the people who work at this museum told me the plane is airworthy. considering they fly a 109E3 that was buried in sand and a 190A5 that was covered in mud i'll take their word for it.

but im sure you know better.

Sternjäger everything I have ever heard about this aircraft points to it being airworthy but like ppl have told you the only reason that they don't fly it is due to how rare it is... That's fair enough in my opinion.

ill take the museum staff at their word. i mean what do they know about flying old warbirds ...

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I surely know more than you.

An aeroplane is considered airworthy when it gets a certificate of airworthiness by the aviation authority,in this specific case the FAA. The opinion of members of staff is not a certificate of airworthiness; the fact that the plane is complete and sporting all original components doesn't mean it's fit to fly.

The modifications necessary to get a certification would be too drastic and would alter the original layout/components etc.. That's why it's not worth making it fly again,and thank God I say,cos that Jumo is as reliable as a chocolate teapot.

Really well I can't see anywhere that says its not in a fly able condition in fact they say it's close.

What they did say is they won't because of how rare it is, as madrebel has already explained.

close = not 100% = not flyable

If you play lotto and you miss each of the correct numbers by one, your dang close yet you won't get anything.
Let me know in case you need a drawing...

plus, cost probably raise exponentially the closer you get to those 100%.

mmmh I heard several people here who dealt with Allen & co. and I think it's not all about philantropy.. :rolleyes:

Yeah of course because people don't put rare valuable items in buiings where they can be seen but not used.... Oh hang on there is what are they called ah yes that was it, museums!!!

The aircraft is in close to flying condition but it is clearly too rare to fly.

If they can dig wrecks out the ground get they up in the air again I'm sure they have enough money to get an aicraft that was flying around prior to them getting hold of it.

Very interesting converseration!

I have to say that I fall mostly on Sternjager II's side of this. After reading all of the points, my hypothetical situation to suggest to everyone regarding whether original planes should be flying forever is this:

Let's say a team of crack restoration people got the Wright brothers' Flyer I in absolutely pristine condition using (incredibly!) all original parts!

There is no WAY that thing should be flown again! I don't think anyone would say that it should. That thing is just way too valuable as a historical piece.

If these WWII aircraft are as valuable as we believe they are in a historical sense, preservation of the plane should be higher priority than the vanity of watching an original plane fly. Sure, it's nice to see those planes in the air, but there's a point at which original bits just won't work and a replica, made as close as possible to original plans, is the only way you get a "safe" plane in the air. The debate shouldn't be do we keep them flying. The debate should be at what point do we ground them. I think ONE LEFT is a pretty good point to ground them!

I'll be sad when the last original airframe from WWII is no longer flying, but just like with the Wright brothers' planes, I'll get over it.