Oct 13, 2026 · 26 min · 9 segments
You’re not imagining it — there are a lot more flyovers in D.C. these days. President Trump is the biggest fan of them that the White House has ever had. And while your 8-year-old may be into it, many…
Stephanie MencimerGuest
Michael SchafferHost
So you wrote about flyovers, and it is no secret, as you wrote, Trump loves flyovers.
You wanted to know whether DC was actually seeing more military aircraft than it had under previous presidents, so you filed a records request with DC's Homeland Security office going back to the beginning of 2023.
Well, I think historically, you know, DC has a fair amount of flyovers just 'cause, you know, we're in the middle of, of the nation's capital.
Um, but consistently, there have been about, uh, like 30 flyovers a year that are mostly just for, um, veterans s- uh, funerals, so at Arlington Cemetery.
So they'll be like four, four planes, or f- four slots, but one missing, so-
And wait, just so I know, like when we say flyover, does that mean a plane flying over Washington, or does that mean like a, a sort of a ceremonial theatrical show?
It's usually a formation, I think, of, uh, jets, and they are pretty short.
I mean, they just zoom by, and they fly over during the, um, the funeral at Arlington.
And I think technically they don't even fly over the central part of DC, but 'cause Arlington Cemetery is obviously in Arlington.
So, but they're close by, and you can see them, and you can hear them from here if you're downtown.
And when I looked at the data, there had been like, you know, 30, 33 of those every year usually, um, until this year.
[laughs] And this year I couldn't even really compare like flyovers, um...
And I, I should say that the data is not a perfect, um, collection either.
So the Homeland Security of DC sends out these little emails and says, "Don't be alarmed.
"These are just military [laughs] jets that are flying over Arlington Cemetery."
So what you're saying is the n- number of flyovers in general have gone up, but these funeral flyovers, the missing man flyovers, has gone way down.
Why is that? I mean, is, is it just that like wars are ending and there's fewer military deaths to mark? What's the reason?
So you wrote about flyovers, and it is no secret, as you wrote, Trump loves flyovers.
You wanted to know whether DC was actually seeing more military aircraft than it had under previous presidents, so you filed a records request with DC's Homeland Security office going back to the beginning of 2023.
Well, I think historically, you know, DC has a fair amount of flyovers just 'cause, you know, we're in the middle of, of the nation's capital.
Um, but consistently, there have been about, uh, like 30 flyovers a year that are mostly just for, um, veterans s- uh, funerals, so at Arlington Cemetery.
So they'll be like four, four planes, or f- four slots, but one missing, so-
And wait, just so I know, like when we say flyover, does that mean a plane flying over Washington, or does that mean like a, a sort of a ceremonial theatrical show?
It's usually a formation, I think, of, uh, jets, and they are pretty short.
I mean, they just zoom by, and they fly over during the, um, the funeral at Arlington.
And I think technically they don't even fly over the central part of DC, but 'cause Arlington Cemetery is obviously in Arlington.
So, but they're close by, and you can see them, and you can hear them from here if you're downtown.
And when I looked at the data, there had been like, you know, 30, 33 of those every year usually, um, until this year.
[laughs] And this year I couldn't even really compare like flyovers, um...
And I, I should say that the data is not a perfect, um, collection either.
So the Homeland Security of DC sends out these little emails and says, "Don't be alarmed.
"These are just military [laughs] jets that are flying over Arlington Cemetery."
So what you're saying is the n- number of flyovers in general have gone up, but these funeral flyovers, the missing man flyovers, has gone way down.
Why is that? I mean, is, is it just that like wars are ending and there's fewer military deaths to mark? What's the reason?
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