I should imagine they will want to NDT the mounting points to ensure it’s not going to fall on the likes of the general public as that would be bad form.

Yes it might damage the airframe!:diablo::diablo:

Why is the guy on the right of the wing holding his head, has he heard a nasty metally cracking noise?

Perhaps he thinks he’s broken it?:):):)

Regarding other comments if the aircraft has a WWII applied paint scheme, then leave well alone and carryout conservation work only. Far to many organizations who should know better still insist on having every airframe looking better than factory fresh!

Eric

Authorised Persons

Off topic, but what is more revealing is that you had to do a COURSE to be an “authorised person”!!:confused:

Was this the beginning of the end or simply a continuance of the bureaucracy?

G’day 😉

If you remember the “Piper-Alpha disaster” and why it happened you might not ask the question!

Eric

I seem to remember comments from the odd historian that would disagree with the statement that “no deals were done to obtain Polaris”. That said I have not studied the matter in any detail, so I retain an open mind on the topic. Were the C130 and F111 the right choice? Somebody in the government of the day must have thought so. As to the RAF’s views on the matter, assuming the operational requirement was for a tactical transport, then the case for the C130 is hard to deny. Was the F111 the right choice? Ultimately somebody must have thought not, since for whatever reason the government cancelled it.

It has become almost traditional to dress-up the story as a tale of dark American conspiracy which destroyed Britain’s aerospace industry. It’s complete nonsense of course.

I suspect that the above comment was made as the result of some of my previous comments. In no way do I think that the Americans plotted to undermine the British Aviation industry or British industry in general. Many of the problems that afflicted industry were the responsibility of the industries themselves to put right.

However I will say it again, Britain’s economic situation at the end of WW2 was dire, the country was broke, in hock to the USA and perhaps most importantly the Empire was about to go! At the same time we had just won a world war and still considered ourselves to be a world power. Could we have done things differently?

EG

Sadly another of the few remaining Hollywood Stars gone!

WF

We have been down this road before, originality and providence will always be a thorny issue when one is restoring an aircraft from what started off as a recovered wreck! Having spoken to some who have been involved in such projects, I have been assured that they strive to retain as much originality as possible.

Not having followed the story of the airframe being referred to, I have absolutely no idea of its providence. However I am convinced that the relativity high cost of the aircraft does reflect the cost of restoration!

I hate repeating myself, however in this case I will. Restoring a wrecked Spitfire to flying condition requires a very large labour component; I have seen an approximate figure of 30,000 Man Hours quoted. After adding in a multiplicity of other costs, I would be surprised if the total restoration cost came in under £1,000,000-00, in fact I suspect that it could be well in excess of that figure.

Enjoy your purchase Mr Brooks and fly it safely!

WF

James I am somewhat at a loss to attribute the title of the worst aircraft to a particular type, someone mentioned the Bristol Bombay as a candidate. I would be interested to know on what evidence; the fifty aircraft constructed seem to have performed their designed tasks reasonably well in the early war years.
In the absence of the classic test pilots, I suspect that we will all disagree!

Eric

I must admit that I find hunting out the errors in feature films, an almost enjoyable pastime. The basis of these errors generally seems to fall into three categories:

1> Never let the truth get in the way of a good or for that matter bad story!
2> Poor budget.
3> Non-availability of suitable hardware.
At the end of the day these are movies, one hopes produced to entertain!

What I really hate is the almost inexhaustible supply of documentaries seen on cable and satellite channels that use stock footage having little or no link with the subject of the so documentary. A fine example of this is a low flying FW190 flashing across the screen during a program about the “Battle of Britain”, even better it flashed across in the opposite direction, a short while later!

WF