SaparotRob
Unter Gemeine Geschwader Murmeltier XIII
Why am I reminded of a Johnny Cash song?
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Why am I reminded of a Johnny Cash song?Back in the early 60's a guy came up with what he thought was a great idea. The airlines were introducing jet aircraft but there were no civilian jet trainers. So he went around and collected parts for Lockheed T-33A's until he was able to build one. Trouble was, it did not exist, had no serial number, and Lockheed refused to issue a new one. But then the USAF sold a wrecked T-33 and sold it not as scrap metal but as an airplane. He bought that one and transferred the serial number to his.
In the 80's someone duplicated that experience with a T-38; it appeared in a "Top Gun" Pepsi commercial. He said that by the time he had enough parts to build one he actually had collected enough to build two.
What a great link! I didn't notice the article's date. Could it be that the Planes of Fame Museum in Chino, California (a great place to take the kids to see what beautiful things math and science can create) actually has 2 actual Zeros in the same place?In the 1990s. a successful newly-semi-retired Boise-area landscaping contractor, "Sterling", were in the process of restorin a Mitsubishi Zero in the fashion described above. He and his wife/business partner gave a nice presentation about the project at a business gathering I attended.
The plane was part of a squadron based in the Marshall Islands (not sure which) There were about a half dozen aircraft hulks residing in the trees at the remnants of their airfield. Seems it was a base that was bypassed by the Allies as they advanced toward Japan. Isolated and cutoff from all supplies, the base and the planes were abandoned.
There was much negotiation and red tape in dealing with the Marshalls government, as well as a substantial amount of cash being paid to the government for what was left of the airplane. And as described above most of the plane was unusable. (the landscaper had a big piece of the original fuselage skin with the "meatball" still very visible hanging on a wall at his home) They had secured the services of a great fabrication and restoration firm. and basically fabricated and rebuilt the lions share of the airframe, and were looking to obtain spares and other components, like the engine, etc. It took a couple years, and the Sterlings were not not finished at the time of the presentation.
I found a site that describes the project and it subsequent work:
The Tale of a Zero Fighter (warbirdsnews.com)
From a friend whose father was building Thunder Mustang, I was told that it was powered by a V12 built upon Chevrolet big block V8 engines. They must have created a V12 blocked based on the Chev 454 ci engine.I do not think that the 5151 kit was around in 1982. More like 1992 or later. And it would not leave a hole in the ground but barely even dent it.
There was the Thunder Mustang, which was a pretty high powered subscale P-51 and I think it used an auto engine. There were plans for a full scale composite Mustang using a combination of P-51D and P-51H features but while I saw a picture of the mold for the fuselage I do not think I ever saw one built.
In the movie "Empire of the Sun" there is an attack on the Japanese air base by P-51's and in one scene you can see a Mustang fly by in the background that is certainly is a sub scale homebuilt; it has no doors over the wheels.
What's the point in stopping at 80% scale? You're almost there, why not make it a true to scale replica?It's an 80% replica with a Ford V-6 engine
In 2019 I visited the Boeing museum of flight in Seattle. Their collection of replica WW1 aircraft is amazing.On the subject of film replicas, this, believe it or not was based on a Tiger Moth, it's a Pfalz D III and appeared in the feature film The Blue Max.
View attachment 641778Knights of the Sky 74
This is also based on a Tiger and was supposed to appear in the movie Biggles Sweeps The Skies and was known forever as the Biggles Biplane but sadly crashed recently.
View attachment 641779BE.2-1
What's the point in stopping at 80% scale? You're almost there, why not make it a true to scale replica?
If you're spending a load on a full size replica, I'd get a big block crate engine, like this 700 hp beast Edelbrock.com: Performance Crate Engines - Chevy Ford GMThere is an old saying that the last 10% of building an airplane takes 90% of the time. That extra 20% probably would translate into infinity.
And what engine would you use? The guy who built the full scale Spitfire in the US used a V-1710. The difference between an automobile V-6 and a V-1710 is enormous.
What's the point in stopping at 80% scale? You're almost there, why not make it a true to scale replica?
In 2019 I visited the Boeing museum of flight in Seattle. Their collection of replica WW1 aircraft is amazing.
How much training did the 18-22 y/o Spitfire pilots get in 1939-41? I'd think they were giving some hours on a Tiger Moth, the a Master, then thrown into the Spit.getting into a Spitfire or a Mustang is something else that requires all your skill and accumulated experience as a pilot. They are not for the scant of experience or training.
There's a story about tyro pilots buying surplus P-51s from scrappies after the end of WW2 ending up as smoking holes in the ground
How much training did the 18-22 y/o Spitfire pilots get in 1939-41? I'd think they were giving some hours on a Tiger Moth, the a Master, then thrown into the Spit.