De Havilland Mosquito to fly again.

[fruitbat]

Unfortunately Sterns almost certainly right i think,

according to this month's Flypast magazine, although there were plans to fly the aircraft to Virginia 'the long way round' including a stay in the UK for the airshow season next year, these have now been scrapped and the owner is now planning to crate the aircraft and take it straight to the US. So no Mossie at Legends next year I'm afraid.

[NZtyphoon]

Originally Posted by RickRuski

Just got back from the air show, you lucky sons of guns in the U.S.A. Don't know how Jerry Yegar is going to get it back to the States but it certainly won't fit in his suit case. It has less than 3 hours flying time since rebuild and the pilot (Keith Skilling says this has been the best build he has flown, not one hitch. Everything went without any problem). Those Merlins sound soo sweet and the final flyby with a Spitfire, P51 and P40N was brilliant. Having the planes flying at about 200 feet hight and almost 150 feet from the spectator line was a buzz. Took us 2 hours driving from my house to the airfield gates with a trip that would normally take us half an hour. The crowd was huge for our part of the world, even had some Australian commentators here saying nowhere else in the world would the spectators get this close to the action. The word is this is already gone international so probably on You Tube already.

ENVY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEyDlgJYIF8

[Kupsised]

Originally Posted by fruitbat

Unfortunately Sterns almost certainly right i think,

Argh, selfish bugger Hopefully it might make its way over to the UK at some point in the future though. Hell, if it's money they need, I'm sure there'd be no shortage of it. They could take a leaf out of the Vulcan's book.

I didn't actually realise this was going to the US though until yesterday though, I assumed it was staying in NZ. Unfortunately that means it'll probably stick there too, along with all the 190s and other stuff they've got that'd be great to see even just once on the UK circuit.

Still, we can hope for the future at least, or start saving up for a trip to the states.

[Sternjaeger II]

unfortunately it's mainly due to the nature of the construction technique of the aircraft. You have to bear in mind that once you disassemble the wings of an aircraft you need to rig them back in position, making sure that the alignment is correct, or you'll have to re-trim the aircraft again. It is recommended not to do it too often though, especially with a wooden construction, which finds its solidity in its build, and is more prone to flex and expand/contract under certain scenarios. It wouldn't surprise me if once they get it to the US the re-fit of the fuselage to the wings will give them problems: the change in humidity, pressure and other mechanical factors will all come into play.
So as much as it's a shame it won't make it here, I understand them fully.
As per flying it around, good luck finding an insurance company that will cover you for that, especially if your powerplant is based on two temperamental engines like the RR Merlin, which has a TBO for heads and banks at circa 300 hours, as opposed to a P&W radial, whose TBO is around 1500 hours..

[Al Schlageter]

With the large number of P-51s powered by Merlins, never mind the other Merlin powered a/c, there must be some insurance companies that will insure the a/c.

[JG52Uther]

Would have loved to have seen it at Legends

[fruitbat]

Originally Posted by JG52Uther

Would have loved to have seen it at Legends

I have heard rumour of another Mossie over here being restored, shhhh!

[JG52Uther]

I know, but at the pace things move here (cough Blenheim cough)who knows when that will be done!

[Sternjaeger II]

Originally Posted by Al Schlageter

With the large number of P-51s powered by Merlins, never mind the other Merlin powered a/c, there must be some insurance companies that will insure the a/c.

it's not only a matter of engine per se, it's a series of things:

1) the plane has very low flying hours since new, so problems might still arise
2) the route to follow would mean a lot of risks, not only geographical/political ones, but also environmental/meteorological ones.
3) it's a tricky plane to fly which is very unforgiving when low and slow, and there aren't many good pilots for it out there.
4) You need to make sure that for every stop of the journey you have the correct fuel, oil, suitable runways, alternates and possibly spares.. it's a HUGE logistics work to make things right. And still you'd have to fly over a huge portion of ocean and territories that might not like you to fly in their airspace at certain altitudes, cos let's not forget that you'd have to take the Mossie at high altitude for it to be very efficient.

I could carry on, but I think this is enough as it is to scare any insurance company, even the ones that are specialised in this sort of things. Things can be done, but common sense must prevail when dealing with extremely rare machines.

Another (very likely) option is that the owner is gonna get tired of it and will put it on the market in a couple of years' time, and the Mossie will finally head back home (provided Kermit Weeks or some other minted collector decides he wants it!).

[Sternjaeger II]

Originally Posted by JG52Uther

I know, but at the pace things move here (cough Blenheim cough)who knows when that will be done!

In the end of the day it's all down to how deep the pockets of the owners are. You mentioned the Blenheim, but at least that one has flown.. think about the Beaufighter or the Cr.42 in Duxford.. They'll be done, but some of these projects can take up to 20 years!