WIX Archives
'Farther than anyone else'
Posted by Paul on Thu Apr 22, 2004 07:26:07 AM
In reply top Re: Why do they ALWAYS oversell these things? posted by Tim Savage on Wed Apr 21, 2004 08:52:13 AM
Anyone that goes that extra mile to do such work should be commended, encouraged, praised and every other good thing you can think of.
One such person that does this sort of stuff is Midwest Aero Restorations (Mike Vadeboncoeur) - mentored by Butch Schroeder. A lot of what Mike did to Lil Margaret (F-6D) has become emulated by other shops, and I believe this restoration did, for its time, set new standards. Mike would be the first to admit he has also followed other people's leads too. One thing that has always excited me is the attention to detail. One thing that continues to interest me is the personalities involved in this. Their financial background is totally irrelevant.
Of course there are other individuals restoring (and paying to have restored) their warbirds.
Having seen some of the work done to FHC restorations it is top notch; the companies that are doing/did such work also deserve the kudos. At the end of the day all this had to be paid for and three cheers for the guy writing the cheque. To me its irrelevant how much money he has, put pretty damn good he's chosing to spend it with the companies doing the work; long may it continue.
I am often reminded of a meeting I had with one such collector three or four years ago. On being so pleasantly surprised at the jewel before me I said, 'it looks a million dollars....' Actually, said the owner, in a nice sort of way, 'it's much more than that.......!'
Just my $2.5 million's worth.
Paul
PS Steve Jobs never did answer my email