Flying Aircraft of WWII

[Archangel]

I think there are thousands of ww2 planes still flying all over the world. and i think it will stal like that 4 decades

and I know there's a book where you can read how many replacement parts can be used, so the plane can still be callled authentic

[evangilder]

They have not used B-17's to fight fires for many years here. One they are too rare, hence too expensive to repair and two, they were not designed for that kind of flying. B-25s were however used for many years as Borate Bombers. I don't know if any are still in use now.

[plan_D]

Well Britain definately has a flying Hurricane, Spitfire, Lancaster and Dakota. It's the BoB-MF after all.

[wmaxt]

Thanks Guys! The evergreen Museam in Oregone has a nice group of flying atrcraft including a bf-109g (I think) with an original engine, P-38L, F4U, F6F, TBF, B-25, B-17 and several others. It's Quite exceptional for a small aviation museam with of course the Spruce Goose for a center piece and what a center piece - it's Increadible!!

As this goes I'll try to compile a list of planes and locations. When I was in So. California I didn't know about the second museam at Chino maybe we can help people find gems like that.

[Nonskimmer]

That does sound impressive!

Btw evan, love the sig!

[evangilder]

Thanks, NS. I shot that during our air show.

[cheddar cheese]

Originally Posted by Karaya_1

Yes, it's Seattle and after a crash on their 3rd flight, the Lady is back in the air again....we have also 1 Me 108, 2 Me 109's and a FW 190 now flying in Germany....they are building a series of 13 aircraft (11 flyable and 9 already sold) including 2 FW 190 D-9 !!!!!!!

Nice pictures!


I know this is a long shot, but does anyone know if there are any Piaggio P.108 Heavy Bombers left? In any condition?

[GermansRGeniuses]

No, but there are some parts in the Italian Air Force Museum at Vignale Di Valle in Roma...

[cheddar cheese]

Oooooo!

[evangilder]

Well, it looks like Boeing is sponsoring a project in Wichita Kansas where they are restoring a B-29 "Doc" to flyable condition! I heard it from one of our members who went to lend a hand for a few days. They have a website with a webcam where you can look in on their progress as well at:

http://b-29.boeing.com/

There is also a website that is tracking flyable Spitfires using the name RAF St. Albans. They are here:

http://www.angelfire.com/hi5/spitfir...st-albans.html

Thought you guys might enjoy checking those out. I found the Spitfire link while researching a paint scheme for the balsa Spit I am building.

[Nonskimmer]

Great links! It'll be sweet when "Doc" is finally completely restored!

[wmaxt]

Originally Posted by Nonskimmer

Great links! It'll be sweet when "Doc" is finally completely restored!

I heard that another is being restored what a monumental task. To bad the Key Bird was lost in Greenland a few years back!

[Nonskimmer]

I remember watching something about that on the Discovery Channel. That was heartbreaking!

[evangilder]

Indeed a monumental and expensive task. The upkeep alone has to be unreal. Our latest budget shows that the hourly cost for our C-46 with fuel, insurance and maintenance costs to be about $1,050! That's with 2 engines! Avgas is currently running about $3 a gallon and the twin wasp engines, of which we have a few, eat through gas quickly. I could not imagine what the costs on the B-29 must be. The hangar space alone for that bird is a big requirement too. But I am glad that someone can afford it. It's nice to see the interest in these old birds is still there.

Static displays are more like tombstones.

[wmaxt]

Originally Posted by evangilder

Indeed a monumental and expensive task. The upkeep alone has to be unreal. Our latest budget shows that the hourly cost for our C-46 with fuel, insurance and maintenance costs to be about $1,050! That's with 2 engines! Avgas is currently running about $3 a gallon and the twin wasp engines, of which we have a few, eat through gas quickly. I could not imagine what the costs on the B-29 must be. The hangar space alone for that bird is a big requirement too. But I am glad that someone can afford it. It's nice to see the interest in these old birds is still there.

Static displays are more like tombstones.

When I saw Fifi the guy at the plane gave a number like 3500 hours of maintenance per hour of flight - don't quote me on that it was a long time ago but the number was absouletly staggering.