|
I am a CAF life member, have been for over 20 years. I don't persoanlly know Floyd, my impression of him is positive, I don't know of the other guy at all. I have known Charlie Hutchins for a long time, he used to be the man who invited me to the show at Ellington each year, and with Tora. And I know Randy Wilson in a similar manner, just being around him at shows and CAF. Both Randy and Charlie seem like good guys, and I have not heard anything bad about them, but I can't really say I know them in depth. You can know someone through aviation and not know them well, and come to find out later they might have an Aggie diploma in their closet, or pictures of nosewheel airplanes on the wall, might even own a poodle.
I really don't know details of the current CAF situation, much less the behind the scene view. I am a little sorry to see any such conflict where there appears to be disagreement between good folks on both sides. One thing I have learned in the past, is that most of the time when you want to see the cause of something it is about money. The CAF realease says that is not so, but I have my doubts. Remember in the movie All The President's Men, the secret source tells the reporter, Woodward, to "follow the money", which then leads right to Nixon. There is a new book out that says you can pretty well determine how an elected official will vote, not on what he says, but by whose money got him elected and keeps him there. Perhaps this is that one side wants more money to go to the static museum than to operations. I sort of doubt that Charlie is there for personal financial gain, but I am not on the inside. I remember the real good ole days of the CAF when there were the great combat planes of WWII and in some cases they were even flown by guys who had fought in them. Now the shows are full of modern stuff and it is even harder to draw crowds. The last time I flew a warbird into Midland for the show I felt like an outsider. My Son and I had a tiring, edge of the seat flight, for me anyway,he had a great time, with really strong headwinds and worries, and when we parked on Fri. we were immediatley told that we were in the wrong place and it was reserved for T-28s. I am old fashioned and I guess naive enough to think that a Spitfire might have a significant place in warbird history, and even more so since the CAF no longer has theirs. My view may be outdated for current CAF.
CAF management, or some of them, know our main problems. CAF is mostly an organiztion of older white guys, with a few exceptions, and our headquarters and our shows are often in places remeoved from large populations or prosperous spending areas. They are not unaware that we are not on the must see list for much of the general population and younger people in general. Being aware and being able to turn it around is different. I wish CAF would and could do something like EAA.s Young Eagles program, but liability is such a concern.
_________________
Bill Greenwood
Spitfire N308WK
|
Login
Register
FAQ
Search
