Civil Register Update

After the war the supply of the latest Rolls-Royce Nene jet engine to Moscow enabled the Russian aircraft industry to produce the classic MiG-15 Fagot which first flew on December 30 1947. Development of the MiG designs progressed through the MiG-17 Fresco and MiG-19 to the MiG-21 Fishbed. The MiG-21 was developed on the basis of experience of air combat in the Korean War and went on to become the most widely used fighter in the world. The type uses a Twnansky turbojet engine and several sub types were produced including the 21PF all weather fighter, 21FL export model, 21PFMA multi role version, 21R reconnaissance model, 21MF lightweight, high performance fighter, 21SMT ECM equipped and 21U two seat trainer. XXI is a 21UM two seat trainer fitted with four underwing stores pylons and a Tumansky R-13 powerplant Its NATO codename is Mongol-B.

Several other new types in Australian skies are listed including the Extra EA300, Falco FSL and Globe Swift. The German built Extra first flew in July 1983 and is a very popular aerobatic aircraft in Europe. Whilst it is surprising that none of the type have found their way to Australia before now we can expect to see more machines follow OOE and XTR when the aircraft’s capabilities become Imown to the Australian aerobatic fraternity. The Falco FSL was designed by Italian Stello Frati who started his career at the Milan Polytechnic designing sailplanes. Frati did not produce aircraft himself but preferred to grant the production rights for his designs to different companies. The FSL is a two seat side by side low wing machine with retractable undercarriage and of all wood construction which first flew on June 15 1955 using a 90hp Continental engine. Aviamilano took up the production rights, utilising a 135hp Lycoming engine but this was later upgraded to a 150hp Lycoming which became the Falco II. Aeromere took over production during the early 1960s and delivered 36 aircraft to FAA CAR Part 3 standard lmown as the Falco III America. The company became Laverda in 1964 and produced another 20 aircraft called the IV Super, using the 160hp Lycoming. The plans of the type have only quite recently become available for home builders and LZF is the first to fly in Australia.

The origins of the Globe Swift go back to 1941 when the Globe Aircraft Corporation was founded from the old Bennett Aircraft Corporation which was set up before WWII to use a new bonded plywood for aircraft building. Two prototype Swifts were fitted with 80hp Continental engines but Globe was unable to put the aircraft into production due to the onset of war. Instead the company spent the war years building Beech AT-lOs and Curtiss C-46 Commandos. By 1945 Globe had redesigned the original GC-1 as the GC-lA using all metal construction, retractable tailwheel, side by side two seat cabin and an 85hp Continental engine.

Production of the Swift was subcontracted to theTexas Engineering Co, later known as Temco, who produced 408 aircraft before changing over to production of the GC-lB, a 125hp version of the GC-lA Temco went on to build 526 GC-lBs before Globe was declared bankrupt during July 1947. Temco bought the of the company which included the GC-1 type certificate and went on to produce a further 568 Swifts before production ceased in 1951. Temco sold the type certificate to Univair who did not build any aircraft but supplied spares for Swifts already flying. Univair subsequently sold the type certificate to the Swift Association which is composed of a loyal band of enthusiastic Swift owners.

Tony Green’s Swift XTG, comes from the batch of GC-lBs license built by Texas Engineering on behalf of Globe Aircraft. After much searching in the USA, Tony eventually found a suitable Swift in Phoenix and flew it to Torrance for preparation for shipping to Australia. The Swift has a non removable 3m (10ft) wide centre section and therefore will not fit into a container for long distance travel so Tony was forced to consider a flat rack (an open container) and pay extra for each 15cm (6in) of overhang. As it turned out flat racks are not easy to acquire and the Swift finally came to Australia as deck cargo, but sealed below deck in its own hold. The Globe was refurbished and reassembled by ownerTony and Nigel Perry of P&T Aviation at Bankstown and the pristine little antique will, no doubt, be a talking point at any air shows that it attends.

Eight aircraft have Returned to the Register, half of these coming back after sojourns overseas. Nomad SNL has been operating in Malaysia as 9M-WKU on survey work for Wira Kris Udara since December 1988 while Squirrels HRJ and NLR return to Helicopter Resources ofTyabb after leases in Canada and New Zealand respectively. HRJ returns after eight months in Canada as C-GNPU and NLR returns after less that two months in New Zealand operated by Rural Aviation of South Auckland. Cessna Titan CBM has completed a three month survey contract in Brazil where it flew as PP-OQN. Mitsubishi MU2B JES became N881DP over two years ago but the aircraft did not leave Australia and remained at Essendon usually parked in the Interair hangar until December when it reverted to JES. Tiger Moth LOW is back in the air after a break of almost three months and Cessna Agtruck JHR is flying again after it was damaged in an accident during May 1990. Auster Cirrus Autocar BYV, which came to Australia new in 1955, has been restored by Classic Aviation at Bankstown after more than a decade out of service.

In the Deletions section 11 aircraft have changed registrations and their new markings can be found in the New Allocation section. Another 11 aircraft have transferred to the Australian Ultralight Federation register and join an increasing number of homebuilt aeroplanes that have taken up markings in that system using numbers instead of letters.

Aircraft sold overseas include Cherokee Six WCJ to the Philippines, Islander TRW to PNG and Beech Duchess JKE to New Caledonia. Beech Duchess YES, Pitts Special WEB, Cessna Stationair SAP and Fletchers JIY and ENX have all been sold in New Zealand, the two Fletchers returning to their original Kiwi markings of ZK-BXS and ZK-EMX respectively. Cessna 402 RUE, Beech Bonanza PAD, Cessna Citation LGL and Beech Baron JDN have gone to the USA along with the Indian Ocean Airlines Electra IOB which did not enter service with that company but was repainted as N351Q and flew from Perth to Cairns on January 10 as the first part of its ferry flight back to America.

The only Howard DGA-15 in this part of the world was tragically lost after engine failure whilst taking off from Avalon after the Airshow on October 29 (see p77 Dec 92 AA). The aircraft caught fire after a forced landing and was completely burnt out although thankfully all the occupants escaped with only minor injuries. Not so lucky were the pilot and passengers of Cessna Stationair FMP when it crashed into trees near Aurukun in far north Queensland after engine failure. The wreck was found by a Coastwatch Aero Commander and medical personnel were parachuted into the area from a Beech Super King Air from Cairns only to find that the three occupants had been killed by the crash or the ensuing fire.

North Queensland Aero Club’s Cessna 152 NQA was badly damaged after an engine malfunction near Cairns and ended up lodged high up in a large tree. The pilot was OK but had to be lifted out by helicopter as the local fire service did not have a ladder long enough to reach the stricken aircraft. Two aircraft that were damaged some time ago and have at last been deleted from the register by the CAA are Piper CheyenneTNZ which was damaged by a bomb at Moorabbin as long ago as September 29 1988 and the Royal Queensland Aero Club’s Cessna Cutlass ZRQ which crashed near Gayndah Qld on a night navigation exercise on August 11 1991.

This issue sees a large Change of Owner/Operator section with a lot of entries reflecting a change of owners address, as in the Lloyd Helicopter fleet, or a change in company name, as in Lindsay Investments who operate Tobagos and Trinidads from Bankstown changing to Fli Pty Ltd.

Cessna 441 Conquest AZB is now with Skippers Aviation and is therefore a candidate for reregistry in the LB block along with other aircraft in the Skippers fleet and Partenavia FAP now flies with Alligator Airways at Kununurra WA and joins several single engined Cessnas, a Beaver and a Beech 18.

One of only two Polish built Dromader ag aircraft in Australia, DRO, has been acquired by Hazelton Agricultural Services of Cudal in western NSW whilst its sister ship LJF is reported to have crashed near Deniliquin on October 23. Two Cessna 421 Golden Eagles, CSF and TWH, previously operated by the defunct Norfolk Island Airlines are now registered to R Kirby of Hermosa Beach USA and therefore likely to be exported along with Cessna 182 Skylane CVH which is now owned by P Thornton of Auckland. We can expect to see these three aircraft in the Deletions section next month.

Following up on some Australian aircraft still active overseas, Friendship MMV which was cancelled in the December issue has joined MMS in the Expresso Aereo fleet based at Lima, Peru. Now registered OB-1505 it is working with OB-1454/MMS and two Friendships previously owned by Ladeco Airlines of Santiago, Chile on internal routes within Peru.

Two ex Compass Airbus A300s, YMA and YMB which were returned to the lessors Polaris Leasing as N165PL and N166PL have now joined the China Northwest Airlines fleet as B-2309 and B-2310 respectively whilst a third Compass machine, YMI, which returned to Canada after the collapse of Compass has been sold to the Canadian Armed Forces using the military serial 15003 (refer p9 Dec 92 AA).

Cessna Citation OIL, shown in the November deletions section, is now in the Philippines flymg as RP-C1500 and Beech Musketeer MJS (December deletions) needed only a little sign writing to become PH-MJS with G Schuit of Holland. In the November issue Nomad AUN was shown as being sold in the USA and although it did take up the American markings of N5190Y it was flown to Belgium and is now used for parachuting by the Paraclub Moorsele.

Two former TAA jets that have found their way to South America are DC-9 TJJ and Boeing 727TJB. The Boeing 727 was sold in Nicaragua during April 1980 and after serving with airlines in Brazil, Colombia,Turkey and America is now with Aerovias of Guatemala. The DC-9 meanwhile was retired from theTAA fleet in February 1987 and sold to Midway Airlines in the USA This aircraft now flies with Acerca of Caracas, Venezuela.

The 1992/93 Australian Aviation Civil Aircraft Register is now available at a cost of$10. 95 from AustAirData, PO Box 1142 Toombul Qld 4012, phone (074) 95 8496. The register can be kept up to date each month using the information contained in the Register Review so be sure to obtain your current register and either renew or take out an initial subscription to Australian Aviation now.