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Mustang named Janie

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Basil

Basil

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I just watched an episode of Plane Resurrection on Netflix. This episode was about an English man who acquired a derelict P-51 and performed an amazing 5 year painstaking restoration. He restored the plane to its original colors and naming "Janie". But what was even more amazing is, the original US pilot who had flown over 100 missions in "Janie" was invited for a big celebration and was given a ride in his old P-51.

If you have Netflix, this is a great show.
 
Would love to see it, but don't have Netflix. PJ
 
Just watching it now. Very sad when you hear statements like "with other restorers reluctant to pass on their secrets to a newcomer..." (Second time in the episode it mentions the secretive nature of the hobby.)

i understand it is a lucrative hobby with unbelievably rare and expensive machines - but, as much as I love cars, I am not interested in them by myself - i am interested as part of a community - which is of course just another reason I appreciate BCF!
 
I agree JP, in the aircraft industry and also in the car field, there are classes of aircraft and each class tends to keep to it's self. If you have a warbird, you tend to hang with others who are in the same category. Sport aerobatic aircraft, the same thing, etc, etc. Restoring aircraft is a little different than most other restorations, as the FAA is heavily involved and report after report have to be filed in most cases. Certified aircraft mechanics have to sign off all work. Aircraft restoration is extremely expensive, especially high performance types. Been there, done that, reason today I work on old cars. :highly_amused: PJ
 
In the show it mentions that the restorer - Maurice - ends up rebuilding other Rolls engines - so clearly he ends up accepted. In fact he rebuilds the engine in the next episode (Hurricane) - i googled him and it turns out he crashed the Mustang and was badly injured - sadly his passenger died.

and of course me being the idiot I am started looking for planes on Kijiji - some cubs and an ercoupe - hmmmm mind you I don't actually like flying. Doh!
 
Ercoupe! The *safe* airplane!

a_Ercoupe_415_-_Schoenhagen.jpg


https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/ercoupe-was-airplane-anyone-can-fly-until-it-wasnt-180956769/

(This was another of my "if I win PowerBall" dreams.)
 
Met a guy from Ohio 75years old flew it to Oshkosh with his grand son it was absolutely perfect amazing little plane and pilot
 
NutmegCT said:
Ercoupe! The *safe* airplane!





(This was another of my "if I win PowerBall" dreams.)
Click to expand...

I clearly remember as a kid growing up in West Virginia there was one of those we always saw parked out at the local airport.
 
The Ercoupes were initially shunned by previous pilots because they had no rudder pedals, the rudders were incorporated in the aileron system, advertised that you can easily fly it like driving a car. The sales were so low that they came out with a kit to put rudder pedals in the aircraft to appease regular pilots and the sales went up a bit. As I recall, manufacturing changed hands a couple times. Sweet little thing to fly, not too much room inside. Fairly cheap to buy. PJ
 
This is a later version built by take over manufacture Alon. Only $24,900 gets it! :encouragement:
View attachment 47220
 
Paul - before I started taking lessons, an airworthy Ercoupe 415 was selling for around $5000. When FAA certified it as Light Sport Aircraft, the price magically jumped to $20,000 for an airworthy aircraft. That was over ten years ago. Sport pilots (who didn't need a physical) snapped them all up. (along with many Cubs, Taylorcraft, etc.)

Slightly off track: the Sport Pilot certificate was promoted as making flying "affordable" again. Fewer hours needed, no medical exam. A few years later, FAA admitted the whole Sport Pilot certification was designed to encourage manufacturers to build more small planes (the "Light Sport Aircraft") for the new Sport Pilots. So most sport pilots are actually Private Pilots, who switched to Sport so they wouldn't need a physical exam, and could afford the $150K + for the new Light Sport Aircraft being built.

My original idea for the cross country trip was to do it in an Ercoupe. But when the prices spiked - well, there went that idea.

grumble grumble
 
I know what you mean Tom. I was always into larger radial engine aircraft, but will admit, the most fun I ever had flying was in an old J3 Cub with a 65 hp engine. Used to fly it down in the Texas panhandle where the wind can go from zero to 30 mph at the snap of a finger. Fun landing a paper light J3 in a 30 mph wind! A ground crew is needed to grab the wings! :highly_amused: PJ
 
PAUL161 said:
Fun landing a paper light J3 in a 30 mph wind! A ground crew is needed to grab the wings! :highly_amused: PJ
Click to expand...

You have to add water in the wings Paul.... just like gliders.
 
Been driving my wife up to Tampa every day for radiation treatments after BC surgery. We sometimes have lunch at Albert Whitted Airport in St, Pete - great restaurant on second floor, light and airy with great views of small planes landing and taking off over Tampa Bay. Many Cessnas, not many Pipers, and at least one Ercoupe in great shape. Never flew one but you could land them in a crab without breaking the gear or ground looping - but pilots still got in trouble with them. Also on the ramp last week was a Shorts 330 - the noisiest, clunkiest, tin can of an "airliner" I ever flew on - from Washington, DC to Charlottesville, Va. and back. Finally, a sleek plane rolled up to the ramp, a great-looking couple got out and came into the restaurant. They looked right out of the ads, long blond hair and all for her, etc. They were meeting their folks or some older people. I spoke briefly to him. It was a Cirrus SR22 (the plane, not the girl). Nice if you have a spare $380K laying around. Flying was never cheap but it's really $$$ now.
 
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