Characters
A stuffy reply I'm afraid.
The problem with 'characters' on the display circuit is that they tend to kill themselves.
The show-off mentality has no place in our display environment.
THe best display - and I am talking historic aircraft here - is done by a pilot who never strays from the middle of the envelope.
Study the Shuttleworth pilots next time you are there. All humble, no 'wings' on their flying suits - nothing to prove.
I was at a well -publicised fly-in at the weekend when the pilot of a vintage aircraft did a 90 right 'on the deck' and flew over the parked aircraft at half the height of the nearby hangar. A photo would bear this out. He came very close to the model aircraft site.
He should have climbed to 500 ft on the runway heading before departing.
He was showing off and risked other peoples arses as well as his own.
I can tell you that the CAA - already doing an excellent job at dispaly regulation - wil be taking a closer look at fly-ins next year.
Call me a farty if you like - I have been called worse.
However, the innocent spectators at these events are entitled to enjoy safe, professional pilots without an ego to massage.
THe pilot in an ex - 'character' no longer the holder of a DA.