Warbirds

The MiG-15 first flew before the Korean War and has long been considered obsolete. As a result of this a number of Polish and Chinese built MiG-15 aircraft have been sold in the UK and the USA and now Australia. It would sensibly appear that there is more value in selling the aircraft for much needed dollars instead of turning them into pots and pans.

The engine that powers the MiG-15, a Kliniov VK-1 is basically a copy of the Rolls-Royce Nene. A book could be written about how the Soviets came to obtain English engines but simply it came from the postwar Labour Attlee Government in Britain giving then state-of-the-art British jet engines to the USSR! The Russians never looked back.

It is reported that the MiGs cost less than $50,000 each landed in Australia and that all were sold before they arrived here.

Owners and serial numbers of the two sealers are as follows:

Melbourne aircraft – s/n 612782 Jeff Milne and John Rayner, 3804 Barry Batagol, IA09006 Greg Lovett. In Sydney-IA12002 Ray Ekinsi and IA06007 Mrs Kay Williamson.

Ironically, of the four single seaters due, one is going to well known warbird pilot, Jack McDonald. Jack flew in the Korean war flying against MiG-15 fighters!

All in all, the arrival of the MiGs presents an amazing situation. Had one ever suggested only a few years ago that MiG fighters would be flown in Australia by civilians, people would have thought you were mentally unbalanced. Now they are here and . . .

When and wherever they fly, the MiGs are bound to create enormous interest and it is understood that the condition of the two seaters is such that they should be able to fly within a very short time.

Engines to Be Overhauled at 15 Years

In what can only be described as a shock move, the CAA has released an Airworthiness Directive (AD) that states that all engines are to be overhauled at 15 years even if they have not reached their full hours between overhaul (TBO). (Refer Newsdesk)

The AD has grave consequences for operators of both older aircraft and even not so old aircraft. Aircraft engineers and associations whose members operate older aircraft report that the CAA did not consult them about the issue of the AD.

The inference is that engines that have not been overhauled for 15 years are likely to fail in service and yet it is understood that there are no known statistics to support this.

As a result of the AD one museum reports that its aircraft are all going to be grounded. Owners of aircraft that do 50-75 hours per year (most of the privately owned and flown GA fleet) are most likely to be affected because they only do 750-1,125 hours in 15 years – several hundred hours below the (for example) 1,500 hours of a typical TBO. It is of note that some new aircraft sold to private owners have a TBO of 2,000 hours but private usage might be only 75 hours for say the first two or three years followed by 50 hours a year thereafter. This aircraft engine would need to be fully overhauled long before the owner expected it, probably at less than its half life.

Antique aircraft will be the most affected and even for those owners that can afford a do-it-now overhaul, engine shops capable of working on the older engines would simply not be able to handle the work dumped on their laps.

It is of note that in the UK and the USA the engines of privately owned aircraft can be run on condition. No so here. With the lack of industry consultation regarding the AD, it has been said that the CAA has once again set out to clash with the very people who provide its bread and butter. Those people are angry and with good reason.

The industry feeling is that the 15 years AD should be cancelled immediately.

Who Was Rudi?

That is the question now being asked at the Moorabbin Air Museum following the commencement of a restoration to display standard of a WWII German Junkers Jumo 004B turbojet engine.

The Museum has had the engine in store for some years but with the opening of its new display hangar, the time was right to restore and display the early jet engine. During the strip down an inspection plate that would not have been removed during normal maintenance, was found to have a pencilled message on It. The plate had the phrase “We’re going (unreadable) freedom, Rudi”.

The Junkers Jumo engine was the type used to power both the twin engined Messerschmitt Me262 and the Arado Ar234 Blitz bomber. It is understood that slave labour of concentration camp inmates was used late in the war in an effort to boost the output of German aircraft and engines. Given this situation and the word ‘freedom’ on the engine plate, it is possible to believe that the hidden message was a morale boosting effort by a forced labour worker. On the other hand, it could have been a message from a German keen to see a victorious end to the war.

When restoration of the engine is completed, a display board will be mounted next to the engine highlighting the phrase on the engine plate. However, given that it is nearly 45 years since the end of WWII, it is doubtful that the old message will be fully understood or the question answered, who was Rudi?

Catalina for Sale

Anyone want a warbird that has a normal type of CofA? The only Catalina on the Australian register was up for sale by tender recently; tenders closed on June 23.

The Cat, VH-EXG, a Super PBY-5A had a logged total time of 11,821 hours and for the last twenty or so years has been used on aerial survey work. Registered to Geoterrex Pty Ltd of Sydney the former RCAF patrol aircraft has not flown for some 18 months and is at present at Melbourne’s Essendon Airport.

One of 369 Catalinas built by Canadian Vickers, the machine c/n CV369, first became s/n 11060 with the RCAF. After the war it became American registered as N609F and later N609FF. Somewhere along the way the aircraft became a Super Cat with the installation of two 1,700hp Wright R-2600 Cyclone engines replacing the 1,200hp Pratt & Whitney R-1830 engines. The Cat arrived at Essendon on June 27, 1972 and even then was already modified with a high fin and rudder, no blister turrets and with magnetometer cables from the wings to the fuselage plus a MAD boom below the tailplane.

The RAAF Museum has long been keen to obtain a Catalina for its collection but it is thought that overseas interests will obtain the big amphibian. Another Catalina is complete and on display at the Power House Museum in Sydney while yet another Cat is being restored at Lake Boga in Northern Victoria.

Another Harvard Arrives in Oz

The title Harvard may not be truly correct, however in early July a former US Navy Mk. 5B SNJ arrived in Australia for new owner, Colin Rodgers of Sydney, NSW.

The SNJ, previously USN BuA 90663, had been owned for 17 years by its last owner, Phillip D Bostwick of Bethesda, DC. The US Civil registration, N3633F, was cancelled on May 18.

Col reports that he looked atHarvards and SNJs for a long time before he found his aircraft at Rockford. He felt that the Navy version of the T-6 type was the best one to look for (better corrosion proofing) and that his aircraft is in far better than average condition having been well maintained and looked after.

The basically yellow SNJ is to be reassembled by Classic Aviation at Bankstown. Classic is owned by Bruce Simpson, the owner of T-6, VH-HAR. Col, who owns and flies Tiger Moth VH-AJG, has reserved the registration VH-USS for the SNJ.

The import of SNJ VH-USS brings to almost twenty the total of the SNJ/Harvard/Texan type now in Australia.

Honours to Aviation People

The Queens Birthday honours list released by the Federal Government in mid April contained three entries of note to the warbird and museum fraternity.

Wing Commander Peter Allen was made a member of the Order of Australia (AM) for service to the Royal Australian Air Force as the commanding officer of the RAAF Museum. Air Commodore Roger Lowery was also made a member of the Order of Australia (AM) for service to the RAAF as flying display director for the Australian Bicentennial Air Show.

Another award of interest was that of the medal of the order of Australia (OAM) to Harold Freedman for service to the visual arts. Mr Freedman is the artist who painted the aircraft murals on the walls of the aviation gallery at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. He has also painted a number of other murals since the AWM work.

Aviation Museums Conference

For those with an interest in Australian Aviation Museums plan to be in Sydney on November 1-3 to attend the inaugural Aviation Museums Conference.

To be held at the NSW State Library the Conference will cover a number of interesting topics including aircraft restoration, Defence Force Museums, import and export legislation, National Aviation Museum and the Wangaratta experiment.

The conference which is following similar lines to the Aviation Historical Societies Conference held at Wodonga, Vic in November 1976, covers not only the static display of aircraft but also the obtaining, restoration and even operation of historic aircraft. The list of guest speakers is impressive. The registration fee is $40 and inquiries should be made to Mark Clayton, PO Box 658, Port Arthur 7182, phone (002) 50 2363 or Ian Debenham, PO Box K346, Haymarket 2000, phone (02) 217 0111.

Military Museum Sell Off

During early June the Gold Coast War Museum at Mudgeeraba, Qld held an auction sale of excess display stock. Included in the many exhibits sold was Sabre Jet A94-914 (minus engine), a Sea Venom mounted on a steel pole, a Vampire Jet minus tail booms plus a Vampire and Meteor aircraft engine.

New owners are unknown at this stage. It is understood that the Museum is devoting more attention to the war game ‘skirmish’ that is played at the site.

Beech 17 Under Rebuild

Beech 17 ‘Staggerwing’ followers will be interested to know that VH-BBL, badly damaged last year, is under active rebuild.

The model D-17R was an entrant in the Hinkler Bicentennial Air Race when on April 23 the propeller oil seal failed. With oil leaking across the windscreen, pilot Joe Drage attempted to make a forced landing but due to the obstructed vision the ’17 hit an anthill and the undercart collapsed. The engine was also dislodged. Joe also received cuts to his forehead that required some 50 stitches. It is pleasing to report that the injury has healed very nicely leaving no scarring.

Trucked back from the crash site 40km south east of Charleville the aircraft was found to be rebuildable and at the present time is being worked on at Albury, NSW by engineer John Delaney, well known for his rebuilding of Col Pay’s Spitfire.

The lower wings and undercart are being rebuilt and in the noise department the 450hp Wright R-975 will be replaced by a 450hp Pratt & Whitney R-985 effectively turning the Staggerwing into a model D-17S. When completed the Beech will once again be the flagship for the Airworld Museum at Wangaratta, Vic.

Canberra Bomber for Preservation

A Canberra bomber, until recently with the RAAF as an instructional airframe, is to be saved from scrapping and will be preserved by the Sydney based Historical Aircraft Society.

The Canberra, A84-502, has for some years been company with A84-226 and A84-235 as instructional airframes at the RAAF Base Wagga Wagga where engine and airframe apprentices are trained. Understood to have been recently obtained by the Historical Aircraft Society, the twin engined bomber was scheduled to be transported by road from Wagga to Sydney in mid July. Canberra A84-502 is rather unique in that it is one of only two T4 models obtained by the RAAF. The other T4 was A84-501 which was disposed of in the 1960s and saw out its final days as a play frame at the Lord Mayor’s Holiday Camp on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula.

The Historical Aircraft Society does not have a museum to display the Canberra in and it is expected that the aircraft will be stored in Sydney until its future can be determined.