Taking Your Questions And Giving You Answers About AK803
Wed Jan 31, 2007 12:16 pm
If anyone has any questions, comments, or funny things they've heard about AK803/1034 of the years, id love to answer questions for anyone.
Thu Feb 01, 2007 11:06 am
Hi Glenn,
I actually have a question about the P-40. Did the RCAF operate the aircraft in its natural metal finish? Or did your family do that? You dont really see too many P-40's in natural metal.
Does your grandfather have any interesting spares? I always enjoy seeing New Old Stock parts, just wondering if you guys have any to go along with the aircraft.
I am a big P-40 fan and when I first saw pictures of your families plane in one of Jeff Ethells books it really knocked my socks off.
If I had a time machine I would do exactly what your grandfather did!
I actually have a question about the P-40. Did the RCAF operate the aircraft in its natural metal finish? Or did your family do that? You dont really see too many P-40's in natural metal.
Does your grandfather have any interesting spares? I always enjoy seeing New Old Stock parts, just wondering if you guys have any to go along with the aircraft.
I am a big P-40 fan and when I first saw pictures of your families plane in one of Jeff Ethells books it really knocked my socks off.
If I had a time machine I would do exactly what your grandfather did!
Last edited by TAdan on Thu Feb 01, 2007 11:11 am, edited 1 time in total.
Wing change
Thu Feb 01, 2007 11:07 am
Hello Glenn.
WHere did the compete wing come from and what happened to her original wing when removed?
WHere did the compete wing come from and what happened to her original wing when removed?
Thu Feb 01, 2007 12:10 pm
Hi,
Well the plane has never been flown with the scheme that it has rate now. It was just stripped back in 1945 and sat till it went up for sale.
Yes George has a few spare parts but were always looking for more just in case something happens some day.
As for the wings the wings that were cut off of AK803 went back to california with John Paul when he came up to help with the wing change.
The wings that are under her now are from Cutback Alberta. Ill try to get some pictures of the wings when they were moved here and of the P-40 they were taken from.
Well the plane has never been flown with the scheme that it has rate now. It was just stripped back in 1945 and sat till it went up for sale.
Yes George has a few spare parts but were always looking for more just in case something happens some day.
As for the wings the wings that were cut off of AK803 went back to california with John Paul when he came up to help with the wing change.
The wings that are under her now are from Cutback Alberta. Ill try to get some pictures of the wings when they were moved here and of the P-40 they were taken from.
Sat Feb 03, 2007 9:17 pm
Glenn,
I guess I don't have comments or questions exactly, just a few wishes to express.
First, I wish your granddad all the best. I stumbled upon him and his airplane when poking around the airport in 1996 and found him a fine gentleman who took quite a lot of his time to show me around 1034 and impart a lot of information about it and the Bolingbrokes and other aircraft he has had a hand in preserving. At one point he suggested I hop in, an invitation I normally decline, but with this machine I was so excited that I darn near jumped over the wing rather than onto it. I never felt like that in any other warbird cockpit, seeing everything where it was supposed to be and looking neither pristine nor neglected, but just nicely broken in. A true time capsule. I treasured the experience and am glad to hear George is still around and hope he is doing great.
Second, I wish that no attempt will be made to fly it. As original as this airplane is, I would consider even the minimal IRAN necessary to make it safely airworthy to be a desecration.
Finally, I wish that it will not join a museum, at least for a while. Museums are great, but I would like to know that there are a few places around the world where someone who likes to nose around the general aviation ramps of sleepy airports might come across a genuine piece of the past and a guy who treats it like the treasure that it is. A classic airplane, like a fine wine or a great painting or photographic print, takes at least a half-hour to begin to appreciate properly, and an hour with a plane like 1034 and a man who knows it well is often a richer experience than seeing 50 such planes in a 3-hour museum visit.
So best wishes and thanks for continuing to let folks experience this amazing artifact.
August
George Maude
I guess I don't have comments or questions exactly, just a few wishes to express.
First, I wish your granddad all the best. I stumbled upon him and his airplane when poking around the airport in 1996 and found him a fine gentleman who took quite a lot of his time to show me around 1034 and impart a lot of information about it and the Bolingbrokes and other aircraft he has had a hand in preserving. At one point he suggested I hop in, an invitation I normally decline, but with this machine I was so excited that I darn near jumped over the wing rather than onto it. I never felt like that in any other warbird cockpit, seeing everything where it was supposed to be and looking neither pristine nor neglected, but just nicely broken in. A true time capsule. I treasured the experience and am glad to hear George is still around and hope he is doing great.
Second, I wish that no attempt will be made to fly it. As original as this airplane is, I would consider even the minimal IRAN necessary to make it safely airworthy to be a desecration.
Finally, I wish that it will not join a museum, at least for a while. Museums are great, but I would like to know that there are a few places around the world where someone who likes to nose around the general aviation ramps of sleepy airports might come across a genuine piece of the past and a guy who treats it like the treasure that it is. A classic airplane, like a fine wine or a great painting or photographic print, takes at least a half-hour to begin to appreciate properly, and an hour with a plane like 1034 and a man who knows it well is often a richer experience than seeing 50 such planes in a 3-hour museum visit.
So best wishes and thanks for continuing to let folks experience this amazing artifact.
August
George Maude