[Milsurplus] aircraft outfiting

[Ray Fantini]

For aircraft that are in a static display it's ideal to have all the
appropriate period communications and navigation equipment. On a flying
aircraft that is operated as a business you have to ask the question if
there is any room for equipment that has no use with the only exception
of that being for ham radio? After all looking at what they charge and
although they may be "non profit" they are still operated as
business.
And what pilot today would operate a large aircraft with out modern
communications, VOR and a altitude encoding transponder? Lots of
airspace won't let you in without this minimum. Myself I don't know
but would think that they are VFR flight certified only, if they were
equipped for IFR operations they would need a whole lot more that is not
period. 
Perhaps the operators of such flying events feel that just being able
to go up and have the experience of being in the ship is sufficient and
if you want to see a real example of what the ship should be you have to
go to a museum. 
Speaking of this in Dover Delaware they have a grate little museum
their on the base, not long ago they acquired a KC-97. In addition to
much of the old equipment that is still installed like a BC-342 and
APX-6 transponder, there are modern encoding altimeters and a relatively
modern transponder. Should all this be yanked out to restore it to the
original configuration? After all in the years that these aircraft are
in operation they are always undergoing upgrades. Just think what a
problem it will be in twenty or thirty years from now when some group
decides to restore a B-52, do you do it for cold war, Vietnam, golf war,
or turn of the century configuration?
Ray Fantini KA3EKH