One More

Same aircraft – Hong Kong – late 1950s – I’ve been told it’s a Venom.

Non-Airworthy Replicas

Wow, how frustrating would it be to have a perfectly-looking, perfectly-constructed, perfectly-scaled Spitfire that you couldn’t jump into and take off in to fly the wild blue?

That’s akin to the consummate car collector with that perfectly restored, immaculate Ferrari 275GTB that is locked inside a climate controlled garage, never to see the light of day or, God forbid, to be splashed by the tiniest of raindrops, much less driven on the road.

If you’re going to spend the bucks for a full scale replica, why not go all the way and build a flying replica?

But, to get back to the question of cost …. last night’s Discovery channel featured the static display, non-airworthy replica of the Avro Arrow being built in Malton. Even with volunteer labor, donated items, among them, the Dowty landing gear, and paint job by Bombardier, the cost has already been well over a million bucks! Mind you, it’s a whole lot bigger than a Mk I Spitfire!

Good luck on the build, and for my two cents’ worth, a fiberglass shell pulled off a plug built of foam would most likely be the least expensive way to go, sort of like a big scale model. Even the landing gear could be mockups.

English Channel

Do the French also call it the “English” Channel?

But what happened in 1066?
And secondly, how did you allow Quebec to happen?

Another begging requirement, sorry chaps……

1. I am shortly to begin skinning the fuselage….I notice that the BBMF MkII uses many mushroom heads, whereas MkIX’s built by HFL use many flush rivets. As my project is supposed to be stock MkII-V, anyone got any ideas as to a good compromise?

2. Does anyone have any drawings (or indeed static original parts!!) for the canopy rail stiffener brackets that go on frames 11 and 12?

Tony

Tony, check out this website. Might be what you are searching for. Book with photographs of Spitfire details and accurate drawings.

http://www.monfortonpress.com/

What’s the Problem?

Apparently Americans are not well liked on this forum. I’ll take my leave.

Hey, Tony,
What’s the problem? There are lots of guys from the US and Canada on this forum.
In addition, a good number of them are F4U enthusiasts who would gladly lend support to your 82% Corsair project!

OSH Photos

Glenn:
Outstanding photos! And thanks for the link to Warbirdz! Amazing pictures!
What camera and lens did you use for these telephoto shots?

Goin’ Down

Would you want to be the one jumping out a heli going down?

Quick Mince 😀

That said when i went gliding of flying in the Air Cadets we had to wear chutes and we were only in small 2 seaters, e.g. RAF Tutor.

Yep. You betcha! You don’t know how often I’ve sweated a heavy load clawing into the air on a hot day – I’ve always maintained that as long as we had four hundred feet, I’d be out of there. Hey, I’ve jumped choppers, free-fall and static line. The first was an H-34 in Bragg, and if I was in one going in, I’d be out of it, rotor blades and all. Just give me 400 feet. What’s the difference between a chopper and and aircraft out of control, perhaps spinning, or perhaps in pieces after a mid-air? I’d get my ass out of there!

Gliders? Isn’t it regulation that glider pilots wear ‘chutes? And aerobatic pilots?

Sans Chute

The regs require the pilot of a jumpship to wear a parachute. It’s obviously his/her decision whether to abandon ship during an emergency or to fly the airplane in.
How the hell was a passenger allowed in a jump aircraft, albeit belted in, to fly without a parachute?
Wouldn’t it have been one hell of a mess in the event of an inflight emergency during which the pilot and jumpers abandoned the airplane in midair, leaving one hapless, helpless whofo belted in on the floor? SAT …
As for the photographer who left the airplane without his rig on, it’s inconceivable, in my opinion, that it was an accident. One of the last things most jumpers do before getting ready to exit the aircraft is to instinctively check the fasteners on their harnesses to ensure that they’re secure. Believe me, you run a check before leaving the airplane, whether it’s a small Cessna, Piper Cub, C-130 or C-17.
Yes, there have been two instances where a jumper exited an aircraft in flight without a parachute, but both, Rod Pack being the first circa 1960, planned the jump with a buddy successfully passing a parachute in the air while in freefall.
Also, in response to one of the above posts – an old US Navy medical report documenting parachuting injuries and fatalities stated that X-number of fatalities in which the parachutes malfunctioned were caused by “abrupt deceleration”. No ****!