In full disclosure, I do get reimbursed for fuel for flying in the airshow. (This is not a secret, especially as the airshow announcer said as much to everyone this year.) It is not much, but I appreciate it. This year, my plane was not there as it needs a new front prop. (Weeping oil that gets all over the windshield. Makes short final real interesting.) I did, however, get to fly as “orientation pilot”/section lead with a pilot new to the airshow this year. Lots of fun.
Chris “Mayhem” Mayer
Airshow Pilot
Demi-god
PS: to get this back on track...I think Jack Pelton is doing a GREAT job
Very good to hear that you do get reimbursed for fuel. All participants should. It's a secret to me, first I've ever heard this because that show announcer, Danny Clishem, every year says over and over and over every day, ad nauseum, that the airshow pilots pay for their own fuel.
I understand that. But do we expect EAA to say, "We'll pay for some warbirds, but not others"? Can you imagine the rancor that would produce? "We'll pay for T-28s, but not for BT-13s"....? Or "Every one of the dozens of T-6s gets free fuel, but not the one-of-a-kind YL-15..."?
A single, blanket policy is much easier.
The policy re: airshow performers is that they're receiving free advertising that help them get gigs the rest of the year.
Ron Wanttaja
Last edited by rwanttaja; 07-31-2019 at 04:41 PM.
Ron, the policy is clearly stated on the EAA Warbirds of America website. It does not differentiate among different types of warbirds flying in the airshow. As mentioned above, the short time when any particular Warbird is flying in the airshow is inconsequential when compared to the unreimbursed cost of getting the airplane to and from Oshkosh — regardless of the size or number of engines.
I remember two years ago when the crew of the B-25, “Yellow Rose” was walking through the crowd in the warbirds area soliciting donations to buy fuel to go home to Texas.
Also, as pointed out above (with one exception that I know of), none of us appear at OSH as marketing to get paid in future air shows. We are, instead, very happy to display our planes and help people to learn about our military aviation history. Flying them in the show is icing on the cake. I know that the Liaison and Observation Aircraft are not the draw of the fighters or the advanced trainer formation flights, but I hope that the attendees do get something out of it.
I imagine that vintage and homebuilders are the same way and I do enjoy visiting with them and seeing them fly.
Got no way to confirm this, but: Story is that several local warbirders quit coming to the Arlington Fly-In when the fly-in stopped paying for fuel. The major warbird attendance now comes from the Flying Heritage Museum in Everett, WA, just a few miles away.
Ron Wanttaja