Warbird Information Exchange

What replicas (or "full scale models" if you wish) are convincing enought to fool most museum visitors?

To start things off, how about the Pacific Air Museum SBD-3?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nostri-imago/2858209014/

How about any Fokker Dr.1

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Kevin McCartney

If the replicas are built to a convincing finish, I would imagine any replica could fool the average visitor. Being there just a month ago, I didn't look at the SBD for detail (hanging from the ceiling), thus I didn't realize it was a replica. The P-40, on the other had is very obvious, bu I still think most visitors wouldn't notice.

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Roger Cain
www.sfahistory.org
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Stearman/


We must limit politicians to two terms:
one in office and one in jail.

I didn't do a close up evaluation of the B-24 at Lackland, and had no idea the real McCoy had been taken away as I hadn't really kept up with the Liberator. Then when I got closer to the "airplane" I know I said "WTF". and visions of portions of the DT Collection for his eateries flashed through my mind. I was sooooooo...disaportioned

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Kind Regards,
Gary Lewis
J.A.F.O.

outside on sticks for all to enjoy

Any one of the several Gee Bee R-1 or Model Z. Some of them actually fly!

I also think the TORA birds fool most people and they fly and are considered replicas.

There are some nice P-51 mock-ups out there that use some original parts and they look pretty good.

I think the X-1 from "The Right Stuff" looks pretty good as does some of the fiberglass replicas I've seen of created the X-1.
Jerry

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"Always remember that, when you enter the ocean or the forest, you are no longer at the top of the food chain."

Look at the WWI "replicas" by Vintage Airmen in NZ. They are exact down to the last minute detail. Don

These two, in front of the RAF Museum at Hendon, UK are quite convincing:


This one too at the Museu do Ar in Portugal, until you start looking closely:

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Michel C
Thousands of a/c pics at Passion-Aviation

Does anyone know what happened to the Martin-Baker MB.5 replica that was bulit a few years ago?

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If the first casualty of war is innocence, the second is sobriety - Hawkeye.
Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws - Plato.
Lies get halfway round the world before the truth has a chance to get it's pants on - Churchill
If you are going through he11 - keep going - Churchill

You mean John Marlin's lookalike?

It underwent engine runs recently (pic in the last Flypast mag).

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Cheers

Daz

more or less in reno.

Yeah, when I went to Hendon a couple years ago my heart literally sunk about three feet driving into the parking lot. "Oh no...please don't tell me they stuck wood and fabric planes on a stick in THIS climate". But once you get up close, they are 'fake' but REALLY convincing.

And Hacker was showing me (from a distance) about quanset hut at Duxford by the end of the runway where Stephen Grey 'supposedly' has all of the real Spitfire hulks that were traded from the RAF for his very, very lifelike fiberglass replicas to be used as gate guards. Can anyone confirm?

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Offer me solutions, offer me alternatives, and I decline......

The P-51 at the American Air Museum at Duxford looks very good...enough to fool most people.

Likewise, I liked the B-24 at Lackland...again good enough for its job...and its good to know the real B-24 is beautifully restored kept under cover and a few feet away from the plastic P-51 mentioned above.

The Lackland P-38 is great too. Replicas really work well on poles since you usually can't get close enought to see the differences.

I do wish the USAF would take a page from Britain and replace all outside WWII fighter planes with plastic ones. In this day and age, there is no need for Mustangs, Thunderbolts, etc. sitting outside.

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Remember the vets, the wonderful planes they flew and their sacrifices for a future many of them did not live to see.

The best one I've seen is Bob DeFords Spitfire up in Prescott Az. I'll see if I can dig up a pic somewhere.

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The more I learn about aircraft, the more I realize I still have to learn.

Oh, you mean this one?










Gary