Another way to look a things, is that for some, the older aircraft do put you in touch with history but mostly w/o them the SR-71 and the Raptor would have never evolved. Having been re-tired from the navy for 7 years, my best memories are of CV-43 USS CORAL SEA, with F4's, A7's, F8's, EA6B's, A4's and my first plane the E2B Hawkeye. To some like me those were the best of the best. I once had the chance to meet Pappy from VMFA-214 in Cubi Point in the PI. To see him sitting in the seat of an A4 was awsome. Don't get me wrong, the advances in tech are too cool and make for some wicked airplanes, but the real thrill is going away. By the way I flew and fixed Ch-46's my last 17 years.