Hello faithful Typhoon friends,
Please note that my comments in this message are my own as they relate to Typhoon Legacy Co. Ltd. and myself (Ian Slater).
Recent events have pushed me to address a situation which has long been an elephant in the room in the Typhoon community. Publicly approaching this situation is exceedingly difficult, and I do not wish to distress any group or individual involved with the valiant efforts being made toward preserving the history of the Typhoon or her crews.
There are currently three groups seeking to rebuild or restore a Hawker Typhoon to either airworthy or static original condition:
These are in addition to the sole surviving intact Typhoon, MN235 which resides in Hendon.
The warbird community is small, and the Hawker Typhoon community is microscopic! The collective following of these few projects is massive and the support that we all get from the warbird community is fantastic. To this end, I have attempted to correct a reoccurring social media theme which identifies Hawker Typhoon RB396 as the ONLY SURVIVING COMBAT VETERAN. While the theme may be innocent in nature, it is painting a false image of the massive efforts being undertaken by many across all groups.
As a result of my comments made on this topic, false statements have been made regarding Typhoon Legacy Co. Ltd. in a public forum. The statement reads as follows:
(1) “We offered you the chance to get involved in our rear fuselage build, which you declined (as is your choice) to then find out from our contractor that you had contacted them directly trying to obtain information about our rebuild. That same information which we offered you the chance to collaborate on.”
“You concentrate on your efforts, we’ll concentrate on ours”
There is no truth to these claims whatsoever.
This is now the second time that false statements have been made publicly which claim that Typhoon Legacy Co. Ltd., its members, or myself have attempted to undermine the efforts of this charity.
As a consequence, I often receive questions regarding our willingness to work with or share information with other Typhoon related groups. I have gone out of my way to share with other groups in an effort to open the doors of communication and work together towards any overlap in common goals and between other aircraft types around the world.
Having been reluctant to address these comments in the past, this second occurrence has driven me to ensure that the collective following of all groups is aware of what is happening.
I would like to make it very clear that neither Typhoon Legacy Co. Ltd., its members or myself have, in any way sought to copy proprietary information, nor will we seek to source information about other related projects through some sort of back door route. If you hear further comments like these from any source, please capture them and forward to my attention.
I find this situation to be very disappointing but want to ensure that all Typhoon project groups and followers know that we are always seeking to work collectively to see these projects succeed in the quickest time possible.
I would like to invite any concerned parties, (including members of any related groups), to voice any questions or concerns regarding this topic.”
By: MN138 - 5th July 2021 at 21:54
Absolutely bizarre comments Oracal.
Does anybody know any more on the Jet Age Museum supposedly halting work on their project? I thought they were making tremendous progress
By: J Boyle - 5th July 2021 at 04:39
I can see how a project team could become a bit…how should I say…proprietary.
It would be easy for a team, and I’m not making any charges, but speaking in general terms…being tempted to stress what makes their project special in an environment where one group is competing for donations. So, someone might get carried away with claims and ignore the existed of similar groups. Not necessarily out of malice, but by simply putting their project first.
There are a lot of charities out there, it would be unrealistic not to acknowledge the competition between them for the attention and £€$s of potential donors.
I have to admit from reading FlyPast, I’m only familiar with one of the groups.
By: Trolley Aux - 18th June 2021 at 14:35
Thanks Graham A, I am not as clever as some,
By: Arabella-Cox - 18th June 2021 at 13:53
Ah yes. A bit of a trek to help out on that one. I suppose they are happy to take your money?
By: adrian_gray - 18th June 2021 at 11:06
Probably because they are based in British Columbia?
By: Arabella-Cox - 18th June 2021 at 11:02
Companies House website search shows no return for “Typhoon Legacy Co. Ltd”.
By: John Green - 17th June 2021 at 20:43
Graham, I take your points and am indeed sorry that matters have come to such a pass. I’ve spent many many years as an observer and occasionally as a participant not to be aware that historic aircraft restoration can be riven with problems very often related to deliberate actions as well misunderstandings on the part of those engaged in the process.
Why not make an appeal to the others in the name of common sense and common interest to start to pool information and establish an index of existing and prospective suppliers and more than that, any information that would assist all to achieve their goals ? Co-operation will yield worthwhile dividends. Acrimony and its companion suspicion will ensure that time is wasted, enthusiasm wanes and success starts to drift away,
Everyone needs a strong dose of co-operation not frustration.
By: Graham.A - 17th June 2021 at 18:26
John, it isn’t a Tribal Rivalry, it’s defamation.
To PUBLICLY accuse someone of trying to go through a back door to steal information, when that is not true, then delete comments on their FB group page (none of which were rude or otherwise insulting in any way shape or form) is more than “Tribal Rivalry”.
It is rude, un-true and not acceptable. If people are willing to make false accusations, then they need to back those up with proof. If you don’t have proof because you’re just spreading rumour and gossip, then apologise.
You would not be happy if someone accused you of being a thief, so why should Typhoon Legacy be happy about it?
By: John Green - 17th June 2021 at 16:45
Whatever the outcome of these tribal rivalries, we all, I would estimate, wish him and his fellow enthusiasts well. How wonderful it would be to once more see a Typhoon /Tempest leap once more into the heavens !
By: Graham.A - 17th June 2021 at 14:59
Trolly Aux, the bold type in Ian’s letter should tell you who it is. Somebody who is rebuilding a Typhoon rear fuselage. There are three rear fuselages being built at the moment. Typhoon Legacy and Jet Age Museum are using components built by Typhoon Legacy.
So that just leaves one…..
John Green, no storm and no tea cup.
Typhoon Legacy have been accused of telling massive fibs and the other Typhoon group involved refuse to stand behind their claims. They’d rather ban people on Facebook and delete their messages so that the story is lost or at the very least disjointed.
Continual claims of being the “only” airworthy Typhoon restoration and the “last” of it’s kind being restored to the air, over many years, with no acknowledgment of other groups restoring Typhoons (there are at least three Typhoons being worked on as we speak), has led to Ian having to issue the above letter.
Pod casts, TV appearances, Newspaper and magazine articles all claim that there is one and only one Typhoon restoration in the world.
Have a look at the Typhoon Legacy FB page and read the post about the book being written for the other Typhoon group. That was a real eye opener for me!
This is a very frustrating situation to be in and it needs to stop.
As you can probably tell from Ian’s Youtube videos, he is a very practical person who loves sharing his skills and knowledge. He helps other warbird restorations as much as he can. To be cast as a bit of a villain is painful and I’m sure it has been a tough decision to go forward with this letter, knowing how private he really is.
By: John Green - 17th June 2021 at 12:39
Chaps ! Bit of a storm in a tea cup. Historic aircraft restoration has always had an element of parochialism born of a real or imagined sense of competition among rival groupings.
By: Trolley Aux - 17th June 2021 at 09:25
Ian, please clarify, is it someone not associated with a rebuild of a Typhoon ? It always used to be the people not doing that caused the most issues, IE what colour/color to paint things etc, obviously this could be more damaging to any project than colour/color.
I follow your progression on Youtube and its indepth look into the rebuild of JP843.
Keep up the great work and thank you for not hiding it away.
TA
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June 16, 2021 at 4:45 pm