Flight Replicas announces next release...

harleyman said:
That old Ted guy is a man of many talents........:d

If Ted flew it I'm sure its seen better days....:costumes::costumes:
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In all honesty I was not the designated pilot. I was the observer. However I was given a fantastic flight school under sometimes stressful conditions by a man of great courage whom I deeply admired.

I can tell you this much, that I am here and still kickin is a testament to the sturdiness of the L4 and very bullet-ridden L18-B. My understanding is that the L4 was owned by the French who left it behind in 1954. It was reconditioned several times-at least I guess you would consider that plane reconditioned (it rattled and vibrated a lot). The funny thing was they were buying war surplus engines and parts for the four remaining L4s in country from the French who had been defeated.

After my brief tour I was assigned as liason to a ROK unit in Korea after the USS Pueblo was taken and they were still using some old L4s old Bell H-13 choppers from the Korean War for spotting and observation-they just wouldn't die-tough little bird. I was ground only then and unfortunately did not get to pilot again until after I left the service.

Mike's rendition of the L4 is as close as we are going to come to flying these wonderful old birds. It was a brief love affair but a love affair none the less. Again, thank you for this excellent aircraft, Mike.
Ted
 
txnetcop said:
In all honesty I was not the designated pilot. I was the observer. However I was given a fantastic flight school under sometimes stressful conditions by a man of great courage whom I deeply admired.

I can tell you this much, that I am here and still kickin is a testament to the sturdiness of the L4 and very bullet-ridden L18-B. My understanding is that the L4 was owned by the French who left it behind in 1954. It was reconditioned several times-at least I guess you would consider that plane reconditioned (it rattled and vibrated a lot). The funny thing was they were buying war surplus engines and parts for the four remaining L4s in country from the French who had been defeated.

After my brief tour I was assigned as liason to a ROK unit in Korea after the USS Pueblo was taken and they were still using some old L4s old Bell H-13 choppers from the Korean War for spotting and observation-they just wouldn't die-tough little bird. I was ground only then and unfortunately did not get to pilot again until after I left the service.

Mike's rendition of the L4 is as close as we are going to come to flying these wonderful old birds. It was a brief love affair but a love affair none the less. Again, thank you for this excellent aircraft, Mike.
Ted
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Ted, good stuff!! Thank you!!:applause:
 
Man Mike, that looks great! I have longed for an L-4 like yours. I even have a prop off an L-4 hanging on my wall right now, that looks exactly like the example that you have reproduced. I think this will fill a major gap for many folks.
 
I'll have to do some research on the Navy/Marine Corps ones that flew over Iwo Jima. I think that would make a cool paint!
 
Really beautiful Mike! The model looks great, most likely it will be a great flyer, but the crew is really astonishing!

Huub
 
Panther_99FS said:
Mike,
You also gonna have a "dirty" paint too :ques: :d
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Thanks everybody, for the nice comments!

They never seem to look that dirty, especially from a distance. So far, I've never seen chipped paint on an L-4, either, inside or out. The schemes all have weathering that I assumed would be appropriate, after looking closely at photographs. If you look up close at the screenshots, you should see some weathering and dirt, but, just as with the real aircraft, when you get some distance it seems to mostly disappear.

The Bougainville scheme is the most weathered, with its extreme heat, humidity and combat airfield environment.

How dirty do you want 'em? :)

Unless you're referring to 'scantily clad young ladies'.... which seldom appeared on L-4's, I'm afraid. :d

Mike
 
Hi Mike. This is the kind of dirt I have on there, and I'll probably leave it at that. A couple of good puddles, ground crew who love their aircraft....:d

Mike
 
Awesome work Mike!

You are trully an artist at making these virtual beauties. I love the strengthening ribbing on the tank under the front panel. Awesome attention to scaling. And that panel is brilliant....

:ernae: :applause: :medals: :applause: :ernae:


Bill
 
There is a brilliant article on this very type of Piper in the latest issue of the EAA magazine. One has been totally restored. Same rivets! I was really impressed at how Mikes Piper mirrors it so well...

:ernae:



Bill
 
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