Suggest a metric of net worth per mile, nwpm.

So if you are worth $10M, and it costs $10 per mile, that 0.000001 nwpm, or one micro nwpm.

That way, somebody flying an ultralite might be spending more nwpm than I do flying my jet or Travolta flying a Connie. It is all relative.

Mike C.

I sort of agree with the sentiment, but it's not realistic. The only reason we have these to admire is because people with the money to restore them, want to fly them. If they couldn't fly, they wouldn't exist at all.

Yes. They aren’t National Treasures for us to debate whether they should be flying or not.

Yes. They aren’t National Treasures for us to debate whether they should be flying or not.

But do they fly the airplanes in Udvar-Hazy?

No, that’s the point. They don’t fly the Wright Flyer in the A&S museum either. If it’s that important to preserve one of these then someone can collect one that’s not flyable and donate it. Any others can fly as long as their owners want… unless of course they’re in the restaurant business.

https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/ ... b/id/1265/

Flannigan’s Connie did eventually make it into a museum: http://www.conniesurvivors.com/1-pennde ... connie.htm

David Ellison bought the Oracle Challenger from Sean Tucker and then donated it to the A&S museum. If they were to want to fly that one from what I understand about the aft CG configuration, they’d have to fly Tucker himself out from CA ea time.

MTX hrs/Flt hrs are vastly different. Jets were far superior in that regard. Now maintenance and fuel costs were another story.

I think JT will be shocked at how much it costs to keep a Connie staying alive!. He may have to go back to work!

George

Maybe he's telling us something with his latest title...

Well, it's also for women and booze, but you can only use so much of those...

Many years ago an older gentlemen worked out our local fly shop. He had been a B-24 Bombarder in WW-II flying out of Italy. There was a B-24 at Frederick MD (FDK) giving rides and we hangers on at the shop pooled some money and got him a ride. He said he had no interest but we took him out there and walked around it and talked to the crew and he said sure so off he went.

He came home almost in tears of the memories and he said the most powerful thing was the smells. You don't get that hot oil, sweat and fear smell from a static museum piece. Frankly, I was almost in tears listening to him.

OOOOH, OOOOH!,

Love it Mike,

Rationalization, Justification, Oh heck, I want it and now

Low NWPM,

Time to go fly my ultra low NWPM Citabria shortly

Well, it's also for women and booze, but you can only use so much of those...

I sort of agree with the sentiment, but it's not realistic. The only reason we have these to admire is because people with the money to restore them, want to fly them. If they couldn't fly, they wouldn't exist at all.