A good friend, aviation author Jeff Ethyll (deceased) flew old warbirds often and I flew with him doing aerobatics in an old SNJ (Navy version of AT-6 Texan trainer) - and every hour in these ancient machines is far more dangerous than in a modern plane.
They cost a fortune to maintain, and even with top maintenance, things are so old they just break sometimes. It’s risky flying them.
But oh what fun!!!!
Jeff died flying a P-38 - the plane his father flew all through WWII. Sadly, NTSB finding was it was pilot error due to insufficient training on the P-38’s unique idiosyncracies. All the old warbirds had theirs.
Jeff was a wonderful guy - with the Lord now........
I loved reading Jeff’s writings. It must have been a pleasure to know him.