WIX Archives

Mint Moore III- organize an international tour!

Posted by bdk on Mon Feb 23, 2004 12:07:15 PM

In reply top Duxford the future - My perspective posted by john parker on Mon Feb 23, 2004 02:27:37 AM

I am surprised at this perspective...

TFC has a P-38 and a P-39 that will likely be going from Chino to Duxford over the next year, a well as possibly some other projects already in-work in the US. Not to mention the P-47 that went over years ago, as well as the P-38 and P-63 that both crashed.

Also, the US Dollar has been weak compared to either the UK Pound or the Euro, which would favor European collectors.

The US has also seen the only currently flying 109E go to Canada, and a Hurricane (and Spit?) will soon follow- so if anything, a lot of aircraft have been leaving the Southern California region specifically for other countries. A Mustang from Florida recently went to the AAM in Duxford for static display too. Add a B-24 and what else over the past few years? I think that Duxford is bigger than ever!

I think that the operating and restoring an aircraft are two different things entirely. It would not make sense to ship an aircraft to New Zealand just to operate it, even if the fuel were free- unless you wanted to move there of course. The aircraft that have been shipped to NZ for restoration will undoubtedly be shipped back. Most aircraft under restoration are not visible to the general public anyhow (with a few exceptions of course), so where they are restored probably isn't as important as the fact that they are. With more affordable restoration costs downunder (should downunder be capitalized?), these aircraft see the light of day that much sooner!

As far as shipping aircraft around to "share" with other countries as part of tours, that is very difficult as most of these aircraft are privately owned, or owned by museums with very limited resources (i.e. they live off of donations from the general public). If you could put a group together to sponsor an aircraft, this could be done however (PoF has shipped their Zero to Japan a few times). Right now the prospects are usually limited to the very wealthy- the same types of people that ship their vintage racecars from the US to Goodwood or from the UK to Monterey every year.

Warbird tours are just in their infancy now, but funding of an order of magnitude higher than what was done for last years PoF tour would be required to send a group of aircraft overseas. I'm not an expert on airshow promoting by any stretch of the imagination, but most airshows in the US cannot afford to pay much more than fuel and motels (and maybe a barbecue) for the crew during a show.

I think this topic is worthy of discussion, but I don't really agree that Duxford has seen a major reduction in aircraft- but I am far away from Duxford (although I have been there a few times). Is there any data available?

: I have noticed as have we all a bit of a deluge of machine
: s leaving Duxford over the past few years and I thought I
: would like to give my perspective on this. Some basic assu
: mptions first. I visit Duxford every 5 years or so from Au
: stralia and to me it is the ultimate Mecca for my major ho
: bby which is Restoration and warbirds in general. I cannot
: think of any other place world wide which has the same at
: mosphere or presence.
:
: If I think back over the years about how the place has gro
: wn and prospered it is staggering the growth that has take
: n place with The IWM developments and the active airshow a
: nd general flying activity as well as the future proposed
: developments.
:
: I guess the downturn in numbers of machines resident is la
: rgely cyclical and will come and go as time goes by. The c
: ost of operating machines in the UK is very high at presen
: t and restoration in New Zealand for instance is a much ch
: eaper option for a high quality job.
:
: The personalities are also an issue, lets face it some of
: the operators of Warbirds are not getting any younger and
: somehow we need to encourage a new generation into the sce
: ne- perhaps promoption of warbirds in the corporate world
: in a positive way.
:
: Better promotion of the positives of airshows - outside ai
: r, day out with the kids etc has to help. More customer re
: search of a professional and detailed nature would help he
: re.
:
: Ensure a strong and positive case is made to ensure Duxfor
: d and it's strip remain as they are and are not further re
: duced - this is vital for future potential growth. It is a
: fantastic place and it needs to stay that way. So a proac
: tive approach to Governments and Councils is needed so tha
: t the negative rubbish put over by Dr Greer and Co has a s
: ane counter balance.
:
: Work with the certifying authorities so that the Condition
: s of Warbird flight remain reasonable and cost effective o
: therwise the machines will continue to move to easier envi
: ronments. This may mean some compromise but it may stop th
: e rot.
:
: Work out ways to bring more overseas machines into the UK
: for "Airshow tours" of a few months at a time so the numbe
: rs and variety is constantly changing for the punters as w
: ell as the UK operators getting ideas from Overseas operat
: ors. We all live in a very global environment and this sor
: t of interchange whilst it is already happening would bene
: fit greatly from a little more emphasis. ( Why not bring t
: o the UK for instance the worlds last flying Hudson and a
: couple of Boomerangs from Australia for a season and send
: some of yours over here)
:
: Airshow promotors could pool their resources even more on
: the administrative side so that overheads and sponsorship
: was better shared around as well as co ordinating appearan
: ces of machines and programs to make each airshow better t
: han the last.
:
: Anyway just some of my ramblings and opinions - I just lov
: e coming to Duxford and I always want to I hope and believ
: e it will continue to grow if people show the appropriate
: leadership and vision.
:
: I would like to hear others opinions on this
:
: Kindest regards
: John Parker
:

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