WIX Archives
Re: Data Plate restorations v. "original" a/c
Posted by Cees on Fri Apr 19, 2002 10:48:31 AM
In reply top Data Plate restorations v. "original" a/c posted by simon king on Thu Apr 18, 2002 12:41:24 PM
The discussion regarding data plate restorations and original aicraft is interesting but as long as there are people with money who want to fly a warbird and are prepared to put a dataplate with known history on it this will keep happening.
IMHO the original aicraft should be preserved for posterity in a museum as an example of how such an aircraft type looked like in a condition approaching operational standard of the time period, such as the XP51, the Mk Ia Spitfire at the RAFM and so on.
As mentioned earlier these aircraft, how historic they might be, were operational during WWII and as such suffered as a result of this. The RAFM's Spitfire Ia when received by the restoration group turned out to be something of a hybrid being almost modified into a Mk V. But this is what happened during the war, modifying aircraft so that they can keep up.
There is not one single surviving warbird which has all its original parts the day it left the factory, but that is only logical isn't it. Without starting the discussion again which part of an aircraft carries the identity, even if wings have been replaced , tailunits etc, it is still a historic aircraft. What would have happened if the war had lasted five years longer, whould all older aircraft have been scrapped? I don't think so, also wrecked aircraft were canabalised and components were used to make one fully operational aircraft again.
What I think is the real threat towards flying warbirds is cost. The prices of the warbirds of today are almost astronomical and you really need to have a lot of money to be able to afford one including insurance, fuel, spare parts etc.
My own project to build a Halifax pilot/engineers compartment uses non-airworthy parts, these are very expenisve and are getting more so by the year. People or companies who sell these have a habit of raising prices at their own will regularly. Think about it when someone wants to rebuild an airframe to airworthy condition this makes prices even more expensive, if the parts need to be overhauled etc..
Especially the prices of spare parts etc. seem to have rocketed the past five years. There is no way that prices will decrease, but it has to end somewhere. At this rate people have stopped flying warbirds long before AVGAS and Merlins are no longer available.
Just my personal opinion of course
Cees