Well said Bruce nice to see some proactive moderation.

The Hunter hasnt moved since I helped move it there, a replacement canopy is on it but nothing has been done to the windscreen damage, or to preserve the paintwork. At the time we were accused of wasting the clubs money on it by those who had no knowledge of what they were talking about, one individual said it was only worth £150 at the most, typical of groups etc, so maybe they now appreciate what they did end up with.

Think its worth a bit more than £150 quid 😀 .. its quite tidy, and even though theres lots missing, but theres still quite a bit inside it .certainly restorable, and am i right in saying the Only F2 cockpit in the country ??:confused::D

I was part of Robertsbridge Aviation Society and I brought the Hunter cockpit back there from near Norwich, it is from a rare Sapphire engined Hunter, a shame the Society didn’t appreciate what they had got at the time, it caused much trouble, because an element bent on causing trouble, felt it was not worth what they had paid for it, maybe they would like to sell it now, try them, because they had so little regard for it at the time, and I doubt it has been touched since I left.

As for the SU 7 it is nice to see it moving on, other cockpits have left there and been in a poor state and been restored amazingly, there are ways of achieving a good finish without breaking the bank. Merkle, I have seen much done with very little, at least you are doing something, and have the pleasure of owning it. It would be nice if we all had money to indulge our hobbies but if you achieve the goal of rebuilding it is more satisfying than just buying something and sticking it in a garage.

I know.. I seen the hunter.. and have drooled over that one for years.. The owner wouldnt sell for many years.. its nice because it still has its original paint and artwork, they recently aquired a canopy for it, as you can see from the photo’s.
I believe the old girl is a F2 as well, I spent quite some time dribbling over it.. I think the chairman had to drag me away from it 😀

thats one nose i would have liked to restore, and just t-cut the paintwork, the dragon/griffon symbol on the side is a nice piece of artwork.. nice to see her in her original colours , untouched. all be it a bit battered 🙁

I guess that was a bit of unessesary sarcasm there. I am not looking for an argument Martinez.

I do not know Merkle but I have seen this happen to him before. I would only be patronising him to try and fight his battle so I will leave it after this.

The thing is, he has a lot more aircraft there than I do and I have never saved a cockpit from the scrappers so who am I to judge.

I would have bought it. What better cockpit than this for a first project. It was relatively
cheap (I guess), it cant be wrecked, all those different jobs that need doing are good for learning/practicing skills that could be used on another projector later on.

For what it is worth I would try local colleges for night school metal work courses. You might even be able to get in there as a class project, getting skilled help/advice from the tutor and having a place to keep it for a while.

If it is to far gone, get it fibreglassed, gut the inside and put some flight sim gear gear in. You say you have kids, they will love it. We need to encourage the next generation. It wont be restoration or preservation but you will have something aeroplane shaped that looks pretty cool.

Bennyboy.. what a brilliant Idea, the college etc, they have a lot of aircraft maintainance courses in bristol ,what with airbus and all, even there own department at the university “west of England” they might have a way of helping, and I could learn too, its all good stuff for the future, and like you said, its something..it was cheap as far as cockpits go, at my limit though
finacially .. and of course some university’s are twinned with other abroad, like twinned towns etc, so they may know a contact in one of the old soviet block countries, I suppose i could allways go down the route of replica panel, if someone was kind enough to measure one up abroad, and i make up a panel like Rocketeer has done with the Spitfire/P51 resin faces etc. or like you say, a flight sim… I will enjoy just getting the thing cleaned up to start with.. who knows by the time i have finished the outer skins etc, I might have found a source for odds and ends i need. I allready have a polish contact, who is trying to help. thanks for your Input ..

and thanks once again Fouga.. your words are inspiring 😀

Martinez.. reading your post,.. well.. has dis-heartened me a little.. fact is I dont have the money, to buy a aircraft let alone ship it from foriegn shores..
to be honest, i knew she was a bit of a white elephant as the saying goes.. but she was all i could afford, I am a single parent, and more often than not quite short of any sort of cash, so for me to buy this scrap.. is as lucky as i could get. there is no other of its type in the UK, and there is not likely to be another one shipped here as far as i am aware. so I have to make do with what i got. It is such a shame as she is the only one, and such a iconic aircraft it would be a shame to just scrap her, so even if i just repair the nose,and add a canopy, (if I am lucky) it would be something . as something, is better than nothing.

the Su-7 was one of the most produced airframes in the Soviet Union, and served in many countries.. I find it hard to believe that there are no ejector seats, , flight sticks,switches,panels , rudder pedals etc in various areas all over the world, either in museums, or private collections:confused:.

We have simaller aircraft that went out of service many many years ago , and yet parts can be sourced for these, for instance, the Gloster Meteor, Vampire, etc. and I would say most of the aircraft from times gone by, spares can be sourced, sadly i have seen many abandoned Su-7 types in the world, but all in “HOT SPOTS” Ie Afghanistan, Iraq, etc, just sitting there, no doubt waiting for the scrapmans axe ..but I cant ask about these types in these countries, as that would be classed as “WAR Trophies” and there are stringent laws against that , as far as i am aware, And I couldnt see the president of Afghanistan/Egypt /Iraq, taking me seriously .. can you ??.. a nobody from another country ???.

But I am determined to at least do my best. to finish it, surely how hard can it be , to find some internals, even if its not all of them, but at least the main parts, seat stick panel etc ??.

My Problem is i dont speak russain,Egyptian,iraqi,or afghan.. Arabic, ..
I just dont know where to turn.:(. it might well be as you say, Just a empty painted box by the time i finished it.. But even if it is that.. it is better than what it is now.. and like i said, Unique in this country as it is our only one Su-7 .

I have allready come up against brick walls regarding help, from one of the countries who used lots of them in the past. I dont want to turn this into a political issue, It to me is just a rare aircraft for the UK, that i want to do up, for my own pleasure, and the pleasure of others..Problem is foriegn Govts are suspicious of my intensions.. Why does everything have to be so complecated and full of red tape, especially when what i am after is scrap.. Desirable scrap.. but scrap all the less.

FOUGA..
Thanks for your kind Comments .. I hope I can manage to do this .all be it, at the mo, after days ,no months and hours writing, searching, for just any parts to start with .. the response is a little disapointing, to say the least :(.

Still, Keep on soldiering.. if it was easy, everyone would be at it 😀

Thanks Bennyboy.. I will keep this in mind.:D. to all of you who laugh at me.. carry on.. I KNOW ive been a laughing stock on this forum, but I at least am trying..and the more people put me down, the more i will try even harder, better to have failed trying, than to never have tried at all !.
Sorry for calling it a SHE.. captains of ships,planes, cars, etc effectionately call there mode of transport SHE.. sorry if it offends, its just a term..

What a cynical lot some of you can be.. I dont know why I bother, to those who support me, Thankyou .:D. to those who just want to riddicule me and my eforts.. Just save your breath..:(:mad:

I KNOW.. there are many on this forum.. who would LOVE to see me Fall, to mess this up, .. so they can say.. Told you so !!!,and they can also show the rest of the forum, just what a incompetant fool I am, Perhaps your right :o???.. but like i say, at least i am trying , . and sometimes. I just dont know why ??. I wish i didnt take some of these comments to heart, but I do, 🙁