#180
Vega
I didn’t claim that it would be easy ! It is remarkable that when trying to permutate possible and impossible that some people manage to come up trumps. Please don’t tell me that the following is not an exact parallel – I can work that out. When no one thought that they could satifactorily maintain, service and safely operate Buccaneers and Lightnings, the South Africans, until just recently, did just that.
Stan Smith
Let us say that you have four or five million of your own cash to put into a Mossie restoration/new build project. If you’re looking for historical accuracy and a lot of maintenance imput, build ply sandwich. If you’re not bothered too much by ‘historical accuracy’ and you are satisfied with the sight and sound of an ‘authentic’ Mossie which for all intents and purposes looks like the real deal and has the merit of longevity without the need for the airframe to be cosseted, then build ally. Don’t forget its cash from your own pocket. What are you going to do ? Of course, if it is cash from the public, then no one really cares !
If you select ply sandwich, you must use the glues of the period in order to conform to historical accuracy. The avionics as such must be of the period – no cheating by including/using GPS to get you from display to display. No A,C,S transponder. No updated radio. It’s a crystal set for you my lad. If you do use the glues of the time – don’t ask me to fly it.
When one really looks at the picture in some detail, you get an ‘authentic’ faithfully reproduced Mosquito which – it transpires – ain’t so authentic or so faithfully reproduced.
Look at the thousands of replica cars on the road that look and sound exactly like the original. They are all equipped with modern braking systems, modern roadholding ability, modern radial tyres etc. Not much historical accuracy there. They are still much sought after.
John Green
Sorry John, but you haven’t the foggiest idea of what you are talking about, and clearly haven’t the slightest bit of professional engineering experience.
While I would agree that it is perfectly feasible to build an all-aluminium Mosquito, the notion that it would only cost around 4 million pounds to build one in the UK is exceptionally naive.
The engineering design requirements alone would cost you far in excess of this, as it will be a wholey new design. The CAA would never let you register it in the UK without going through with type certification either, which would likely run into the tens of millions of pounds. So while you could do it, the big question is why? Why would you put tens of millions of pounds and decades of work into something which would never be worth more than a few hundred thousand at best when you’ve finished? No one would be willing to pay more than that for what you have in mind.
The Glyn Powell route is the only practical way to go. He uses essentially the same manufacturing process as once was used in the war, and it is a proven design. It is as close to an authentic WWII mosquito as is practical today, outside of actually restoring a totally complete original example to flight. Yes, it uses updated glues, and a few mod cons, but to all but the most anal of observers it will be an authentic Mosquito at the end of the day, and something which investors would be willing to pay millions of pounds to buy. This isn’t just a wild stab in the dark like what you have proposed, but actual fact.
Also, comparing cars to aeroplanes is a non-starter. There is a lot more flexibility with modifying car designs and kit cars than there is, or ever will be with aircraft in the UK. While you may enjoy protesting to the contrary, you will be whistling in the wind, as only a fool would follow the path you propose.
Richard
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