Turning Point

[clangjr]

A few posts recently, along with the huge interest in restoring warbirds to air worthiness, got me thinking.

What was the turning point where we have MORE warbirds in the air than before? In other words, what was the low point in the general number of birds in the air? Or have we reached it?

Chuck

[John Dupre]

As an interested observer since the late 1960s I would say that the low point was probably around then. Mustangs and Corsairs were still in service in several countries as were working warbirds (tankers, sprayers, freight and testing). Not many people outside the CAF and a few private individuals or companies, (Tallmantz, Burchinal) operated more than one aircraft at a time. Certain types were not only not flying but were not thought to exist. I would say that Tora Tora Tora and Battle of Britain inspired lots of people to get interested and since then the number of warbirds has climbed even if for example, the number of flying B-17s has dropped due to retirement or loss of working aircraft. I would bet that as late as 1969-70 there were people scrapping abandoned warbirds who did not realize that value was increasing in the sport market.