Sea Fury Comes Home

[QUOTE=srpatterson]The original owner, George Baker, painted the RAN scheme and she’s been like this ever sense. With so many Sea Furies getting painted as racers I rather like this look, although there is talk of painting her in FAA colors. Maybe next year.
QUOTE]

Way to go thanks for sharing your experiences with us all. On colours schemes, I’d love to see you go for a Royal Navy scheme, there are not alot, if any accurate RN schemes on US Furies.

May you enjoy many happy hours together.
Congratulations and well done that man !

😉 Thanks for sharing 😉 Anna 😀 😀

That bottle of Spitfire resides in a place of honor on my bar, as Andy will be able to attest after he visits next month.

Geez, the lengths some people will go to get a ride in a Sea Fury 😀

Just the one bottle of ‘Spitfire’ :rolleyes: Steve, here in Kent we’ve got the brewery that makes it, and they do tours of the brewery too.

Geoff

Just out of interest has anyone ever done a direct comparison between the Centaurus and R3350 engined Sea Fury’s. Basic handling characteristics and manouverability (dare I say dogfighting ability as well, possibly a bit much) The engineering and maintenance differences are already well known, but does losing the blade make for a better or worse aircraft to fly?

New oil tank, new oil cooler, all new hoses, fabricated a new water spray bar tank and fitted a new leading edge on the starboard side (looks like a proper Sea Fury now, well except for missing the 5th prop blade), sealed the firewall from air leaks, complete disassembly and inspection of the landing gear…and lots of little stuff. New radios are on the list for this Winter, but basically I’m very happy.

It’s interesting the differences between the Bristol Centaurus and the Wright 3350. I’ve not flown the Centaurus, but with the 3350 cylinder head temperatures are never a problem. In fact, the hottest the cyl temp ever get is the bottom of the green arch. However, oil temps start to rise the minute you put the gear down in the pattern. As I understand it the landing gear creates turbulent air that disrupts the airflow through the cooler. Turning on the spraybar and leaving it on during landing and taxi gets the oil temp to around 80c. Without it temps will go over 100c.

That’s a priceless view over the nose of that bird! 😀 Excellent addition to the collection you mentioned. You’re a lucky fella 😉

What type of work did you have done to the plane while in Texas btw?

Bar…

Mike
Yes you need careful feet in certain places.
Actually I’m only going because he’s always boasting about his well stocked bar.
I’ll soon take the shine off that.
Cheers
Andy 🙂 😀 😀 🙂 :rolleyes:

Hey, great to hear Southern Cross is finally ‘home’. Well done Steve, time to crack open that bottle of Spitfire in celebration…? 😉

That bottle of Spitfire resides in a place of honor on my bar, as Andy will be able to attest after he visits next month.

Geez, the lengths some people will go to get a ride in a Sea Fury 😀

Steve

Lovely pics. Many thanks for sharing this with us. Enjoy your playtime. There are many people would love to be in a similar position.

regards

tc

Hi Steve,best wishes on the continued safe flight of your Sea Fury,they really are an awesome machine.I remember flying with the late Guido Zuccoli in Fury 308 before he returned it to single seat status.We flew a few circuits of Darwin airport and then did a low level pass down the runway below tower height.In his words,”this is what Reno is like!!!”I’m very partial to Aussie markings,especially those on the ex P.Morgan fury.Regards,Pete

Great to see you’ve got her home – know what about taking it apart, putting it in a crate and shipping it over for Legends 😀

Your definition of home is slightly wide of the mark old boy…..

Good news though, well done!

Congratulations Steve! Looks mighty fine to me 🙂

Also, sorry for the quality of the photos

no need to apologise, its not often that we get the chance to see the view from the drivers seat. I particularly like the forward view shot.

Glad to hear that the bird is home.

Ken

Hey, great to hear Southern Cross is finally ‘home’. Well done Steve, time to crack open that bottle of Spitfire in celebration…? 😉

Excellent news MrP, cracking photos which really capture the moment.

Just imagine one of they goin’ round the bend at Old Warden 😀

Its always a relieve to see that a plane gets home. You must feel great to have this plane back. Enjoy flying this nice machine.

PS: Altough you clame that you are not a photographer, I do like those pics you took.

J.V.

Steve, good to see her back in the air where she belongs, she looks really good. And besides I can’t count the blades when the engines running.

Love those Kangaroos…..

Well done. A great bird