AU-1 Corsair is down.... 2019

[Ryan Harris]

Read the interviews in the docket. They are more eye opening, and have more detail that the NTSB didn't even delve into in the final report.

[sandiego89]

Does anybody know if can be rebuilt or was it a total? Maybe it could be a static display somewhere.

From the pictures in this thread it certainly looks rebuildable. The Corsair is a tough bird, and it does not look like major wing spar or fuselage damage. Likely needs a new engine as power was still on when the blades hit.

Indeed Ryan, some interesting tidbits about human factors in the witness statements perhaps.

[marine air]

I would say t's probably totaled based on the damage to the prop, cowling, engine, landing gear, wings, flaps, and fuselage. That sounds like more than a million dollars worth of damage. We are all taking our guesses. Maybe everyone thought the carb was fixed, okay and safe to fly. Sometimes something checks out in the ground runs but fails in flight or at full power. The FAA will want to know how the Pilot in Command, the final person to decide if the airplane is airworthy, came to the decision to fly the airplane.
The FAA will be looking closely at the decision making process to fly the airplane.

[kalamazookid]

From the NTSB Accident Report linked earlier in the thread:

Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed that the left-wing aft spar was structurally damaged.

[quemerford]

I would say t's probably totaled based on the damage to the prop, cowling, engine, landing gear, wings, flaps, and fuselage. That sounds like more than a million dollars worth of damage.

Photos and damage listed wouldn't indicate something beyond rebuild. Broken rear fuselage would be a challenge; spar damage maybe the decider rather than any of the above.

[bdk]

Photos and damage listed wouldn't indicate something beyond rebuild. Broken rear fuselage would be a challenge; spar damage maybe the decider rather than any of the above.

The difficult job is the center-section spars which may be OK. In any case, there are at least two or three Corsair center section spars being rebuilt now and a few have already been done and are flying. Outer wing spars are no challenge at all.

[JohnH]

I could swear I saw this being trucked off somewhere and it will be rebuilt. But it’s going to be a huge task.

[MKD1966]

I could swear I saw this being trucked off somewhere and it will be rebuilt. But it’s going to be a huge task.

Not too long ago I seen pictures of this bird on a Facebook page before the accident and someone commented wondering what was going on with it and John O'Connor himself responded with this quote "N965CV is getting a over due complete restoration. Will update soon." - so that sounds pretty good to me and if John Lane is doing the same type restoration like he's done on several other Corsairs it should be beautiful when completed...
Mike

[Have Blue]

It's definitely getting rebuilt - some major parts were just completed and delivered!

[OD/NG]

It's definitely getting rebuilt - some major parts were just completed and delivered!

Great news! Any estimate on what the timeline is looking like for return to airworthy? Is it close, or are we talking several years off now?

[phil65]

Tuesday...

[rcaf_100]

It's definitely getting rebuilt - some major parts were just completed and delivered!

Great news! Any estimate on what the timeline is looking like for return to airworthy? Is it close, or are we talking several years off now?

I had the privilege of talking with John at Geneseo this past weekend, and he mentioned it's looking like sometime next year.

[marine air]

Back in the 1970's, at the EAA convention Oshkosh, War Aircraft (W.A.R.) were selling 1/2 scale kits for the FW-190 and F4U Corsair. They had a mock up of the Corsair with the AU-1 paint scheme in their booth and it was extremely popular. My dad built a kit and we got about half way through it. I didn't know the Corsair was ever anything but blue.
It's an interesting "what if" the Corsair had made it into the Vietnam conflict as a COIN or FAC type aircraft. IT would've been better than the T-28D.

[bdk]

Back in the 1970's, at the EAA convention Oshkosh, War Aircraft (W.A.R.) were selling 1/2 scale kits for the FW-190 and F4U Corsair. They had a mock up of the Corsair with the AU-1 paint scheme in their booth and it was extremely popular. My dad built a kit and we got about half way through it.

I remember another year they had 1/2 of a 1/2-scale P-40 in the booth.

[Hooligan2]

I recall several WAR Fw190s, a Corsair, a P-47 and a Sea Fury being built in the UK but I didn't know they'd designed any inline engined replicas. As i recall, the basic fuselage structure was the same for each type with mouldings to delineate the shape of the aircraft represented. The Fw190s looked good, the Sea Fury ok but i never saw the P-47 or Corsair completed, just part built kits displayed at our equivalent of Oshkosh in the late 1980s...