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Old 23rd Dec 2022, 11:37
  #828 (permalink)  
_Agrajag_
 
Join Date: Nov 2022
Location: SW England
Age: 72
Posts: 251
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Originally Posted by Thoughtful_Flyer
I would largely agree but put it somewhat stronger and also ask the unwelcome / unthinkable question....

Is it really possible, both technically and economically, to keep these types of historic aircraft airworthy in civilian hands?

Even if the answer to that is yes then is it economically possible for a pilot, however skilled they may have been in the past, to get sufficient hours on the aircraft to be safe to conduct high energy manoeuvres in it at a public display?

Occasionally a very rich owner may be able to solve some of these issues with their cheque book but even that assumes that technicians and pilots with the required skills can be hired.
I think the issue of getting enough hours in is key, especially for single seat A/C. I've noticed that some of the operators of two seat types are offering jollies to members of the public with deep pockets, and presumably that both raises funds to keep them flying and also maintains currency for the pilots. It also brings with it a whole can of worms about carrying what amounts to fare paying passengers in aircraft that were neither designed nor certified for such use. It's not really a satisfactory way to keep these old aircraft, the maintainers and their crews operational. They get all passengers to sign a disclaimer, but I do wonder how valid that would turn out to be if it was ever tested following an accident.

I would hate to see the loss of historic aircraft being displayed, but the way the world is changing and becoming more litigious, together with the ageing of the fleets, the fading skills and the poor state of airworthiness regulation it's hard to see how privately operated historic aircraft can be kept flying. Be a great shame to see them grounded. We gave a very good friend an 80th birthday gift of a jolly in a Harvard, a type he'd flown in action in Kenya in the early 50's. Really made his day, and as he said to his (rather concerned) wife when signing the disclaimer before the flight, "I've done pretty well to get to 80, this aircraft didn't manage to kill me 50 years ago when I was being shot at so it's not likely to now, is it?". He was right, it didn't, but sadly the "big C" did a couple of years later.
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