The Defender

[@falconeaterf15]

This dude restored and flew his own Hawker Hurricane in the 1969 movie Battle of Britain. Thumbs up for that.

[@willyam9735]

And did it with class!!

[@Bradburger]

@@willyam9735 Except that it flew very badly, as testified by all the pilots who flew it, during and after the filming! As can be seen from this video, his standards for restorations are not particularly high! Btw, he did not fly the Hurricane in the film.

[@falconeaterf15]

@@Bradburger So why does this documentary say he flew it in the movie? Why do the film credits say he did? Please explain.

[@luchacefox259]

I lost it at "pair of calibrated instruments" dead.

[@mattyp80]

love the vision but madder than a barrel of badgers!!

[@roytee3127]

a) needs an extremely high-lift wing b) fiddles around with lots of crazy designs c) settles on Cessna wings d) tries to take off e) goes as expected

[@pamelafunk618]

I have personally met Bob Diemert and he is an amazing inventor.

[@pascalchauvet4230]

What a wonderful affectionate relationship beetween a cat and a dog. I am impressed

[@alexandrosafouxenidis4420]

what about the plane)))))

[@joshuadavies8348]

I read today that Bob passed away, rest in peace Bob

[@chrismcnee9287]

When I was in the army we did a large and very expensive exercise with the US Navy and Marines. Well I along with half my unit was on the USS Nassau (a small aircraft carrier that had attack chopper and harrier jump jets) when we had a meet and greet one of the high ranking US Navy aerospace asked if any of us were from western Canada. One of our company officers was and when the Navy aerospace fellow asked if he ever met Bob Diemert the company officer said yes they lived in the same town, at first the US navy guy thought he was being had but after some conversation he realized this officer knew Bob. Well one thing I learnt that day was the US Navy knew who Bob was and they didn’t think he was an idiot but rather an outside of the box thinker who was onto something. I don’t know much more about Bob than that but i also know the US Navy’s aerospace folks weren’t also the only ones keeping an eye on him :)

[@leeciajayne13]

I can't remember the last time I enjoyed a documentary as much as this one. It has reaffirmed my faith in humanity and its never ending search for achievement in the face of adversity. I sincerely hope that Bob managed to fulfil his dream and once again make Canada a producer of fighter aircraft.

[@colebishoff1533]

he didn't,but im sure if he pitches this to our current prime minister he will!

[@CH-pv2rz]

You people are whacked. This guy is a moron.

[@patrick.s.douglas]

This story is inspiring to say the least. No guts no glory. A supportive wife and family a great friend and colleague; success is in the spirit of determination. Well done! There is no failure here because you only fail when you give up.

[@reefer2917]

I've gotta say Bob, you are an amazing bloke to have rebuilt those warbirds that you did! your life is VERY different to most of us in youtube land, I thank you for making this film I thoroughly enjoyed it and all your different inventions throughout the vid! wind tunnel gauges, indoor pool etc, your a credit to your country! the world is full of inventive people with no opportunity and or money, thanks again for sharing :-) p.s, your first plane had a striking resemblance to the Pommy Jet called a vampire, and your next invention looks like a 1930's stagger wing! YOU NEED A DELTA wing config made from fibreglass with a pusher prop and a small canard, like an SU-35 obviously the best handling fighter EVER made!!! you don't need to re-invent the wheel, use what's already out there to best advantage! *-D thanks again for sharing very impressive person

[@mirimar69]

And a medal to his wife for hanging in there :)

[@ZILOGz80VIDEOS]

I love the idea of these Red Green airplanes, it's obvious the plane would never have made it big but I love the idea of these trained crazy guys doing stuff like this.

[@MkmeOrg]

I remember seeing this on cable TV when I was a kid and being amazed. Of course I had to look up Bob's place when I was near Carmen Manitoba couple years back. Doesn't look quite the same now but the history remains. Awesome this is shared for all. Wacky guy- but restoring a Zero to flight- amazing....

[@kathleenruffing4462]

MKme Lab l

[@damage3418]

Yeah over 5 and a half years on a 1 year project. People are acting like he built the zero from scratch. He had all the demensions and tooling required. And a survivng example. He got the prints to confirm the numbers. His acomplishment was getting the original zero from that island back to his workshop.

[@MkmeOrg]

​@@damage3418 Tell us more

[@sharoncassell9358]

Americans destroyed all the zeros. What a waste. The designer Hiro made a great Mitsubishi craft.its amazing you got the blueprints.Good luck.

[@falconeaterf15]

RIP Bob. Always remember your victory roll opening scene in Battle of Britain movie.

[@feralcrafter7043]

It's been soo long since there has been a no cringe comedy! Seriously, this is funnier than SNL!!!

[@Maynardtkrebs]

Love it! Just when I was getting depressed over our military-industrial complex's insatiable thirst, this beacon of light appears! A real mouse that roared!

[@CH-pv2rz]

No he’s a real moron that whimpered… the guy is a certified nutcase

[@clintdueck1868]

@@CH-pv2rz someone needs to remove all of your negative comments, what have you done with your life?

[@schlusselmensch]

I tried to buy that Universal Carrier seen at the beginning. Missed it by that much!! Damn you Chris!

[@ozzieulloa6088]

Its not about the plane but the person not giving up. Thats what changing the world is all about. One dream at a time. It faild but he was ready to start over. Did he ever desighn a better plain?

[@dougtrombley6925]

The guy is amazing ,love dreamers

[@jamiesworkshop3198]

This movie has some fantastic camera work! Wow, loved the part about the Zero. I think he should have stuck with restoring warbirds though. I think the fact that the A-10 is still flying proves that the ground attack role is still lacking even today. Although I guess low cost UAVs are the modern replacement.

[@kyleboatright7403]

The CAF was allegedly very unhappy when it started looking inside the Zero. Lots of shoddy workmanship.

[@TheGrandslam89]

The problem is that the whole low and slow does poorly against surface to air missiles, especially with how much more flare resistant missiles have gotten. Its not even good at high altitude runs as the slow speed increases the range that a missile can intercept an A-10 at. The low and slow ground attacker is a bit of a design of a bygone era in aviation.

[@DSAK55]

Red Green meets the Trail Park boys

[@annec9376]

LOL!!!

[@gregson99]

I was ready to see some hoses duct taped to the side of the "aircraft" and a toaster oven with chicken fingers baking.

[@Bluswede]

+DSAK55 I wouldn't go quite THAT far...he's a skilled restorer of warbirds...I've been up-close and personal with that Zero at Oshkosh, and it's a beauty...he's just not a high-level designer...like the rest of us!

[@clecopliers7011]

What you saw at Oshkosh was a Zero that was rebuilt by the Confederate Air Force after Demerit had his hand in it !!

[@Bluswede]

So...it's still the same Zero, but it was 'gone over' after it was an airworthy craft? The video shows the CAF flying it shortly after they took shipment from Canada. Not contradicting...just curious.

[@Nostrildomus]

That one long shot of old ' Curly Bill ' at the controls is worth what ever this cost . Thanks

[@57fitter]

The obvious thing they overlooked ---was the air in the tires held it up something like 4-6 inches higher than it needed to be while they fought it out of the hangar.

[@brianevans656]

Very observant! Deflating the tyres would have facilitated the extraction of the Zero..

[@pascalchauvet4230]

The idea that a piston-engined attack aircraft like a P-51 would possibly be less vulnerabe to heat-seeking missiles still spooks around in my head

[@CH-pv2rz]

Its not true but you can keep spooking about it.

[@barneybruns887]

Thank you for one good ride. I laughed so hard. Very touching and Hilarious!

[@petroelb]

His wife must be a saint.

[@gregson99]

Bernard...

[@warren1192]

I did!!! almost fell of my chair HAHA...

[@jeffreyplum5259]

That "tank" is a British "Universal Carrier" which served the British as a lightly armored "battle taxi", roughly equivalent to a jeep. It was also called a "Bren Carrier." Most tanks, or trucks, would be much larger targets. It is another fine piece of work.

[@tommartin7333]

A great lesson in positivity .I hope no one ever attacks Canada though.

[@schlusselmensch]

We won't have to do anything. The bugs'll get them.

[@BilgePump]

Although their airplanes can only be described as proof of concept prototypes their work was important. With proper engines and the computing technology of today these guys were paving the way for drones.

[@FarBikeShop]

Love these guys. Driven, creative and completely nieve

[@1rafayal]

full respect to these guys for building a plane from scratch. But - how did they ever think a propeller driven biplane would be a good idea for the modern fighter industry back in '89?

[@su5119]

I read many of the comments. Most are negative. But, I give this guy kudos for trying and venturing out on his own, with his own money, dedicated to his dream. What did people at Kitty Hawk think about the Wright Brothers?

[@richardyaskiw4529]

I know Bob personally, yes very eccentric! Very inelegant and interesting! He flew his hurricane in the movie the Battle of Britain , I live forty miles from him

[@dllmpb06]

@@richardyaskiw4529 what ever happened to his friend Chris?

[@clintdueck1868]

@@dllmpb06 I think he passed away in Feb 2019

[@Vintabilly]

This was just complete popcorn awesome..I enjoyed this, thank you so much for this post. :D

[@mikefinley733]

Red Green has to be in on this some where Because I saw Harold in that red car LOL !!

[@Larry-ct5mg]

Forget the Defender, watch this video for the Zero restoration story.

[@stevefriedl3983]

@12:30 was the inspiration for the Tesla Cybertruck!

[@catchaser52]

Very enjoyable movie for me to watch, The Human Spirit on display good and bad,,, Reminded me at times of the Red And Green Show,, ( More Duct Tape,,, ) and Mad Max. Is there a sequel ? There should be. BIG THUMBS UP !

[@bartofilms]

I enjoyed some of the previous comments here. I must say, the Defender and its builders reminded me a bit of the guys in 'The Red Green Show', but I can't fault them for having a dream and staying with it. They proved their engineering/building capabilities by bringing that Zero back to life. Perhaps if they had waited for computers and CAD to catch up with them, they could have built something viable. Despite the odd lines of the airframe, I didn't start to think they were a bit nuts until the end, when he talks about building an airbag into the nose section of the 2nd prototype.

[@eltouristoduo]

enjoyed this quirky charming hidden jem. really nice film.

[@worthymartin4008]

the sheer canadianness of it all

[@oldtiedyeman]

I think this guy should focus his work on that little red three wheeler.

[@CrocodileTear]

Hillarious and sad. Genious and pathetic. Outlandish.I remember seing this movie in the guy's hangar as a kid. I wish him all the best.

[@abmbarry]

, "Great stuff" .. I have watched this wonderful, engaging and fun documentary twice now, ... I enjoyed it. ...... Keep Dreaming ... Never Quit! .......

[@nozmoking1]

Thank God people are taking this seriously. It restores my faith in mankind.

[@ianmedium]

R.I.P. Chris.

[@jtuttle11]

Looks like something 'Red Green' would cobble together, all that's missing are a few rolls of 'duct tape'

[@frankm3214]

This is the funniest video on YT.

[@duncandmcgrath6290]

A brilliant comedy

[@davidrotter3862]

He didn't fail, he just discovered that he is at step number 500 on a plane design that requires another 1000 steps.

[@GBooth]

This is like the Red Green Show with aeroplanes.

[@MrWurthmann]

Great goals to reproduce the wonderful aircraft.

[@gil8132]

these guy are very smart all hand made an kool god bless them

[@TheQuest2quest]

I have a new hero. Salute

[@themerrigans2734]

ya gotta love the enthusiasm of this guy.

[@CH-pv2rz]

Enthusiasm or mania?

[@claywilson6149]

Ahhh well .....fukit...back to the drawing board!! "Good Idea ....Just don't work! " LOL

[@gregparrott]

I'm having trouble with the math here. At 3:27, he says 'he plans to sell the defender for 900 times less than the F-18. But before that they mentioned Canada bought 135 F-18 for $5 billion. That is $37 million each. For his craft to sell for '900 times less', it would cost $41,000. By itself, a small piston engine designed and certified for aeromotive use probably costs that much.

[@bill7778]

Gregory Parrott I think this was filmed in the 70's. Even Confederate AirForce changed its name a few years ago.

[@carlosidelone8064]

I think, that it was 35 F-18's, not 135

[@CH-pv2rz]

Actually It was 138… including development and testing models. 20 + have been lost in accidents and 30+ were kept as spares. Canada has since purchased more used F-18s from Australia but is having issues getting them back into the air as part of the air force…

[@gregparrott]

@@CH-pv2rz Thanks for the reply. He said 135 at 3:01, but that likely excluded a few used in development. The $5 billion figure for 135 F-18 indicates a cost of $37 million each perhaps a year or two before this video's creation date of1988. I'm curious WHY over 20 aircraft have been lost in accidents. That seems like a lot. Implied with buying USED jet fighters is a substantial cost in servicing and upgrading them, perhaps more than was anticipated and budgeted.

[@sharoncassell9358]

Ask Mikey on plane savers yellowknife.

[@williamseigler3408]

The few comments I could stand to read were written by fools. God bless and keep men like this, and the wives and friends that stand by them. Were it not for this sort of individual, we would still be living in caves.

[@roytee3127]

Guys like this failed at moving out of caves.

[@jameshaury2716]

You forget the Douglas A-1 Skyraider.

[@aspiceronni4462]

The safest airplane is one that doesnt leave the ground.

[@martyapo]

Oh man... Lockheed Martin and Boeing better watch out. This guy's gonna eat their lunch. lol

[@Otokichi786]

Hmmm, the "Aluminum Mallard" ran out of runway. If the aim point was the IL-2 Sturmovik, the Russians put that propeller driven design into the museum when the Jet Age arrived. But then, in the words of Adam Savage: "Failure is always an option."

[@richardtroell6407]

Could I suggest a year or two of Aeronautical Engineering?

[@midtoad]

Otto Lilienthal once said "to design an aircraft is nothing. Building aircraft is little. But to fly one is everything." We can all laugh at this story, but at least this fellow follow through on his design and actually attempted to fly. It did get briefly off the ground!

[@CH-pv2rz]

It bounced, I would not call that flying.

[@microdesigns2000]

44:46 Mullet alert. That being said, I could only wish my wife opened a beauty salon while I built airplanes. Genius.

[@altatude9677]

You should have a "devils advocate" to discuss these projects. I can see important points that were obviously not considered. Best of luck to you, Bob.

[@BigKevinNoBull]

Interesting videos thanks.

[@Asmodeus13X]

I remember this guy, he popped back up in the 90s, his plane still unfinished and non flying. He was also hoping to use a wing design that had been rejected due to the stresses it subjected to the prop.

[@ajdogcurr1]

Absolutely hilarious!

[@geekchaser]

There is a Zero at MCAS Iwakuni Japan.. It's on display in one tiny little building.

[@davidsherburne8429]

I watched this whole thing and it won't even fly.

[@fckimmel]

At first, I thought this was a gag video. I mean, "calibrated measuring equipment?" A couple of old bathroom scales. Come one! Get serious.

[@dcolb121]

Any measuring device can be considered calibrated if it's calibrated to a known standard.

[@springford9511]

It is supposed to be funny. It is also exactly correct as Don mentions. There are quite a few of these and I found them hilarious.

[@chrismcnee9287]

Scales are primitive but reliable. This was before the ease of affordable calibration equipment. People thought Elon Musk was a fool, but now who rents his equipment? NASA...

[@misegades]

You've got to give the guy props (no pun intended) for sticking with it, actually building something, and not killing himself in the process. However, I don't understand his approach. Aircraft design wasn't anything new, even at the time of this filming, you can have a pretty good idea if something will fly or not before it ever leaves paper, the math behind it isn't particularly difficult. There are literally books on just airfoils alone.

[@CH-pv2rz]

He is nuts. No other explanation necessary.

[@jaywilkes3416]

That is the strangest documentary I have every watched. surely these guys are kidding with their designs and never really expect them to get off the ground. Almost like a Monty Python skit.

[@fahadazmi3998]

great.....beautiful

[@Dee73kz]

Thanks for the upload!

[@pascalchauvet4230]

I like the twin fins. And the wings look much like the A-10s

[@jameshaury2716]

During ww2 piper a piper cub was modified by an extanker as a panzer killer.I read this in the book alone and unarmed.

[@intrepid5592]

Great job with the Zero. Keep trying with the other. great attempt too...

[@dllmpb06]

prosickguys9 GT The Zero constantly gave the CAF guys issues. A sponsor in the early 90's stepped in to fund a rework of bob's workmanship. The tear down resulted in 25 major issues including the fact bob used garden hoses and pvc pipe in place of aircraft grade parts. The plane was such a mess they eventually sold it for permanent static display in pearl harbor.

[@dllmpb06]

As mentioned in the article about the CAF zero Bob rebuilt in warbirds worlwide.

[@jewelmock4946]

Great documentary! That little plane was under powered, too heavy, incorrect propeller, and incorrect airfoil on the wings. A few little changes here and there and it would have flown nicely. As for a military fighter plane, no way Jose! As a two seater it would have been a great little sport plane. I give him 5 stars and an honorable mention for his effort. He is a great guy and of course you have to be just a little but nutty to do this kind of stuff. I speak from experience.

[@jimdavison4077]

What is it they say there is a small line between genius and insanity. Sometimes these people are their own worse enemies.

[@teresaGarcia-hu8pi]

Well it's the crazy guys that can build shit like this in his garage.

[@tomthompson7400]

epic ,,, when can i get one ,,,, were planning on opening irelands first underground airport that might just be the bird were looking for , together we can exploit a huge gap in the aviation market.

[@LoungeLizardLouie]

Is that it. So crazy.

[@buzz-es]

Love this guy. He does shit that so many people want to do but don't have the guts to try. Also, the Japanese Zero, top that shit.

[@CH-pv2rz]

No he attempted to do it. Today he would get his pilot’s license revoked…

[@ChuckMcC]

The guy is a nut case..

[@henrikcarlsen1881]

But a very interesting one. Not the plane which was crap from day one, but the people. Watched it to end not sure if it was satire or real. Nutcases (plural) is probably the right label

[@frankm3214]

The only thing missing was Stompin' Tom Connors playing in the background.

[@frankm3214]

His assistant should be named Rusty.

[@terriecotham1567]

No way most people never try and if you never try you never fail and large aircraft build's have put planes in the air that were under power or did not live up to the plans. A small fast and quick plane with to days avionics and weapons systems could have the right stuff not all ideals work but its ease to set back and tell people what they did wrong after the race, football game or test flight

[@terriecotham1567]

No way most people never try and if you never try you never fail and large aircraft build's have put planes in the air that were under power or did not live up to the plans. A small fast and quick plane with to days avionics and weapons systems could have the right stuff not all ideals work but its ease to set back and tell people what they did wrong after the race, football game or test flight

[@dustinmoses4415]

The guy was smart no doubt and very nice to talk to as well The thing I don't get is the A10 already existed and is as perfect as can be for this role.

[@julievorster5414]

It's so scary that the same guy who built that insane deathtrap is the same guy who "rebuilt" that zero.... those guys are so keen flying it especially with no clearance from faa. (Correct me if I'm wrong.)

[@pieterg462]

An airbag in the nose for them mountain?!?!?

[@jameshaury2716]

The Cessna a 37 was a very effective counterinsurgency aircraft.

[@surearrow]

>> This is an Onion film right? I mean, this guy can't be real. His helper looks like "Toad" from American Graffiti.

[@chillenchilla4]

a friend of mine works at bombardier and he was working on the electronics of the f 18 in canada...

[@pieterg462]

Ok, so from knocking the Hornet's order at an airshow, he goes to "aero" testing something on the back of a ute, to getting a Zero from a jungle. And from there.... the guy lost me.

[@someoneelse7629]

Nothing this dude built was holding together without duct tape and strings. How was his restorations?

[@peterfox8701]

i visited the shop once ,,,,there is something in the water in that area

[@briantyler531]

Heath Robinson comes immediately to mind. I can't make up my mind whether to feel inspired by this gentleman or pity for him. Someone should tell him the drone is the future but it might be cruel to do so.

[@johnrossetti5208]

Well, he is tenacious.

[@petroelb]

Imagine how much more smoothly this process would have gone if this guy could read a book!

[@PHUSHEY]

Good thing we didn't need to use that POS or the CF-5 or the CF-18 in Europe.

[@Glasher1]

So, is there any further information? Did he try the redesign, or simply return to restoring aircraft?

[@skm9420]

I don't know how I'm the hell they thought they could or would do a rebuild in 1 year

[@AdminNic]

I think this thing is not up to scratch.