Quote Originally Posted by villiers View Post
Attachment 30780Yours looks VERY orderly and in very good nick. Here´s the one we use ... but the running costs are now prhibitive.
I LOVE that D-Day livery the most of all! Your aircraft looks awesome.

I'm afraid many of these warbirds might be put out of business before too much longer. Air Shows have been down on attendance here in the States and fewer are being put on. When they do have shows they don't want to pay very much anymore to attend because they can't afford to. Most all shows used to fill the planes with fuel too, but with the high cost of fuel now, few want to even fill the tanks up. Fuel costs are so high that it's often a break even proposition for what shows pay to attend. We operate out of our pockets for the greatest part - Besides honoring the vets who fought in all areas, the other main purpose for the CAF is to show the aircraft to younger generations - Younger people really get a different view of WWII when they see aircraft from the period still flying - It helps to show them that WWII wasn't ancient history like the Romans. We usually fly to venues on Friday, so the aircraft are all parked when the gates open to spectators and I have no idea how many times I've had people ask how we got the planes to the airport! (Don't even get me going about how many seemingly intelligent college graduate spectators don't know anything at all about WWII)

The other major issue isn't paying for the parts to keep them flying - Insurance may make it cost prohibitive here at the rate it has been increasing every year. The planes aren't insured for their value - the super expensive insurance is just for liability.
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