Missing Man Formation

The Fraser Blues formation team, flying vintage L-17 Navion aircraft perform a 4-plane Missing Man Formation during funeral ceremonies of a Canadian military veteran.

This particular flypast was flown approaching the ceremony site in a "Finger Right" formation: In Finger Right the aircraft are positioned basically like the fingers of one's right hand. At the point of the pull-up, the third aircraft in the equivalent position of the ring finger, pulls abruptly up toward the heavens then turns westward toward the sunset. The remaining three aircraft maintain heading, symbolizing that life must go on for the rest of us but without our "departed angel", symbolized by the empty space where the pull-up aircraft was.