Spitfire LF1X damaged in runway excursion, Washington (USA) 7 July 2023

At the risk of stealing someone’s thunder….

I have been told that SL633 is headed to Australia.

It has been loaded into a container which also included a  (rebuilt?) Merlin.

Apparently, the new owner will have the necessary repairs completed there.

Good luck to the new owner/operator. It was fun to know the ship.

Yes, as I previously said Sessions would have it restored at Duxford.

While other shops could repair the (fairly light) damage, he believes having it done in the UK would help the aircraft retain its value by being repaired by the acknowledged experts.

And he is no stranger to shipping it to the UK, it was there during the big Spitfire event in 2015.

The court hearings are winding down, we should know more by mid-December.

I’d say there’s a blooming good chance it will be coming this side of the pond even if just for repair either to Duxford, Biggin Hill or Sywell

TT

I note that it is now ‘Pending’ on the PF website.

(It will be interesting to see who the new owner/owners are if the deal goes through).

Cheers

Paul

duplicate post 

A long story on how it came to market….very, very simply, a commercial real estate deal gone bad.

It is still under litigation, I have no idea how it will end.

Sessions may lose the aircraft, and even then, there is nothing preventing him from purchasing it.

It is listed at  $2.5 million. That seems a good buy as a similar Mk. IX has an asking price of £3.73 million (that’s $4.8 million U.S.). I have seen the damage and there is no way it is going to cost $2.2 million to repair it.

The other Spitfire can’t be much nicer than  SL633. It wasspotless despite having been flown by Sessions for the last 13 years. It might have less hours on the restoration, but not $2 million worth.

In a recent conversation, he mentioned doing research on repairs. If he keeps it, he wants to return it to Duxford for the work. The gear legs are undamaged as were the attachment points.

I would hate to see him lose it, it seems to be his favorite and he was generous in displaying it, he flew it to Abbotsford most years. It was never roped off in his museum. I enjoyed showing it to visitors, Sessions’ hard leather flying helmet and parachute were kept in it. It was more or less spotless and very dry.

I have spent hours dusting it and helping move it around the museum and ramp.

Even it it leaves, I’ll always fondly recall my experience with it.

Now up for sale,as is where is…
https://www.platinumfighters.com/inventory/supermarine-spitfire-ix-sl633/

Well looks like Mr Gryder could be in deep do do    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHel0JQf5nk   

“QUOTE

4,875 views Aug 17, 2023

 In the fall of 2021, aviation youtuber Dan Gryder made claims about airport owner Charles Cook after a horrible crash of an Aeronca Champ left two dead. Cook sued Gryder. This is a summary of the lawsuit which ended in a nearly $1.1 million judgement against Gryder.” UNQUOTE

I would wager the guys who love him have more time flying PC simulators than actual aircraft.

Yes, there is a lot of Mickey Mouse regs in aviation, but they are there because flying is a serious business. People can, and do, get killed for silly mistakes.I

But he is fooling himself if he sees himself as a champion for safe flying.

People don’t take him seriously.

His “I’m smarter than everyone” attitude demonstrates his level of maturity as did his DC-3 stunt.

If he weren’t doing is aviation rants  on YouTube, he’d be doing other jacka** stunts, espousing wacky views or conspiracies.

Yeah thats him.Hes pretty polarising.You either love him or hate him…
https://www.reddit.com/r/flying/comments/kx1rxn/monday_morning_quarterbacking_why_im_disgusted/

Ohhhh blimey   https://www.reuters.com/article/us-delta-pilot-idUSTRE5AB5Y920091112

I think so yes Zac…

Is Dan Gryder the one who tried to run down law enforcement (?) officers with a DC-3?

But he can’t persuade pilots from doing anything if they don’t listen to him.

And being too opinionated will lead many to write him off as an attention-asking a**.

(Think of an aviation equivalent of a certain UK television  automobile presenter who keeps getting canned.)

He might have good things to say, but in the end you have to present your message in a palatable manner, or risk coming off looking like a guy who is looking for YouTube views and whatever monetary income that provides.

So, are you trying to reach real pilots or just the computer-bound  morbidly fascinated aviation  “wannabees” who will likely never touch an aircraft?

In short, there is a difference in gaining notoriety (relatively easy to do) and being taken seriously (harder to do and retain).

I get what he is trying to do, but in my direct first hand experience, he showed his true nature and it isn’t nice. After that, I question his sincerity. 

J.B, I quite understand your cool feelings towards Gryder, and it is disappointing to hear he resorted to personal comments, though I am not suprised. I think he has created a persona as someone with robust views, and backing down, or revising his views is not much  in the mix. I suspects he receives a lot of ‘pushback’ on his opinions, and has developed a pretty aggressive responce to perceived criticism. 

And yet- I still think on balance he is doing a good job, and I believe he is absolutely sincere in his quest to reduce GA fatalities, and probably is making a difference. He is right more than he is wrong, I think, and his take on the Florida Avenger ditching , for instance, went a lot further than the NTSB would likely have gone, and highlighted  lot more lessons to be extracted from the incident. 

If he can help persuade pilots not to turn back after engine failure and stall/ spin out of a slow turn, he will half the fatality rate, and for that I guess it is worth being ‘on his side’. 

Mr. Sessions has told me that the relay valve may have been the issue, it was a factor in a similar Spitfire incident a couple of years ago.

Also, he said it could have been something else or pilot error.

He was very honest and forthcoming.

I’ll point out he has flown the aircraft for 13 years, and know for a fact he had recurrent training in a 2-seat Spitfire at Duxford last year.

And he is an experienced warbird pilot, having owned two Mustangs, a Bearcat and Tigercat. So he’s not just some rich guy who decided to get a Spitfire as a status symbol.

——————————————————-

I’m not a fan of Gryder. Not because of his rapid-fire guesses as to the causes of mishaps,  rather, it’s a bit more basic.

I emailed him following his proclamation that he was happy/glad (I can’t recall his exact words… or at least not sorry) a controversial personage was killed in a jet crash.

I had just started watching his stuff and found it interesting in a tabloid kind of way.

In an eamil, I politely suggested he may want to dial back his rhetoric…it’s one thing having a “bad guy” reputation to attract social media followers, but common decency would have one draw the  “create notoriety” line somewhere. Yes, you want a reputation as a straight shooter but not a nut.

He replied he was standing by his statements.

I replied, sorry we have to agree to dusagree, but if you’re in the area, I’ll show you the local DC-3 and buy you lunch.

He replied to me with personal attacks, name calling and insults.Nasty, insulting stuff.

If he had replied “yeah, but it’s a marketing persona” I would have accepted that. Social media is the new showbiz. You have make a name to sell yourself.

Instead he comes at me and shows himself a real jerk (actually something stronger, but I’m trying to keep it clean).

So, I don’t have a lot of use for him.

I won’t watch his video, but if he doesn’t know that the Spitfire brakes are hand units, it says something about him speaking about things he shouldn’t.

Not quite DH82EH, but you’re halfway there.

The brakes are of the differential type, pneumatic pressure is applied by the lever atop the spade grip, and differential control is made (via a relay valve) using rudder pedal movement. 
 

Spitfire brakes are activated by a hand lever. It was this feature that enabled Douglas Bader to fly with TWO artificial legs.

He is a very interesting chap who tells it like it is. 

You Tube aviation accident commentator Dan Gryder has touched on this incident,  with some degree of knowledge, having checked out John Sessions on the DC-3 some time ago.

This is the second brake failure on landing which JS has reported, the previous being the Rapide crash which injured some passengers and in which he lost half of his leg.  It is Gryder’s supposition that an artificial foot was part of the Spitfire accident sequence.  

Dan Gryder fronts a high profile channel Probable Cause, and is known for his  rapid summaries ( within days) of aircraft accidents. and their causes. He has a great many followers, and inevitably, others who don’t so much appreciate his quick-fire approach.

See at 20.20 his take on the Spitfire accident

6 Dead. Know Before You Go. + The DTSB OSH Brief. – YouTube