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Re: Outsourcing?

Posted by Rob Mears on Sun Nov 24, 2002 10:06:34 PM

In reply top Outsourcing? posted by Chuck on Sun Nov 24, 2002 04:13:59 PM

: Would it be cost and labor effective to get the Romainians
: to build a half dozen spars for the US market?

I've wondered about that as well. I believe the main trick is finding single-piece extrusions that are long enough (16 feet I believe) to fabricate the spar caps. The fabricator working for Tom Reiley had to special order custom extrusions in order to get the project off the ground. A real P.I.T.A. from what I understand. They had to actually go with an alternate "laminated" type design for the new-build spar to make it work. Tom told me it was such a pain that he didn't think he would ever attempt to do it again.

You have to keep in mind that the original factory had these HUGE rollers that rolled the 'inverted gull' section into shape. Trying to tool up for that would be near impossible, which is why they had to compromise on the methods used to build Silberman's spar.

Regarding the Romanians, I'd bet that if Reiley was willing to share his experience and methods, and someone had the money to back the project, you could definitely farm out the work to Romania and make it happen (since the the concept has already been proven). You'd have to check into raw materials availability, and you'd want to have some deposits up front to guarantee your market.

If there were a fair number of main spars available you'd probably find a fabrication shop somewhere entertaining the idea of new-build Corsairs. The complex main spar is THE one component that makes the Corsair near impossible to duplicate. All of the other major components rival those already being built from scratch for other projects. There are shops right now that are in the process of fabricating F4U wing panels and rear fuselages practically from scratch for exsiting restoration projects.

It could be done, all we'd need is money and time ;)

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