TimSavage wrote:
One of the paper drop tanks is a real one, one of three that exist in the world. The other is one that Bob manufactured. You cannot tell the difference.
Wow! Sounds like a well deserved winner.
I have a friend that builds RV-6's. He took one of his to OSH a few years ago and was very disappointed that he didn't win anything. He does fantastic work (shoots all the rivets from the inside to avoid dimpling the exterior for instance), and has probably built 25 of them so far.
The RV-6 that won that year had all the rivet heads filled with bondo and was primed and sanded as smooth as glass. His contention was that anyone could bondo bad metalwork smooth, so he felt his airplane showed better craftsmanship.
Needless to say, he never went back (plus they chased him away from his own airplane on the show line because he was drinking a can of coke next to it...).
I guess my point is that you can spend all that time and money for a show and more often than not get nothing. Imagine spending $1.5M on a Mustang, reskinning the entire thing yourself, and going home emptyhanded! Unless you are in the business, you probably wouldn't do another. My hat is off to the restorer/owners that do this- I wouldn't for one! Although if I ever bring my T-6, maybe I'll enter my roach of an airplane if it helps someone else to get a well deserved award.