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Re: Speaking of that seafire...

Posted by Steve T on Mon Mar 08, 2004 07:43:12 AM

In reply top Speaking of that seafire... posted by Richard Allnutt on Mon Mar 08, 2004 12:10:01 AM

Hi Richard--

: Airic... Isn't the seafire you are referring to the same
: project which started the CWH rolling in the first place?

PR503 was one of their first projects but not the one that started the whole thing: that was Firefly WD901. They were set onto that (which was with Jack Sliker at Wadley, GA) by someone who had seen it and mistook it for a Seafire. Since the RCN had also used Fireflies, they acquired it anyway.

: I find it kind of ironic that the aircraft which started t
: o ball rolling, so to speak, has taken so long to restore.
: What were the problems involved?

One substantial stumbling-block was the lack of an engine; Griffon VIs are rare indeed, and the later long-block Griffons won't fit a short-nose Seafire (without major surgery)...

Or did they just get dis
: tracted by other, much bigger projects (eg. the Lanc).

No doubt that played a role; PR503 kept moving around, going first to Ray Middleton in Colorado, then to Richie Rasmussen in Alberta and finally Dan Springer in the "Soo" before being sold to Fisk/Amjet.

Jus
: t wondering, as I would love to see a Seafire in the air s
: ome day. Do you have any recent photos of its restoration
: progress?

Saw some recently; she's painted in Pacific theatre FAA marks. Would love to see her come "home" to Shearwater and reassume her RCN identity...

S.

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