There’s a good history (with photos) of this airframe on Ruud Leeuw’s site: http://www.ruudleeuw.com/phpby.htm

It confirms that the aircraft was converted to an aerial firefighter by Field Aviation for Avalon Aviation. There is a photo showing it in Avalon colours here: https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/view/1482432

This has been discussed at length on PPRuNe, the pilot in question has flown at that airfield many times, but in a different type with a smaller rotor disc. He may have unconsciously parked in the ‘usual’ place, forgetting that he needed to leave more space for the disc. Initially it looked like it hit the roof when he lowered the collective, but that first video appears to show the blades hitting the building at a lower level. Fortunately there were no injuries!

Interesting illustration of the military Concorde! Just my two cents but those three Blue Steel missiles are going to wreak havoc with the airflow going into the engines. At supersonic speeds you will get shockwaves off those missile nosecones, fins and attachment rails, which will bounce off the underside and the other missiles. This will seriously disturb the inlet airflow. I’m sure it was an interesting thought at the time but from an aerodynamic standpoint I would label it as extremely unpractical.

Aaaahhh, so that’s where it was going!

I was surprised to catch it at EHLE this morning, obviously for a fuel stop:

Norseman_EHLE_260517 by Jelle Hieminga, on Flickr
(with apologies for the crappy photo)

The NMM in Soesterberg, The Netherlands has a nice (static) Buffalo replica but unfortunately it is not on display. I realise that this is a bit of a red herring but it’s the only one I could think of!

Edit: Wikipedia is your friend! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brewster_F2A_Buffalo#Survivors

On that fourth photo, the entire surface is white with oxidation, so that half of the clevis has suffered a complete fracture a while ago. The other side looks like an instantaneous fracture to me, almost as if the metal is brittle. Good of you to bring this to everyone’s attention, even though aircraft have been standing still for quite some time, there may still be some surprises lurking in the structure! (Something like this has happened to a VC10 in the past….)

That would be my guess too, part of the prop hub and the blade root. I know absolutely nothing about German props though….

Am I the only one that thinks this is a bit daft?

Having given this some more thought, no you’re not. Looking at the photo in post #1 again, it does look a bit like a step back. They’ve gone to so much trouble to get the shape, looks and sound of a G-12 back and then they go and bolt a Merlin back on. But I also can see the advantages from a training/economic aspect.

As for the two seat Buchon, there’s not really a need to recreate that is there, seeing as one turned up in Texas? :p