Very true Pim.

There was a similar thread on here a week or so back about Harrier values,as a couple of us said…as usual it is worth exactly what somebody is prepared to pay for it !!

cheers baz

Yes, there are people to whom 24K is nothing and who would buy it just for a laugh.

However, that can’t really be taken to represent the actual value.

The value of any collectable must be what the collecting community would trade/swap it for.

The question is then: Would the buyer be able to swap a 24K Sea Harrier for another aviation item of a similar value (not by chance, but as a defacto trading standard)?

Son of a RDAF pilot (F84-RF84F-T33-C47 and a few others).

Grew up close to Værløse airbase and flew often (C47 – T-17 no real piloting except for a few hours of trying).

Trained as an AC engineer 1987-1990.
Worked as such untill 2005.

Currently studying computer programming full time.

Love historic aviation and hope to get involved with the new Danish air force museum, once it kicks off.

Unless you can prove, that there was no possible way, that those 475 aircraft could contain 184752.27 Gallon of fuel, your calculation will remain a pet theory, which in essence is no more than the myth you are trying to dispell.

I don’t care if Mantz, or anyone else, made their money back in fuel, but its not impossible and the story says some did.

How can you dispell a myth by guesses?

You are guessing they had ½ hour extra fuel, even if most aircraft were flown directly from their pacific bases. You have absolutly no base for that ½ hour estimate, other than what pilots “normally do”.

I’m not saying you are completely wrong, just that your numbers are based on guesses.

All we can assume, is that the tanks were less than full. Extra fuel would normally be calculated according to an alternative airfield. Which in 1945 could have been more than 45 minutes flight away.

We are looking at 184752.27 Gallon to make it pay. Which i admit seems quite a squirt.

According to your calculations, that could be 2 1/4 hours flight in each aircraft. Although that might be possible even with fairly empty tanks on the bombers.

One thing is sure, thet US did not hire people to prepare the aicraft for sale. They were flown to Walnut ridge, Kingman airflield and other places purely to be sold ASAP.

I still belive its quite possible, that they could have contained 184752.27 Gallon.

To be honest, I really enjoyed the HBO film, despite its budget constraints (how many cut scenes from Battle of Britain were there?!).

It was an ambitious attempt to tell the story that, hitherto, very few of us had probably ever heard about.

Just a pity it’s not available on R2 DVD as far as I know….

Not sure if its appropriate to mention it in this forum, but i recently noted this movie on “The P*****bay”.

But its also on amazon.co.uk as an R2 DVD.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tuskegee-Airmen-Laurence-Fishburne/dp/B0010VXMV2/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1213854369&sr=8-3

Lucas is insane about CGI, thats what ruined the Star Wars prequels.

Be sure he will use ILM to the full extend and burn very little fuel on this Airmen movie.

Aviation movies are always good news.

Luckily Lucas is only producing and not directing it.