11 of the 39 CL44s built were lost in accidents, mostly fatal. Admittedly some were not the aeroplane's fault, eg shot down by a Soviet MiG in one case, but nevertheless this was a dangerous aeroplane.
I would dearly love to see the Guppy fly again, but please folks, consider this: it isn't worth the risk to life that I honestly consider getting it airborne again represents.
I can't begin to appreciate the Herculean task readying the Guppy for flight entails. Corrosion, training, paperwork, etc. I admire the effort but I do feel it is misplaced.
It was a complex machine and I say that with nearly 1000 hours on 44s, my last ever flight on one being on 447T in 1979. In those days, training, qualified crews and engineers with experience were abundant as were spare parts. There was a wealth of knowledge available.
Nowadays? All of that is long-gone. I'm 64, and still a current professional pilot. I looked out the ops manuals, checklists and training guidance that I still have for the aeroplane. I can't imagine how you could even begin to train a crew for the aeroplane, or who you would find to certify them and I say that with an airline TR examiner hat on.
Whilst I wish you well, IMHO it would be best if it were to remain grounded, even though it pains me to say so. I'm sorry if this sounds like I'm raining on the parade, but really, isn't it too late for this venerable old lady? Please don't fly it, unless you can allay my fears by persuading me that your efforts are backed by similar levels of resources and money to those of say, the Lufthansa Constellation project or the Qantas 707 project.
"All off outboards, 100 lbs inboards"