Dai the Spy:
"The flight deck had a few weeks of instruction from the CFI....."
Over the year's I've witnessed a host of airshow accidents, few of them involving pilots whose primary role was display flying.
One cannot help but wonder whether the amount of time and number of flying hours devoted to type display preparation and practise is usually adequate. When it comes to displaying a historic type - or indeed any type that isn't your day-to-day aeroplane, is sufficient time allocated to type conversion and maintaining currency?
I can see the temptation to think that because a chap is (or has been) a highly skilled and capable competent operator in (say) the Sea Harrier, then displaying (say) the Firefly should hardly stretch him.
But while flying the Firefly (with sufficient instruction and practise) should be straightforward, should anyone expect that pilot to be able to display it, in public, at low level, at an unfamiliar aerodrome, before he has gained a wealth of experience on that class of aircraft and on that specific type?
Back in 1950, the Squadron ace who would have displayed the Firefly at the RNAS Ford air display (say) would have been flying the type for months, and would have 'filled his boots' with flying time. Before flying the Firefly he'd probably have flown some similar type, and he'd have amassed hours and hours on Harvards.
Today's Firefly display pilot's relevant flying hours are likely to be considerably more modest, and yet he will probably try to fly a very similar display routine.
I'm also inclined to question whether it was sensible or necessary to fly the aircraft 'two up'. The sight of Don Bullock taking however many people with him in the A-26 made me nervous about displays flown with supernumaries on board, and countless accidents since then (Vintage Pair at Mildenhall) should surely have reinforced the lesson.
If there is a reason to fly with extra crew (the Swordfish would look 'empty') and if the risks are minimal, then perhaps there is a case. But was it necessary for the Firefly to fly with the rear seat occupied by more than ballast?