SEAFAIR 2016 HIGHLIGHTS

SEAFAIR 2016 HIGHLIGHTS

SEAFAIR OVERVIEW Seafair Fleet Week has been a tradition in Seattle since 1950 with multiple ships annually coming into the Port of Seattle to celebrate this region’s premier summertime festival. In partnership with Navy League Seattle Council and Port of Seattle, Seafair Fleet Week honors the men and women of the military who proudly and courageously serve our country! We are going to travel to Elliott Bay and welcome the fleet of the U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard and Royal Canadian Navy as they arrive in Seattle. The U.S. Navy Blue Angels were brought to Seattle in 1972 to perform their aerial stunts for the first time. Since then the festival has been dramatically expanded into a yearly summer celebration that includes events such as the Seafair Marathon and Triathlon, the Torchlight Parade and Run, the Seafair Cup featuring hydroplane races, and the Seafair Boeing Air showcasing the Blue Angels and other jet teams, and the Seafair Fleet Week. SEAFAIR FUN FACTS Seafair is: – A 67 year tradition – Ten weeks long – Includes over 75 events – Reaches nearly 2.2 million people Flying Heritage Collection Four rare vintage World War II aircraft will be flown by the Flying Heritage Collection, a foundation dedicated to restoring and preserving military aircraft and vehicles. It was established n 1990’s by the Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen. You will see the speedy twin-engine North American B-25J Mitchell bomber , a plane made famous by Jimmy Doolittle’s raid on Tokyo in 1942. The Grumman F6F-5 Hellcat Navy fighter that was called the “Aluminum Tank” by its pilots for its ability to absorb incredible punishment and still bring its pilot safely back to his ship. The aircraft is one of only a handful of airworthy Hellcats left in the world. The sleek silver North American P-51D Mustang is a combat veteran that shot down a German Me 262 jet fighter over Europe in 1945. The nimble Mitsubishi A6M3 Zero fighter will make an appearance as well, considered the best and most fearsome Japanese fighter in the beginning of the war.