i digested your post well, char...i think the flybys pay tribute but i don'tsee how the stunts relate so much, although i suppose some clever handling was required in battles past
by killing the air show i thought the columnist was talking about the CNE airshow
i am on the fence to a degree but my wish list is more like this:
no mega-noise pollution in the GTA on long weekends
no need to make it part of CNE, there's enuf stuff to see and do already, imo (some would argue otherwise, lol)
Lake Ontario water doesn't really act as a life saving cushion for crew so why not have it over a barren field (yet not flammable forrest)..i don't think we really need a lake to extinguish a fireball, although maybe these fireballs helps burn off pollution, lol
don't have it where seniors are in a palliative state (ie. St Joes)
we have military flybys on Remembrance Day...for some of us 'tributes' are far more frequent and done in other ways (museums, monuments, etc)...i can tell you the last thing i'm thinking of when a 'boom' goes overhead, is those who have fallen in the past...i'm thinking of being felled myself in the present!
i like the idea of a show that focuses on the future (that's how i mainly see the CNE, future innovations and exhibits much along the theme of EPCOT)
how a bout battery operated gliders flying by in canadian geese formation, lol
btw, a guy crashed into an audience in germany last week during an air show, but yes, i've not heard of it here..at the CNE you have a better chance of being 'hit' by a seagull while you're trying to watch the show
i've often though of going to the CNE on the labour day weekend but held off because of the airshow...i treasure my ear drums more than anything, even vision
interesting thread (other than the battle and british part of it! lol)
just sayin...