Originally Posted by
NutLoose
A Lancaster as you mentioned it as with other types were converted and operated on the UK Civil Register, the Lanc as the Lancastrian, indeed they even manufactured the York, that was a variant of the Lancaster with a different fuselage operating as an airliner or freighter with the likes of Dan Air amongst others..
The same went of a myriad of ex military types such as the Halifax, Sunderland, etc.
You probably haven't seen the amount of work that goes into rebuilding these things, I have and I can assure you some of the current aircraft flying, Spitfires etc are probably built to a higher standard that they ever were during the war, indeed when you see a Spitfire flying today with a war record as long as your arm, bare in mind that all tha is essentially required to rebuild a Spitfire is pretty much the original dataplate, and even that may get replaced!
I only mentioned vintage military types because this tragedy involved one, and this is a military forum. Certainly the civilian variants you list would be just as suspect to my mind. Most veteran display aircraft are military however, particularly the larger ME ones. Civil or military though they share the same airworthiness limitations of their era. The Hastings PN's for example advised that action following an engine failure between V1 and Safety Speed (achieved typically at about 200' AGL) was "at the Captain's discretion". A polite way of saying, "You're on your own chum". Acceptable then, but now?
Take your point about Spitfire, etc, rebuilds but it is not the engineering standards that worry me. It is the aircraft themselves, their design limitations, their systems and engines. No amount of meticulous restoration can alter the fact that performance and reliability are determined by technology that is over half a century out of date.
bvcu, thanks for the correction. Rich cut not engine failure, it still led to loss of control and loss of the aircraft. Pilot error does not mean we can issue a huge sigh of relief and file under forget. Those who operated these aircraft when in service had the full benefit of continuously revised training regimes. Think back to your time learning a new aircraft. Bags of bumph, lectures, exams, and most vital of all the spoken advice from your instructor. Most of that is no more for vintage aircraft. Pilots whose day job is to fly state of the art modern equipment can then display ancient machines that have a nasty habit of biting you in the rear if not treated to their liking.
GeeRam, so there is an acknowledged risk but OK as long as pax are aware of the risks? How is that determined then, and how about others on the ground, in buildings that are hit, on roads skirting the display area? If our fraternity is not too bothered, I think that the authorities probably are. We all need to see which way the wind is blowing now.