The Warbirds Restorers

The first restorer we visited was Winrye Aviation where we spoke to Brian Chadwick who established his family company some ten years ago after several decades with Qantas engineering.

His wife Lesley and two sons Michael and Martin are involved in the business assisted by three employees. Winrye Aviation operates out of a modern hangar on the nor thern side of Bankstown airport which is capable of housing two DC-3’s under cover together with support shops.

Brian Chadwick was at pains to stress that the company takes a conservative approach to aircraft restoration. The first step in the process is a comprehensive survey to determine the work to be done and then this is costed out for the owner. With the experience gained to date Winrye is confident that an estimate can be made that will be within $1,000 of the final figure. Aircraft can also be painted to meet specific customer requirements and comprehensive paint schemes are prepared. We saw an example of this in their own company Winjeel which has been painted to represent A85 443 which was once painted in a one off colour scheme of orange and white. (Refer p. 45 Sept 91AA)

Winrye’s experience has been gained over some fifteen aircraft starting with the B-25 Mitchell which Winrye assisted Aero Heritage to place on the Australian register. The company then provided ongoing maintenance and inspections for the four and a half years prior to the aircraft being returned to the Australian War Memorial in 1988. Following on from that beginning they have to date completed amongst others, two T-28’s, three T-6’s, one Winjeel, and one MiG-15.

Winrye’s certificate of approval covers both the RAN Historic Flight at HMAS Albatross at Nowra, NSW, and the RAAF Museum at Point Cook, Victoria. A DH. 82 Tiger Moth was restored for the RAN Museum and an ex-RNZAF Harvard has been restored for the War Memorial. The RAAF PV 1 Ventura is now on the Australian register and is being maintained by Winrye on a five year contract with the RAAF.

Winrye offers a full service from advising on the type of aircraft that would best meet the customer’s perceived needs to ongoing support once the aircraft is flying. They have developed a maintenance schedule for each aircraft type restored, based on the schedules issued by the previous military operators. The schedules are designed to satisfy the operating requirements of warbird type operations.

For the prospective warbird owner there could be no better endorsement of Winrye as a first class restoration facility than the award of the prestigious “Best Warbird Restoration Facility in Australia” for 1990 and again just recently for 1991; their restoration of Hockey Treloar’s MiG-15 UTI (SB. Lim-2A) gained the award for best Warbird restoration in 1991.

In addition to all the above, WinryeAviation undertakes all general aircraft maintenance and has a busy program of on going maintenance support for more modern aircraft.

Finally, from the experience the company has gained over the last decade, plus their knowledge of CAA requirements, Brian Chadwick proudly maintains that they can provide a first class service from advising on warbird selection to on going support once the bird is flying.

Classic Aviation

Classic Aviation has been established about three years and is also a family business being run by the three Simpson brothers The genesis of the business was the restoration of a Czechoslovakian Morava aircraft under taken by their father over a number of years. The three brothers assisted him part time and having gained a taste for restoration, they decided to enter into the business as a full time activity.

Since then they have handled two Harvards and two Nanchangs and have a MiG-15; a T-28 Trojan, a Wirraway and an Auster in hand. A Beaufighter and a Spitfire 14 await their turn. Of particular interest is the Firefly project which aims to get the ex Mike Wansley aircraft WD828, the former VH-HMW back into the air using the centre fuselage from WD 518 which has until recently been a long time resident on a pole at Griffith NSW. (Refer Warbirds, recent issues)

Developed as the result of experience gained to date, the company provides a comprehensive contract to cover the unusual circumstances that can arise in work of this nature. In not dissimilar fashion to vintage car restoration, fixed price contracts can disadvantage either party, and cost plus can be a rapid path to cardiac arrest for the owner. The most equitable solution is to undertake a detailed survey in an attempt to identify all the work that may arise and to cost it out in the light of previous experience. Classic requires monthly payments to be made but at the same time invites owners to inspect the work that has been done in that period. The company prides itself on the quality of its sheet metal work, an essential element of aircraft restoration particularly on those occasions when they might be working on very little else but the serial numbers! In addition to the family members, there are three engineers and an apprentice on the payroll. Similar to Winrye it is company policy to have one person in charge of each restoration project.

Classic believes that the warbird market must be recognised asbeing international, particularly forthe more exotic machinery, eg, Spitfires, P-38 Lightnings, F4U Corsair etc. This will force the cost of these aircraft even higher and will also have an effect upon the price of less exotic machinery. Because of this it believes the answer to successful and affordable restoration in the future might lie in the syndicate approach. This has been the case overseas with New Zealand showing the. way. In line with this, the company is about to import a Lockheed Lodestar as a syndicate project, to be used as a support aircraft on the warbird show circuit.

When asked about the problems of certification, the answer given was that the company had a very good relationship with the CAA and had found the latter most helpful, and sympathetic to the aims of warbird restorers.

Finally in these times of economic gloom and doom it was interesting to learn that a new hangar is about to be constructed for ClassicAviation at Bankstown. Perhaps that in itself is a measure of the growth of interest in the restoration of old aircraft