Warbird is the term used in reference to vintage military aircrafts that are operated by common civilians, organizations, and also by military flight firms such as the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, the South African Air Force Museum Historic Flight and the RAAF Museum Historic Flight. One can usually see restored warbirds as a common attraction at famous airshows. “Stock” warbirds of highly modified forms are also the common item flown during air races, as the fighters from the World War II period are the fastest airplanes that are propeller-driven. Airplanes like the Hawker Sea Fury, the North American P-51 Mustang, the North American T-6 Texan and the Grumman F8F Bearcat are popular warbirds used in races. Originally used in relation to piston-driven aircrafts of World War II, the term Warbirds is also implied to all military aircrafts, including jet aircrafts. However, conventional airworthy jet aircrafts are technically complex and thus can be found not so frequent.
Warbirds are also referred to newly built altered versions and reproductions of the conventional aircrafts. For example, the Yakovlev Yak-9s powered by Allison V-1710, Me 262 Project built Messerschmitt Me 262s, and Focke-Wulf Fw 190s built by the Flug Werk; it includes aircraft designs built between World War I and the 1930s, a period when the design of military aircrafts was quite complex. The replicated warbirds are sometimes powered by the vintage engines from the period of the aircraft designs being flown like Cole Palen’s reproduced Fokker Dr.I, Sopwith Dolphin World I and Sopwith Camel aircraft, done at his Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome aviation museum.