Fantastic FW 190 video

[pupo162]

it flew in my birthday,

[Bewolf]

Unluckily this one has the Ash-82 engine in it. Still fantastic looking aircraft.
I am really looking forward to the White 1 restauration project, will be the second FW with the original 801.

[Bewolf]

Originally Posted by cheesehawk

There are two FW-190s, both with original engines in flying condition at FHC in Seattle. The A-5 was recently restored, but no Kommorgarant, and the D-13 is reportedly in flyable condition, although not flown due to rarity (only 1 in existence), it has never been run up since the resto, so its listed as near flyable, although they think everything works, heh. Not sure that qualifies as flyable, but pretty close.

Tue, however the D13 is powerd by the JUMO engine, not the BMW. The D13 not flying is mostly an insurance problem, but as you said, is probably capable to do so. What a pity.

[Sternjaeger II]

Originally Posted by Bewolf

Tue, however the D13 is powerd by the JUMO engine, not the BMW. The D13 not flying is mostly an insurance problem, but as you said, is probably capable to do so. What a pity.

The main thing about the D-13 is that it's original down to the rivets. It's a unique machine and the most complete (in wartime/stock conditions), so flying it is a HUGE risk. I would let it do some fast taxi every now and then though, just to stretch its legs..

[Bewolf]

Originally Posted by Sternjaeger II

The main thing about the D-13 is that it's original down to the rivets. It's a unique machine and the most complete (in wartime/stock conditions), so flying it is a HUGE risk. I would let it do some fast taxi every now and then though, just to stretch its legs..

Just my very personal opinion, but those birds were made to fly, not to roll around on the ground. Rare or not, in a museum a replica does just as fine.

[robtek]

Wasn't that D-13 missing the Kommandogeraet?
So the engine is only running on emergency-default-settings and not save to fly.

[Sternjaeger II]

Originally Posted by robtek

Wasn't that D-13 missing the Kommandogeraet?
So the engine is only running on emergency-default-settings and not save to fly.

I'm not sure about this, and even if it was, the owner is surely not someone short of cash, who could buy one or even have it made for scratch if need be.

[Codex]

I can not wait for CoD to have the FW's.

[Sternjaeger II]

Originally Posted by Bewolf

Just my very personal opinion, but those birds were made to fly, not to roll around on the ground. Rare or not, in a museum a replica does just as fine.

I have the same approach, you know that, but there's a bit of a slipper slope here..
In order to guarantee safe operation of the machine, you need to guarantee for structural integrity and robustness. The fact that the plane's structure and assembly are the same of 60 years ago doesn't guarantee for this integrity, and as you know you need to be able to check for stuff like defoliation and micro cracks on structural parts (spar, ribs, mono-coque, engine mounts etc..). The plane as it is could fly ONLY because of the American experimental category, but this doesn't mean that the insurance would take it for good: they send out their experts, assess the situation and report to their company, who would then shell out a price. If memory serves the first estimate was in the region of several million dollars (!!!), simply because there were no guarantees of a thorough investigation of the airframe (which can be done only by disassembly/dismantling). The owner didn't wanna hear about losing the fame of his plane being the most genuine, original one in the world in "airworthy" conditions, so they came to a standstill.
As a pilot, no matter what guarantees I'm given, I wouldn't be happy to fly something that is 60 years old and hasn't been stripped down and checked, especially on such a high performance machine with poor literacy on the subject in terms of in flight behaviour.

The bottom line is: would you strip down a unique machine of its original parts in order to make it airworthy (with all the risks it would come with, and losing original components), or would you preserve it in its original, stock conditions just because of its sheer value?

[Bewolf]

Originally Posted by Sternjaeger II

I have the same approach, you know that, but there's a bit of a slipper slope here..
In order to guarantee safe operation of the machine, you need to guarantee for structural integrity and robustness. The fact that the plane's structure and assembly are the same of 60 years ago doesn't guarantee for this integrity, and as you know you need to be able to check for stuff like defoliation and micro cracks on structural parts (spar, ribs, mono-coque, engine mounts etc..). The plane as it is could fly ONLY because of the American experimental category, but this doesn't mean that the insurance would take it for good: they send out their experts, assess the situation and report to their company, who would then shell out a price. If memory serves the first estimate was in the region of several million dollars (!!!), simply because there were no guarantees of a thorough investigation of the airframe (which can be done only by disassembly/dismantling). The owner didn't wanna hear about losing the fame of his plane being the most genuine, original one in the world in "airworthy" conditions, so they came to a standstill.
As a pilot, no matter what guarantees I'm given, I wouldn't be happy to fly something that is 60 years old and hasn't been stripped down and checked, especially on such a high performance machine with poor literacy on the subject in terms of in flight behaviour.

The bottom line is: would you strip down a unique machine of its original parts in order to make it airworthy (with all the risks it would come with, and losing original components), or would you preserve it in its original, stock conditions just because of its sheer value?

In regards to your question.....yes, I definitely would. I mean you are right, safety comes first here, everything else would be plain stupid, both in regards to the pilot and the aircraft itself.
But let's just say active aircraft require maintance and that also includes the replacement of parts on a regular basis. Now sure, you can fetishize those original parts, but imho, that just results in a machine that is comparable to a stuffed pet animal. A rather sad and undignified sight.

But that is purely on a principle basis, those guys at the FHC did a great job getting the D13 in the state she is now in the first place. Better then nothing at all.