SASless
A typical flight operations inspector will probably have 30 + commercial operator certificates he is responsible for many may not even be in the same state. For example the South Carolina FSDO looks after many Alaska 135 operators. They spend their time pushing paper related to those certificates and travel away form the office to for example ramp aircraft, takes away them for that and so is discouraged. They are also caught in a bind where when they do show up at airports they are the big bad feds picking on people not to mention the shi*t storm they would receive if they routinely tracked "flights to and from the airport".
There is a problem with
But....let's focus upon this one and not paint everyone else with the same brush.
If the warbird community does not police itself than the FAA is going to do it for them and they are not going to like it. A few more of these operators that are colouring way outside the lines and then kill paying passengers and the program will be shut down. This needs to be a wake up call for everyone. 20 years ago there was a spate of civil formation flying accidents . The FAA told the warbird type clubs to sort it out or they were going to step in. In response FAST a non profit was set up to provide standardization, document training and experience requirements, provide check rides and encourage safe formation flying. The result was a dramatic drop in incidents and accidents and no FAA direct involvement. More government is not the solution, the warbird community is where the solution should come from. It is time for them to step up and stamp out operators like MARPAT