Hello guys,

G-CCCA had a gear collapse during taxi for departure

Nothing collapsed as noted in the remark of my published photo at A.net

hope pilot/s are ok

Both pilots John and Karel are fine.

And that is the reason we did just see the Mk.XVIII at Antwerp

Yes.

The damage is very light. The props are gonners of course. For the rest there are some light scrathes to the metal atacht to the rigth under carraigeleg. And some damage to the right wingtip. Don’t know the state of the engine. The spit is tucked away in the T2 hanger at the Aviodrome.

Correct.

having viewed the photos and seen the damage to the props it will be seen that only the tips suffered, therefore with the engine at taxi speed low revs and a wooden prop will hopefully mean minimal damage to engine if any,
wooden props were fitted for one of these reasons as to minimise engine shock loads and get them back in the air asap during operations

That’s what they told me but then again I am an avionics engineer and not an experienced engine mechanic certainly not on the Spit.

I wonder what will happen with regards to the fact that it is in another country as well, will they restore it there?

We(the Aviodrome) offered Karel and John to help where ever needed.
At least they can used our facility and tools for the required repairs.

is there something to hide about this accident?

Not that I am aware of.

Now they need to contact Airliners.net next:
http://www.airliners.net/photo/Super…ire/1352635/L/

Nobody contacted me but then again I asked the owner whether he was ok with me photographing at forehand.

All in all the damage seems to be very minor and engine nor gear problems are expected, a deeper inspection can always reveal different things though.

Cheers,
Willem

If three weeks ago it is described as a ‘pile of junk’ – how have they managed to turn her around in such a short space of time ? Is this a repaint and reassemble as opposed to a restoration?

It looked a bit like this:
http://www.honders.net/tmp/_MG_2100.jpg

Knowing the aircraft as I do, I am sure there were more than a few problems to get the aircraft to rollout stage!

A nice understatement 🙂
Let’s say it took a lot of banging, bending, drilling and welding.
The other volunteers(also about 4) working on the DC2 are very glad they have finished because communication was nearly impossible. 😀

A splendid effort – but not without precedent – when we sold our second Beech 18 (G-BKRG) to the Aviodome a couple of years ago they had her assembled and in paint, ready to display in less than three weeks – and I KNOW how rough she was!

The Beech and the newly opened officers mess:
http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1140764/M/

Mind you they are fortunate to have a lot of manpower – at the time IIRC they had 20 blokes working on the Beech – with that kind of back up it all makes sense….

That’s a misunderstanding.
It’s more like 3 or 4 permanent employee’s(which includes the director working in his spare time on Saterday) plus about 4 volunteers.

The Casa is of course not restored to airworthy condition but it did include a lot more then a simple rebuild and to be honest when I saw the thingy arrive I though “make that 5 months rather then 5 weeks”.
Those guys did a super job 😮

Some more to see for you:
Cockpit
http://www.honders.net/tmp/_MG_2526.jpg
Cabin
http://www.honders.net/tmp/IMG_2522.jpg
Explanation about the paint job.
http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1205971/L/

Cheers, Willem

Waiting to see a picture of it back in one piece!
Having ‘looked after’ it for the past 5 years, it will be great to see this making progress!
Bruce

At your service Sir, now the Casa is unvealed today photo’s are cleared.
Transformed in about 5 weeks from wreck to something worth looking at.
http://www.honders.net/tmp/_MG_2498.jpg

We sure hope that the critics are satisfied with the final result.
Props for engines 1 and 3 have also arrived and will be mounted in a short while.

Willem

Oh, auntie Ju’s gonna look great in between the vintage dc2’s and 3’s on the dispersal in front of the thirties style building there.

It’s a exact replica of the 1928 AMS terminal. 😉

Any news on the rebuild to airworthy condition?

Not from my side but maybe somebody from the English side of the pond :confused:

The Fokker C.5 was (along with the Fokker G.1)

and the D.21, T.5

Was the Spit in question the same airframe that sat outside in the Overloon museum? —- as seen by me in 1969 with a bids nest in the tail!

This one http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1187427/M/ you mean ?
In that case the answer is no, it’s already flying in the UK for many years.
http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1188469/M/
http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1188790/M/

The other Spit is still there: http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1148163/M/