P-38's rescue

[Old Sport]

I guess after being in the restoration business for close to 15 years I can say that all things are restorable, it's just how much history actually remains and when does a "one off" restoration begin?

...like the little sign by the genuine hatchet that George Washington used to chop down the cherry tree.

[The head has been replaced three times and the handle 13 times]

[Bodhi]

good point old sport

[Guppy35]

Regarding the 'history that remains' part.  

I guess it's always a matter of perception.  Using the RN Museums Corsair as an example.  In one sense that's the only Corsair out there that truely is a WW2 bird, as it's not been restored and it's in it's original paint.  I don't think that means all those beautifully restored Corsairs aren't any less important.

BUT!  Say, I win the lottery and with all that money I decide I'm going to build myself an early B17B.  I track down the drawings and hire the folks to build me a B17B from the ground up to 1939-40 right off the assembly line specs.

I then fly it to airshows etc and let folks tour it showing them what a B17B from pre-WW2 was like.  It's still filled with that history even if it's a brand new reproduction.

Kinda like those North Dakota built Allison Mustangs, or the Flugwerk 190s.  If it's gets folks to learn the history, it's doing it's job.

That being said, if I was given the choice between a new build bird and a wartime bird, I'd go with the wartime bird in a heartbeat

Now to win that lottery!

[Captain Virgil Hilts]

For example, Bob Cardin and Mr. Roy figured it'd take about 2-3 years and a million dollars to make "Glacier Girl" fly again. Cardin told me one time that there wasn't a damned thing on the plane that wasn't bent or broken. It ended up taking over ten years and around 6 million dollars. Cardin also said that he figured they used about 50% of the available parts on the market. After two years of trying to get it done with volunteers, they had to give up and hire professionals to get it done.

Don't get me wrong, I'd LOVE to see them bring up the other 5 and make them fly. But if it cost a quarter of a million dollars to recover one, 15 years ago, and 6 million dollars to restore it over ten years, 5 years ago, I figure you're looking at 10 million per plane. You have to consider that there are planes already recovered that aren't in much worse, if any worse, shape, and they aren't getting restored. Kermit Weeks has one, and so does the CAF, and they've been in pieces since before "Glacier Girl" was recovered. Lefty's plane wasn't even hurt that bad and he could raise the funds to fix it, and had to sell it.

There just aren't too many people around with 3 to 10 million dollars in disposable income around who love World War II aircraft. And that's a damned shame.

[Benny Moore]

Yes, every time I hear of some billionaire donating five million dollars to some homeless animal program I just clench my teeth.

Flugwerk's birds are really pushing the line; they are quite different from the originals.

[scottydawg]

All you need is 500 hair dryers and a lot of really long extension cords.

[gripen]

Originally posted by Guppy35

Kinda like those North Dakota built Allison Mustangs, or the Flugwerk 190s.  If it's gets folks to learn the history, it's doing it's job.

That being said, if I was given the choice between a new build bird and a wartime bird, I'd go with the wartime bird in a heartbeat

I mostly agree; I think that Flugwerk and others are doing fine work with those replicas and in many cases those so called "restored" birds are about as much new built as those replicas.

gripen

[Debonair]

i wonder if there are economies of scale in restoring planes like there are in maufacturing them.