Best warbird to own

On 7-Nov-2003, Peter Twydell wrote:

- Historic value (rare and interesting aircraft)
- Reasonably easy to fly
- No turbines and under 12,500 lbs (no type rating needed)
- Seats two
- Aerobatic
- Easy on the eyes


Two seat Spitfires are just ugly.


Well, to my eye the Spitfire is one of the most beautiful airplanes ever
made. And from what I understand it is reasonably easy to fly -- it would
have to be considering the relatively green RAF pilots in the Battle of
Britain. But if you think the 2-seat mod is ugly, so be it. It's your
fantasy, after all.

Since you didn't rule out a twin, I suggest that a deHaviland Mosquito might
fit the bill, although I am not sure its (fully loaded) weight would be
under 12,500 lbs.

It looks like I am kind of leaning towards British aircraft. Then again,
the Brits certainly did field some fine airplanes in WWII, to say nothing of
the incomparable Rolls-Royce Merlin engine (that powered both the Spitfie
and the Mosquito as well as many other Allied airplanes of the era).

--
-Elliott Drucker

In article ,
writes

On 7-Nov-2003, Peter Twydell wrote:

No he didn't. Please be careful with your snipping. This is not my text,
and you have snipped all of what I wrote, which mentioned the Hawker Sea
Fury T Mk 20, which I think would be the best match to the criteria. I
don't know if there are still any airworthy examples.

- Historic value (rare and interesting aircraft)
- Reasonably easy to fly
- No turbines and under 12,500 lbs (no type rating needed)
- Seats two
- Aerobatic
- Easy on the eyes


Two seat Spitfires are just ugly.


Well, to my eye the Spitfire is one of the most beautiful airplanes ever
made. And from what I understand it is reasonably easy to fly -- it would
have to be considering the relatively green RAF pilots in the Battle of
Britain. But if you think the 2-seat mod is ugly, so be it. It's your
fantasy, after all.

Since you didn't rule out a twin, I suggest that a deHaviland Mosquito might
fit the bill, although I am not sure its (fully loaded) weight would be
under 12,500 lbs.

It looks like I am kind of leaning towards British aircraft. Then again,
the Brits certainly did field some fine airplanes in WWII, to say nothing of
the incomparable Rolls-Royce Merlin engine (that powered both the Spitfie
and the Mosquito as well as many other Allied airplanes of the era).


--
Peter

Ying tong iddle-i po!

On 11-Nov-2003, Peter Twydell wrote:

On 7-Nov-2003, Peter Twydell wrote:

No he didn't. Please be careful with your snipping.


My apologies for careless snipping.
--
-Elliott Drucker

That's what the rabbi said!

My apologies for careless snipping.
--

One of my friends owns the only EADS Epsilon in civil captivity. I have
had the privilege to fly with him in it for about an hour. It is made
for primary basic training of French jet pilots and responds similarly.
It is a fingertip plane and will not drink you out of house and home,
with a Lycoming IO-540.

It is faster than a Marchetti SF-260 (quite a bit faster than a
big-engined T-34) and, IMHO, flies better than the Beech.

OK, on the assumption that I just won the lottery, here are my 4
choices:

1. OV-10 - 2-seat, tandem with sticks, fully acro, relatively simple,
reliable, you can take it anywhere with a friend and lots of stuff
(camp in the back!), real "warbird" so you can look cool at airshows,
airframes and parts available. It would be a wonderful plane to
explore the US (or anywhere) in, with awesome vis and twin reliability
for low level recce. I got a couple of backseat rides in them when I
was on active duty and they were a gas to fly!

2. A-37 - 2-seat, side by side, fully acro, relatively simple,
reliable (I see a trend here), awesome performance (that you can
actually use) due to big wing and LOTS of grunt! Also rare on the
warbird circuit but still readily available. Bummed a ride in one in
the PI during a Cope Thunder and flew the whole 1.5 except for engine
start and shutdown, and 10 minutes of FACing on Crow Valley - even got
to engage and chase off a marauding Aggressor F-5E that tried to
engage us at low alt - had no problem lead turning him and closing for
a minigun pass until he realized what was happening and bugged out!

3. T-28B - Just about the perfect useful round-engine fun plane. And
yes, I've got about 8 hours in one, so I am definitely prejudiced.
Not much glamour status, but for just jumping in and blasting around
with a friend - perfect!

4. Mi-24 Hind D - 2-seat (plus a bunch of your drunk friends in the
back), tandem, sticks (and collectives), reliable (it's Russian! -
hire a full time mechanic to go with it!). Nope, never flown this one
(yet - hope springs eternal) but it would have to be a lot of fun to
run around in, terrorizing all the locals. Definitely high on airshow
chick magnet quotient - dress up in Sov uniforms while drinking water
out of Vodka bottles (well, at least the designated pilot would have
to) - and with the big cabin you can bring all the stuff you need to
have a good time. I'm surprised a private-owned one hasn't shown up
yet (yes I know about the Army's).

Sigh, oh well, back to picking 6 good numbers...

Kirk
Retired F-4 WSO and glider racing fanatic

In article , Kirk
Stant wrote:

1. OV-10 - 2-seat, tandem with sticks, fully acro, relatively simple,
reliable, you can take it anywhere with a friend and lots of stuff
(camp in the back!), real "warbird" so you can look cool at airshows,
airframes and parts available. It would be a wonderful plane to
explore the US (or anywhere) in, with awesome vis and twin reliability
for low level recce. I got a couple of backseat rides in them when I
was on active duty and they were a gas to fly!

I wasn't aware OV-10's were available for civilian acquisition?
If you don't already have significant hearing loss, get a pair of
REALLY GOOD noise cancelling headsets if you acquire one of these
aircraft. The props are right by your head with those Garrett's
spinning.

In rec.aviation.owning EDR wrote:

I wasn't aware OV-10's were available for civilian acquisition?

Dunno about civilian acquisition, but getting close...

In about '94 I stopped by Watts-Woodland airport in Northern California to
visit the Beech dealership. They had 3 or 4 OV-10s in the hangar that they
were under contract to modify for the Forest Service. Apparently the
Forest Service was going to use them as spotting planes for fire
suppression. Don't know if it ever came to anything.

--
Frank Stutzman
Bonanza N494B "Hula Girl"
Hood River, OR