lol it’s not a matter of make it fly fellas, it’s a matter of finding a pilot crazy enuff to ride her! :D:D:D:D

Alex

yup, might be an emergency support for a/c with faulty landing gear system..
I’ve seen these cushions being used by firemen and police to open wrecked car roofs and doors, impressive indeed..

Alex

dont forget to keep him involved in what u r doing. If u keep his mind busy with how to fly a plane properly he wont think about sickness. Uh and of course avoid shaking him with tight turns, stalls etc…
After all is also a matter of getting used to it, and if he’s fit enuff he shouldnt have many troubles.. most of the ppl who feel sick in planes (and cars, boats, bicicles..) are just scared or unsure about the vehicle they’re sitting in, it’s above all a pshycological issue..

Alex

Bad weather…

true, but sometimes clouds make a wonderful background and make pictures more vibrant! The one with the SE5A looks like a painting!

Alex

Alex, could u please post a 1280×1024 set of pics (expecially with the WW1 kites)? I’d love to use them as desktop and screensavers! 🙂

Cheers

Alex

that’s the catch mate, the Tiger Moth is not that far and unreachable as a Red Arrows Hawk (a sucky plane indeed..)! I mean a kid who’s willing to have a close look to an aeroplane will even get the chance of sitting in a Tiger, while how many chances would he have to sit in a Red Arrows Hawk? I never flew in a jet and i’m sure it must be a thrill (apart for the fact that i’d prolly paint the cockpit with a nice breakfast color..) and a one of a kind experience, but still the magic of flying with the sky as your canopy it is something that can’t be substituted by anything else and can hardly be described by who lived it.. That’s the magic of flight, being immersed in the sky, feeling it on your face.. going poetic again.. oh well! :rolleyes:

Alex

whoah! Thanks Franck! 🙂
I hope I’ll be able to come this year too chaps, would be really glad to meet some of the forummates 🙂

Alex

Ok, let’s say that this Dora is probably a one of a kind exemplar, but still I think it could be flown for at least the engine’s TBO.. As per the preservation: I’ve often seen flying warbirds restored in better conditions than museum ones (often lacking a gauge, a spar or something..). I dont know if u r in the restoration rally David, but the less u change in a plane config the better.. Apart for the obscene ultra modern cockpit layouts seen in some 70s/80s restorations, it’s not difficult to give the bird the proper look he had originally.
Here’s my point: let’s say u have 50 spits, u can put one for each mark in a museum, bring it back to its original standard (and no compromises here..), the rest of the birds must keep on flying, as the real deal is about this. U gotta think about drawing average people’s interest in aviation, it doesnt have to be just a thing for appreciators.. U have a FW190 sitting in a museum with original FuG radios and MG151/20 cannons, cool, but it’s just something sitting there, u know it’s there but it’s not like u go there everyday and stick yr head inside to watch the radios or the original oxygen bottles.. As I said sometimes it sounds like feticism to me, and this is the death sentence of warbirds real meaning: testifying an era by taking them back to the air, allowing children to feel the thrill and amusement of seeing an old biplane roaring in front of them, creating in them the passion and interest in aviation. U’ll hardly find a 10 years old boy interested in the fact that “this original FW190 D9 still has all the original equipment it had during the war”..
It’s your egoistic need to preserve flyable planes that is killing the warbird entourage my friends.. Let’s think about the year 2100: u’ll have a FW190 in original conditions but that it’s fading and breaking.. things dont last forever, planes in particular.. so since it’s gonna fade and destroy someday why not flying it now that is possible? As I said it’s just a waste…

Alex