It never ceases to amaze me how the armchair experts here think they know better than the engineers actually doing the work.

What check rides are civilian fast jet pilots (who can be PPL holders) required to carry out, any by whom?

Were any damaged during production where gaps in C/N exist ?

Why would that be necessary? There are still plenty of Tesco bags full of corroded, mangled shards of aluminium dug from muddy fields in existence, in order to to give identities and legitimacy to newly-build airframes.

It will be going to ARCo for deep maintenance at the end of this season. That was always the plan, AFAIK nothing has changed.

I would suggest approaching the VAC

http://www.vintageaircraftclub.org.uk/

Probably the most perfect/highest quality Zero that has ever been.

The folks at Planes of Fame would certainly take issue with that statement. They maintain, quite correctly as it happens, that theirs is the only original Zero flying and all the rest are modern replicas (however well done they might be) with modified DC-3 engines on the front.

Stephen still flied high-energy, low-level aerobatic displays. For example, he took his new P-36 up several times over the Legends weekend last year, including flying a full routine over the field on Friday evening

Good health and experience over youth and risks taken by them any day.

Statistically, if you look at the pilots involved in recent UK airshow crashes, I’d say you couldn’t possibly be more wrong