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I'm BQZip01 and I support this message

With airshow crashes relatively infrequent in the overall grand scheme of things (especially in the US and even more so with USAF aircraft), there are bigger issues at hand to deal with when it comes to aviation safety. I think we do a fairly good job at mitigating the risks, but accidents will still occur as long as we keep flying. Even with all the oversight, training, ect involved with the demo teams they still have accidents. You can only mitigate the human factor so much, we still make mistakes. So unless we stop flying, there will be airshow accidents. On the subject of airshows and display teams.. I love airshows. Yes fighter displays are cool/loud/filled with impressive maneuvering but they are fairly standard and there isn't really anything new to them. There are exceptions of course, such as the weird/pointless stuff the Russians do (it looks good) and of course the F-22 display that is all the rave right now. Many other non-fighter displays are much more unique and interesting. Ever seen the RAF Chinook display? The Dutch Apache display? The C-27 Spartan? It's much more exciting to see aircraft do things that most people don't think possible. Personally, one of the best airshows I ever attended was at El Toro as a kid. The Marines essentially put on a war and showcased the capabilities of every a/c in their inventory. It was awesome. edit: spell'n

^ Shoe clerk much?

ACC pointy-nose demo teams treat airshow demonstrations completely differently than AMC. Granted, the profiles flown by fighters are much, much more complex, but nonetheless...it's worth noting the practical differences. First, to upgrade to demonstration pilot, the typical ACC dude flies a 20-30 sortie syllabus, culminating with a checkride-type performance in front of the MAJCOM 4-star, who is responsible for their final sign-off to go fly in public. Every practice at homestation, along with every off-station airshow, is videotaped and a gradesheet is filled out recording entry/exit parameters (altitude, airspeed, G's). Every practice (usually once/week) & airshow is debriefed while watching the video with all players - safety observer, narrator, etc. Those gradesheets are reviewed & signed off by a vested O-6 within the chain of command. If a parameter is busted (such as a no-lower-than altitude), that video tape will typically be reviewed by the OG & he'll want an explanation as to why it happened. Any deficiencies in the performance will manifest themselves in the debrief or while reviewing the data (pulled from the HUD tape or FDR following every demo sortie)...and focused on in subsequent practices. The point is...AMC demo pilots may think their upgrade was a "serious affair" because they sat down for a heart-to-heart with the Sq/CC & OG/CC after several sorties, but the fact of the matter is that if & when they dick it up, nobody will ever know about it. Negative trends may never be addressed. I have a feeling the winds of change may soon be breezing into the AMC demonstration qual process, and rightly so. In ACC, it is a huge deal to be the demonstration pilot (1 East coast guy, 1 West coast guy per airframe). Typical heavy BASE might have 8-10 demonstration qualified AC's...good luck keeping that currency. My 2 cents...the T-Birds are a great recruiting tool - let the pros do what they do. Frankly, people want C-17's at airshows for the shade under the wing. We are flying heavy demonstrations (a recruiting tool, remember) during a time when we turn more kids away from enlisting than we accept. Yes, it's fun to fly & cool to see, but...what's the point?

Yeah, knowing how to take care of your people makes you a shoe clerk. Smoke pole much?