RE: Rebuild or Replica??

I think pointless to argue over percentages to wether its a replica or rebuild.
For any of you that have watched ‘Only fools and Horses’ its like Triggers broom, its the same one he’s had for the last ten years,its had three new handles and four new heads but its still the same broom!!
I for one, think that the quality of the restoration counts for a lot Take for example the standard of workmanship going into the Beaufighter,Gladiator or P51C at the Fighter Collection every cockpit detail is taken into account, yet some would say ‘the’re only rebuild bitzers’ because most of the parts are manufactured from scratch.

I will be quite happy to watch any of the above when they fly without debating/winging/moaning on how much is original.

Two years ago at Flying Legends, Duxford had the rare sight of 2 Grumman f3f,replicas or rebuilds they may have been, but even so it was exellent to see them flying with the wildcat, hellcat etc;
I had the oppotunity to take some photos of the cockpit etc,and while I took them a member of the public said to me “Not interested they are only bl**dy replicas”
You just can’t please some people!!!

RE: Isn’t it about time Sally B was repainted.

How about 2nd TAF markings for the B-25 and get rid of the terrible paint job on the P-51 a nice Polish or RAF scheme (sorry to go slightly off track) the 357th scheme is horrible, wrong colour I believe the 357th FG used RAF green on their A/C not olive drab.. then again under the quality lighting in Hendon could be anything!!

RE: Did I Hear correctly?…..Sniper to Sue!

I can’t see how the families can sue the retailer or the manufacturer,when its every Americans right to bear arms.
Unfortunatley its all because of the ‘blame culture'(No win NO fee…yes you’ve seen the TV ads!)which is now coming to Britain.

I heared of a case in America where a man was caught and imprisoned for a crime and was bringing a case against himself for lose of liberty and income.So stupid it’s probably true,and the sad thing is the good citizens of America are probably paying for his legal fees!

RE: Did I Hear correctly?…..Sniper to Sue!

What about the US army for training him!
maybe the US govenment can sue his mother for having him.

RE: What’s the gem for Flying Legends then?

I agree with you willow.
I remember going to airshows where the balbo at the end of the show was made up of T6 Harvards. Over the last 15 years I think we’ve been luck to have people like Stephen and Nick Grey, Ray and Mark Hanna willing to display their increasing collections to the public and put some thought into the shows. I think Philo is right we have become blasia about the aircraft, you soon miss them once the’ve gone just think of the diverse range of aircraft we’ve been privillaged to see that are not around now (P-38,Mosquito,P-63, ME109 ‘black 6’ not to mention the jets that have gone out of service in the last decade or so!) I for one am quite happy watching Skyraiders or Harvards as long as they get down safe at the end.
And you can never have to many Mustangs or Spitfires.

P.S. Just concider if the likes of Stephen Grey sells up and goes into stamp collecting we’ll be back to those Harvard balbos again.(and what would I do on a Sunday?)