Warbird Information Exchange

$2300.00 an hour to just fly her, that includes fuel, pilot salary & insurance, plus a $10,000 appearance fee, & ground crew's hotel & transportation to be covered by the airshow sponsor. anybody care to get bill gates or trump into warbird aviation??? no doubt due to the rarity of her i can see some of the costs as justified, while others, well..... need a little adjustment!!! best, tom

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tom d. friedman - hey!!! those fokkers were messerschmitts!! * without ammunition, the usaf would be just another flying club!!! * better to have piece of mind than piece of tail!!

Insurance on this bird is likely at $ 70,000 a year. Seven shows later, they have this part covered!

PILOT SALARY!?!?!?!

Alex

Isn't Steve Hinton the only one who gets to fly her? At least, that's what I thought I heard at another time on this board. Perhaps the "Pilot Salary" is used to reimburse the cost of bringing him out to fly her, along with food and lodging.

In '03 CAF of Frederick, MD told me they wanted $15,000 to bring her from KY to MD for a static display.

Mudge the rumormonger

ps. Do I understand correctly that Steve Hinton DOES NOT fly for AA?

Welcome to the wide world of warbird airshows! If you want a rare bird to come to your show you will PAY for it. I think some of it is justifiable - if it is a one of a kind like FIFI or a super corsair I think the fees ($7K for the super and $18K for FIFI and Lil) is about right. Remember, as Tom pointed out this is just the appearance fee then you need to add fuel, oil and accomodations to the expense list.

Unfortuately this also means you probably won't see these birds at a show near you unless you live close to a major air show venue.

Tom P.

i know that to invite a warbird u need to pay at least fuel & oil, but the pilot salary thing...

Alex

as the old saying goes...... money talks & b.s. walks

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tom d. friedman - hey!!! those fokkers were messerschmitts!! * without ammunition, the usaf would be just another flying club!!! * better to have piece of mind than piece of tail!!

As far as I know, Steve Hinton flys and restores warbirds for a living. This is his job so, yes, the pilot salary part makes sense.

I'd hate to do my job and not get paid for it.

Most often I think the appearence fee helps to cover incidentals - pilot salary not the right word for it. Most of, well, all of the warbird pilots I've worked with are simply covering the cost of operation - they are flying because its fun not because they are making money doing it. Mr. Patterson could probably verify this?

Know if you start looking at acrobatic performers - yes - you are paying them for thier services. But that said there are precious few making a living at it.

Tom P.

Gas, grass, or *ss, nobody flies for free...

that sums it up too!!

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tom d. friedman - hey!!! those fokkers were messerschmitts!! * without ammunition, the usaf would be just another flying club!!! * better to have piece of mind than piece of tail!!

I think your question is maybe a sarcastic joke but the answer is Steve does not fly for an airline.

John

hinton really has nothing to do with the $$$, he just happens to have the best credentials in the world to fly her. glacier girl is looked at like a holy grail by the entire warbird community. when your king of the mountain you think that you can do what you want. as to the asking price of shelling out the $$$$$$ for an appearance, the owner can ask what he wants, but that doesn't mean he's always gonna get his price!! trust a professional retailer it's no different for me. best, tom

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tom d. friedman - hey!!! those fokkers were messerschmitts!! * without ammunition, the usaf would be just another flying club!!! * better to have piece of mind than piece of tail!!

I can't speak for SH, but surely he has better things to do than to take an airliner across the country every few weeks to fly a P-38 to airshows on the east coast for free, especially when he has the POF example at his disposal. After all, he does have a museum and a thriving business to attend to.