Are any "Government Owned" vintage aircraft flying today?

[WallyB]

FAA DC-3 N34?

Yes, still active as of last July.

[aerovin]

FAA DC-3 N34?

Yep, N34 is unusual in that it is owned and operated by the FAA for airshow displays and aviation promotion...I'd venture it is about the only vintage aircraft operated by the U.S. govt for such purposes. Days of such use are probably numbered, all things considered. It is a veteran flight inspection airplane still configured as operated by the FAA from 1957 to 1980 or so...not restored; just a snapshot in time.

[jtramo]

Some USAF special ops unit has a Basler c47 and there are some US Government C47s running around afganastan.

[Andy Marden]

The BBMF pilots, would they be current active duty or retired RAF pilots? Or both? or none?

The BBMF aircrew and groundcrew are serving RAF men and women, and the BBMF is a unit posting, mostly like any other. Some crew stay longer on posting, given the nature of unit expertise, and the unique nature of the job.

The RAAF Museum's pilots are RAAF Reserve officers, and there's one serving 'Opso' RAAF Operations Officer posted to the unit who is usually one of the pilots.

Just to clarify the BBMF situation. With the exception of the Boss, the aircrew are not on a posting to the BBMF. They fly the aircraft as a "second job". The fighter pilots are Typhoon pilots from Coningsby, the transport crews come from the E-3 fleet at Waddington and the training fleet at Cranwell.

Andy Marden

[Steve Nelson]

How would the USAF Heritage Flight F-4s fit in? I know they're still "technically" active as drones, but as far as actual military service they've been retired (with the USAF anyway.)

SN

[mike furline]

NASA had Balls 8 (B-52), retired in 2004. Not sure what other vintage a/c they may have.

How about the C-5 & KC-135 fleet, vintage enough?

IIRC the US Army has/had a Russian An-2.
http://www.airliners.net/photo/Antonov- ... a35601b1f3

Last edited by mike furline on Fri Apr 15, 2011 7:38 am, edited 1 time in total.

[Dewayne Doud]

USFS has a turbine powered DC-3 for smokejumping.

[hahnej]

What about the USFS Trackers, OV-10's, etc....?

[JDK]

Just to clarify the BBMF situation. With the exception of the Boss, the aircrew are not on a posting to the BBMF. They fly the aircraft as a "second job". The fighter pilots are Typhoon pilots from Coningsby, the transport crews come from the E-3 fleet at Waddington and the training fleet at Cranwell.

Thanks for the correction Andy, my error. Overriding point beyond that, is that they are all serving RAF people.

It's perhaps also worth pointing out here that the BBMF is one of the most significant active aviation preservation or commemorative organisations by any measure, going for longer than almost any other warbird organisation, and covering a remarkable (and it seems ever increasing) number of events over their half-century of operation.

My emphasis:

Records show that for many years after its formation the Flight conducted relatively low-key operations; typically making 50-60 appearances per season, a situation that continued into the mid-1960s. By 1992 participation was up to 150 appearances, growing to 200 in 1995 and exceeding 500 in 1996. Since 2003 the Flight has been tasked for over 700 individual aircraft appearances during each year’s display season and this is now considered the norm. The demand for appearances by the BBMF’s aircraft shows no sign of decline and indeed appears to be increasing. In 2008 the BBMF were tasked with 944 individual appearances at 529 separate events. These events included 127 air displays and 402 flypasts of various sizes ranging from the Queen’s Birthday Flypast over London through commemorative flypasts for veterans such as the 65th Anniversary of the Dams Raid and the 60th Anniversary of the Berlin Airlift to small village fetes. The Flight’s aircraft appeared live in front of an estimated total audience of 7 million people not to mention those that saw them in transit and through the media.

http://www.raf.mod.uk/bbmf/history/historyofflight.cfm

Comparisons may be invidious, but any military commemorative organisation achieving that exposure for so long and so well would have something to be very proud of.

Regards,

[Nathan]

I'd say the T-39 too. The T-38 can probably fit as well. But both active, sorry......

[JohnB]

In the 90s, the USAF Museum had an airworthy T-6G based at Wright-Patterson. Flown for museum VIPs.

[billtate]

In England the Royal Navy’s FAA uses to have a historical flight with Swordfish, Firefly and Sea Fury. Does this still exist??

[maxum96]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't the USAF have at least one P-51 they operated into the late 70's?

[Bearcat SA]

The South African Air Force operates quite a wide variety of "vintage" aircraft for display purposes which are flown by the SA Air Force Museum Flight

Included are the following
F-51 Mustang (potentially flyable but not flying at the moment)
Sabre (potentially flyable but not flying at the moment)
Harvards (T6's) around about a dozen
C-47- one plus another to come on stream soon
Vampire - one plus another potentially airworthy one
Mirage IIICZ
Mirage F1AZ
Atlas Cheetah D (Mirage IIID derivative)
Bosbok AM3C
Atlas Kudu
Piaggio P-166 Albatross
Two Alouette II's
Several Alouette III's
Avro Shackleton (Kept in airworthy condition and still ground run regularly .. but not flown for several years)
SA 330 Puma helicopter
Cessna 185's ..at least one, but could be more

In addition, the SAAF still has 10 operational Turbo Prop C-47's that are still operational for transport and maritime patrol

Also of interest is that South African Airways (still Government owned) operates 2 Harvards (T-6's) and the SAA Historic flight operates a DC-3, two DC-4's and a Casa 352L (Spanish JU-52)

[Ztex]

I think these guys just recently retired their Basler C-47....


Members of the 6th Special Operations Squadron pictured with some of the aircraft they operate. Clockwise, starting bottom-left : UH-1N helicopter, C-47, Mil Mi-8, Antonov An-26 and another UH-1N.
U.S. Air Force Photograph by Airman 1st Class Ali Flisek