Not dreaming, just waiting...

Mon Mar 10, 2008 8:22 am

As a response to the 'Flying Warbird wish list' thread, I thought I'd kick off a thread of types that are currently, actively under rebuild to fly. I started with Fifi because her state is a reminder that it takes a lot of work and cash to put an aircraft into the sky, and that demand never goes away...

So each of the following is currently either rare (less than two or three flying) or unique, and something to look forward to - one day...

Bell P-59
Boeing B-29 FIFI
Bristol Beaufighter
Bristol Beaufort
Bristol Blenheim
de Havilland Mosquito/s
Douglas Boston / A-20
Fairey Swordfish/s
Fairey Firefly
FFVS J-22
Fiat CR-42
Flug Werke FW-190s
Gloster Gladiator
Hawker Demon
Hawker Fury (biplane)
Heinkel He 162
Kawasaki Ki-61 Tony/s
Messerschmitt Bf 109G
Northrop P-61 Black Widow
Supermarine Walrus
Vought Kingfisher/s
Westland Lysander/s
Yakovlev Yak-1

Not bad eh, and a lot more heartening that just wishing… Most of these should happen… Feel free to add your own, but let's keep it to projects where there's work being done, not verbal resto...

Comments, questions welcome, but I may leave it to others to answer the who /what. There's no 'secret' info there.

Cheers

Mon Mar 10, 2008 8:25 am

THat is a really cool list. I wonder if any of the Kingfishers will be rebuilt with floats? THat would be pretty cool.

Mon Mar 10, 2008 11:02 am

Good list James.

I suspect that the chances of seeing a He162 in the air are slim to none - does this particular project fall under the 'work actually being done' category?

I'd also add P-39 to this list.

Mon Mar 10, 2008 11:27 am

I believe this is He-162 that was being referred to.

http://www.avbuyer.com/AircraftSales/Ai ... PerPage=10

It was swapped for the Historic Aircraft Collections Bristol F.2b Fighter that is now in Canada.

Scroll down to Dec 2006 on the HAC website to see the details of the swap.

http://www.historicaircraftcollection.ltd.uk/news/

Mon Mar 10, 2008 12:13 pm

A-20, Ki-61?

Mon Mar 10, 2008 12:16 pm

bdk wrote:A-20, Ki-61?

Actually, Ki-61's as in X4, hopefully. These and at least one A-20 are currently being worked on at Precision Aerospace down under.

here's a link to one of the Tony's:

http://www.fighterfactory.com/airplane- ... 1-tony.php

greg v.

Mon Mar 10, 2008 12:22 pm

Hawker Tempest x 2. Are they still "live" restorations?

Mon Mar 10, 2008 12:55 pm

Having a crawl all over the He162 in question just a while ago she certainly looks in good shape. Sure, a re-build to fly would be problematic but not necessarily beyond the ability of the current owner in the UK. Watch this space, perhaps......!!

Oh, and James....you missed the DH9 off the list!

Andy Saunders

Mon Mar 10, 2008 1:01 pm

MiG-3

August

Mon Mar 10, 2008 5:24 pm

Is Pirate Lex restoring his Brewster F3A-1 Corsair to fly?

Steve

Mon Mar 10, 2008 5:29 pm

planeoldsteve wrote:Is Pirate Lex restoring his Brewster F3A-1 Corsair to fly?

It is for sale, so he may not be restoring it at all. The next owner might though!

Mon Mar 10, 2008 9:54 pm

The Corsair in Darwin?
Hows that coming along?

Tue Mar 11, 2008 12:13 am

There area few more to add to the list...

Hawker Hind
Fw-189
AT-12
P-36
PB4Y-2
Boeing P-12/F4B
Fi-156
CAC Boomerang
C-97
Supermarine Seafires (III, XV, XVII, 46)
A-36
SB2C
A-35
PV-2 Harpoon
A-24
TBF-1
P-82
Tempest V
Ki-43
A6M
P-63
Spitfire Mk.22
Fiat G-55
Tupolev R-6
Fiat CR-42
Lavochkin La-7
SPAD XIII (France)

.... I am sure that there others I have missed!

Cheers,
Richard

Tue Mar 11, 2008 2:23 am

Spitfire Mk 1......c/w fabric ailerons, pump up landing gear etc etc

Tue Mar 11, 2008 4:16 am

Thanks for the replies.

Like any list there's a few personal biases in there, but some criteria were...

... no pre- or post- W.W.II types. If we want to start that lists, there's a lot more than one DH-9 on it!

Definitely no mark or maker 'unique' types. Sure you can include them but they are a league less significant than the advent of the first (or second say) of a type to be returned to the air; likewise I'd ignored degrees of authenticity (which is also an issue for pre-W.W.II types).

There are a couple on Richard Allnutt's list (and I did have the CR-42, RMA!...) that I didn't include because they aren't currently under active restoration. It would be nice that they return to the production line, and they remain more likely than any 'wouldn't-it-be-nice' what if, so fair comment.

Not saying what people can or can't get excited about, just what I was considering.

Cheers