Warbirds

A man who had the money to restore and fly the old warbirds, Glass found that the major obstacle in his path was that the regulations of the then Dept. of Civil Aviation did not allow for operation of those types of aircraft. Try as he may he could not get around the regulations and the end result was that most were exported overseas where they still fly today.

The Vampires were one exception, they stayed (in storage) and one of which now flies as VH-ICP.

Born in 1926, Arnold Glass retired to enjoy the good life and moved to Monaco. Still with a love of warbirds Glass now flies an ex RAF Red Arrows Folland Gnat jet, XSIOI, that he purchased in England.

It was as a result of pressure from such people as Arnold Glass that the regulations were eventually altered to allow the flying of Warbirds under the provision of ANR108A here in Australia. To Arnold Glass we owe a lot.

Sea Venom Wreck Netted

During May a large section of an RAN De Havilland Sea Venom was recovered after it caught in the trawl nets of a CSIRO research vessel. The wreckage was recovered from a depth of some 950 metres about 40 kilometers SE of Jervis Bay, NSW. The Sea Venom, WZ909, crashed into the sea on May 20th, 1959, while photographing the M V ‘Kamona’. The aircraft sank immediately and the bodies of the two crew members were never recovered.

The wreckage netted included a section of one wing and part of the right side of the fuselage. One portion of the structure had the identification number 865 on it.

Old Foe Returns

During early July an old adversary returned to Australia to see the country first-hand that he last saw from the air in 1943. Mr Susumo Ito, now 73, was the pilot of a small unarmed reconnaissance aircraft that was flown over Sydney in 1942 and again in January 1943. The first flight was made just before the attack on Sydney Harbour by three midget submarines.

The reconnaissance aircraft was transported by submarine and after reassembly took off from the water 30 miles east of Sydney.

Harvard/Texan News

No less than two Harvards have been noted as being for sale in recent months which only goes to prove that it is possible to buy a Warbird locally if you are prepared to wait and watch.

Meanwhile, a report has just been received that well known aerobatic pilot, Chris Sperou of Adelaide, has just taken delivery of a T-6 understood to be the machine recently imported by Guido Zuccoli of Darwin.

The RAAF Museum at Point Cook is to have the Museum Harvard, NZ1060, put back in the air by Wynrye Aviation of Bankstown. The former RNZAF machine will be back in the air around September and will sport a RNZAF colour scheme to show how it looked as part of the Empire Air Training Scheme of WWII. The cost of the maintenance work is to come from part of the proceeds of the sale of the RAAF Museum calendars.

Mustang Rebuilds

At Point Cook, Mustang A68-170 of the RAAF Museum is to be rebuilt and put back in the air. The rebuild is expected to be completed by about mid 1989 all going well. Once completed and back in the air, there will be no less than two flyable Mustangs at Point Cook.

From Queensland we learn of a previously unknown Mustang rebuild project. At Brisbane, Kim Rolph-Smith has the fuselage and wings of a Mustang that he is intending to rebuild. The fuselage was obtained in Indonesia, while the wings came from the Philippines and the -9 Merlin from New Zealand. When interviewed by this column, Mr Rolph-Smith advised that while he had the major items he still needed a small mountain of parts and fittings before the project became an aircraft. The fuselage apparently lacks an identity and as a result, it is to be sent to the USA where it will be traded for a fuselage that does have an ID.

Kiwi Drover Visitor

New Zealand registered aircraft in Australia are nothing new but when they are based here for a time and are in the form of tri motored De Havilland Drover, they are somewhat different.

The machine in question is ZK-DDD a Lycoming powered Drover that has come here to take part in the Australian Bicentennial Air Race. The race is a 14 day event and will follow an anti-clockwise route around Australia, ending in Canberra. The race starts on September 18.

Flown by pilots David Squirrel and Brett Young, the Drover gave no problems on its Trans Tasman crossing. The aircraft is based at Casey Field Berwick, near Melbourne, while it awaits the starter’s gun. Several other Drovers still exist in Australia although not all are airworthy at this time.

Ex Raaf Sabre Jet Fighter for Sale

The things that are sold by Public Tender! While there are one or two CAC Sabre jets under rebuild, in addition to the example flown by the RAAF Historic Flight, it came as somewhat of a surprise to see former RAAF Sabre A94-965 be put up for tender during July.

The ex RAAF fighter was located at Orchard Hills, NSW, where it had been used for specialised Army training – ironically in how to disable aircraft! Now replaced by a Mirage, the Sabre was being sold by the Dept. of Admin Services, Purchasing and Sales Group. The aircraft was less engine and instruments and the tender document notes that ‘No major structural corrosion is evident’.

Tenders closed on 27th July, 1988. We wonder who the new owner will be and the ultimate fate of the machine?

Neptune Follow Up

Further to the note in the last Warbird’s column about Neptune VH-IOY changing hands, we now advise that the new owners are Gordon Glynn and Bob Delahunty of Sydney and not Phil Dulhunty as earlier reported. To Bob we offer a Neptune sized apology. Bob is heavily involved with the organisation of the Richmond Bicentennial Air Show at which the Neptune is scheduled to be on display.

The Neptune, now at Tamworth, NSW, has created a minor problem in that its weight is too great for much of the tarmac. Plans are underway to park the aircraft on a more suitable area.

It has also been reported that another Neptune (SP-2H A89- 279), now on static display at a private farm near Dubbo, NSW, is to be moved to Tamworth and put near VH-IOY in order that people can walk through and inspect it. It is hoped that the Tamworth location will allow greater access to most Airshows etc on the east coast.

Ventura Arrives – At Last

Brisbane, Monday, 11th July at 4. 00pm saw the long await!:ld arrival of Lockheed PV-1 Ventura, VH-SFF/N159U.

The arrival ended three years of negotiation and rebuild work as well as a certain amount of speculation to bring the Patrol bomber to Australia for the· RAAF Museum at Point Cook in exchange for an RAAF Canberra bomber.

Captained by Rob Poynton the Ventura did not make the Pacific crossing withol!t incident. On the first attempt a nav aid failed after a few hours forcing a 180° turn. On arrival at Hawaii on the second flight, Captain Poynton had the upper turret removed to improve performance. Later. in the flight an emergency hatch over the cockpit blew off. Included in the crew of four was Peter Anderson of Aero Nostalgia which arranged the swap.

Complete in RAAF WWII colour scheme as ‘A59-67/SF-F’ of 13 Squadron, the Ventura arrived at Point Cook on Wednesday 13th July. Spokesman for the RAAF Museum, Sqn Ldr Peter Allen, said “She (the Ventura) has been a long time getting here but to see her up close and in the air makes us all feel that the wait was worth while”.

The Ventura will be a feature on many an Airshow program as it waves the Air Museum flag. Congratulations to all on a job well done.

Coming Events

In addition to the Richmond Bicentennial Air Show on October 12th to 16th, other events to note are the Bankstown Historic Air Fair on October 2nd and 3rd and the RAAF Air Displays at !=dinburgh, South Australia on October 22nd and Laverton, Victoria on October 23rd.

In Brief

• it is reported that one owner of a large ANR108A Warbird had the Aviation Dept. talking to him after he was openly advertising for people to pay for rides in the aircraft to assist in defraying the cost of getting the aircraft to and from an Air Show. Charter is not permitted with ANR1OBA-type aircraft.

• Readers will recall that we were following up on what became of Flying Officer Derrick W Grey who was the pilot of the Spitfire recently recovered from NW Western Australia. It is unfortunate to report that Mr Grey passed away in the early 1960’s.