I'm just an enthusiast here not a full blown pilot but just my "two bits
"
here.
Most organizers of airshows in this day and age are well aware of the
fact
that there are not enough pilots and enthusiasts to make an airshow pay,
you
have to engage the nonflying public too if your show is going to survive.
That means Joe sixpack folks, the NASCAR fans and we all are well aware
what they go to a show to see.
If they don't have at least a hint of the possibility of crumpled sheet
metal they are going to stand there and watch all those pretty aerobatics
and go home and say HO HUM that wasn't worth my admission fee , I won't go
again and I will tell all my buddies don't bother.
I'm not saying that I think it is the way things should be, I too wish
that we could do things safe enough that several of my heros also could
still be alive.
Its just that I beleive that is what is behind all the (pardon the
language) Balls to the Wall flying we see .
Pilots trying to find one more trick to make a plane to dso to WOW! Joe
Sixpack so he will bring his family out to support the local airshow.
Remeber this is the generation whos favorite slogan is NO FEAR! ( I
usually add no brains either when I hear this but thats just me).



No, it is not just you.

NASCAR annoys me for a because the cars, as currently furmulated, have
nothing to do with the models they are supposed to represent--other than
making some production models less practical in order to let the race cars
fit within the side profile rules. I do not watch that crap, and still
might not if they ran stock cars; but then, at least, I might consider it.

OTOH, the X-Games and a lot of the crazy stunts, illusions, and pyrotechnics
for TV and Movies create an apparent demand for ever creater spectacles.
However, there may still be a question as to whether that demand is real, in
order to please Joe Sixpack, or purely in the minds of the promoters.

Peter
Just my $0.02, and worth what you paid.