RickH wrote:
O.P. you're very mistaken. The Lone Star Bearcat is a very nicely done fresh restoration, it only has minimal time on it. Flight test and to and from the paint shop in N. Houston. I saw it this weekend and it's beautiful.
It's finished in Butch Voris' Blue Angel colors, he saw pictures a few weeks before he passed away and sent Ralph Royce a note saying "perfect"!
Hi Rick!
I am by no means dissing the restoration. It is the finest Bearcat in existence. My only thought was, I was under the impression that it has been sitting for a long time. I am probably wrong about that, I saw that it was annualed last year.
The reason I bring it up is because a couple of horror stories a couple of T28 buds told me. Both of them, in different instances, purchased and picked up 100 percent restored, beautiful planes, in annual, that had been sitting idle for 2 and 3 years respectively. In one case the first indication of a problem was a very strong gas smell during the middle of the cross country flight bringing it home.
In both cases, they ended up pulling every hose and gasket out of the planes and having them inspected and replaced if needed and everything retorqued, ect, ect.
I always think about what they told me when I see simular kinds of deals. If it was my money, and the plane had less than X amount of hours on it over X amount of time (TBD by someone who knows better than me), then the plane wouldn't even move until it had super big bob marley giaganto annual done on it.
I figure its what you do, cost of owning one, no biggie. I don't know why, but I've had the impression that that plane, and some of the other LSFM beauties haven't actually flown in quite awhile. I'm probably wrong on that.
I hope that clears up my thinking on it. That is the finest Bearcat out there! I hope it comes out this direction. It'd be nice to see two of them together.
Orvis