A Hurricane would cost about 25p a second in fuel to display but that is only the tip of the iceberg.
We had Sally B display at Horham on May 17th for the 95th BG reunion and because it was for a veterans display, the normal fee of £5000 was reduced to £3500. Was it worth it? Every penny!
The crew put on an excellent display and for the veterans to see and hear a Fort flying over their old base, well, as the saying goes, priceless!
I wouldn't be too critical of 'H&S', it is the CAA who impose restrictions about crowd overflight and with good reason. Unfortunately, flying, though not inherently dangerous, is terribly unforgiving of mistakes and humans will inevitably make them. Since the rules were changed many years ago, not one member of an airshow crowd has been killed by an accident at a UK event.
We are very lucky in this country that there are people willing to spend enormous amounts of time and money restoring and displaying their aircraft and while I am under no illusion that they are doing it for the greater good of mankind, I do appreciate being able to see and hear them.