U_R
PPRune's not precious. We know many contributors (like us, for example) are not professional pilots, and many aren't even pilots far less professionals. Unfortunately, journos don't draw that distinction (nor can they reasonably be expected to) when they quote from the
Professional Pilots' website. They don't know or care what expertise or experience (if any) the contributor has as long as they get a good quote.
'Improper' is too strong, but there's something distasteful about blaming a dead pilot for a crash before the investigation has taken place.
Cosmic Wind
Respect for the dead might just include waiting for the investigators to complete their task before attributing blame.
True, newspapers speculate each time there's an air crash - and pilots criticise them for it. (BTW, are you/were you the owner of an F1 racing aircraft of that name?)
skeptik
Two people are dead, two families have lost their loved ones - and you think the "
real" tragedy is that there are no Fireflies left? Even if that was true, which it's not, how on earth does that come even close to the loss of two lives?
Remember the dead but also remember the pipe-dreamers??
If you've got the necessary skill and a genuine determination (not just a pipe-dream) to fly 'such an aeroplane', there are plenty left. Have you got to the Harvard stage yet?
beamer
Not sure I understand your first point.
It's nothing to do with 'the right to die doing something they loved.' Display pilots don't want to die in a crash, they want to die of old age like everyone else. But, they want the right to do something they love, accepting the risk they might die if something goes wrong. That's very different.
What do you think is the attitude of display pilots - based on those you've apparently met over the years?
My introduction to Warbird flying was riding around in the back of a P51 Mustang in displays (before 'they' banned it) flown by a very close friend; he'd been killed by the time I started flying displays myself. Lee Proudfoot carried on displaying after his father 'Hoof' was killed - possibly even started after, I can't remember now. Ray Hanna carried on after literally seeing his son crash (not in a display). I know Mark would have done if it had been the other way round. It so happens I'd finished displaying by then but, I would have carried on even though Mark was a very good friend.
It's not 'macho' at all, just a sad acceptance that things can go wrong and there will inevitably be fatal accidents. Military pilots often appear heartless and 'macho' when other pilots are killed, but nothing could be further from the truth; it's a way of coping.