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Dad was a WAG in the RCAF. He tells of flying out over the sea in Wellingtons with the turret fully rotated and the doors open. Nothing but air between him and the deep blue sea. They were looking for U-boats. Iirc he said the tail gunner didn't wear a parachute. It had to be retrieved and attached if needed.

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311_Wellington-4.jpg​

 

 

Ah, the dear old Wimpney.

 

 

Speaking of which I was reading a new book I bought wreck recovery in England, and back in 2002 they managed to pull half of one out of a beach in the Isle of Lewis. Which about trippled the surviving wellington population overnight.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/2094410.stm

 

Edited by Stuart Galbraith
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Well if they are going to Aus, it likely means they will eventually be going to America for the warbird scene. So who knows, we may see one fly again.

 

In the end, they have been sat there 70 odd years. If Japan really wanted them, they could easily have bought them at any point since the war.

 

Thanks for that Jason.

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https://ww2aircraft.net/forum/threads/xp-82a-flies.50487/#post-1451973

XP-82 flies again.

 

 

From the EAA:

On December 31, 2018, the XP-82 Twin Mustang flew for the first time since December 14, 1949. But the restored aircraft wasn’t supposed to fly that day. The original plan was to do the last FAA required runway high-speed taxi test, lift off for a second or two, touch back down, deploy full flaps, and brake to a stop. It accelerated so fast after the planned liftoff that test pilot Ray Fowler, EAA 229470, realized that getting it back down and stopping it in the remaining runway would be risky. So, he pushed the power back up and flew for about five minutes. There are virtually no photos of this flight as it was not expected to happen.


The unexpected and dramatic acceleration of the XP-82 at 55 inches of manifold pressure occurred because it was approaching three times the horsepower of a single-engine Mustang at only about 1 1/2 times the weight. The XP-82 has 1,860 hp on each side for a total of 3,720 hp — the P-51 has 1,500 hp. The XP-82 weighs 14,700 pounds compared to 9,500 pounds for the P-51.


The very short gear-down flight showed zero airframe squawks, it flew hands-off with no trim required, and all engine temperatures and pressures were normal.


“This wonderful test flight came after a 10 1/2-year restoration encompassing 207,000 labor hours,” said owner and restorer Tom Reilly, EAA 802376. “Many thanks to Ray and all of the men and women that made this restoration possible.”

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I would be in support of efforts to return a G4M to flying condition in collaboration with the Japanese aviation enthusiast community. I would not be in support of the trafficking of war relics to members of the warbird collecting/salvage community in other countries willing to pay top dollar for them.

Edited by Nobu
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I would be in support of efforts to return a G4M to flying condition in collaboration with the Japanese aviation enthusiast community. I would not be in support of the trafficking of war relics to members of the warbird collecting/salvage community in other countries willing to pay top dollar for them.

Restoration is incredibly expensive. It would be wonderful if Japanese enthusiasts step up. I have absolutely no doubt that the talent and skill is there. :)

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When it comes to restored Japanese birds, from the little I have seen on the web, I have found the groups that handle them to be quite professional. As Shep854 said, its expensive. Japanese have restored a number of things to sitting condition but the only thing I can think of that can actually move that they restored was a Type 89 tank. Although I have seen some comments saying things like "they restore too much", they being not just US but also Russia and such. Also flying without the correct engine seems to turn down the opinions by some here. So some may be bothered a little if a G4M is flying with modern engines installed as that would fail to preserve it as what it was. Well could be a bit nitpicky. Probably nothing wrong with having both worlds, some restored as best as possible to what it literally was, and have some restored to flying (or driving) condition if is sacrificing a little of the originality to gain a chance for others to experience seeing it flying as opposed to just sitting. But sometimes I think having them in a flying condition risk them being taken too much as toy things or stopping short at just national pride feeling without careful thinking about the fuller context of them. But yet having them flying could be a better at getting attention and thus more able to get people by their own interests on a path towards better understanding of the fuller context.

 

Just don't feature the G4Ms in a PH 2001 kind of movie ;)

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The Bagington Shackleton and East Kirkby Lancaster are examples.

 

They both face essentially insurmountable hurdles to airworthiness level restoration because of administrative obstacles based (in the Shackleton's case at least) on nominal lifing of critical components, plus the absence of a formal relationship with a Design Authority..

 

The Shackleton has a time expired main spar.

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The BBMF Lancaster had the same issue. The Main spar on that was life expired, so they had to figure out how to do a replacement. As it happens, the MOD had envisaged replacing the main spar on AWACs Shackletons, so they had some appropriate aluminum ingots to do the work. It remain the only Lancaster that has been re-sparred.

 

Speaking of the East Kirkby Lancaster, they are making some really interesting videos on the restoration for returning it to flight.

 

The same people are also slowly restoring (reconstructing?) a Handley Page Hampden with the intention of returning it to flight. Which is kind of getting into the same territory a restoration of the Betty would be. You are getting more into the realms of the Dunkirk Spitfire, 2 rudder pedals and an engine, than a restoration.

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When it comes to restored Japanese birds, from the little I have seen on the web, I have found the groups that handle them to be quite professional. As Shep854 said, its expensive. Japanese have restored a number of things to sitting condition but the only thing I can think of that can actually move that they restored was a Type 89 tank. Although I have seen some comments saying things like "they restore too much", they being not just US but also Russia and such. Also flying without the correct engine seems to turn down the opinions by some here. So some may be bothered a little if a G4M is flying with modern engines installed as that would fail to preserve it as what it was. Well could be a bit nitpicky. Probably nothing wrong with having both worlds, some restored as best as possible to what it literally was, and have some restored to flying (or driving) condition if is sacrificing a little of the originality to gain a chance for others to experience seeing it flying as opposed to just sitting. But sometimes I think having them in a flying condition risk them being taken too much as toy things or stopping short at just national pride feeling without careful thinking about the fuller context of them. But yet having them flying could be a better at getting attention and thus more able to get people by their own interests on a path towards better understanding of the fuller context.

 

Just don't feature the G4Ms in a PH 2001 kind of movie ;)

 

There was an interesting feature on the 3 Zeros that were restored to flying condition in Russia that I watched on youtube. Apparently they ordered them not to fit engines so the owners who bought them could make their own decision on it. I believe they fitted Pratt and Whitney's,not because they couldnt fit original japanese engines, but because of the difficulty of obtaining parts of them, not to mention maintenance issues. The last person who knew how to flight maintain a zero retired in 1945.

 

Ive read of one pilot who had his Buchon fitted with a DB601. He regretted it, he had an engine that was slightly less powerful than a Merlin, with more regular servicing and harder to obtain parts. It sounded absolutely awesome, but....

 

Im still waiting for 'Yamato vs Godzilla'. Im sure they could feature a flying Betty in that. :)

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  • 2 weeks later...

This sounds like fun.

 

http://warbirdsnews.com/warbirds-news/arsenal-of-democracy-fly-over-may-8th-2020.html

With the 75th anniversary of the end of WWII in Europe approaching just a little over a year away in May, 2020, the first official press release announcing the Arsenal of Democracy Fly-Over of Washington, DC to commemorate this historic milestone came on January 7th. This event will closely model itself on the similar and highly successful Arsenal of Democracy Fly-Over which took place on May 8th, 2015 to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of WWII. Indeed, most of the same entities, and many of the same personnel will be involved organizing and executing this major fly past of the nation’s capital. However, unlike last time, there will also be special celebrations at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii from August 29th through September 2nd, 2020 to commemorate the cessation of hostilities in the Pacific Theatre as well.

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Well its an NF14, so its probably Amstrong Whitworth one. Id be crying buckets if it was a real Gloster built one. :D

 

Im not sure, Martin Baker were using a 2 seat one for tests (Ive a feeling it was in an episode of The Prisoner) but ive a feeling thats been withdrawn too. Im sure we will see one back in the skies sooner or later, even if they have to reengine them. After all, none of us thought an ME262 would be seen in the skies again either.

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  • 2 months later...

And it may well fly again. Sounds crazy, but it happened to a Hurricane once before.

 

Thanks for sharing.

Yep. Restore that tailwheel support strut... ;) Edited by shep854
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The one they dug out of Dunkirk Beach I dont think they had much more than the engine (or components thereof) and a set of supermarine stamped rudder pedals. Those apparently were rare, they were only on machines built before the factory was bombed in the Battle of Britain I believe.

 

It sounds an odd thing to do, but in truth you can build a spitfire (or Hurricane) brand new from the ground up, but it would be worth far less than you spent building it. The only way you can make it work is build what is practically a new machine and incorporate original components. In truth, I dont really have a problem with that. Its only going to be an issue when people start buying these things as an investment, as they did with classic cars for a while.

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