Thu, Jul 31, 2025
Cautious Museum Puts Solvency Ahead of Shows ’Til Next Year
A Florida warbird museum won’t be putting on their much-adored air show in 2026, citing ballooning costs in ongoing renovations.
Commander of the Valiant Air Command Bob Boswell took to Facebook to break the bad news: “This is to inform you of the status of the Air Show planned for March 2026. Our Event Center completion cost, as of today, is 32% over the initial planned construction cost and this percentage will increase as we continue to receive additional cost overrun billings.
When hosting an air show there is always the possibility of a last-minute cancellation due to weather or other adverse events. A cancellation such as this would place the air show in a negative financial position since most of the support contracts would still require payment.”
After crunching the numbers, Valiant believes it’s smarter not to roll the dice on an air show until they have better footing. “Based on the current VAC financial position, and the perhaps remote possibility of a cancelled air show, the BOD voted not to go ahead with the planned March 2026 Air Show. Another aviation-related event on a smaller scale could be held in March 2026.The Event Center should be completed by then and based on the financial position at that time, BOD will revisit the possibility of hosting an Air Show in 2027.”
While it’s not great news by any means, it’s refreshing to see someone captain the ship with some wariness, even if it’s disappointing in the short term. Forgoing a year or two of air shows is a worthy drawback if the result is long-term survival, and everyone knows the economy is rough for warbird operators.
Hopefully things go better for the team in 2027, so fans in Florida can see a Twin Mustang take to the skies again. They’ve got plenty of other aircraft in their flying collection at the moment, like a C-47, a B-25, T-6, a Stearman, a Stinson… Their static collection is solid, too, with plenty of Cold War aircraft and classic planes alike.
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