Jp warbirds full#

The 1940’s saw the largest conflict in human history, WWII. By the end of the 1930’s, more people were willing to pay for airshows once again. (During the Great Depression, airfield owners had put up hangar rent). This saw the cost of storage decrease to post-WWI levels once again. On top of this, the world’s air forces had returned many more airstrips to their former owners. This saw the costs of flying their WWI fighters decrease. As such, many of the aircraft sat in warehouses or in hangars at airports, collecting dust.Ī few of these pilots still took their aircraft up, as oil prices had decreased dramatically. Many of the pilots who could still afford to fly tried to run their airshows, but failed as no one was willing to pay for it anymore. However, for much of the 1930’s, there was only a relatively small amount of people who could afford to buy them.

For most of these pilots, their primary income stream, which funded their aviation hobbies, was under immense strain from the depression.Īs such, many were forced to put their aircraft up for sale in order to try and conserve cash.

Jp warbirds full#

1930’s Photo courtesy of Airwolfhound via Flickr.įor most of the 1930’s, the Great Depression was in full swing. This trend has again been continued to today.

In order to bring in a extra stream of income at the same time, these pilots would often sell a ticket for the navigator’s seat, usually for an exorbitant rate. On top of this, most WWI biplane models had two seats- one for the pilot and another for a navigator/reconnaissance photographer. This inadvertently created what we know today as airshows. As such, many of these pilots would fly these aircraft for small crowds who’d pay for the privilege. However, the costs of storing and flying these aircraft for themselves often became too expensive. As such, many of the wealthy pilots who survived chose to buy the aircraft that they flew during the war, for posterity. This in itself was due to the fact that they could pay for the expensive flight training, which most others could not.įollowing WWI, there was no need for so many military aircraft, as such, they sold most of them off. Countries sank their entire economies (and empires) into outproducing the enemy to make more weapons, including aircraft.ĭuring WWI, the early aerial warfare units were made up almost exclusively of the wealthy elite.

WWI was the most devastating war in history (at the time). The earliest of these aircraft appeared as early as the 1920’s! 1920’s Many believe that warbirds are a relatively recent thing. Most notably, this has included trainer, cargo and utility aircraft from these eras. On top of that, the term has also broadened which types of WWI, WWII and early Cold War-era aircraft can ben considered “warbirds”. Although, the latter is rarer than the former due to the intricacies of jet engine repair and the lack of spare parts. Originally, this didn’t include WWI-era aircraft, although by the 1960’s and 1970’s, the term did include them.Įventually, the term was used to describe not only WWI and WWII-era fighters but also early Cold War-era fighter jets. Over time, the term has added several other types of vintage aircraft to it. These aircraft were subsequently used in a plethora of different manners, mostly as airshow and/or museum display aircraft. The term originates in the 1950’s when WWII-era aircraft had been sold en masse to former military pilots. They are commonly used as airshow display as well as airworthy museum displays. Warbirds are any type of former military aircraft that are now in the hands of private individuals. Their ability to combine the aircraft of the past and the technology of the present attracts thousands of spectators from all around the world!Īircraft such as the Hawker Hurricane, Supermarine Spitfire, Grumman F8F Bearcat, North American P-51 Mustang and Yakovlev Yak-3 are also considered to be warbirds.īut what exactly makes a warbird so special? And why are they so prized (and expensive)? What Are Warbirds? Warbirds are some of the most favored airshow acts.