Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!clyde.concordia.ca!uunet!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!att!cbnews!military From: adrian@cs.heriot-watt.ac.uk (Adrian Hurt) Newsgroups: sci.military Subject: Re: CAF Zero Keywords: Zero CAF restoration Message-ID: <1990Aug24.034049.466@cbnews.att.com> Date: 24 Aug 90 03:40:49 GMT References: <1990Aug21.024408.474@cbnews.att.com> Sender: military@cbnews.att.com (William B. Thacker) Organization: Computer Science, Heriot-Watt U., Scotland Lines: 31 Approved: military@att.att.com From: Adrian Hurt In article <1990Aug21.024408.474@cbnews.att.com> wesf@watserv1.waterloo.edu (Wes From) writes: > >I've noticed some mention of the Confederate Air Force Zero, and >some speculation on whether or not it was a real Zero or not. Well, >a few years back, the National Film Board of Canada produced a >documentary on the restoration of this particular airplane. At the >time (and maybe still today) it was the only functional and flyable >authentic Zero still existing. According to a TV programme here ("Equinox" on our Channel 4 - I believe it is called something else in the USA, maybe "Nova") the man responsible is called Diemart - Bob Diemart, if I remember correctly. He had a few problems. For one thing, it wasn't until after he had finished rebuilding it that he realised its wingspan was too large for it to fit through the door of his hangar - and the Zero was in the hangar at the time! Second, he couldn't get a certificate of airworthiness. He had had trouble with the authorities before, because he was also trying to design his own aircraft. One was refused a certificate because the pilot couldn't carry a parachute. Diemart said, of course he can't carry a parachute - the way the plane is built, he wouldn't be able to bail out anyway. The Zero was taken to the CAF by truck. "Keyboard? How quaint!" - M. Scott Adrian Hurt | JANET: adrian@uk.ac.hw.cs UUCP: ..!ukc!cs.hw.ac.uk!adrian | ARPA: adrian@cs.hw.ac.uk