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Posted on 04/09/2017 5:29:47 PM PDT by DFG
I once knew a guy who worked for an aircraft restoration company. As I understood it, in the case of valuable warbirds, they might retrieve what they could from a jungle, bog,etc, examine the pieces and declare a bakelite knob salvageable. They had drawings for everything and would manufacture an entire aircraft around the knob and market the finished product as a restored warbird along with accompanying price premium.
That may have been a bit of an exaggeration on his part... or not.
I once knew a guy who worked for an aircraft restoration company. As I understood it, in the case of valuable warbirds, they might retrieve what they could from a jungle, bog,etc, examine the pieces and declare a bakelite knob salvageable. They had drawings for everything and would manufacture an entire aircraft around the knob and market the finished product as a restored warbird along with accompanying price premium.
That may have been a bit of an exaggeration on his part... or not.
Yes that would work,
as long as that knob had a legit
Name Plate with serial numbers.
What’s the data plate?
It is an exaggeration, for sure. Although # million Pounds seems like a lot of money spent to restore an old bird.
A wing of the CAF, the old Confederate Air Force, that I was a member of, tried to restore an old Navy TBM. It was to cost a lot of money but not in the Millions. We never finished due to lack of licensed aircraft mechanics to oversee the work.
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A mark IX. Twin oil and coolant radiators, variable pitch 4 bladed prop and since it was designated low-level, a Rolls Royce “Merlin” with single stage turbocharger.
CC
“She flies real good. Only shot down once!”
US Air Force pilots do it every day in B52s.
If you were born after 1955.
Data plate/tag shows Mfr, serial number, model, date of mfr, and often other details of aircraft as of date of mfr.
pling
I am reminded of the producer of “The Battle of Britain” who bought the entire fleet of Spanish Air Force Heinkels off Franco in order to make the movie.
I mean how cool was it to actually find flying Heinkels? Fantastic, he shot the phenomenal footage of fleets of Heinkel bombers once again flying over the Channel all in brilliant Technicolor.
And then viewers complained.
“Ah those are Mk VIIc Heinkels, with rear thrusting exhaust pipes that the Luftwaffe didn’t use until 1943, those are the wrong planes”.
I paraphrase their complaint.
I kinda feel the same about this, well yeah it’s a Spitfire alright, a sort of Spitfire, but it’s not, you know, a Battle of Britain Spitfire is it? It’s not a real Spitfire.
I flew in P51C Betty Jane that was restored by Collins Foundation - it was both humbling and a blast
And yes that aircraft is at least 25 yrs older than I
“And then viewers complained. “Ah those are Mk VIIc Heinkels, with rear thrusting exhaust pipes that the Luftwaffe didn’t use until 1943, those are the wrong planes”.
Not nearly as bad as the early 50’s movie “Flattop” about a carrier during WWII.
The carrier has Hellcat squadrons and when they go into battle scenes some of the planes are Corsairs. They also show a plane crash on the deck that starts out as a Corsair and ends up as a Hellcat.
If you like warbirds, you might want to visit CalPacific Airmotive’s
website:
www.calpacificairmotive.com/
They hold most of the type certificates for the P-51 Mustang. I toured the facility a couple of years ago. They were asked if they could build a complete P-51 from scratch. While at that time, they had not yet built a completely new airframe, they told us that they have made every part that goes into one. BTW they get their Merlins from Jack Roush the Ford racer, who has a plant to remanufacture these engines. Just an amazing place!
Thanks.
ping
If that is its picture when it was in the museum, it looks like you may have it pegged.
I was born during WWII. But after Dunkirk. And I don’t care who else flies in old planes. It isn’t something I want to do. I gave up riding in Hueys too even though they are relatively new compared to WWII aircraft.
The brilliant English actor Leslie Howard produced and starred in a movie about the man who created the Spitfire. There is a sequence set in Nazi Germany just after Hitler took over which is chilling. BTW, Mr. Howard lost his life during WWII when the Nazis shot his down the plane he was traveling in. It is believed he was on a secret mission to Spain for Churchill.
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