NZFF

good to see it on a bigger format , on second thought - to rip the wing off the raider , i do wonder how much elevator control (jammed maybe) after checking movement , sure as hell going down before the bail .

News crew interviewing Rob Davies after the indecent.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=playe...p;v=wLQsJS7zQOM

Thanks for that Pete , lotta chat about this one ... really knocked the 51 around on first strike .

Interesting footage. Without the benefit of any other information the P51 looked very stable after the strike (it dampened out the oscillation very quickly) and only pitched nose down as the pilot bailed out (which of course it would do with no one hanging onto the controls). The collision point seems to have been forward of the empenage and the control surfaces looked intact. Of course at such low altitude decisions have to be made quickly but I really have to question whether the bail out was perhaps a little premature.
Irrespective of that I cannot help feel a bit of anger every time I see a precious piece of history lost needlessly. A Spitfire damaged one week and a Mustang almost the next...and of course the B17. They ain't building them any more!

cowpatz wrote:

QUOTE (cowpatz @ Jul 14 2011,4:44 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Irrespective of that I cannot help feel a bit of anger every time I see a precious piece of history lost needlessly. A Spitfire damaged one week and a Mustang almost the next...and of course the B17. They ain't building them any more!

..and a B-25 last week in France...but I guess you have to weigh that up with the huge number of restorations from virtually nothing...actually the company that buiit the FW 190 replicas are now building P-51s from scratch

Yes that is true although they will only ever be replicas and only for the most popular types. At our current "recycling" efforts we are losing historical aviation artifacts at an alarming rate.
These aircraft need to be treated with the utmost respect and operated in a conservative fashion. It is a shame to see such a lot of hardware that is owned and operated by individuals whose dollars are not necessarily matched with ability.

Naki wrote:

QUOTE (Naki @ Jul 14 2011,6:20 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

...actually the company that buiit the FW 190 replicas are now building P-51s from scratch

Lucky us .. some people like their sailboats , real people go in and rebuild history , pleased

cowpatz wrote:

QUOTE (cowpatz @ Jul 14 2011,5:54 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes that is true although they will only ever be replicas and only for the most popular types. At our current "recycling" efforts we are losing historical aviation artifacts at an alarming rate.
These aircraft need to be treated with the utmost respect and operated in a conservative fashion. It is a shame to see such a lot of hardware that is owned and operated by individuals whose dollars are not necessarily matched with ability.

I guess there could be a time when warbirds get so valuable they won't be flown and replicas are flown in there place and the orginal ones sit in museums...although that leads to the debate on what is a replica and what is a restoration as many so called restorations have very few orginal parts.

Naki wrote:

QUOTE (Naki @ Jul 15 2011,4:16 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

although that leads to the debate on what is a replica and what is a restoration as many so called restorations have very few orginal parts.

Build a Morph Machine , put in this end and out the other ..plop an original part

It all comes down to insurance liabilities now, and I shudder to think of the annual premiums involved... I would say, with respect to the last week's happenings, a lot of new applications will be refused.

From another perspective - I'm sure we all know The Last Of The Summer Wine? Peter Sallis (the more sensible of the trio and also the voice of Wallace - as in Wallace and Grommit) For the last 2 seasons of the show, you'll notice he was never in any outside shots... Always seen in the library reading the paper - At the age of 88, no insurance company would cover him for any outdoor production.

Sad, but I can also see this becoming the norm for a lot of of treasured Warbirds