marine air wrote:
WendoverTom , it hit the ground at a high rate of speed and sink rate. If you get a chance, go tour an aircraft salvage yard and look at wrecks. It's an eye opener.
"IF" someone wanted to rebuild an F2G SuperCorsair it would start something like this. 1)Start with a data plate and logbooks. 2) Source a complete set of parts manuals and blueprints. 3)Next try to locate any surplus F2G parts, especially those unique to the F2G. Not likely to find anything, however, as in the rebuild of the XP-82 , occassionally something turns up. Remember that Hellcat gear leg in the flea market at an airshow a few years ago?
4) Study the parts catologues & find what parts are the same as on the more common FG-1 and F4U COrsairs. Those won't be plentiful or cheap either.
5) Start building jigs for the fuselage, wings etc.
6) Start rebuilding the items that have been sourced.
7) Contract out what you can't build yourself.
This is just an estimate as I haven't built one myself.
The Goodyear F2G isn't entirely complex or markedly different than an FG-1. #74 was simpler still. In a nutshell, its an FG-1 with the turtle deck modified to accept a P-47 thunderbolt canopy and a P&W R-4360 bolted to the front. Yes, I'm aware that F2G's had other specific parts like the aux rudder, but Cook Cleland stripped the racers and replaced #74's tall rudder with a normal corsair rudder. #74 was put together to be nothing more than a motor, an airframe, and very basic hydraulics for the landing gear and other essentials. I don't think there was wing-fold mechanicals or flap movement (bolted in place). Correct me if I'm wrong there but my understanding is it was a pretty stripped down ship.
That's not the point though. The point is, Walter Soplata saved the air frame from getting junked waaaaay back when. He sold the plane under the condition that it never fly and be put on static display. Now, those agreements aren't worth much, and people pass on, machines change hands, but at the end of the day allll that effort to save the thompson trophy winning airframe were for naught.
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