Quote:
How difficult would it be...
to put the subject in the thread title?
As to the P-11c, for those that started the war in 1939, it was the first fighter to go into combat against the Germans - the first to achieve kills against Messerschmitt 109s and Heinkel 111s, and flown by pilots who were an elite in their day. (For those that started in '41 it was ancient history, while those that prefer 1937, it was way in the future...) Trouble was, it was the best in the world in 1937 - and was used in 1939, when the rate of develoipment was exceptional.
Our book on the subject:
http://mmpbooks.biz/books/8391717852/8391717852p.htm
There's one surviving P-11c in the world, a treasure of the Polish Air Force Museum. The good news is that it's been run up on some occasions, but isn't flown - it
really is too valuable. (Imagine the P-40, P-5, P-38 and P-47 all rolled into one and you had only
one left...)
Mark Hanna of The Old Flying Machine Co. explored the possibility of a limited prodiction run of replicas but it never happened and he was later killed.
Technically it's perfectly possible - there's no great difficulty, and an engine could be managed for reps. It would be a unique shape in the sky. Like a lot of things, it would just take money -
lots of it and sadly too many people 'do a Mudge' (What's that?) and go for the ever popular P-51 instead...
Here's for aeronautical diversity!