question Waste of money...fly past?

[Jack]

Does anyone think that fly pasts are a waste of resources?

 

If you take into consideration the expense that is involved and the fact that H&S makes it that it can't fly over you. Also it is only with you for a matter of minutes.

 

Or is it worth every penny to see and hear a WW11 war bird?

[private mw]

i like to see and hear them just happy im not footing the bill .......... jaffa cakes at w&p please jack ..:sweat:

[Guest catweazle (Banned Member)]

We stayed at BB at Bealieu,the owners were both very fit 80 yr olds,Polish decendents with the normal persecution storys,Did there part for England during the war ,all they could talk about was the hurricane display and how wonderfull it was,

Keep em flying ,The more obsticals that are put in the way more we have to knock down.Talking of obsticals just one two more battles with the local councill,thats five nil to us.:banana::banana::banana:never roll over.

[N.O.S.]

Sadly, for some reason the Sally B didn't make her flypast as planned at the American Memorial Day service at Maddingley Cemetery on Monday.

 

How on earth can you put a price on the sight and sound of a B17 flying by on an occasion like this?

[Guest catweazle (Banned Member)]

The Hurricane never flew on Monday,technical problems.MVT tight wod more like:-D

[Jack]

The Hurricane never flew on Monday,technical problems.MVT tight wod more like:-D

 

They were saying that it cost £2.98/sec...............

[Guest catweazle (Banned Member)]

They were saying that it cost £2.98/sec...............

Yes ,but who are they,and do they have forked tongues.:shocked:

[AndyFowler]

I have to admit that the sights and sounds of these old warbirds makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up ! My favourite is at Biggin Hill when they carry out a "squadron scramble" after the chap has "rung the bell like hell" makes me so proud of my country and what those old boys and girls achieved !

[gritineye]

They were saying that it cost £2.98/sec...............

 

Is that just the display time or the whole mission?

[Degsy]

Is that just the display time or the whole mission?

Whichever it is I wouldn't like to foot the bill.:sweat:

[AndyFowler]

Sounds about how much a member of parliament costs and we pay for 650 of them ! :-D

[Willyslancs]

i agree andy fowler ,with regards to neck hair !!!.keep them we need to be proud of our past ........

[Adrian Barrell]

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.

Edited May 27, 2009 by Adrian Barrell

[Tony B]

As tax payers we do foot the bill. I consider the BoBMF to be a far better way to spend money than some politicians husband spending it on dirty vidios or bathplugs.

[Willyslancs]

well said ...........

[Tony B]

well said ...........

 

COMPLIMENTS!!! I'd better go for a lie down :sweat:

[Topdog]

How can any member on this forum not care? The day we stop working to keep these machines in the air is the day we might as well give up. Last one out please put out the lights.

Jack - you just pulled the pin and rolled it in...................

[Stormin]

Does anyone think that fly pasts are a waste of resources?

 

If you take into consideration the expense that is involved and the fact that H&S makes it that it can't fly over you. Also it is only with you for a matter of minutes.

 

Or is it worth every penny to see and hear a WW11 war bird?

 

I was at Elvington recently and although it was a bit of a disappointment to only get the one BBMF machine and not the full quota, it was still a great few minutes. I'm quite sure that Spitfire came right over our heads on the final pass before waving it's wings too.

 

I'd much rather see and here them in action any day than they be sat in a museum gathering dust. There's so few of these historically important machines left flying, particularly the Lancaster that they should recieve priority funding. I can't think of many better causes.

 

I'd add the Vulcan to the list too, not forgetting what an important role it played in the early days of the Falklands war.

[gritineye]

A Warbird fly past is usually seen by a great many people who have little or no interest in the main show or event, so they just might be prompted to think about why these old warbirds are still flying our skies, which can only be a good thing.

[Enigma]

When at Beltring the BBMF and other planes flew over it gave a enormous thrill.

Waste of money? How about a lot of people in prison?.....

[David Ives]

any old plane that flies is worth every penny spent keeping it flying

just listing out for when the old planes fly over eastbourne compared with the new jets gives me goosebumps every time

long live the bbmf and all ex service planes

[williamsd]

u cant bet the sound of six merlins flying over it does make your hairs stand on end the longer they are kept flying the better

[Mark]

Does anyone think that fly pasts are a waste of resources?

 

If you take into consideration the expense that is involved and the fact that H&S makes it that it can't fly over you. Also it is only with you for a matter of minutes.

 

Or is it worth every penny to see and hear a WW11 war bird?

 

Cannot see what you are saying here Jack??? how can it be a waste of money when so many people enjoy the past going about it's business above them, as said in a previous post "much better to be flying than gathering dust in a museum" Cost!!!! to the the BBMF yes it does, at the Military Mayhem show this year we have a Spitfire fly past from the BBMF, and it costs nothing but a few forms to fill in etc, we the tax payer ultimately pay I assume but the question "is it worth it" YES.

[Jon8910]

As an Ex member of the BBMF Groundcrew when I was in the RAF, I can assure you the excellent feedback received from the public and particularly the veterans and their families makes the cost and effort of keeping them flying, well worthwhile. BBMF like all sections of the RAF have annual budgets to keep too, fortunately they are now allowed sponsors which pay for the flying clothing etc, unlike in my time we were not allowed sponsors and for airshows we wore the black tank crew overalls supplied from the army, (doesn’t show the oil and grease), any other kit we bought ourselves! unlike another certain bunch of display team posers (is that a dead sparrow I see!) who got everything supplied including the kitchen sink. PR etc I know! Some years ago BBMF/MoD sold a Mk19 Spitfire to fund the rebuild of Hurricane LF363 after its crash landing and even now members of the BBMF groundcrew are voluntarily restoring one of the flights original Mk16 Spitfires back to hopefully flying condition, with little funding. Those three years I spent as a mech on BBMF were by far the best of my RAF career.

[Jack]

Cannot see what you are saying here Jack??? .

 

It was a question and not a statement.

 

However. Whilst at Trucks and Troops last weekend we watched the Hurricane fly past. The commentator stated that it cost just under £3/sec to fly.

 

The question popped into my head that surely this money could be spent on better things or on veterans. Don't miss understand me, fly pasts get me every time and the best I have ever seen have been 13 spitfires at Wings over the Water back in the 90's, the Sally B and two P51's at Bolero - the P51 fly past with Neil Stevens in the rear seat also at Bolero (those who were there will know what I mean :sweat::shocked:) and the C47 and Spit at Weymouth Veterans Weekend.

 

But the majority of folks looking skyward last weekend wouldn't be fully aware of the significance of that war bird. Yes there is a conversation to be had about rising the 'public's' interest but I am doubtful of that........