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

Posted by Herr Vaagner on Thu Sep 18, 2003 02:22:23 PM

In reply top 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 impres
: sion that the judging was tied up between the L-4, Stagger
: wing and Corsair. Now don't get me wrong, all the planes
: were absoulutely beautiful and the workmanship was unbelie
: vable. That being said, none of them compared to the Cors
: air.
:
: From a technical standpoint, the Corsair has got to be one
: of the most difficult planes to restore. Several well kn
: own people that specialize in Corsairs have said that they
: could do two and a half P-51's in the same time they coul
: d do a Corsair. Nowhere in the judging criteria did I see
: anything about the difficulty level being taken into cons
: ideration. That being said, I don't see how it couldn't b
: e!
:
: This Corsair is 100% authentic. It has the original radio
: equipment behind the seat. No other Corsair has it insta
: lled. 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. F
: or several years,it has been fashinonable to restore P-51'
: s and Spitfires this way. It's never been that way with t
: he 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 restore
: d it and seen the reaction from people who know what a dif
: ficult 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 w
: ith 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 fastene
: r goes where on a Corsair, how can you judge the correctne
: ss. That is one of the Criteria. Of course I don't expect
: them to be perfect. I happen to think that I know alot a
: bout 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 Champi
: on at Oshkosh, one judge was absolutly convinced that it w
: as painted wrong. It didn't matter in the end I think he
: changed his mind anyhow. The point is, he didn't know eno
: ugh 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 featur
: es of the restoration, such as the radios and armament wir
: ing. The judging criteria says "Anything visible within t
: he cockpit and passenger compartment comprises the items u
: nder inspection in this area. Authenticity should be stres
: sed in the finish, upholstery (or lack thereof), instrumen
: ts, controls and other components. To include the operatio
: nal condition of the components, not just that they are in
: stalled." It worth pointing out that everything in the Co
: rsair works.
:
: I know that they were concerned about color of the paint,
: the anti-glare panel and if it was correct. After they ch
: ecked 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 did
: n't see it. I know for a fact that more than once, the ju
: dges 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, bu
: t 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 Rol
: ls Royce folks over the fact that one of the potential win
: ners was a Corsair. Think about it, two Corsairs have won
: in previous years. Bob Odegaard's F2G Super Corsair in 1
: 999 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 restor
: ed it. They are way too good of folks to sink to that lev
: el.
:
: In my opinion, no other single engine plane I have ever se
: en is as nice as this Corsair or more deserving of that tr
: ophy. No matter what the judges say.
:
: Brad
:
:
Clearly you get testy when someone is disrespectful to one of your bent wing wanna be fighters, I can only say thank god it wasn't a wildcat as you would probably be suicidal or at least ranting about some sort of judging conspiracy paid for by some mustangs lovers.

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