marine air wrote:
It would be stupid to think I was implying the PB4Y should be an airshow bird, per se.
My point is that the aircraft is a huge idle asset sitting there that will be finished and flying one day. WHy not sooner rather than later? Skilled Labor and materials are as low as they are going to get. Some of the aircraft in the museum are not a very big draw, or don't fit in the collection. WHy not sell them and concentrate on finishing the Privateer?
The Privateer represents the only 4 engine Navy transport /Bomber that will likely ever be on the warbird circuit. It can be set up to do a ride program and be unique from the 12 B-17's out there. It can be used to offer Type Ratings, and currency checkouts. It cand also do paid military airshows and open houses, contract work at Pax River Test Pilots school and NASA, followed by a few public airshows as the location of the aircraft permits. It can do opening flyovers for Nascar, NFL and other events.
It can even be put back to work doing aerial survey work and other contracts. There are hundreds of millions of dollars being let every year in govt. contracts for work this aircraft can do. Economy cruise fuel burn is about 200 to 225 gallons per hour. A steal compared to turbine fuel costs.
I think you are SEVERELY overestimating the draw that a PB4Y would have on the airshow market. It doesn't matter that it's rare, it doesn't matter that it's unique or that it would be the only one flying in Naval configuration. The general public at an airshow doesn't care either. Generally whatever the public wants is what gets the money. That means P-51's, Corsairs, Shark-mouthed P-40's, B-17's, B-24's and the B-29 for the most part. Anything else will not draw the money in as much. All your arguments about using the PB4Y for training, currency, military open houses, Pax River, NASA, etc. can also be equally applied to all the airplanes at the LSFM. If there are so many avenues to making money why aren't the B-17 and B-25 doing ALL of the things you mentioned here?
Regarding government contract work. Are you serious? What exactly did you have in mind besides Pax river? I don't exactly see Privateers replicating aerial threats for the government to use for adversarial training or practice shoot-downs for interceptors. If that were the case, the government would use something imminently cheaper like a Bonanza or O-2, etc. If you had a supersonic or tactical jet, I could easily see the aircraft supporting a government contract. Besides a very select few warbirds doing government contract work for the test pilot schools at Pax and Edwards, I've never heard of a civilian-owned W.W.II era plane being paid by the government for work.
marine air wrote:
I have the financial means to buy a Privateer, B-25 or T-28. I don't make donations or investments that can't fly or have an ROI (Return on Investment.)
Do you write software for a living, by chance?
Marine air, I think you are missing the point entirely. The LSFM are no idiots. You don't get to be the President/CEO of the group by being stupid and making bad financial decisions. Everything is done with much foresight, research and analyzation on how best to spend the museum's assets. They are still recovering from the Hurricane. They have already sold some assets to buy the P-51 which will probably bring more money in rather than an obscure Naval bomber that nobody knows much about. Do you really think that LSFM is that inept?
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