Garros flew 780 km with 60 liters of oil and 200 liters of fuel, 5 liters of which were remaining at landing in coastal Bizerte instead of the expected Tunis, out of reach. The crossing was successful despite two partial engine failures off the coasts of Corsica then overhead Sardinia, and even the loss of one valve spring!
The replica is powered by a Rotec engine instead of the original Gnome rotary. On September 22nd, 2013, Baptiste Salis commemorated the centennial in 7h30 from Fréjus to Bizerte. He too had a fright abeam Corsica, but it eventually appeared to be just a small oil leak which did not endanger the flight.
The Replic’Air association, of which I am a member, is now giving life to the Dewoitine D551. Two prototypes of this very promising fighter, derived from the D550 racer, were ready to fly in June 1940 but the armistice had them scrapped before. http://www.replicair.fr/projet-dewoitine-d551/
Shooting the formation flight (from a Piper Cub) was not easy due to non-matching speeds, the Morane cruise speed being lightly higher than the Jungmann stall one. Overtaking the Morane outside the turn allowed the shoot, the relative positions smartly hiding the divergent attitudes. Thanks to the talented photographer!
Happy new year to all Bücker enthusiasts,
Gilles