A WW2 era Spitfire and the pilot were lost on Sunday.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/28153105/raf-pilot-spitfire-crash-planes/ (https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/28153105/raf-pilot-spitfire-crash-planes/)
Of course, the loss of the pilot is a tragedy. And in this case, he seems to have been a good conscientious pilot. May he rest in peace and his family find solace.
I know this makes me a stick in the mud...but I really wish they would not fly these original aircraft. There are plenty of workshops capable of producing excellent reproductions to feed the public's desire to see them in action. IMHO, we don't need to keep endangering these historical treasures.
I don't think they are necessarily more dangerous than other aircraft, but every time one goes up, there is a very small chance it will be lost.
Saw this on facebook. RIP.
As far as flying vintage aircraft, let's wait for the investigation. If it was engine failure on takeoff - well that happens to single engine GA planes quite often. It just doesn't get reported as widely as a D-Day Spitfire crash.
In addition to endangering historical treasures, it seems unnecessarily risky for the pilots to fly in almost 100-year-old planes for the sake of a show. I agree with you AT, it makes way more sense to use modern reproductions.
Yeah. I really appreciate being able to tour the "original" WW2 boats and planes, whether it's one of the 3 WW-2 aircraft carriers I've visited, the USS Pampanito docked in San Francisco, the U-boat stored in the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, the restored B-29 housed outside Pueblo, CO or a handful of B-17s around the country.
My brother and I originally had flying together in a B-17 on our Bucket List. After I visited Normandy, my opinion of that is changing. The vehicles are fascinating to behold, but it was the deeds done in those vehicles that really warrant my admiration and attention.