aviation

The CAF charges admission to tour

FIFI, for an adult it is $10 and a child is $5.

It is possible to  y on the aircraft too. Four

seat positions are available: bombardier,

 ight observer, cockpit and gunner. The

most expensive is the bombardier position

costing $1,695 if purchased at an event or

$1,595 online. The cheapest is the gunner

seat costing $595 at an event or $570

online. It is a one-hour experience involving

brie ng, start-up, taxiing and then 30mins

in the air.

CAF has no problem getting paying

passengers for FIFI – which is a good thing.

Even with its volunteer tenders, the CAF

pays $10,000 per hour to  y this aircraft,

due to its prodigious consumption of

aviation fuel – 100 US gallons (379 litres)

per engine per hour and oil at two gallons

per engine per hour.

Then there’s the challenge of keeping the

septuagenarian FIFI safe to  y. Boccaccio

estimated that one hour of  ying time

translates into 100 hours of maintenance on

the ground. Since FIFI is ‘on the road’ every

summer, this work is done wherever she

might be parked; from minor repairs right up

to engine replacements.

32 Aviation News incorporating Jets November 2018

The glass-panelled cockpit of the B-29 was allegedly the

inspiration for Star Wars’ ‘Millennium Falcon’. Wiki Commons

Paying customers line up to tour the

Superfortress. Wiki Commons