Concrete wings eh! presumably the markings on the wings were blue circles…
Bri, I’m sure that wooden wings would be up to the job as one of the interceptors was the Mossie, I would think that the wartime footage (possibly gun camera) of the intercepts of these flying bombs was proof enough that not only were the planes fast enough to catch them ,but their armament was sufficient to do the job (by that time all our fighters had cannon) I would have thought the logical material for the wings would be steel as long term corrosion proofing wasn’t an issue, and the easiest thing to attach to a steel bomb casing would be steel, and with the “benefit” that during the explosion the “wings” become a lethal extension of the shrapnel blast.

Mark, I accept that to keep these A/C flying, that some if not all the structure will have to be replaced, sooner or later; I think as you say transparency is the key, although I recognise that as individuals people have no obligation to share with us exactly what it is they are changing, and when, and so these A/C will become progressively less original as time goes on . What would be nice is to see is a slight change of emphasis in restoration, and some A/C restored sypathetically to a “live” but static condition. I also realise that you can’t make someone sell something they don’t want to ,but that is slightly different to hording the bits, to perpetuate the “exclusivety” of the spitfire club, I think your observation that one or two have visible horns showing is spot on. I personally find it slightly distasteful when the green eyed monster “pops up “, more so in those who have significant assets, but subscribe to the “ones not enough” school of thought. (naming no names!). I am amazed to hear that the work done on the “lock Doon” spitfire was so poor, clearly that doesn’t put a good case forward for allowing “enthusiastic amateurs” to work on precious remains, however there are some very talented restorers out there ,who would do a good job, FOC for the right museum. Btw just noticed how many of my sentences begin with “I” !! (Theres no I in TEAM is there!!)

And me!

http://www.constable.ca/v1.htm

states that the wings were made of wood.

Mind you, I never believe uncorroborated statements published on the Internet!

Any experts out there?

The article also suggests that the V1’s were “faster than any aircraft at that time” ; so presumably none were ever intercepted by Spitfires, Typhoons , or Meteors etc

There are a few Chipmunks out there with the lycoming(flat four) engine conversion ,called I believe supermunks; I would have thought that an amount of alteration to the cowlings would be required to fit these engines , but the advantages are that 1, its been done before ,so that design approval is already in place, 2,the engine bearers are welded steel and very simple (on original as well as super) and 3, the engines are available “brand new” or recon, and are much cheaper than gypsy rebuilds. Probably the cheapest way to get a flying A/C, would be to buy a Chippie with either a recently time expired engine, or a major failure ,and throw the engine away ( not actually throw it away you understand!) and replace it with a lycoming.

This looks like a thread to jump into “headfirst” (no pun intended), I think both Alison and Steve are right (in their own ways) I don’t think there is much point in leaving A/C remains out there for future generations, if they are likely to degenerate substantially , but on the other hand the current trend of making everything “a flyer” by removing the majority of the structure, and “binning” it ,rather than let it be used in static projects , (and in so doing expose the original as a “new build” ),has no place in preservation. There is big money out there for spitfire recovery ,and you can’t buck the trend; if this A/C is there, and isn’t recovered by enthusiastic amateurs, then hard nosed professionals will get it,and they won’t donate it to any museum.

Moggy, you may be right, if you are, its even more of a testament to Stephen grey’s dedication to the warbird movement; either way one cannot argue that the TFC volunteers, do not put their all into the event. I personally enjoyed the flying immensely ,and a credit to them that the Thunderbolt (to name just one) was serviceable for its last public appearance in the UK. I am sad to see it go , but do not question why or complain about that; as a wealthy man he might just as easily collect modern art ,rather than aeroplanes, and he might hide them away from public gaze, where indeed would we be then. But the IWM is state funded, and as UK residents we fund the state; shouild we accept everything handed to us as being right and correct,(weapons of mass destruction etc) ,are we not allowed an opinion on our national collections (which ever ones). One can never know whether EN830 is serious or not ,that would be the down side to a dry sense of humour, however, places like DX are for everybody ,primarily to educate people (its not just children that need it). It may be easy to compare legends to a football match, we may all sound like we are refereeing ,but in fact we are non executive directors, as the national collections are for the nation , then surely we must at some point have a say in what we collect and how we do it ,if that spills over into how the museums are run then thats fine also. I personally think this thread has run its course, and whilst some people have tried to turn it into the whingers versus TFC that is not ,nor has it ever been the case. from my viewpoint.

JDK it is not I that linked the two together ,but you; you said in your response to Bruce’s post, that it puts the complaints made here into perspective, as I am one of those “complainers” that links me to you (however unfortunate that might be for you). You are probably right that the loss of the aircrews in these(thankfully ) few incidences needs more than regrettable, it wasn’t an impassionate “political speak” use of the word ,its just that I never met these people ,and that words like sad and tragic ,could be seen as pretending to be part of something I am not; it was at the very least a great shame. I must confess to having corresponded with several people today who know more about staging events than I , my only claim to fame (as it were) is that as a director of a museum (and also a volunteer) I did have some involve ment in putting on much smaller events ,having been an exhibitor for the past fifteen years at various events, one picks up a thing or two, and prior to that I spent ten years in the music biz, . As for IWM Duxford, I have in my possesion a letter from them refusing to accept as a gift a Blackburn B2 on the grounds that the restoration would be too expensive (£100k) not in my opinion a very accurate estimate, but even if it were,what price history? theres only 2.5 of them left; would I rather see one restored and exhibited at DX ,than something else hanging from the ceiling in Airspace, yes. Which would you rather? The rest of your post must be for someone else ,as I don’t have an issue with people on the flightline ,with or without hi viz vests, or indeed anyone from the fighter collection.