Am I imagining things or does there seem to be a pretty high attrition rate
among the really rare airplanes at some of these UK airshows?

I mean there was the P-38, P-63, Mosquito, the Me-109 (Black 6), then there was
the Sea Fury on the golf course and the Sea Fury on the beach. Now there is the
Firefly.

I am certainly not trying to infer that we here in the states are perfect with
no losses. There is plenty of blame to go around for pilot error here that
causes the loss of men and machine as well as the inevitable mechanical
failure.

However, correct me if I am wrong (and I could be!!) but the news clips that we
see of these airplanes "going in" all seem to involve either low level
aerobatic maneuvers gone wrong or "grass cutting" low passes that go to hell
for one reason or another. The clip I saw on the Firefly looked like the pilot
dished out of the bottom end of a loop or something and went in pretty much
parallel to the ground, "a pancake hit" if you will. It almost looked like a
high speed stall as he was pulling out with a recovery initiated as impact
occurred.

I am sure that there are those that will brand my remarks as insensitive and
callous but accidents like this do happen for a reason. Barring a mechanical
failure of some sort, the primary reason is pilot error.

I am sure that the Royal Navy Pilot flying the aircraft was very well qualified
and a fine pilot and on any given day his skill levels matched or exceeded
those of any other warbird pilot on the circuit. The thing I do question,
however, is why does it appear that these airplanes are being put through
moderate to strenuous aerobatic maneuvers at very low altitudes with little
margin for escape if the maneuver goes wrong?

I myself love to see warbirds fly and I do enjoy seeing aerobatics as
well.However, I do feel that airplanes of which there may be less than a dozen
flying in the world should be flown as gently as possible so as to minimize
risk. I can enjoy watching a P-63 without having to see it do a vertical
pull-up off the deck. I can enjoy a Firefly without seeing it do a Cuban Eight
or a loop. I do not have to see grass clippings in the intake of a P-38 to know
that it is impressive on a high speed fly-by.

I hope the officiating parties undertake a review of these past accidents and
try to determine if there is a common denominator. If there is, it should be
eliminated, if possible, so that the airshow committee doesn't have to make a
decision every year as to "whether the show should continue" or not.

My condolences to the pilot's family and for anyone that takes offense by this
post, please accept my heartfelt apology. Unfortunately, these tragedies occur
for a reason and they should be addressed.

Paul Varga