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Re: THE ANSWER YOU SEEK....(yet another opinion!)

Posted by David M Jameson on Mon Jun 17, 2002 05:49:51 PM

In reply top Re: THE ANSWER YOU SEEK....(yet another opinion!) posted by Tim Savage on Mon Jun 17, 2002 04:00:40 PM

: Well said Brandon!


With respects, to the above, I would believe that most restorers, are individuals or groups of like minded friends that do it for the love of the aircraft.

Most probably do not do it for the money, ie resale, but for the love of it. This means that they too, probably have a day job.

But you may be right, they don't have time to watch message boards. I do suspect that they, like myself; spend vast amounts of time either on the phone or searching the web for replacement parts.

As most articles state when they interview the restorer, they talk about how many years it took to complete. Sometimes even decades.

Take the CAF, Minnesota wing P-51B. Several other CAF wings had tried to restore it, the desire wained, and the money may have gone away too. All that it took was some new blood, fresh faces and a desire to complete. It shows up at Oshkosh last year and it was beautiful.

While the true hard core rebuilders may not or do not wish to engage in this on-going discussion, that is up to them. The fact remains that these professional restorers are only a small part of the restoration process, and this is what the EAA was all about, not the professional man, but the individual; bring them together, sharing common ground.

Most indivduals do not have the money to hire professionals, so the project proceeds at a slow pace. Some just wish to be able to say to themselves, they did on their own.

My point on this, is that the EAA was founded on these principals, for which they now shun. What a shame what money does sometimes. Both good and bad come from it.

Sometimes we loose sight our the real goals for the short term success or bragging rights. Everyone looses when this happens.

David

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