Both the DC3 and the PBY are used in Holland as historic aircraft for the public to buy sight seeing flights on.
If anyone in aviation were to be used as a benchmark for determining the safety of these aircraft and the safety factor involved in determining who flies them I would suggest it would be the insurance underwriters.
If there should be a loss of one of these historic aircraft and injury or death of paying passengers I would suggest that the insurance underwriters have a lot more at stake than some drone wanking in a cubicle in some government office.
With regard to the Dutch PBY operation I spent three years working with their group to train their crews to a high level of safety...the insurance underwriters saw fit to insure their operation and they are doing a fine job safety wise.
It would be a sad day for aviation and the public to see these operations closed down because some moron decides that would be best.
Thankfully I lived my career in a more sane and interesting era, where personal responsibility was the norm and we were not puppets of the nanny state mentality.
P.S.:
I get a kick out of those who trot out that saying about " anti authority " meaning someone is by default a dangerous pilot.
It is self evident that I could be seen as mildly " anti authority " , so how come I have been flying for almost 55 years ( I'm not quite sure of my total time anymore but over a decade ago I had close to 26,000 hours ) in almost every device known to man and haven't ever filled out an accident report?
Last edited by Chuck Ellsworth; 15th Feb 2008 at 21:52.