As an ex warbird pilot, I'd be the first one to admit that money and
horsepower don't necessarily mix, but I'd also tell you that some of the
finest pilots I've ever known were warbird pilots.
Aircraft accidents are no place to start generalizing about specific
communities. What happened out there today was a tragedy. ALL accidents are
tragedies. Hell, I lost five friends in ONE air racing accident in a
mid-air.
You have cowboys in all branches and phases of aviation, and Oshkosh can
bring out the best and the worst in everybody. The stress alone involving
aircraft movement at the show is tremendous. This means EVERYBODY involved
should be on their toes and doing their job at top form, be they pilots or
ground personnel.
As for the warbird pilots; I agree that the airplanes can be a real problem
in the wrong hands. So can any other airplane for that matter. Mid-airs are
something that absolutely has to be a prime consideration for everyone
attending Oshkosh, warbird or breezy!
My over riding concern about Oshkosh is that something is learned from all
this and corrective measures taken to keep things in line out there. It's a
great show, with wonderful equipment and some extremely talented people
taking part in it every year.
Finally, as an old air show and warbird pilot myself, I have to tell you
that in an environment like Oshkosh, the possibility of an accident
happening is leaps and bounds above the norm, and unless EVERYBODY out there
from the people running it, through the pilots attending it, all the way
down to the newest line boy are tuned in solidly to the flight safety issue,
what happened today will almost certainly happen again.
Let's hope it's a wake up call for EVERYBODY!!!!
Dudley Henriques


"RST Engineering" wrote in message
...
I'm prejudiced. Of course I'm prejudiced. In 5000+ flight hours, I've
never come as close to a midair as I did at Oshkosh 1999. Oshkosh Tower:
"BlueOnBlue Cessna, number three for runway 27. Ercoupe put it on the
numbers. Flight of three T6s, cross over runway 27, right downwind for
runway 27, caution the Cessna at the gravel pit."

(Warbird flight leader) "OK fellers, let's show them what a warbird
arrival is like."

The Cessna is looking, looking, and turns downwind. The copilot screams,
"Oh, my God " and the pilot turns hard left, only to see two wings perhaps
fifty feet below. Tower tells warbirds that they nearly had a midair with
a Cessna. Warbird flight leader, "Then tell tell the little b@$+@rd to
get out of our way."

I've about had it with the arrogant warbird *******s. The only reason that
there are warbirds at Oshkosh is that Pope Paul flew a warbird and wanted
to invite his cronies.

Pope Paul is out to pasture. Nobody else at Oshkosh gets gas money except
the warbirds. Guess where the gas money is coming from? Your inflated
entry ticket prices. You are paying for those stupid idiots to aggrandize
World War II, which damned few of us can relate to.

So this afternoon, one of the WWII warbird people who has more money than
good sense, and who never learned how to clear the taxiway in front of his
aircraft, killed one of our own. There has to be some sort of payback for
this sort of stupidity.

Warbirds, you are not welcome at Oshkosh.

Jim