Warbird Information Exchange

There was a group that wanted to fly the B-36 that was at Fort Worth one last time. THe USAF said no.

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Chris Henry
EAA Aviation Museum Manager

is it plauasable to try and build new engines?

But what is the point of building a new B-24 from scratch? It would not BE a B-24, only a full scale flying model of one. The engines would not be as they were originally, nor the wiring or much of anything else. None of the recreated parts would be exactly what they would have been in the original, and even if the recreation was exact that does not make it the real thing. What we would have is an aircraft that would actually compete with the originals for fees and schedules at the airshows. If anything, the fullscale models might hasten the removal of the originals from the air.

Where there are no flying representatives, such as the Me-262 or the Japanese "Kates," a flying copy serves an educational purpose, at least. But these copies cost only a tiny fraction of the huge cost of a complicated four-engine bomber. Such money could be much better spent -- think of all the real veterans that are lanquishing and even being lost for lack of such money.

Kevin.

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Kevin McCartney

I see room for both species to co-exist!

Why cant we essentially produce "new" 24's, besides money of course. Since there is only two flying, i could see other groups that wish to fly a B-24 or any other bomber for that part, but cant get a hold on an airframe.

If it ever happened, id try to get one and paint it up in my grandfathers aircraft markings.

Even though its likely not going to happen ill still keep dreaming, and even still stranger things have happened. I believe new builds can and will start to show up in new and more interesting shapes.

B-24, B-26, B-36, B-32, Ki-43, Val, Zero, Kate, P-40b/c, P-38, and who knows what else!

Which ones would you guys like to see replicated?

Hummm sounds like they are the free country. I'm sure the EPA crap is gona be there soon.

Someone mentioned CAD and CNC making it easier. Not really. And yes alot of parts could be reverse engineered by digitizing, but you still need fixturing even for some of the smallest of parts. Unless you are talking a star trek replication system, it is still a very slow and time consuming endevor manufacturing parts, especially the first one.

If a group wants to get together and set me up with land and a shop, I'd love to start reproducing parts, and building replica engines or aircraft parts, I do it daily now for someone else. Just need a place to do it. I'd supply the CNC. Sounds like fun.

What I was referring to was the premium types that will probably escalate in popularity and demand, and that don't show any hint of a market slowdown. The Spitfire, Mustang, Bearcat, DHC Beaver, etc.
There are something like 50 B-24's or B-24 derivatives out there. If you wanted one badly enough, you would buy one of the originals. B-36? Impossible to comprehend why a person of great wealth would want to have one flyable, were they even a good flying airplane? Some types are destined for extinction as airworthy types. I remember in the 1980's, two Kawanishi Emily flying boats came available in Japan, also 3 Dornier Flying boats surplused from the Spanish Navy. There were no takers.
In the real world there are limits.
If you look at how the U.S. and other industrialized nations are accelerating the wealth distributed to the top 1% of wage earners, and how many countries are adopting western type economies, and how many nations now have warbird collectors compared to 20 years ago, then it's easy to see the P-51, Spitfire, and Bearcat fetching 10 million dollars per copy.

What we really need is a whole bunch of new build F6F's. Wouldn't that be sweet?!

That was then, this is now MarineAir..offer the same deal 20 years from now..and see who shows up. Only 10 or 15 years ago a B-29, or its remains were scrapped in a small town in Ohio(IIRC) because of local predjudice about a fellas unsightly yard. The "yard gnomes"=1, B-29=0.

The Emily's would be tough to swallow nowadays for anyone but the most determined elite..ala Martin Mars, but the Dorniers would probably find homes now.

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DBF

[quote Only 10 or 15 years ago a B-29, or its remains were scrapped in a small town in Ohio(IIRC) because of local predjudice about a fellas unsightly yard. .[/quote]


Any more info, was it WS?

It seems if the demand continues to increase, and prices continue to escalate, which they will, then there will be three movements.
1) Shops that have the expertise to restore, repair, and re-restore original aircraft from the Second World War, etc.
2) Shops geared toward limited one time production of extinct warplanes or historic types on a commissioned basis. This would be like a finite run of Brewster Buffaloes, Mosquitos, or Stukas. They would stick very close to the original blueprints where practical.
3) New production classics that at first glance, look sound smell and fly like the originals. The difference is modern brakes, modern hydraulics, fuel systems, construction techniques and materials, much lighter than the combat originals, no armor plating, etc. Autopilots, oxygen, air conditoning, standardized glass cockpit, better ingress and egress for heavier, older pilots, more leg room etc. Some of the types might include the P-51, Spitfire, Corsair, Hellcat, and Zero.
Buyers would be willing to pay more for an all factory new copy of a favorite copy , in exchange for a reduced cost in insurance and maintenance. Similar to the VLJ market, the person that wants the niftiest airplane on his airport, with dreamlike performance, but also wants to zip over to his second home 800 miles away nonstop, IFR. Similar to a corporate jet without all the trappings.

I was with you until these passages. This is one of the biggest problems with America right now: exporting all the jobs to these 3rd world crap holes, just to save $.50.

The question is how many organizations out there that interesting in flying B-24s and B-26s. Is there a big demand out there for flying examples? Granted, there are only 6 known complete B-26 airframes in existence, so perhaps demand is low because the supply is known to be REALLY low.

Personally, I'd love to see a flying B-26...I missed seeing Carolyn when she was around and have never seen Kermit's example. I'd like to think there are several organizations out there that could fly new build B-26s. But with the B-25 being somewhat plentiful, most groups wanting a medium bomber are more than happy with a 25.

I think, if anything, we'll see new builds restricted to popular fighter types where it makes economical sense to tool up to build multiple examples...or, like the P-51, where there is already an "industry" to supply new build parts. And basically, a lot of the P-51s we see being "restored" today are little more than a new build airplane with a few vintage parts and a data plate.

I think the most successful venture into new build aircraft might be for P-38s. They are wildly popular, yet few flying examples exist. However, I personally would be less interested in seeing a new build P-38 with modern equipment/cockpit that a new build P-38 that stuck as close as possible to the original design. I know that restored P-51s with modern cockpits just don't have the same appeal to me as do the P-51s with "stock" cockpits.

No, he never had a 29.

There was a thread about it here, but I can't get the board search function to play nice.

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A few years back I heard through the MMM (Marauder Men of the Metroplex) that a few new-build B-26s were being considered by some outfit, but nothing more since that time. I don't recall who was going to attempt it, though.