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Mitch - pass the Appletons..sniff


Kip Powick

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Oh ohhh... huh.gif ....it's one of those DC10 hanging out of the guilotine style pictures again isn't it? Maybe missing some vital bits? Half hacked already? Parked beside the dog food can factory? ... Wait a second now... Kip's sniffling, so maybe it's a '37! ....the horror! Why do people have to take those pictures? Why do we have to treat all these beautiful machines like that? sad.gif Why can't good old airplanes all retire to a peg some place? ...to be admired forever by passers by... Heck, I'd love one on my front lawn! I swear I'd look after it!

Thanks for the warning Seeker, but now...(if I'm right) I'm afraid I'll have to pay my last respects to what is undoubtedly one of my old friends...

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You had to look didn't you??  Speechless, eh?  (That'll be the day... biggrin.gif  )

I'm that predictable am I? unsure.gif

Ok, maybe not quite "speechless". ... I'll take some solace in that the *thing* behind dear old, sweet old 905 (the poor old darlin is laying on her belly! ..of all the rotten bloody ways to strip the dignity out of her! like laying a poor turtle on it's back and watching it die.... Man what a sad site!)

... is... is... ....[drum roll...].... 915!! cool26.gif

I'd love to have seen the bits hacked off of that rotten PIG! That bloody heap of scrap tin should NEVER have had the priveledge of wearing those colours! ...I guess the shame there is all those new parts in her, and all those wasted manhours.... (just about every cable on the ship was replaced, for instance!)... she spent a month(!!!) on the ground having snags fixed AFTER she came out of a C check from Dee Howard [!]... which was immediately after some folks went down to South America to do the - acceptance check - when she was bought from ... ? Vasp was it? - I forget?.. I think they must have all been fed some really good grog! She was little more than a pile of defective, worn out, battered and abused parts flying together with luck and imagination!

All that went down in, what? 1998?... something like that... not long before she was parked where that picture shows her anyway...

Sorry.. rant over.... still very sad to see 905 in that terribly undignified state! sad.gif

(Ok, so I guess I wasn't speechless, was I? blink.gif )

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Mitch:

Don't hold back, speak your mind lad! wink.gif I am glad to see that other outfits have had the pleasure of cleaning up a dog from some one elses kennel. I'll never forget old "RAR", which quickly became known not so affectionately as Rent A Reck!

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I find it interesting to see what parts are missing!

Landing gear seems the most popular, but why is the tail engine still there on the one (never could remember if you call it #2 or #3).

Doors seem to be all there, although left wide open to the wind and sand. A few panels and bits off the stab and flaps too.

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Actually the engine is not there. What you are seeing is the reverser and core cowl which are/were attached to the airframe.

Would one not have to remove the bits at the back to get the engine out?

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Would one not have to remove the bits at the back to get the engine out?

Negative... Just open 'em up. the cowls all open wide enough to let the engine down (it is number 2, btw... someone asked)... The tail cone is hinged so that you can swing it open, forward and underneath... so that the fan will clear that (barely!)... it's necessary to drop the inner portions of the elevators first though... they're just held to the larger, outer sections of elevator by a sort of latch pin arrangement..

There is one bit that needs to be removed... that's a "seal" that mates the forward fan frame to the long fan inlet... like a big 6 inch wide strap that surrounds the fan.

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Maybe Mitch should write to the guys in Marana and ask for a piece of nostalgia. I know a couple of the pilots from AC that drove the DC-9s to the graveyard were rewarded with control wheels in the mail...just a thought.

B

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Guest rattler

Would make a great club house in which he could watch those NASCAR races, just slap on a satellite dish and instant onboard "live TV". biggrin.gif

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Actually there is an aviation artist, livng in Colorado Springs,is extremely well known in the US for his aircraft paintings and who was inspired by aircraft "parts". I was the first Canuck in his neighbourhood and he wanted to paint a Canadian Military aircraft and one evening he wandered over to my house to talk to me, (he lived across the cul de sac from me).

During his conversation with me it became very evident that this man knew a lot about airplanes but I sorta thought that he was a little qwirky.

He asked me if I wanted to come to his studio to see his DC6. I thought he meant a painting. Wandered over to his house and he took me down to his studio, moved a few switches on the wall and voila...outside one of the windows was an actual DC 6 cockpit, as viewed from the cockpit door, all lit up as if we were airborne.

He showed me the photos of how he had it craned into his backyard a few years previous and set up so that he could look, via the studio window, through the cockpit windows, and be inspired.

He eventually painted a portrait of the aircraft I was flying down there and we had the grand unveiling with dignitaries etc, at our house.

He had spent about 3 months painting it, offered it to me for a very reasonable price, (this was 1974),and because I am now going to donate it to the RCAF Mueusm here in the big YTR I had to have it appraised. I contacted him, his agent, and an aviation art appraiser-expert in Santa Fe New Mexico and the book value has increased by over 1200 %. I did get a bargain rolleyes.gif

Now if MITCH gets part of a DC 10 in his backyard..Lord knows what he will create by tapping into the flood of inspiration flowing from his beloved airplane. biggrin.gif

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Maybe Mitch should write to the guys in Marana and ask for a piece of nostalgia. I know a couple of the pilots from AC that drove the DC-9s to the graveyard were rewarded with control wheels in the mail...just a thought.

B

Got an address? I'm not above begging! ...when it comes to the dear old Diesels, I'd give my left ___ for a nice chunk of something to remember them by! (Well... maybe not quite that much... but I'd sure love to have a decent part of one of the beasties!)

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MITCH, go for a part, cements the fond memories of the relationship you had with a fine aircraft.

PS......were the parts of the T-Rex you gave me spares, or are there a couple of birds out there"possibly" flying around without a part or two ?? biggrin.gif

I'll send you a digital print showing what I did with them...they are still a part of an "essential" service. cool.gif

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I know we've showed this before, but Mitch has property, a big family, and dogs,,,

He needs the space of a DC-10 instead of a '27, let's chip in ala O and ship one from Marana for him.....

http://www.airplanehome.com/

Iceman tongue.giflaugh.gif

I love the picture at the bottom of the page. The 727 makes a good replacement for the current home seen in the lower left corner of the picture. Can't say I have much confidence in the way he's supported the nosewheel though.

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PS......were the parts of the T-Rex you gave me spares, or are there a couple of birds out there"possibly" flying around without a part or two ?? biggrin.gif

I'll send you a digital print showing what I did with them...they are still a part of an "essential" service. cool.gif

I missed this one Kip...

The parts you speak of were to be disposed of. All such items were to be used only once... for obvious reasons, you couldn't count on them to do the same job twice. ohmy.gif

I look forward to seeing that picture! smile.gif

Cheers,

Mitch

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