[Geek44]

Nice pics mate and thanks for posting them. One wonders how many of these fine birds are left...possibly more than I think actually. There's a rather large restoration 'industry' going on in Australia as well. Despite the fact that Australia built P-51s under licence for years, there aren't many left...one crash landed less than a month ago. There's an airfield in my state that specializes in WW2 aircraft and when they restore an aircraft, they often have to fabricate parts from scratch. When they do, they cleverly make several of the parts in question for sale to other restorers around the world. The proceeds go toward further restorations (what a great job). I've seen pics of junk that would fit in an average garbage can being dragged out of the bush...only to see the same 'junk' flying several years later. Their current project is a P-38 Lightning that currently resembles a pile of crushed soda cans.