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Corsair spar

Posted by Alan Brooks on Mon Dec 22, 2003 11:41:22 PM

In reply top this isn't a professional opinion but... posted by JimH on Sun Dec 21, 2003 09:53:42 PM

Hello Jim, Cees, Gary....... I had just spent a great deal of time with Ashley Ezell on the great spar question..... There are many issues to deal with..... probably the two greatest are 1). The factory drawings (on microfilm) are incomplete and at times incorrect. They know this from taking measurements from actual spars and comparing to the drawings...... all of this then leads to tooling/dies/rollers/jigs/machining/heat treating. Sounds simple eh? Problem #2 To build the spar as the original will run close to seven figures. John Lane can confirm the approximate cost. Unless you have about 8-10 Corsairs that need spars (to lower production costs), the cost for one flyable airplane will total somewhere around 1.7- 2.0 million dollars US. The Corsair is simply not an easy fighter to restore or to build parts for (as compared to a P-51). Just adding my 1/2 cent... JimH, I'm waiting for the 17/24 to come back to the DFW area. Waiting again for the chance to get airborne in the 24...... Alan Brooks

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