The operation of historic aircraft with big radial engines has become problematic. There have been enough incidents with historic aircraft that a knowledgeable friend has sworn off riding in historic aircraft. Here are a few examples in addition to yesterday’s disaster.

we had a DC-3 crash in Ohio:
Web Link ... -faa/story

Another DC-3 crash in South Africa:
Web Link ... SKBN1K026O

A P-51D Mustang fighter crashed

A Junkers JU-52 went down in Europe:
Web Link ... rland.html

Lufthansa pulled the plug on restoring a Lockheed Constellation, possibly because it is difficult to operate a historic aircraft

The historic flight foundation’s restored DC-7 experienced a failure after takeoff on its number three engine, and it made an emergency landing at Charlotte Douglas International Airport in early 2013 It remains on temporary static display at the Carolinas Aviation Museum as of November 2014, awaiting return to flight.

The friend, an aviation professional and enthusiast, who I mentioned in a previous post, mentions these issues after he cites the recent spate of crashes and incidents, some of which I list above. Maintaining increasingly fragile airframes, locating parts and maintaining increasingly antiquated systems and finding suitable avgas are all problems in antique aircraft. I've flown on Ford Trimoters, DC-3s, Convairliners and a Junkers 52/3m, but these recent incidents are disturbing.

Have always looked forward to Wings of Freedom tour. very sad to hear about this tragedy.