WIX Archives
Re: The Rolls-Royce Heritage Trophy--My opinion only!
Posted by Glenn Goldman on Thu Sep 18, 2003 03:54:30 PM
In reply top The Rolls-Royce Heritage Trophy--My opinion only! posted by Brad on Thu Sep 18, 2003 11:08:18 AM
Brad,
well said! I was a warbird judge at Oshkosh and S&F for 9 years, 18 shows. And I know Tim was a judge longer. When judges don't do their job and properly judge ALL of the aircraft they are supposed to judge, the whole process becomes flawed. This in turn results in some "questionable" awards, which dilutes the value of the award as more and more owners and restorers choose NOT to have their aircraft judged. I too had the pleasure of crawling all over the Corsair.
Glenn
: 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
:
: