Warbird Information Exchange

We may have missed the obvious. The replica is built on a P-51 wing,
and the rudder of the former RB51.The original MB5 weighed about
2500 lbs(dry) more than the P-51H of the same period. That puts the
MB-5 in the weight and size class of the Hawker Fury or Tempest, by my
"peanut gallery" estimations.

The Marlins have performed a phenominal job, and while it may not
be an exact copy of the original MB5, it may well surpass the performance
of its predecessor. Hats off to the Marlins!!!

_________________
He bowls overhand...He is the most interesting man in the world.
"In Peace Japan Breeds War", Eckstein, Harper and Bros., 3rd ed. 1943(1927, 1928,1942)
"Leave it to ol' Slim. I got ideas...and they're all vile, baby." South Dakota Slim
"Ahh..."The Deuce", 28,000 pounds of motherly love." quote from some Mojave Grunt
DBF

Hear hear

The best analogy I can put to it is that its like comparing obe of the WAR scale flying replicas (FW 190 P47 etc) to the real thing. Very close but when you compare it to the real thing then no cigar.

darn impressive nonetheless.

I am not doubting the passion and the effort needed to build it , and good on them...what I find a bit hard to understand is why go to all the effort and not get it right? Many people who see it will think that this is how the real thing looked...and that I would think would make Martin- Baker turn in their graves

Dave

I'm sorry and I don't mean to belittle the efforts put into this project but it ain't no MB.5.

A kit plane, maybe!
A replica, maybe!

But an MB.5, no.

Still having said that, the effort is far better than anything that I can achieve and I wish them many years of happy flying!

_________________
...and pray that there's intelligent life somewhere up in Space cos there's bugger all down here on Earth!

Tony,

I agree, it looks more like a charicature of a MB5.

I would call it a Marlin Swagwobbler Mk I

Great achievement though.

Cheers

Cees

a quaint Dutch term, no doubt but in English this means....?

_________________
...and pray that there's intelligent life somewhere up in Space cos there's bugger all down here on Earth!

Last night when I was making the post headlining this page, I blew out my
'puter keyboard. For about 10 minutes I couldn't get it to do nuthin'. But
after some jigglin and cussin, I was able to assume control of "the beastie". So rather than go on with my formerly intended heading, I added
a quick "hurrah" for the Marlins, and "signed off". I had a problem with me
critiqueing someones work that was superior to my own capabilities, so I
wanted to leave it on a positive note.

I watched with interest thru the day of the comments following my own
and the thread,"What is a Replica" ...(ain't that like jugglin' porcupines in
the nude!!!!). But M2 brought up the point "why go so far and miss the mark". Like I said in my first comment on the MB, maybe there were
compromises that led to this 4/5's(or whatever) scale replica. The Canadian license built DC-4 Merlin motormount, the clipped '51 wing and
rounded off '51 stabilizer.....AND HE WANTS TO RACE IT!!! In my opinion
if he made it a faithful replica to the MB5, then he would be draggin around
weight he couldn't afford.....and the implied cubic dollars. But he'd look
"really good" while he did it. So now they have a Griffon powered contra-
prop racer, that reminds us of the superb Martin Baker MB-5 but will,
because of the compromise, possibly be a competitive machine.

They have done a great job, but that brings me to an analogy of my own:

If you tell the folks at the shop that your date to the company party will BE
Britney Spears...then she darn well better BE Britney Spears.

If you tell yer folks at the shop that yer date LOOKS like Britney Spears,
then she better not have a nose like Jimmie Durante....so you better expect to take a few knocks if she does!!!!

Maybe you'll have the last laugh on race day.
p.s.
If the MB label still bugs ya, think of it as a P-51H with a Griffon strapped to contra-rotating props...you don't have to "squint" as much.

_________________
He bowls overhand...He is the most interesting man in the world.
"In Peace Japan Breeds War", Eckstein, Harper and Bros., 3rd ed. 1943(1927, 1928,1942)
"Leave it to ol' Slim. I got ideas...and they're all vile, baby." South Dakota Slim
"Ahh..."The Deuce", 28,000 pounds of motherly love." quote from some Mojave Grunt
DBF

Airnutz

Great analogy. Question is, what did Marlins ' tell the folks at the shop ' ?

Dave

In all fairness the Marlins stated at the aafo website, "The Marlin MB5
replica is MODELED(my caps) after the Martin-Baker Aircraft Company prototype...."

So I guess you could say the Marlins made more claim to the latter, rather than the former possibilities I suggested. I think the hoopla over
this whole deal is that we (the fans of the real MB5) wanted Britney Spears
....but the Marlins could afford to give us Britney Durante!!! The Marlins,
(the grand poohbah of all things wondrous be willing) will be rounding the
pylons of Reno 2500 lbs(+or-) lighter than an MB-5 (although not as pretty), while most of us are watching or waiting back at home to hear how they do. To sum it all up....

....as Queen Marie-Carol Antoinette Marlin probably said, " darn the icing on the cake, LET THEM EAT DUST!!!!!"

_________________
He bowls overhand...He is the most interesting man in the world.
"In Peace Japan Breeds War", Eckstein, Harper and Bros., 3rd ed. 1943(1927, 1928,1942)
"Leave it to ol' Slim. I got ideas...and they're all vile, baby." South Dakota Slim
"Ahh..."The Deuce", 28,000 pounds of motherly love." quote from some Mojave Grunt
DBF

Tony,

I'm shocked!! You have never heard of the Swagwobbler?

From the WIX-directory I quote:

Swagwobbler- a certain thing looking like something unclear what it is

Cheers

Cees

Aaahhhhh, thanks for clearing that up...I think

Tony

_________________
...and pray that there's intelligent life somewhere up in Space cos there's bugger all down here on Earth!

Well

Have a look at the CA15 and the lineage of all of these sort of aircraft is based on a sort of common desire - this is just another interpretation on a similar theme. Perpaps Steve Patterson should buy it and put a nice shiny radial on it and then we could drop the pretence of an MB5 and just enjoy it for what it is - a Great Toy !!!

We could redsignate it the MP1 (Morris Patterson 1)

Regards
John P

_________________
Air Vice Marshall
Sunshine State Air Farce

... is the CA15? Could you please enlighten me?

Gregory

Gregory,
I'm shocked! The Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation CA-15 was a potentially superb fighter, but the war ended before it was ready. Like the MB-5 it looked like a beefy P-51D, but was quite a bit bigger - and, if you believe the contemporary newspaper reposts very fast... Have a google for some pics.
Yours in Colonial Aviation,

_________________
James K

"Switch on the underwater landing lights"
Emilio Largo, Thunderball.

www.VintageAeroWriter.com

JDK

I went, I googled and I found. Now I see the light. What had thrown me off was Setter's mention of a big radial, which threw me into Boomerang/Wirraway mode.

By the way, what colonial aviation are we talking about? Ancient Roman colonies only had elephants, chariots and the like. We made darn sure they never developed serious technology. You guys gave your colonials free rein and ... they took you over! One of these days the IWM will be renamed the Republican Freedom Museum ... Wouldn't need to change the exhibits much, either!

Just my 0.02 Euro of attempted humo(u)r.

Gregory