By Mike Hazlip—
The skies over Citrus Heights were filled with the sights and sounds of a formation of aircraft last week, causing social media to buzz with speculation.
The aircraft appear to be part of Bonanzas to Oshkosh (B2OSH), an organization aimed at helping pilots attain their formation rating in an effort to arrive at Air Venture, the country’s largest airshow, together as a group.
The Sentinel reached out to B2OSH’s Northern California clinic host Stanley Stewart, but did not receive a reply by press time Saturday evening.
The type of aircraft and formation are consistent with what B2OSH describes on its website, and flight tracking app FlightRadar24 shows a Beechcraft Bonanza was part of the formation.
“Each year in late July about 100 Beechcraft Bonanzas and Barons assemble in Rockford, Illinois and fly in the world’s largest formation of civilian aircraft, to the world’s greatest celebration of aviation – EAA AirVenture, in Oshkosh, Wisconsin,” a statement on the organization’s website says.
Formation flying requires a separate rating from the FAA, so the B2OSH clinic at McClellan airport helps pilots attain proficiency in order to participate in the formation flight. The clinic runs June 3 through June 6 at McClellan airport, according to the website.
For about a week during the Air Venture event each summer, a small airport in Oshkosh, Wisconsin becomes one of the busiest airports in the world by total flights, according to FAA records. The only way to stay together is by arriving as a single flight in formation.
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