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Yes ladies and gentlemen, THIS is becoming the threat to warbirds as we know it! I get calls all the time relating to how we can continue to fly these planes and the quote is often, "Jeez, what happens when the parts supply dries up and you can't fly them any more?"
"That will happen long after the insurance industry grounds us sir (or ma'am)" says I.
It is incredible to think this, but look at what happened to Sally B in England... is it too preposterous to think that something like that would happen in the land o' the free and home o' the brave? Nope. And no, it ISN'T the insurance companies that are doing this to warbirds... so don't go off banging the doors down of AIG or AVEMCO. As a former employee of AON told me "we know the warbirds are a good PR thing... we can't make money on writing their policies, but we know that behind every flying warbird, there is usually one or two other GA or corporate birds that the owner flies and we want to insure them too..." Insurers are helping keep warbirds going in the way that they can... by doing us the favor of insuring them in the first place!
Where is the real threat? In the offices of your local airport, that's where. Risk management departments and lawyers that could care less about the excitement and good public relations that warbirds or displays could create and think only of the possible lawsuit or risk that they supposedly pose. But more than the risk is the lack of "reward" that would come, if, God forbid, something did go wrong. I was told directly by a lawyer at the airport in question above that "you, as a non-profit, don't have enough in the way of ASSETS to protect yourself, much less us." Yes, we are not United Airlines and we are too poor and don't carry enough meat to appease the tort dragon when it becomes hungry... they'd eat us up and then go on to the municipal airport to fill their belly!
Again, IF anything were to go wrong!
The old saying "nothing ventured, nothing gained" is becoming the status quo for many of these airports. They won't take the little risk for the great reward of having something like the Liberty Belle on display where thousands of non-flying public can come out and see the airport, if only for a day, not as the chain-link-fenced-landing-pad-of-the-super-rich-and-famous, but as the friendly MUNICIPAL airport that their tax dollars help fund. Look at that bad press they got for the rejection of the event... and think of the good press they could have gotten (just Google "B-17" in their News Search to see what they could have expected!).
And this is becoming the trend nationwide folks! Northeast Philly was one of 10 airports this year that rejected us for the same reason... could have been 11 if it wasn't for a friendlier airport that took the risk and saw HUGE rewards for it! Yes, the Collings Foundation tried to come to Northeast Philly too, and yes, we were given the same answer... we were just lucky that we kept calling their 4 departments assigned to us to get the answer and not waiting for them to give US the answer... at the last minute as they did with Liberty Belle.
Time to think proactively folks! Want to keep warbirds & historic aircraft coming into your airport? Then keep your airport management excited about what they can do with them! Call one or more of the touring groups (Collings, Liberty, EAA, CAF, Warbird Adventures, North American Top Gun, Waldo Wrights Flying Service, etc. Find people in the community to help build a positive public display and create great case studies as to what good can happen! We need to create the positive case studies to counter the negative ones that might become the precendent if airports keep moving in the direction they are heading! Unlike dealing with the US Navy and aircraft preservation and recovery, it cannot be solved by congress or the FAA... there are too many private agencies and administrators to airports. it has to be done by nothing more than pressure from the citizens of the community and by showing by example.
By the way... anyone want to help with this at John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, CA? If so, PM me!
(stepping off my soapbox)
Ryan Keough
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