I know they were apparently a nightmare to work with as business people, but is it still an economic option to get aircraft built or rebuilt in Russia these days? Sir Tim Wallis had eight Polikapovs rebuilt there, and Yak did the new production run of 20 (?) Yak 3’s. At that time there were an abundance of excellent, highly skilled aircraft builders going cheap. Is this still the case?
As for Glyn Powell’s Mosquito – the one he intends to build to fly, I read today in Dad’s Royal Aeronautical Society newsletter that he has a good condition Mossie wing that he got from Canada to use in the project. Apparently it had had a little outdoor storage but was in very good condition despite this. However to get it to NZ they apparently had to chop a bit off to fit it in a container 😮 But this proves that it won’t be a ‘new build’, a certain amount will be genuine original Mossie.
As for dreaming… I’d LOVE to see a replica Empire Flying Boat. I reckon you could make a decent living in the tourism industry with a luxury flying boat these days, like the Empire or even a Sunderland or Solent.
All this talk of getting stuff made in China worries me – from what I understand, China has a terrible reputation in the aviation industry for poor quality and safety. In fact almost anything made in China tends to be rubbish compared with western products. The only benefit is cost, but when it comes to omething like aircraft I don’t think saving a buck by cutting corners should be a consideration.
However one thing though, from what I understand of the way they operate over there when manufacturing western-ordered goods, if you ordered say five new-build Typhoons and give them the drawings, etc., you can guarantee by the time your five are delivered there’ll be another thousand that they have knocked-off and slipped out their back door and onto the black market. So maybe it’s a good idea. You’ll be able to buy one for a fiver in the markets. 😉
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