Warbird Information Exchange

Sadly, it does look as though it's becoming more of an airshow with Mustangs than the warbird fest we were all hoping for. You can wipe the best part of 2 hours out of the day's festivities to allow the Thunderturkeys to do their bit (with the pre-display engine runs, marching around stuff, and also they do apparently let them actually fly sometimes if there are no clouds within 500 nm). They are also, I believe, bringing in civilian aerobatic acts as well. So the event will have a much wider appeal than the previous 'gathering', and will I'm sure be more likely to be a commercial success, but don't expect it to be another 'Flying Legends'-type warbird only event.

Regardless, I'll still be going, and I'm sure it will be an interesting few days.

Like Chuck said, leave it to the Military.

I can't wait for the sound of 51 Mustangs in the air at the same time.
Best I seen was about 15-20 at the 50th Annv in Santa Maria, CA in 1990...

Lynn

Yeah, those darn Thunderbirds inviting themselves to the show like that.

I had heard that this was supposed to be about WWII aircraft only..... ? Do they need the T-birds as a "draw" ?????????

From the first I read of the event, it looked as if the Mustangs were the reason for it, but by no means would they be IT. I'm not really sure how I feel about the T-Birds being there, since --as was already mentioned----once they start up, there goes a LOT of time that the warbirds could be up.
And let's not forget that there are going to be a lot of other warbird types there, too. So, it appears that this was never really planned as a Mustang event, only....at least as far as the flying is concerned.
I'm going to be there the entire time and am really looking forward to it, regardless.

If having the Thunderbirds show up, means getting 100 Mustangs on the ramp, plus a Focke-Wulf, Buchon, and other warbirds, then I'm all for it. It is just like the discussion with Thunder. By having the big team there, the event organizers can go ahead and schedule more airplanes because they know the team will bring in more money. The Thunderbirds allow more Mustangs to be on that ramp.

Yes, I would prefer an all warbird show, but 100 Mustangs can NOT be easy to afford.

Most of the general public and I underline MOST don't understand how special having the Mustang Gathering is. They think it is just a gathering of airplanes, but by having a jet team it draws the non-aviation oriented crowd. And like Ryan said it brings in more money.

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"Keep 'em Flying!"

Absolutely correct. I took photos of all 65 mustangs at Kissimmee in 1999. When I got home, my friends said - "but, they are all the same plane...?"

Not to worry - there will be plenty of mustang flying

And don't forget - two of the legends .. the Patillo twins .. were members of the orginal Thunderbirds team..... so there is a history / connection there.

The focus is mustangs ... and airforce.. but this will be an incredibly expensive show, and any help in draw, both from attendance, and willingness to sponsor, will be a big help.

Lynn

I guess everyone else missed the sarcasm in my post.

Guess its a Texas thing. Its going to be a great show no matter who shows........

Lynn

Great, I guess this will add a lot of security too?
Is it a large team? When the Blue Angels came to the Netherlands all hotels around the airport were booked full and lots of other visitors could not come.

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