Noha307 wrote:
The question I have is: Does the judging make the distinction between "accuracy" and "originality" - with accuracy being when the parts are as of the same type (i.e. same part number) that were on the aircraft at the time of its operational life, and originality being when the parts are the same exact ones (i.e. same serial number) that were on the aircraft at the time of its operational life.
I would think that if major components were original to the specific aircraft it would certainly help with the scoring. How many aircraft are flying with the engine that it had from the factory? A few I could think of but that's pretty rare. If this was presented to the judges then I believe that it would and should help the score. The more of these kinds of details will certainly make a difference but remember the judging staff is quite diverse so what tickles one judge may not have the slightest effect on others.
As an example the Tri State P-40's trim knobs caught my attention for their chromic acid anodize finish. Chromic acid anodize is hard to reproduce these days so I asked Paul about it. He said they were new old stock which explained why they still carried that finish. I loved that they left the original finish instead of the restoration route.
So these trim assemblies were possibly replaced with new parts new from the factory instead of being the restored original pieces (lots of assumptions here like maybe the trim assys didn't even come with the project etc). The NOS trims look great to me and I appreciate their authenticity.
Here is a photo of the Tri State P-40's trim knobs as seen last week:
And here is another P-40 that came though OSH years prior for comparison. Presumably the trim knobs were restored but in lieu of the chromic acid anodize they went with silver paint possibly because of the difficulty in reproducing the original finish.
For me the replaced NOS parts with factory finish are preferable to the painted original ones since it portrays what they actually looked like. Are they original to the specific aircraft? No, but it is a lot more authentic than the repainted ones in my book. Once again this little detail tickled me but other judges will be excited or turned off by their own individual observations. This is why the scores are averaged out and this is what determines the winners.
Sometimes, like this year, the competition is very close in some categories. this is very cool for me as it comes down to the little details to make the difference. other years there is little competition which isn't nearly as much fun. Sometimes it's hard to see the top point aircraft get an award simply because of the complete lack of competitors. In those lean years we often will not give an award in order to preserve the integrity of the EAA Warbird awards as it is really the premier judging event for these aircraft that we love so much.
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Vintage Aircraft, Stockton, California
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