Full Scale Replica WW II aircraft

[Zac Yates]

There's something magical and classy about a well restored wooden aircraft.

The reactions to the Mosquito restorations coming out of New Zealand seem to be testament to that.

There are some cool ideas here, as well as some great projects.

[menards]

I guess what I would do "If I won the lottery" is set up an FAA approved shop building and start rebuilding wooden aircraft. Tiger Moths, Culver PQ-14s, Bucker BU 181 Bestmanns, Timm N2t-1's , Cessna Bamboo Bombers, Lockheed Vegas, Fairchild PT-19's, plus small batches of JURCA Spitfires and other full scale replicas. Imagine located where labor is cheap and plentiful and being able to restore the numbers of some of the once numerous types.
There's something magical and classy about a well restored wooden aircraft.

If this is truly your dream, you don't need to win the lottery to do it, Since your going to start with J-3s and Stearman's before moving on to bigger stuff anyway. You can restore a J-3 in your garage for surprising little dollars. There is a lot of the "If I won the lottery...." talk that pops up. Believe me, restoring a '47 V-tail bonanza and taking it up for its first flight in so-many years is equally as gratifying... and can also still be accomplished by most proletariat folks.

[StangStung]

I am surprised that some enterprising person hasn't used the moldless composite technique to build full scale replicas of WW2 types for use in the film and advertising industry

If anything, I predict this is where it goes next:
https://youtu.be/lJhn1OPO3Ig
Much like the variable dynamics of the car, there are already flying aircraft that can simulate the handling of other planes. Just imagine motion capturing the movements of a modified Extra 300 for the slower stuff and L-39 for the faster. That in itself would be a quantum leap forward in CGI aircraft.

Sorry to say but I think the movie replica days are behind us.

This right here is not getting enough love. This is huge for movie lovers. Not quite sure how you'd do the scaling thing for airplanes (like extending the wheel base in a car), but darn this thing has a lot of potential.

[JohnB]

But a motion capturing airframe for more realistic flying won't fix the bigger problem...when film makers WANT to get CGI wrong (Pearl Harbor P-40s vs A6Ms flying between the hangars) to make the scenes more exciting for the average brain-dead teenager/movie exec/movie stars.

[Tiger Tim]

But a motion capturing airframe for more realistic flying won't fix the bigger problem...when film makers WANT to get CGI wrong (Pearl Harbor P-40s vs A6Ms flying between the hangars) to make the scenes more exciting for the average brain-dead teenager/movie exec/movie stars.

They can still spot what's fake and probably get better at it as graphical technology advances elsewhere (video games, etc.) so perhaps there's still hope.

[Tiger Tim]

Not quite sure how you'd do the scaling thing for airplanes (like extending the wheel base in a car), but darn this thing has a lot of potential.

For one, the car scales because it needs to interact with the ground. We need to see the wheels bobble over the terrain and keeping them real is by far the easiest way to do that. An airplane in flight has no such issue, maybe the closest thing being that you'd want telemetry measuring control deflection to keep that accurate. Otherwise you just use the CGI output to 'paint' your fake plane over the real one.

Another option is to motion capture something close to what you need. Kind of a digital version of going from Texans to Zeroes. Back to cars for a minute, I saw a video from before that Mill Blackbird where they needed the latest model of not-yet-released Corvette for a car chase so they instrumented up the present model and swapped it out for what they really wanted in post production. Pretty cool stuff.

[Zac Yates]

For Flyboys - the WW1 film - they mo-capped a Pitts Special. Close, but...

[mazdaP5]

Somebody build a Typhoon, quick!

Gotta try to have a proper noise with that....Shoot! Let's go for the gusto and power it with a pair of supercharged Ferrari flat-12's stacked on top of each other!

Sounds good to me!

[Stoney]

Found the rest of my pix from 1989 in Oz

[Baldeagle]

For Flyboys - the WW1 film - they mo-capped a Pitts Special. Close, but...

It was a Jungmann, but I don't think they used any of the motion capture they got.



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[Zac Yates]

Thanks BE, I must have mis-remembered.

[marine air]

"Menards"; I rarely use the phrase "if I won the lottery" because it means someone is never going to do something. I have had two thoughts ruminating for years regarding this subject. 1) Most cabinet shops are really big or very small like 2 to 5 employees. I've considered buying one of these small businesses that's profitable. Maybe on the side build up wooden components for aircraft. This would be much less financially risky than trying to start a pure wooden aircraft shop. Non aviation people tend to be more "can do & hands on" than a bunch of airplane nuts.
2) I also have a fondness for a lot of the pre-war civilian types. Aeronca TC Defenders, Chiefs, J-4's and J-5s, there's an ample supply that need new wings built, etc. I'd like to get involved with wounded warriors and have a shop where these guys learn how to go back to work , and work with other vets. I think they would get a kick seeing something they built some ribs for take back to the air. Fixing old broken airplanes and putting them back into the air .

[maxum96]

I know someone posted about it before, but I can't find the thread. But here is the scaled down B-17 being taxied. The video was just posted to youtube a month ago.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHsUfeuYiMg

[menards]

"Menards"; I rarely use the phrase "if I won the lottery" because it means someone is never going to do something. I have had two thoughts ruminating for years regarding this subject. 1) Most cabinet shops are really big or very small like 2 to 5 employees. I've considered buying one of these small businesses that's profitable. Maybe on the side build up wooden components for aircraft. This would be much less financially risky than trying to start a pure wooden aircraft shop. Non aviation people tend to be more "can do & hands on" than a bunch of airplane nuts.
2) I also have a fondness for a lot of the pre-war civilian types. Aeronca TC Defenders, Chiefs, J-4's and J-5s, there's an ample supply that need new wings built, etc. I'd like to get involved with wounded warriors and have a shop where these guys learn how to go back to work , and work with other vets. I think they would get a kick seeing something they built some ribs for take back to the air. Fixing old broken airplanes and putting them back into the air .

You said it best...2-3 employees is a profitable shop. 3 people building Stearman and Cub wings full time would be enough to keep busy. If general aviation got back to the basics, there would be a whole lot more interest. There is nothing wrong with doing all your primary training in a cub (or something similar) with a minimalist panel & gauges....just my opinion... doing primary training in a 172SP with GPS, Autopilot, electric trim and a glass panel doesn't necessarily teach people how to fly..... I really like your aviation business plan....

[Mathieu]

Another Fokker D.XXI project, this time in Denmark. Would be great to see 2 flying D.XXIs in the near future. More about this project: http://www.nederlandseluchtvaart.nl/for ... XI-project

Regards,

Mathieu.