Warbird Information Exchange

Maybe since the restoration has been on going since 1991?

about 10 years is what I was told at last years WWII weekend as well by a restoration volunteer. there is still LOTS to do and they don't want to provide a firm timeline until they are closer to completion. as far as I know, they still have to complete the outer wings, plus plumbing, wiring, rigging, testing...they aren't going to rush anything with this rebuild!

Sean

I'm guessing sometime around the Centennial of the Second World War in 2041, myself.

I am learning in regard to restorations. . . the old saying - speed, quality, low cost. you can only choose two and lose the third. . . .

Tom P.

Or the other old saying regarding restorations: "90% finished so only 90% to go".

Thanks for the clarifications: I hadn't realised the outer wings etc were still to be done. I'm happy to wait; just hope I'll be there to see it!

I agree with others here that the Stuka will likely get the most excitement going for the wider audience worldwide. P-61 also up there.

Personally I am excited about the Ki-61 and the Kingfisher for Yagen's Military Aviation Museum, and the P-59 at Chino that has been "close" for about 10 years.... I tend to get more excited about ultra rare types that have not been flown for decades over "another" B-17, P-51 etc., but I acknowledge that some of these do not generate the same amount of excitement with everyone. Japanese aircraft do not seem to get the same level of interest. Tempest also seems to be less known, and will likely not generate the same level of interest in the US at least. It is unfortunate.

A potential very exciting restoration could be if one of the combat vet aircraft from the sunken Hornet/Wasp expedition were brought up for restoration. These aircraft could potentially have Glacier Girl level provenance.

This is basically what I was trying to convey in my in initial post, sure there are plenty of VERY nice Mustangs/B-25s/B-17s in the pipeline, but the next restorations that will live up to the Twin Mustang are few and far between.

The thing about the XP-82 is even though I've seen a lot of "what is that thing?" comments, it still resembles a P-51 (probably the most recognizable warbird) and even the average enthusiast mind blows that a Twin Mustang exists, let alone flies.

You might be right about the Tempest situation. My thinking is that for the most part very little of the warbird following population has ever heard a Napier Sabre powered aircraft fly before (not even in VIDEOS!!). Seeing rare birds is awesome, but the sound of an engine that VERY few have actually heard is something I can't wait to experience. It's like hearing a Tigercat for the first time, you don't understand that putting two 2800's together is a whole new sound! (Same goes for a Daimler, or POF's Zero) I for one have never heard a warbird with more than one Merlin fly (in person), so hearing the Twin Mustang, Mossie, or Lanc is still going to be something new!

The way they do livestreams is another cool way of showing what they are up to. I didn't realize they got a C-1.

Agree on new sights and sounds being great to experience. Having seen many Merlin's over the years, and the Mosquito and Lancaster at the Military Aviation Museum in Virginia Beach doing fly pasts the same times as other Merlins I can attest that the Mosquito sounds glorious. The Lancaster did not sound as impressive as I would have imagined- sounds fantastic granted, but not like 4 screaming Merlins in close formation. Think it has something to do with the manifold pressures/RPMS they run her at and the exhaust stacks.

A very well known collector died two Thursdays ago. I’ve seen his stuff recently. A hangar full of “airworthy when parked” WW II aircraft and no less than TEN (10) truckloads of aircraft parts, maybe more. He’s been off the radar a long time . I would put him up there with Mike Coutches on amount of desirable stuff, or more.

A flyable Dinah, Myrt, Tenzan, even a Judy, would probably send me into a catatonic state. Those are some great looking and performing airplanes.

He will be missed, Blue Skies Sir...

I know they're not restorations, but I'd love to see the rest of the Ki-43 replicas completed.

_________________
Matt

Hmm you had me guessing for a bit then I remembered WS, the trucking line former air racing owner. Interesting.

I believe that Air Corp Aviation has the remains of the P-38 that the late jeff Ethall lost his life in back in 1997 in storage. If so possibly after the P-47 is completed perhaps work might start on this P-38. I don't know the history on this aircraft except that a guy by the name of Bruce Pruitt owned it for a lot of years.