Noticeable by absence

😀 !

I think SeaWorld in Orlando may be able to sort you out with one of them. You may not be able to take it home (I imagine it would ruin the carpets anyway).

No thanks. Rather have something with a bit of real history behind it. Personally, sell me a Walrus. 2d anyone?

😉 Yes people do buy them, would you like one James? I know of one which may well be available in the future and will be a superb machine. 😮
However if you don’t want to wait there are a few about in America which for a reasonable sum of money you could be in tomorrow.

People BUY Mustangs? Gosh. Thought they paid you to take ’em away. People make enough fuss about them. 😀

Thanks for the info, I’d heard a rumour of a project for sale but no real confirmation.

no, James, SPITFIRES, not P-51Ds! 😉

Now steady on there old chap!!!!! 😉 😮

I only found out the first 3 parts of the serial no. which I think was JG6** although I may be wrong there. It had gone to Australia and crash landed on an outback airfield post war. Rather than repair they shunted her into a barn where she lay until recovery to England. From the photos a friend showed me she looked like a relatively easy and quick restoration to flying but she is (was?) up for sale.

Oh, probably one of the 2,000 out there…

Oh???? Which MkVIII was that?

Mk VIII, Steve? or is does it need to be IX?

There was an VIII for sale last month.

Wow, you guys are worse than my mother (aka JDK and Andy in Beds). It is airshow season, after all. I do try and check on the forum when I’m home, but posting get’s more difficult as the days get longer.

Right, that’s enough tea…time for an update.

Stuff snipped . . .

But you still haven’t told us what it is like working in Wall Mart? Does Taco Bell pay better than Burger King? We want to know.

Anybody know where I can buy a Spitfire Mk. 9?

No. Not until you have sold lots more burgers and filled in more supermarket shelves.

Now get back to work sonny…..

Melv

Oh, and while you’re there we might as well look at the oil and hydraulic tanks, and we need to add the new spraybar tank, and move the O2 bottle and the Nitrogen blowdown bottle and fix the leaking prop seal that was fixed last year and solve that little problem in the Middle East…”

Oh and re-install the missing prop blade 😀

See you at Legends, do we have a plan yet?

Grounded!!!!

He’s not a warbird pilot.
He’s a very naughty boy!
😀 😀 😀 😀

BTW, the Mk. 20 was acting up as well, so mine wasn’t the only tempermental Sea Fury this week. Maybe we should separate them?

Wow, you guys are worse than my mother (aka JDK and Andy in Beds). It is airshow season, after all. I do try and check on the forum when I’m home, but posting get’s more difficult as the days get longer.

Right, that’s enough tea…time for an update.

I’ve just returned from 3 days in Breckenridge, TX at Ezell Aviation. Apparently my Sea Fury has taken quite a liking to the place, as I can’t get her to leave. Well, it’s not quite that bad.

The short answer is “another 3-4 weeks”. We were planning on changing the dual oil coolers back to a single, high pressure unit designed specifically for the 3350 sometime after Reno. Unfortunately during the test flight we discovered that hot air from the engine compartment is being forced through unsealed joints between the fuselage and wing. At anything above 250 kts it feels like you’ve turned the heat on full blast. Not very fun on a Texas afternoon. To seal the firewall you have to get TO the firewall, hence the decision to go ahead with the oil cooler change. Which of course leads to the “Oh, and while you’re there we might as well look at the oil and hydraulic tanks, and we need to add the new spraybar tank, and move the O2 bottle and the Nitrogen blowdown bottle and fix the leaking prop seal that was fixed last year and solve that little problem in the Middle East…”

Nelson, Ashley, Steve, Dennis and a whole cast of extras are “putting it right”, and it should not be too much longer before Southern Cross can come home. Also, thanks Steve (whose last name I can’t type here because it will look like ****ey when the censor gets finished)for getting the T-6 ready for me this morning. Three hours in the T-6 compared to what would have been a little over one in the Sea Fury.

The plus side is I had a very nice dinner with Howard Pardue last night, and then we went flying in his Fury this morning, so that took some of the disappointment off the trip. Howard will be back at Legends next month, as usual.

Here are some photos that I took this morning (I know Robbo, why didn’t I take any when I went flying with Howard…well…I don’t know…I just didn’t seem to think of it).

So, again I’m sorry for my lack of contribution to the forum, and I will try and do better even if I only have sad and depressing news of how my Sea Fury is on an extended Texas holiday.

Anybody know where I can buy a Spitfire Mk. 9?

Steve

PS I saw some very interesting things in Ezell’s hanger that I’m not allowed to talk about. Maybe Ashley will comment on that little project that his dad is working on. See me at Legends (and buy me a pint) and I’ll probably tell all.

Well, he was on line just three minutes before you posted this thread, and I have seen his ID here several times in the last few days (I think – just in passing, not looking out deliberately you understand…).

Flood.™