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As far as I view it, the competition at Oshkosh last year was always between the Mosquito KA114 and the P-51D 'Sierra Sue II'. It was so close that the judges came out to look at these two aircraft/discuss over it a number of times (even in the middle of the night) - and that is really saying something for both aircraft. Nothing has topped the level of authenticity in the restoration of 'Sierra Sue II', but the restoration of the Mosquito was a much greater challenge/a far more complex aircraft to restore/build, and it won "Grand Champion". Warbird judging at Oshkosh is all a points system, and is based on predefined criteria, and each criteria has a limit to how many points can be tallied. A pre-established amount of points are given automatically depending on the level of complexity of the aircraft being judged - greater amount of points for greater complexity and rarer types. From what I recall, the judging criteria is quite general, and I'm sure 'SSII' didn't gain any extra bonus points for having period-correct rivets, original of-the-period primers and paints, inked-stamped stencils, or being restored exactly to its original wartime production block standards (and not just a generic example with a mix of different production block details), as well as still containing roughly 90% of its original internal structure and even a number of original skins, etc. In one of the set criteria I recall, you gain points for having such things as a fire extinguisher in the cockpit (even if there was never one originally) - extra points for added safety measures. What could be considered "2nd place" (i.e. "Reserve Grand Champion"), went to 'Sierra Sue II', which was the most complete authentic warbird in attendance, but couldn't get as many points as the Mosquito. The "Most Authentic" award, which went to the aircraft that is the subject of this thread, was the award that was newly created last year.
Last edited by JohnTerrell on Thu Mar 10, 2016 8:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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