That is poor. I’d be demanding the whole aircraft be redone if I didn’t have larger issues to deal with. I’ve had to deal with salt water immersion before and that is going to take time and deep pockets to sort.
I believe the restoration team took 18 years to restore it and it only flew again a few months ago. I feel for them, particularly the volunteers. They must be crying in their beers.
FWIW My immediate reaction on seeing the video was horror at the risks of hitting someone in the water. The length of the ditching run may be short, but the chances of not seeing and landing on a swimmer were high. I suspect many non-aviation people will think the same once they’ve finished marvelling at the video, which is widely distributed, getting as far as The Sun. Of course, the pilot may have had little choice or time for anything else - he had passed down the beach at low level earlier at the same event and the prop seems to be slowing - but it is an interesting counterpoint to the “the hero pilot bravely stayed at the controls to steer the crashing aircraft away from houses” that we often hear.
Last edited by VintageEngineer; 20th Apr 2021 at 06:33.
Reason: Typos