air Reserve Base launched two heavy jets to conduct flybys throughout the Inland Empire Thursday as part of "Operation America Strong," with a C-17 Globemaster III and a KC-135 Stratotanker, both attached to the 452nd Air Mobility Wing, making a circuit to recognize medical professionals at 17 facilities.

Elsewhere in California and the nation, other military assets are taking part in the effort, including the Navy's Blue Angels and the Air Force's Thunderbirds aerobatics teams. Read more about the Thunderbirds flyover scheduled Friday in Riverside County: Map Released For Friday's Thunderbirds Flyover: Riverside County

The Palm Springs Air Museum said its weekly effort, scheduled every Friday this month, is a local way to honor first responders and other health care workers.

A live webcam situated outside the museum will capture the planes taking off and landing. It can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/c/palmspringsairmuseum.

On Memorial Day, the museum plans to commit eight of its vintage aircraft for flyovers in the Coachella Valley in a salute to the U.S. Armed Forces.