WIX Archives

Re: The fine line

Posted by david j burke on Mon Dec 23, 2002 07:37:47 PM

In reply top Re: The facts posted by Joe S on Mon Dec 23, 2002 06:45:29 PM

A replica is usually sanctioned by the original manufacturer
and follows the original faithfully. In this case I call it
'new' because the percentage of that machine that can be used in the reborn G-ALGT is very small. I didn't use my comments regards smelting as a means of vengeance - I was cold and clinical . As you rightly put it you don't need
original parts -you can simply build from new as will happen in this case. The remains I feel are that bent ,twisted and distorted that they have ceased to be historic - just twisted metal which will play little part in a new machine.
To use another example a couple of years ago during the course of a job I viewed the remains of PAA flight 103.
It consisted of a pile approximately the height of a house-
on top of that was the fin with the U.S flag on it. Simply
put it is one of the saddest sights I have ever seen.
It is however 'historic' in terms of it's part of our history but it's long since ended it's life as an aeroplane.
My feelings are that the has to be a time when you walk away and say thats enough - you simply cannot rebuild everything and have no feelings about what you are doing.
Regards whether he 'killed himself' I cannot believe that he intended to do that. It's rather heartless to say
it - there is no flight data recorder in the Spitfire so we will never fully know what happened in the last minute with any degree of certainty. Simply put they both failed to recover from an aerobatic manouver -many have done it before and sadly I am sure more will.
In that accident a fine pilot died and a machine was destroyed - I think the two of them are inseparable in most people's memories and the idea of well it wasn't the aircraft's fault so lets rebuild doesn't really wash with me.

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