I am not surprised at the verdict, but was surprised at the defense that won the day. Fast jet flying has always been an unforgiving environment and people make mistakes that if fatal usually just cost crew lives. In my career through the 80/90s I knew of 10 colleagues that died under the age of 30. BV expressed my view many pages ago when he said that as a current FJ pilot you wouldn’t get him near a display jet without currency and a proper work up. Yet that is what happened.
In the modern world we have become sanitized to the true threats of high energy maneuvering. In F1, cars have catastrophic crashes and our hero’s usually walk away unscathed. If you really want to understand the risks of aviation with 50s jets you need to take a history lesson. My dad started flying in 52 and was the only one of his course of 19 still alive by the end of the 60s. Most died in air crashes.
In the time of the Hunter the UK military lost on average 1 aircraft each and every day! Youngsters will scoff at that stat but in 56 we had lost 40 before the end of January. If you want a proper understanding of the risks of 50s aviation, look no further:
UK Military Aircraft Losses
I am all for displaying war birds, what is missed by some that display them is the watching public don’t really care about the quality or difficulty of the display; it’s not a competion! They want a nice safe environment, lots of noise (low and fast works best) and a bit of upside down. A wacky ‘wifadil’ entry into the display line might satisfy the pilot but the average person in the street doesn’t give a rats ass.