Tighten rules for flying vintage aircraft

Your recent article about the crash of two airplanes at the Wings Over Dallas airshow, performing simulated combat and colliding has me thinking. What a waste of talented pilots and tech personnel. More of our precious historical mechanical past is being lost without enough equipment to replace them. It takes many hours to rebuild these aircraft and make them air worthy.

The crash made me think that maybe the FAA should mandate the grounding of all vintage planes and prohibiting flying over crowds, until upgraded avionics; such as collision warning systems, are housed in shell of these historic planes. Then I thought about the Greatest Generation’s contribution to the manufacturing of these planes and how proud they were when the U.S. was the Arsenal of Democracy. It was lived by people like my mom and pop. One in the Army fighting in North Africa and Italy, the other working in various military uniform factories in Manhattan and Brooklyn. It is recognizing their spirit and sacrifice, something we could really use right now, that makes me suggest we upgrade these 80-year-old technological wonders for future Americans to once again hear those engines roar, not in war, but peace.

Anthony Gattullo

Bethlehem