Warspite1 | 16 Feb 2019 4:10 a.m. PST |
There have been persistent rumours about Stuka or Messerschmitt Bf110 restoration projects over the years. Components of several of both were recovered from the former Eastern Bloc after the Iron Curtain came down in the 1990s and are now believed to be in New Zealand awaiting restoration. One of the 110s was semi-complete but the main wing spars were unfortunately cut through by an inexperienced team during the recovery. This… YouTube link appears to be a US restoration and the colour of the original parts on show suggests it was recovered from somewhere hot, possibly North Africa or Sicily. The work on the fuselage is well advanced and they claim to have an original working engine. It is a JU87R which is the long range version of the B. This would date it to around 1940/41. The best complete one is the RAF Museum's and that is a cannon-armed G with the cannons missing. B |
Tommy20 | 16 Feb 2019 8:50 a.m. PST |
The Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago has a complete one as well. Not sure which version, but I believe it came from North Africa. |
Silurian | 16 Feb 2019 9:52 a.m. PST |
A flying JU87 would be fantastic. Would they ever risk it in a dive I wonder? |
Warspite1 | 16 Feb 2019 10:57 a.m. PST |
Flying yes. Diving, not so sure! :) Meanwhile… latest footage shows it is now much more advanced. YouTube link The fuselage now appears more complete, the wings appear almost complete and there are even a pair of wheel spats standing by. B |
Oppiedog | 16 Feb 2019 1:14 p.m. PST |
That would really be great to see. Seen plenty of American vintage stuff but the German stuff in flying condition is hard to come by. |
ColCampbell | 16 Feb 2019 6:34 p.m. PST |
This restoration is being done at the Flying Heritage and Combat Armor Museum at Paine Field in Everett, Washington, USA. flyingheritage.org Jim |
Warspite1 | 16 Feb 2019 6:49 p.m. PST |
ADDITIONAL Wiki says this about this machine: Ju 87 R-4, Werk Nr. 6234 (incorporating 857509) One aircraft is being restored to airworthy condition from two wrecks, owned by Paul Allen's Flying Heritage & Combat Armor Museum (FHCAM). The project takes its identification from Ju 87 R-4 Werk Nr. 6234, which was built in 1941 and served with Stukageschwader 5. Shot down in April 1942 on a mission to bomb Murmansk, it was recovered in 1992. The wreck was purchased by New Zealand collector Tim Wallis, who originally planned for the remains to be restored to airworthy, and later went to the Deutsches Technikmuseum in Berlin. Parts from a second airframe, a Ju 87 R-2 Werknummer 857509 which served bearing the Stammkennzeichen of code LI+KU from 1./St.G.5, and was recovered to the United Kingdom in 1998, have also been incorporated. The project was placed on display in November 2018 and the restoration was stated to take between 18 months and 2 years to complete. Work will be conducted in a display hangar so members of the public can see the work underway. Further Wiki notes suggest that all three sets of Stuka parts recovered from the former Soviet Bloc to New Zealand have now moved on. The other two sets are now in Germany at the The Deutsches Technikmuseum in Berlin. |
Lion in the Stars | 17 Feb 2019 2:28 p.m. PST |
restoring the airframe isn't hard. Give me the blueprints and a shop (because I don't have the riveting tools), and I could build you a brand-new one, ready to fly. Finding an engine in repairable condition, however… Well, let's just say that's a whole different story.
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Warspite1 | 18 Feb 2019 10:07 a.m. PST |
@Lion In The Stars That is how the Vintage Aviator company of New Zealand approached things. The sourced four typical WW1 engines and then back-engineered them. Once they had the engines then building the aeroplanes became much easier. thevintageaviator.co.nz B |
Lion in the Stars | 22 Feb 2019 3:31 p.m. PST |
Wow, very cool! Even more impressive to me is that they're not just experimental-category, but have gone through the effort to be a certified manufacturer… I wouldn't mind working for them! |