Scudrunners

Isn’t the Duxford collection kind of like the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum? All volunteer run.

The bullshit and politics involved in these "aircraft groups" is sickening. Like anything else it's about who you know and not what your qualifications are or what you can add to the group. Look at the horseshit what went on in Hamilton and around the war bird flying there.

It's so common in all these organizations. There is an self appointed elite group and usually a bully somewhere in the mix. Flight suits and shiny boots prevail and actual stick and rudder skills and experience take a back seat. As pointed out triple 7 and heavy modern experience does not give you the tools to just jump into a conventional geared aircraft and drive away.

It is also the muscle memory you develop by flying tail draggers from the first day you started to fly and well into your first few thousand hours. That just does not happen any more. As I said before most pilots of today look at tail wheels as a fire breathing dragon. In reality it's not difficult at all, just different. In the modern aircraft world most pilots stop flying the aircraft once all 3 wheels are on the ground. That is the worst and most common mistake of today. Tail draggers just show you how common this is because of the trail of twisted metal following them around.