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Photos: WWII planes fly over Washington, D.C.

Urban Rahoi was back in a B-17 Friday, and while he would have much preferred to be at the controls of the Flying Fortress above the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the veteran Fairbanks flier settled for a place as a passenger in the "Arsenal of Democracy" tour marking the anniversary of the end of fighting in Europe during World War II.

"It was a good ride, and I had a Secret Service guy in front of me," Rahoi, 96, said in a phone interview Friday afternoon. "They don't trust anyone back here."

Rahoi flew in one of dozens of vintage planes from World War II that cruised over the Potomac River and near the major monuments in an aerial armada that marked the 70th anniversary of the Allied victory in Europe and the surrender of Nazi Germany. Thousands of people gathered below, from the Lincoln Memorial to the Washington Monument, to witness the low-altitude procession.

Read more: Fairbanks pilot, 96, gets aerial view of Washington's monuments in WWII commemoration

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