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The Rolls-Royce Heritage Trophy--My opinion only!

Posted by Brad on Thu Sep 18, 2003 11:08:18 AM

When I left Reno on Saturday night, I was under the impression that the judging was tied up between the L-4, Staggerwing and Corsair. Now don't get me wrong, all the planes were absoulutely beautiful and the workmanship was unbelievable. That being said, none of them compared to the Corsair.

From a technical standpoint, the Corsair has got to be one of the most difficult planes to restore. Several well known people that specialize in Corsairs have said that they could do two and a half P-51's in the same time they could do a Corsair. Nowhere in the judging criteria did I see anything about the difficulty level being taken into consideration. That being said, I don't see how it couldn't be!

This Corsair is 100% authentic. It has the original radio equipment behind the seat. No other Corsair has it installed. Charge the guns and pull the trigger, you will hear the solenoids click. Arm the rockets and push the button, you will see the intervelometer count off the rockets. This is the first Corsair to be restored to the exact same configuration that it was in when it left the factory. For several years,it has been fashinonable to restore P-51's and Spitfires this way. It's never been that way with the Corsair. This is also the first Corsair to be stripped all the way down to the bare main spar.

I have seen this plane, crawled through it, looked at the pictures from the rebuild, talked to the crew that restored it and seen the reaction from people who know what a difficult job it was. They are always impressed.

This next part is strictly my observation and opinion, so hopefully nobody will take offense. I have two problems with the judging.

1. I don't think the judges knew alot about Corsairs. At the very least, I don't think they knew exactly what they should be looking at. Unless you know exactly what fastener goes where on a Corsair, how can you judge the correctness. That is one of the Criteria. Of course I don't expect them to be perfect. I happen to think that I know alot about Corsairs and what's right and what's wrong. However, I don't know 100% of the time exactly what kind of screw goes where. If you look at the blueprints for the Corsair, you will see that the wing fold area can be painted more than one color. Even though this Corsair won Grand Champion at Oshkosh, one judge was absolutly convinced that it was painted wrong. It didn't matter in the end I think he changed his mind anyhow. The point is, he didn't know enough about Corsairs to make that call.

I spent quite a bit of time around the plane while at Reno and I never saw a single judge spend more than 30 seconds looking at the Cockpit. Not once, as far as I know, did a judge accept the offer to see some of the special features of the restoration, such as the radios and armament wiring. The judging criteria says "Anything visible within the cockpit and passenger compartment comprises the items under inspection in this area. Authenticity should be stressed in the finish, upholstery (or lack thereof), instruments, controls and other components. To include the operational condition of the components, not just that they are installed." It worth pointing out that everything in the Corsair works.

I know that they were concerned about color of the paint, the anti-glare panel and if it was correct. After they checked the mil spec, they decided that it was. During the time I spent around the plane, I never saw a single judge give any part of the plane more than a cursory look. Does that mean that none of them did? No, it just means I didn't see it. I know for a fact that more than once, the judges were asked if they had any questions or wanted to see anything in particular about the plane. I never saw one say yes. Once again, it doesn't mean it didn't happen, but I never saw it.

2. I know I may be crazy, but I honestly believe this part. I think there might have been some concern with the Rolls Royce folks over the fact that one of the potential winners was a Corsair. Think about it, two Corsairs have won in previous years. Bob Odegaard's F2G Super Corsair in 1999 and Ray Dieckman's FG1D, in 2000. I don't think they want to be acused of tossing a trophy at any Corsair that happens to taxi by.

Now, all that being said, I don't know the actual results of the judging. I do know one thing for sure though. If this Corsair didn't win anything, you won't hear a single complaint from the folks at Airpower Unlimited that restored it. They are way too good of folks to sink to that level.

In my opinion, no other single engine plane I have ever seen is as nice as this Corsair or more deserving of that trophy. No matter what the judges say.

Brad


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