Utah skies to be filled with F-35A jets for Fourth of July. Here's where to watch

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KEY TAKEAWAYS

F-35A jets will fly over Utah for Independence Day on Friday, led by Lt. Col. Justin Cleveland.
The 419th Fighter Wing, with 1,200 "citizen airmen," has conducted the flyover for 37 years.
The flyover starts in West Point and ends in Park City; real-time updates will be on the group's Facebook page.

SALT LAKE CITY — A float of F-35A Lightning II jets will grace Utah skies in celebration of Independence Day.

An annual tradition from Utah's premier Air Force Reserve unit, the 419th Fighter Wing at Hill Air Force Base, has been conducting flyovers for 37 years.

Between 8:45 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. MDT on Friday, pilots will fly over multiple cities across the state, starting at West Point and ending at Park City.

Lt. Col. Justin Cleveland will lead the flyover formation alongside Maj. Daniel Huber, Maj. Justin Newman and Maj. Dustin Smail — collectively adding up to more than 8,000 flight hours of experience in military aviation.

'Citizen airmen'

The 419th Fighter Wing is made up of over 1,200 personnel, who are "citizen airmen," meaning they are full-time members of their local communities while also serving part time in the military.

Most members of the 419th Fighter Wing live, work and raise families in northern Utah. They contribute $115 million to Utah's economy.

The schedule for the 419th Fighter Wing's annual flyover on Friday. The flyover has been a tradition for 37 years. (Photo: Hill Air Force Base)

These "citizen airmen" train one weekend a month and two weeks a year to be ready for deployment if needed. About 50% have served on active duty, but they regularly volunteer to deploy in support of contingency operations and humanitarian efforts.

The logistics of the flyover including aircraft maintenance and airfield operations will be managed by the active duty counterpart maintainers from 388th Fighter Wing and operators from the 75th Air Base Wing.

The flyover traditions stands as a visible testament to the enduring relationship between Hill Air Force Base and the communities they inhabit and serve, while also honoring the values of freedom, unity and service.

As usual, the flight paths are subject to change due to weather conditions or operational requirements. Real-time updates on flyover schedule will be posted in the 419th Fighter Wing's official Facebook page.

Flyover schedule

9:04 a.m. — West Point
9:09 a.m. — Millcreek
9:14 a.m. — Pleasant Grove
9:23 a.m. — Riverdale
9:24 a.m. — Clearfield
9:25 a.m. — Kaysville
9:28 a.m. — South Salt Lake
9:43 a.m. — Neola
9:47 a.m. — Vernal
10:06 a.m. — Huntsville
10:13 a.m. — Lewiston
10:20 a.m. — North Ogden
10:25 a.m. — Henefer
10:28 a.m. — Salt Lake City
10:30 a.m. — West Jordan
10:31 a.m. — Riverton
11:00 a.m. — Park City

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.