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PostPosted: Wed May 30, 2018 5:27 am 
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Location: Cornwall UK
Everyone loves Spitfires or so it seems and we at Gateguards seem to be knee deep in whole airframes and parts at the moment. Our old website was shall we say a little tired, but as of yesterday, the new one is up and running and interest has been a lot better than in the past. Yesterday alone we received one enquiry for a Lysander and another for a set of Spitfire prop blades.

But that is not to say that we only build that iconic aeroplane, we also have a Hurricane in production and are looking at building more P-51s (an American Museum Curator, told me that real ones these days are made of "unobtanium" and so its down to people like us to bridge the gap and to display aircraft that may not be freely available, or even exist today). The Bf109E and Lysander we built before are good examples of what can be built for the discernible customer. But within reason, anything can be produced.

As we have produced a new accurate mould of a Spitfire Mk.I/II, which of course can be converted into a Mk.V, by using Duxford and Shuttleworth examples as sole references, we are now in a position to be able to offer these at a lower price and so as it's the 100th Birthday of the RAF this year, we are keen to promote the new model. A marked change from what has come out of the hangar before, they truly are worthy replicas of the real thing. Biased?, of course not! :)

We are currently looking at building T-6 airframes. We have use of a donor example, from which moulds can be taken and what with some 35 years experience working with them, this is something that I would love to do. But, why I hear you all say? There are a number of airframes up on poles that could come down, be restored to either static or airworthy condition, or swapped with other Museums for something on the 'wants' list. And there are so many T-6 organisations and companies around the world offering rides, a full-size replica up on a pole or sat on its undercarriage outside would make an interesting advertisement for that venture. I know that the type is still available in a plentiful number, but surely an idea like this saves more airframes for future use. It may not happen, I hope it will, but it shows what we can and love to do.

Best wishes to all,

Martin Pengelly
Researcher/Archivist
GateGuardsUK
http://www.gateguardsuk.com

ImageDSCF7593 by Martin Pengelly, on Flickr

ImageLysander weathered by Martin Pengelly, on Flickr

ImageOutdoors_21 by Martin Pengelly, on Flickr


Last edited by T6flyer on Wed May 30, 2018 10:43 am, edited 1 time in total.

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PostPosted: Wed May 30, 2018 7:41 am 
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Nice idea, good luck with it.

I'm guessing that old, inexpensive, readily available T-6 hulks just aren't around the way they used to be.

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PostPosted: Wed May 30, 2018 5:03 pm 
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Martin, have any museums contacted your firm about recreating extinct (or nearly so) airframes like the Fairey Battle, Barracuda, DH Hornet, TBD Devastator, Buffalo, etc.?

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PostPosted: Thu May 31, 2018 6:34 am 
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Joined: Tue Feb 06, 2007 8:01 am
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Location: Cornwall UK
Chris Brame wrote:
Martin, have any museums contacted your firm about recreating extinct (or nearly so) airframes like the Fairey Battle, Barracuda, DH Hornet, TBD Devastator, Buffalo, etc.?


We had an enquiry from the RAF once for a Vickers Wellesley and then another from someone in Canada for a Battle, but apart from initial contact, no further response. Creating something that well is non-existant these days you can imagine takes a considerable amount of time and resourcing and so the price is rather amplified from that of a standard Spitfire or Mustang. That is to say that it can't be done, we all love what we do and what with our craftsmen and their individual skills, we can create almost everything - within reason - Spruce Goose might be out of the equation!

The Lysander for example was built using a few original parts to use as masters and then the rest was all done from blueprints, drawings and countless photos. For more information, please have a look at my Flickr album at:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/152681315 ... 1113086068

I would love to do something that little bit different, Hornet or Brigand would be good examples. Who know what we could be building in a few months time.

Best wishes,

Martin


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PostPosted: Thu May 31, 2018 10:08 pm 
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My vote would be 1) Vought F4U-1 Corsair
2) Mitsubishi A6M Zero
3) Brewster F2A Buffalo
4) Junkers JU-87 Stuka
5) Lockheed P-38 Lightning

these are designs that are highly sought after at airshows and by collectors or are practically extinct. The Buffalo was used by many nations and your customer marketing list would start with the national museums of the countries that used it . Like the Stuka, there just aren't many originals remaining.


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PostPosted: Thu May 31, 2018 11:47 pm 
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I like the site.... BUT a few creative critiques. Take them for what you will.

Under "Replica Aircraft" I would suggest a dropdown menu with every type of replica you've already produced or when you go to that page, their are pics of every aircraft you've already produced. Once you click on said replica aircraft you are faced with a picture of every individual example of that type you've made. Kinda similar to Hawker Restoration's site where they catalog every restoration they've done. This helps show a potential customer (especially under the Spitfire page) see just how many replicas you've made.

I understand why "Spitfires", "Replica Aircraft". "GTA", "Aircraft Parts", and "VR & Simulators" are all separate at the same time. I just hope you consider flushing out your site a bit more, with more content, detailing every project you've done. I for one would love to see them all! :wink:

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PostPosted: Mon Jun 04, 2018 4:27 am 
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Joined: Tue Feb 06, 2007 8:01 am
Posts: 92
Location: Cornwall UK
We wanted the website to portray in very simple terms what we do and what we build. We were advised by the website company to go for a simple format and that is what we have. Was something along the lines that if too much information is at hand (and most people now are viewing my phones rather than from a desktop), they get bored and move on. Ours is just a simple website. If people like what they see, and think we might be able to assist them, then they either phone or email us and we take it from there.

It's very early days for this new site, so plenty to look at and change. Some good ideas there. Will see about changing a few points, especially to the airframes built. We do register each and every project built with the British Aircraft Preservation Council who keep a log of all replica aircraft and at the moment our own contribution stands at over 25 different aircraft from F-35s to pre-war record attemptees.

Last week we got an enquiry for a Fw190 which we are looking at and who knows what today will bring!

Best wishes to all,

Martin Pengelly
Researcher/Archivist
GateGuardsUK


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