Warbirds

The MiG, registered VH-XIG, flew to Avalon airfield, near Geelong, Vic where testing was to take place. The flight of this aircraft will no doubt speed up the restoration work on the other MiGs on the eastern coast. As history has shown, once the first of type takes to the air others are soon to follow.

Me 108 for Sale

A very unusual type of aircraft to come to Australia is the recently imported Messerschmitt Me 108, as it is named, and it is up for sale.

The Me 108 is in fact a Nord 1002 ‘Pingouin II’ powered by a Renault 240hp 60-11 engine. Brought in from Canada, the aircraft was previously registered C-GRIT and carries the colour scheme of a WWII German Me 109 fighter aircraft. The local owners have elected to sell the aircraft but at a recent aircraft auction in Sydney it was passed in at $90,000.

Whoever eventually purchases the aircraft will not only get a four seat tourer that is guaranteed to generate a crowd when it taxi upto the fuel bowser, but also an aircraft that in its present colour scheme will ensure that it has a lot of bookings for air show work. One can guess who wins the dogfight between Col Pay’s Spitfire and the Me 108/Nord 1002.

The history of the Me108 and the Nord 1002 is interesting. First flown in1934 with a radial engine, the Messerschmitt Me 108 was a popular pre war sporting and touring aircraft. One came to Australia and was operated here between 1937 and 1940 as VH-UZI by GuineaAirways Ltd. It was powered by a 240hp Argus AS 10c engine. Following German occupation of France the production line was transferred there and an additional 170 aircraft of the type were built.

After the war an additional 285 were built as Nord model 1001 and 1002, powered by the 240hp Renault 60 series of engine. In all a total of 984 Bf 108A, Me 108B and Nord 1001/1002 aircraft were produced. Interestingly enough, the Nord imported has c/n 285 and is possibly the last of its type built.

T-28 Close to Flying

The North American T-28D Trojan of well known warbird identity, Randel McFarlane, is close to flying.

The Trojan is one of the group of fourteen recovered from Laos by Col Pay of Scone, NSW. Most have been dispersed to new local owners. The T-28 has been rebuilt over the last year at Bankstown and recently had its first engine run. The civil registration VH-XVT has been reserved by Randel for his T-28 for some time. It is reported that the aircraft has been painted up in an exotic Laotian Air Force paint scheme complete with tigers teeth, and as such should create a lot of interest wherever it goes. If nothing else both the aircraft and its colour scheme will be a little different to the aircraft now seen on the local warbird circuit.

Canberra Airshow

An major airshow is to be held at Canberra on Sunday, April 14 1991.

The airshow is being organised by the same team that put together the highly successful 1988 Canberra Airshow and should therefore be a good event. Due to its central location, the Canberra Airshow ’91 promises to display and attract a good number of interesting aircraft, both military and civil, including warbirds. Plan to be there.

Canberra 229 Departs

The Canberra jet bomber that was swapped for the RAAF Museum’s Ventura, has flown out to the USA.

On Wednesday, August 12, 1990 the new owner of the Canberra, warbird restorer Steve Picatti, flew out of RAAF Amberley with Sqn Ldr Geoff Garley as navigator. The Canberra, A84-229, made the Pacific crossing via Townsville/Guam/Wake Island/ Hawaii/Hayward, California USA. Almost all of the flight was made above 40,000 feet.

Before departing Australia, owner Steve Picatti was given a check out on the Canberra as well as a ground course on flying the aircraft. Picatti now has the ultimate jet warbird -the only civil Canberra in the world and an Australian built GAF machine at that. This particular aircraft, A84-229, has actually been to the USA before in the late 1950s during a goodwill tour. Built as a bomber, -229 was later used as a photo mapping aircraft and later again as a target tug.

It is of interest that the navigator on the delivery flight, Sqn Ldr Geoff Garley (RAAF) has close to 2,000 hours on the Canberra and his last flight, before the model was retired some years ago, was in A84-229. New owner Picatti plans to add the necessary instruments to make the aircraft IFR legal in the USA, as a civil registered aircraft and then take the bomber on the American airshow circuit. Just for the record the total fuel capacity of the Canberra is 21,000 pounds! Charge that to your Visa or Diners card if you can.

1991 Ghosts

Of interest to warbird lovers with spare wall space or perhaps thinking of the right Christmas present is the 1991 Ghosts calendar.

Measuring some 50 x 36cm, this impressive annual calendar features a different WW2 era warbird each month, including the Dauntless, Kittyhawk, Mustang, Invader and Zero, each suitable for framing. The calendar highlights notable dates in wartime aviation history, a very unusual example being 2 April 1941, when the RAF dropped 75,000 propaganda teabags for Dutch citizens to read and enjoy!

And what better to place a cuppa on than aircraft instrument drink coasters? Produced by the people responsible for the superb altimeter wall clock,each of the set of four attractive, durable plastic coasters is a scale replica of a flight instrument, highlighted by colour and certainly making great talking pieces.

Which all goes to show that gifts for enthusiasts or pilots who have everything do still exist! Both the calendar ($22 + p&p) and the coaster set ($19. 95 + $2. 50 p&p) are available from Aviation Art, PO Box 2311, Nth Brighton 3186.

Fighter World Opens in February

Fighter World, the hi-tech fighter aircraft display centre under construction at RAAF Williamtown, will open its doors to the public on Sunday, February 17th, 1991.

The opening of the centre will coordinate with an open day at the base to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Williamtown as Australia’s top fighter aircraft base. For Fighter World (refer p. 40, July 90 AA) the opening will take the form of an interim display, a preview of what the future centre will be. Among the restored aircraft in the interim display will be two Mirages, a single seat (A3-3) and dual (A3-102), and a Vampire (A79-1).

The display will also feature a Mirage control rig, demonstrating the complex hydraulic flight control system of the Mirage fighter. Other displays will include a Mirage cockpit, armament displays, an Atar Mirage engine, a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine, and photographic displays of RAAF fighters over the years.

Readers wanting further information about Fighter World should write to: The Secretary, Fighter World, RAAF Base Williamtown, 2314, or phone (049) 28 6184.

In Brief

• The only Colonial C-2 Skimmer to come to Australia, VH-ARB, is being brought back to airworthy condition after a long spell out of the air. The aircraft is at Bankstown, NSW. The C-2 type was later developed into the well known Lake LA-4 Amphibian.

• In Suva, local authorities say hopes of starting a tourist industry based on WWII relics on an outlying coral atoU in the Marshall Islands could be stymied by thousands of unexploded bombs. Mili Atoll was the scene of heavy fighting during WWII and the bombs present a threat to tourists even after all these years.

• Several reports have been received that a Grumman TBM Avenger is being imported to Australia. The Avenger, a single engined torpedo bomber, is truly a big aircraft and would be a very interesting addition to the local warbird scene. This is the type of aircraft that the present US President, George Bush, flew during WWII. Details of owners are unknown at the moment. Until recently a number of Avengers have been in service as fire bombers in the USA.

• Catalina VH-EXG, owned by the RAAF Museum at Pt Cook, has been moved into a hangar at Essendon airport to be worked on to be brought back to airworthy condition.

• The Southern Cross replica, VH-USU, now back in Australia following a tour of NZ, is to be the centrepiece of a new museum to be constructed at Parafield Airport, where the replica was built.