Big Beautiful Doll crash site photos online

[Liberator]

Here are some post crash close up photos of the ex RAAF / Aussie Mustang that crashed at Duxford otherwise known as Big Beauitful Doll.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/37660802@N ... 4496346485

4 photos in the set keep clicking next to see all. Sadly not much left by the looks of it. High impact collison.

Phil

[DoraNineFan]

Somewhere I read an analysis of a fighter crash, and it mentions how the rotating engine crankshaft and pistons will come to pieces in the milliseconds after impact and blow the crankcase open. The photos illustrate the physics of that very well.

[carlisle1926]

What a loss.

[mlenoch]

I am a bit more optimistic. There are a lot of useable pieces in there. I hope it is not all scrapped...truly.
VL

[Lynn Allen]

I am a bit more optimistic. There are a lot of useable pieces in there. I hope it is not all scrapped...truly.
VL

They had rebuilt a lot worse...

[Braveheart51]

I am a bit more optimistic. There are a lot of useable pieces in there. I hope it is not all scrapped...truly.
VL

We are trying to buy it right now and bring it back to the states to rebuild it

[Mike]

I hope it remains outside the USA for rebuild. Sadly, CAC Mustangs have a habit of 'morphing' into P-51s for paperwork reasons once they reach the States.

[warbird2]

I hope it remains outside the USA for rebuild. Sadly, CAC Mustangs have a habit of 'morphing' into P-51s for paperwork reasons once they reach the States.

Other than the paperwork what is the difference in a P-51 and a CAC Mustang? Is there a physical difference?

[JDK]

"It" will be rebuilt. It's a Mustang.

Other than the paperwork what is the difference in a P-51 and a CAC Mustang? Is there a physical difference?

Well, my Aussie colleagues like to suggest the CAC ones aren't rushed, wartime jobs, but better built postwar handcrafted examples...

Anyway...

Essentially the same airframe. Main modern current difference is the removal of small magnesium castings used by CAC for the original aluminium castings of NAA, after the failure of a Mag casting cause a wheels-up forced landing in Australia. I believe items like brakes and some minor systems could differ, but the licence-built CAC example had Merlin, same gun types and main equipment, as I understand.

From the warbird point of view, US built Mustangs are worth more, and easier to certify in the US, as Mike's already touched on, resulting in the well-known but generally avoided cases of identity-swapped former CAC examples - including examples with significant, important history, now dumped for a US NAA dataplate and papers.

This Mustang, the former G-HAEC, was rebuilt in Hong Kong in the 1980s from two aircraft, one a CAC example, one a NA one. How much of which depends on who you talk to. Two facts are worth bearing in mind: it was originally registered under the CAC identity, a more recent owner claimed it was more North American. These views are not arrived at randomly.

Regards,

[AvroAvian]

Very little difference. CAC part numbers on everything - basically substitute 17- and 18- prefixes for the NAA prefixes. A lot of magnesium used for cast fittings. The Mk 23's (40 built) were fitted with Rolls Royce Merlin 70 Series engines, which have minor installation differences to the V1650-7. For all intents and purposes though, it is just a paperwork stumbling block for both the FAA and CASA, not recognising anything other than their own countries' manufactured product.

[warbird2]

So it sounds like nothing is different that would be noticable to the average person?

Thanks for the answers gentlemen.

[Iclo]

According a message on an another thread: the wrek was already shipped back to Germany.

[tom d. friedman]

it sucks that somebody had to wrangle in copyright status of the pics for such a tragedy.

[Randy Haskin]

I am a bit more optimistic. There are a lot of useable pieces in there. I hope it is not all scrapped...truly.
VL

There's a dataplate and a clear title in there, so certainly it's rebuildable!

[Mike]

it sucks that somebody had to wrangle in copyright status of the pics for such a tragedy.

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