Liberator wrote:
I am curious coming from a historian and heritage veiwpoint...as i followed your thread from start thinking we see another aircraft saved and restored but what i cant understand is why damage such a rare aircraft, as it is a relatively uncommon T-28 Mexican air force? ...
You could make money out of this taking it to airshows as a long term semi restored aircraft display item and letting people sit in it ......instead of making a car... Have you considered this and then decided too hard at a specific point?
I think you have the basis for a good project there, as i would of restored it to a interesting aircraft status.
Good luck with the car meanwhile.
All of that was considered. But here is the reality. A T28A is rare but it doesn't have much of a value in the current unrestored state. Even if fully restored this plane will never have the value of a p51. Keep in mind that this plane has corrosion issues, and it was in a grass fire that warped the bottom side. The engine was full of water and it was severely burned in the grass fire. The wings tips were melted in the grass fire. The cowlings have severe corrosion as well as damage from the fire. The interior was gutted. That is just a partial list of the damage to the airframe. The plane sat out abandoned in Mexico for many years and then it was stored out doors for many years in the humid Texas air. Many people had ample opportunity to save this plane, but no one did. Once in my possession, I started listing parts off of it on Ebay to try and generate revenue for the car idea. Most of the major parts didn't bring much over $40. The landing gear sold for a whopping $400. I had tons of calls and nasty emails about it while on Ebay. about the rarity of the plane. I had at least ten offers to buy it outright. Not a single offer was over $2000 for the complete mess. The way I see it ,a Model A Ford that they made hundreds of thousands of bring more money than that.
It would be an enormous expense to restore this plane and it most likely wouldn't be worth any where near the amount of money it took to restore it because it is a low powered T28A and not the more desirable big engined D model. The parts only brought a few hundred dollars on Ebay.. Things are only worth what the market will bear and that includes gold and aircraft. Obviously this plane is worth less than a Model A Ford in its current state. If it is practically worthless, then why not convert it into something that can drive around and generate interest for the warbird community from those that aren't at an airshow or museum. Putting it up on static display only generates interest at a museum surrounded by people that are already interested or they wouldn't be there. This thing can be driven all over and it doesn't need to be on some cumbersome truck/trailer combo. People will still be able to climb all over it--- probably more so than at a museum. It could drive around the city before an airshow advertising the event. It will be used as a backdrop when I set up selling my nose art pieces. The airplane will draw more of a crowd at non aviation events because it isn't lost in the sea of more interesting planes at an airshow. It can be used as a teaching tool. I think it will have more wow factor than another preserved static display.
I don't see that I'm destroying what was already for the most part destroyed. If this was a P40 that I was doing this to, I could see the huge concern for loss of history. But there again, if the shoe was on the other foot and I was watching some jerk destroy a potential restoration project, I would probably slap a pop knot on his head. I'm having a lot of fun with this thing for a lot less money than the cost of a restoration too.
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The nose art/aviation artist and general lunatic from Houston, Texas
http://www.jasonbarnettartist.com
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