COVID-19

[Warbirdnerd]

FHCAM is closing to help prevent the spread of the virus
Quite remarkable...
https://flyingheritage.org/

Last edited by Warbirdnerd on Sat Mar 14, 2020 8:30 am, edited 1 time in total.

[Pat Carry]

[hurricane_yank]

So very upset...I was going to be out in the area next week with the opportunity to see them...making a special trip and they are closing for this???

[bdk]

More precisely, FEAR is closing the museum, either that or they ran out of toilet paper.

I'll bet all the staff are still working.

[StangStung]

So very upset...I was going to be out in the area next week with the opportunity to see them...making a special trip and they are closing for this???

There are literally four other facilities worth seeing off the top of my head at the same airport.

Museum of Flight Resto facility
The 262 project (though not sure if that's still going?)
Boeing Future of Flight Museum
Historic Flight Foundation

I'd still make the trip if one or any of those are open. I'd also probably just drop by FHCAM...if you have any time left after the others...and see if you can sweet-talk someone into letting you in. One person can't hurt too bad. Especially if you let them know you've washed your hands properly before you got there.

[JohnTerrell]

The Historic Flight Foundation at Paine Field is also now closed, as of today, due to the Coronavirus.

[sandiego89]

Uhh, I would NOT recommend dropping by any temporarily closed facility to sweet talk you way in. The area has been hit, and has a high influx of tourists from impacted areas. Several institutions have made decisions to protect themselves and their staffs, and even it's overblown, I'm not going to judge them on that- it's their call and they have a better pulse on their area and their staff. Not being able to go to a particular museum is a minor, temporary, inconvenience in the big scheme of things.

[kalamazookid]

I don't think it's possible to definitively say what the line between caution and paranoia is without the benefit of hindsight. Whatever our personal choices our outlook may be, it's hard to fault an organization for wanting to exercise caution.

I'm a little worried about all of this affecting my trip to Chino this spring. If the virus were to affect the show or my ability to get there it would obviously suck and be a huge disappointment for me, but there are plenty of worse things that could happen.

[Michel Lemieux]

kalamazookid

I don't think it's possible to definitively say what the line between caution and paranoia is without the benefit of hindsight. Whatever our personal choices our outlook may be, it's hard to fault an organization for wanting to exercise caution.

I'm a little worried about all of this affecting my trip to Chino this spring. If the virus were to affect the show or my ability to get there it would obviously suck and be a huge disappointment for me, but there are plenty of worse things that could happen.

I agree 500%...the issue is not tomorrow or in 2-3 weeks......the issue is we have now clue if this will overwhelm our medical system(s).

If you look at Italy, Iran and China......I would rather shoot towards reason and being safe.

If (and god help us not) this gets beyond what we can provide for services with people that need help....

I will take closure of a museum anytime before shutting completely an economy or a country.

I never do political posts.....but this one scares me.

So as kalamazookid said.....let's not look at the next few weeks as being problematic. I ALWAYS errrrr on the safe vs sorry.

Keep safe everyone.

Michel

[Dave Hadfield]

Paranoiavirus.

[hurricane_yank]

My trip was cancelled...it is insane how paranoid people are getting over this.

Another time I guess...really wanted to see the Stuka.

[bdk]

I don't think it's possible to definitively say what the line between caution and paranoia is without the benefit of hindsight. Whatever our personal choices our outlook may be, it's hard to fault an organization for wanting to exercise caution.

I'm a little worried about all of this affecting my trip to Chino this spring. If the virus were to affect the show or my ability to get there it would obviously suck and be a huge disappointment for me, but there are plenty of worse things that could happen.

Chino is outdoors, so not so much in close quarters. Also it is in May, so flu season should be mostly over. Hopefully the warmer weather will temper the situation a bit. Average temperature that time of year is a high of 75F and a low of 58F.

In the US, flu season tends to peak the last week of December and is at a minimum in August. It is quite low by early May, though this season/Coronavirus might be an outlier. Below is a historical graph of flu cases in an area close to Chino.

Attachments

flu.JPG (38.57 KiB) Viewed 2955 times

[avenger2504]

Dont forget the hardest ones to be hit are the elderly(or those with ill health), don't want to see a lot of veterans survive WW2,Korea etc and get taken down by a virus!

[mike furline]

I've heard that,
Chuck Norris tested positive for Covid 19.
Now the virus is quarantined for 14 days.

[k5083]

This probably merits a new thread or a renaming of this one, but I have been trying to work out whether many of this season's airshows will or should be cancelled.

I have been combing the web's advice on limiting the spread of the virus for relevant guidance. There is surprisingly little out there on OUTDOOR gatherings such as airshows. Extrapolating from the advice they do offer, outdoor gatherings seem less risky than indoor ones. It's easier to keep whatever distance from people you feel comfortable with, and there isn't much direct socializing.

The ones early in the calendar are presently at most risk, of course. We've discussed Chino. Shortly after that is the WW2 Flyover in DC. I presume that there are plans already to scale that back at least partly. With the Smithsonian museums now all closed until further notice, the post-flyover display at Udvar-Hazy must be in doubt (although it has not been cancelled yet), and I'd be surprised if the gala at Reagan airport happens. In principle, there is no reason not to have the flyover itself, but one has to remember with any of these events that a lot of people have to travel to get there in order to run and support them, some of them flying commercial which a lot of folks are now avoiding, and many of us have increased obligations at home. I wouldn't be surprised if we at least start to see aircraft drop out.

I'd be more concerned about Oshkosh, where there is much more direct social interaction, shared facilities in the campgrounds, and so on, and the attendees skew elderly. EAA has already postponed Sun N Fun until May 5-10. I'm sure it is prepared to cancel it if the virus turns out not to wither in the heat, the way some are predicting, and then take a hard look at Oshkosh.

MAAM's World War II Weekend in early June must also be doing some soul searching. With the encampments and flea markets and stuff, it's more social than a typical airshow as well. It's a good lineup this year but personally, I'd reconsider going. Pennsylvania never seems to have quite warmed up to summer temperatures by that weekend, and a lot of the people who go to Reading seem to have, shall we say, an arm's length relationship with reality. They are more likely to have the "hoax" or "just like the flu" viewpoint - if those are still tenable at all by June -- and attend the show even if they likely have the bug.

For the late summer and autumn airshows, we know the situation will be very different than now, and I wouldn't hazard a guess about anything.

I guess I'm cautiously optimistic that we will still get to have some fun this airshow season. Interesting times!

August