Warbird Information Exchange

Near term actions are now underway due to the risks associated with sequestration. The military can't wait any longer for the dithering going on in Washington.



P.S. It is taking a lot of self-restraint to keep my political opinions out of this posting.

I don't have a problem with that, as long as they concurrently reduce the golf course budget for US Military Installations at the same rate. You've got to trim the fat somewhere. And hey, I also don't have a problem paying an appearance fee for a B-2, F-22, or other such aircraft at a show. As long as the money goes into paying for the upkeep of the aircraft, and not some golf course somewhere.

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REMEMBER THE SERGEANT PILOTS!

The problem is that by law, the DoD cannot charge for aircraft appearances in public. This is part of the overall US Government restriction from competing directly with the private sector and is one of the things that the Collings Foundation has been fighting with the USAF over for years. They only started their F-4 demonstration/heritage flight program after the Collings Foundation won their legal battle to be able to fly their F-4, which is technically in violation of DoD rules (as it's to directly compete with a private entity with the same or similar equipment), but the USAF has managed to keep it bound up in procedural court matters at this point so an injunction has never been granted.

What it really means is that Warbird Operators will finally have a fair shake at a lot of this stuff that they've been prevented from doing for years because the US Military had been offering flyovers and appearances for free. Yes, that might mean your tickets to your favorite sporting event goes up a bit, but it also means that it might give some of these operators a chance for keeping their birds flying a few more years.

Oh Please.....don't hold back on our account

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Kind Regards,
Gary Lewis
J.A.F.O.

I'm not so sure that you'll see civillian owned experimental exhibition aircraft doing flyovers at sporting events, etc. In most cases this is not allowed by the operating limitations. Maybe they'll allow me to do a flyover in my Mooney!
David

use water color when you paint those Invasion Stripes on the bottom of the airplane so you can say you don't know what the feds are talking about as you are picking up your washing supplies and stowing your pressure washer

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Kind Regards,
Gary Lewis
J.A.F.O.

I could do the NASCAR race fly overs with my L 4 but the race would be over by the time I got to the other side of the track.

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Flying Piper L4-J 45-55209

CAP, we've never pushed that issue in a legal manner.

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"You cannot invade the mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind each blade of grass..."
Admiral Isoruku Yamamoto

Rick, I considered your group's lobbying in Congress to be a "legal fight" because it resulted in law being passed to grant you the airplane and the parts to operate it.

OOOOOOOO! As an airshow organizer I feel this pain acutely. We started to feel it last year after the USAF cancelled most of the single ship demo teams (F-15, A-10, F-16) and left only the F-22. I might point out here that Sen. McCain made a snarky remark about the F-22 having only ever flown air show missions but that is another fight. . .

Anyway, the ability for smaller shows to host a "jet team" without having to ante up for the T-Birds or Blues was awesome! We have to reoganize our business model to cope with no "low cost" jet demos. Yes, basically the demo was a free act but not really. The show had to cover hotel rooms, rental cars, and the cost of getting the milspec AGE stuff to and back from the show. If you host the U.S. Navy demo guys you also have to cover the airfare to and from the show for the gound support guys - truthfully a small price to pay for the awesome demo the show gets and I am certainly not complaining just pointing out it was not a totally "free" performance.

We are trying to rework into a more vintage warbird event with a few vintage jets (T-33, L-39, Provost, Sabre) thrown in here and there when we can afford them - I have hope that we will be able to continue to support the museum with the show and get the word out about the history here in Wendover.

Tom P.

Send me a PM and "Let 'er rip taterchip" Our fathers never had to contend with political correctness.

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Hang The Expense

What does this mean for Base Open Houses? This is where we get a lot of our events.

Anyone?

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Kevin Kearney
Vice President
Berlin Airlift Historical Foundation


C-54D "Spirit of Freedom" 43-17228
C-97 "Angel of Deliverance" 52-2718 (painted as YC-97A 45-59595)
C-54E/R5D-4 "Spirit of Freedom" 44-9144 BuNo 90414 (wfu April/2020)
http://www.spiritoffreedom.org

Forgotten-

You obviously have a burr about Golf Courses.... FYI the land is indeed owned by the taxpayers, but the entire cost of the Golf Courses are born by the MWR system.... a system which IS NOT taxpayer funded, the troops themselves fund it when they buy at the various Exchange activities.... the Exchange (Base/ Post, whatever) does not cost the taxpayer.... it funds itself and the profits fund the MWR... which also pays for the gyms, Day Care centers, Hobby shops and the like on base. The military member benefits from those activities.... and they fund them themselves....

Just thought a little heads-up was needed.

gunny

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Scott 'Gunny' Perdue
http://www.eagleflyingmuseum.org

I submit that every bureaucracy, including the branches of the military, will offer up the most enjoyed, most visible items as the likely candidates for elimination if their budget is cut. Locally, the first proposed cutbacks are fire stations, libraries, and playgrounds. People scream about it and funding is restored.

Heaven knows they couldn't cut the office refurbishment for the county commissioners or cut loose someone who moves the big pile of rocks from over here to over there and back again, because nobody would complain...

Kevin - I think you will be okay - you have a very unique "act" so to speak. I think you will find that there are a ton of people who want to see a KC-97 actually fly (me included) in addition to the C-54. Plus, base open houses usually have a large budget and can afford your fees and fuel/oil needs. I think that they (base open houses) will change by allowing the community to get heavily involved in raising funds for the event to off set the cuts in budgets. Plus I they will become more infrequent - doing a show every other year or every other third year.

My .02

Tom P.