Warbirds

The aircraft was landing at Woodbourne to refuel while enroute to the Auckland Airshow (refer p25Dec 92 AA). It is reported that there was a slight right crosswind at the time and when a gust hit the machine it started to swing to the right. Braking action on the wet grass was not effective and when the still-turning aircraft crossed a sealed runway the left undercart leg collapsed. The undercarriage was damaged as well as the port wing tip, the tips of the wooden propeller shattering when they struck the ground.

The Spitfire was designed in an era when aerodromes were all over grass fields and catered for landings and takeoffs directly into the wind. The narrow track of the undercart does not help when having to try and cope with a 1990s’ crosswind.

Mr Tim Wallis is the Managing Director of the Alpine Fighter Collection at Wanaka.

Tucson a Connie Haven

For those enthusiasts who like the graceful lines of the Lockheed Constellation, there is only one place to go, what must be the Connie Mecca of the world, Tucson, Arizona

At the present time there are no less than six complete Connies of various models in the Tucson area, and these include one that is flying and one that will beflown to Australia when airworthy. This is of course the aircraft destined for the National Air and Space Museum of Australia(NASMA) under the responsibility of the Museum of Victoria

Based at Tucson International Airport known airshow aircraft N494TW, a model C-121A (749A), previously s/n48-609. Painted up in a USAF MATS colour scheme, this aircraft was one of two flown at Oshkosh ’92, to the delight of all present.

A former Canadian bud worm sprayer(!) this Connie, which does not have tip tanks, was bought by actor John Travolta in 1984 with the machine lying idle at Tucson’s Ryan Field, south-west of the city until the late 1980’s. In 1987 Vern Raburn

purchased the machine and put it back into the air and now it travels the American airshow circuit.

Just outside Tucson is the sprawling Davis Monthan Air Force base from where many a retired US military aircraft has gone to the breakers, been sold off to continue flying under civil marks, or gone to a museum. One such museum is the Pima Air Museum. Over the years Pima has obtained four Lockheed Constellations and all are now on display.

The oldest Connie is a model 049. This started service with the US Air Force as a C-69 in April 1945 with sin 42-94549.

In 1948 it went to TWA and, when retired as N90831, it had flown more than 41,000 hours. Resplendent in all natural metal with red trim the machine recently had an external refurbishment and now fairly shines in the Arizona sunshine.

Another Connie at Pima is a C-121A (civil 749A model), sin 48-614. Also in natural metal this aircraft carries USAF marks and has a large cargo door. This aircraft was the personal aircraftof GeneralDwightEisenhower when he was the NATO Supreme Commander.

Connie number three is an ex Air Force EC-121T Warning Star. Sin 53-548(civil 1049A model) still carries a belly radome and has tip tanks. The colour scheme is overall blue/grey. Connie numberfour is s/n 53-553, also anEC-121T. In blue/grey colour scheme this aircraft also has tip tanks and bulbous radomes above and below the fuselage.

Meanwhile,just over the fence, in the Pima Museum’s maintenance compound, is the NASMA Lockheed, a C-121C, previouslys/n 54-157, thistoo camefrom theDavis Monthan storage facility(refer p77 Oct 92 AA).

Five Connies in one small area must be rather unique in todays world of aviation. A real Connie Mecca.

Incidentally, AustralianAviation and Torti Tours will again be running a tour to Oshkosh and the USA this year. The tour will include a visit to the Pima Museum. Interested? Call Torti Tours on (02) 233 8500for more details or refer the advert in this issue.

The Old Aeroplane in the Barn

If you have never believed in the story of the old aeroplane in the barn then read on. They still exist.

Recently, the Victorian-based Clyde North Aeronautical Preservation Group(CNAPG) was investigating the fate of a 1920s’ vintage aircraft. As a result of its enquiries the existence and location of a previously unknown Tiger Moth wreck came to light. The CNAPG has since managed to acquire the machine.

The ‘Moth in question is Al7-15. The aircraft was one of the first 20 Tiger Moths that the RAAF took into service, when, between May and October 1939 Al7-1 to Al7-20 were taken on charge. These aircraft had English built fuselages and wings produced by the Australian subsidiary of de Havilland.

In May 1946 Al7-15 was sold as surplus for 200 pounds and along with two others was to have been flown from Point Cook, Victoria, to Bundaberg, Qld. for the local aero club. Al 7-15 got as far as Broadford, some 45nm (84km) north of Point Cook, where fog was encountered. The aircraft stalled and crashed vertically into the ground. The pilot managed to survive. The Tiger was wrecked and with vast stocks of the type being sold off at never to be repeated prices one simply did not rebuild a badly damaged ‘Moth in those days.

Al7-15 was probably being flown on a ferry pennit as it was no longer on RAAF charge and it had not taken up a civil registration. It is understood that the wreck of the machine was moved several times over the years and eventually ended up at Reservoir, a northern suburb of Melbourne. It was here that the CNAPG finally located it.

The long term plans of the CNAPG are to eventually restore the Tiger to static display condition. While the Clyde North Group does not plan to restore their machine back to airworthy standard, others have done so to other aircraft with less to work from.

If there is a lesson to be learnt from this it is that old aeroplanes are still out there to befound, so keep on searching.

New Zealand News Update

Following up on the news item in the October issue of AA we learn that the Harvard IV, N15798, imported from the UK by Tim Wallis’s Alpine Fighter Collection, arrived at Ardmore on November 5. The T-6 is a converted Japanese Zeke replica It now has the appropriate registration of ZK-ZRO and uses the call sign ‘Zeke 288’.

Another import for the Alpine Fighter Collection is Grumman TBM-3E Avenger, N6827C. Registered as ZK-TBM (what else!) on November 18 this big single engined torpedo bomber was noted at Wigram on November 26 and later at Wanaka

Both aircraft were obtained from the Old Flying Machine Company in the UK. The arrival of these new exciting aircraft will certainly make the 1994 Warbirds over Wanaka airshow a very interesting event.

Nasma Lockheed Super Connie Arrival on Schedule

The middle of 1993 promises to be an interesting time with the expected arrival of the National Air and Space Museum of Australia (NASMA) Super Constellation still on target.

To some the Super Connie was the most graceful airliner ever built, more the work of a sculptor rather than something that came off a drawing board.

Whatever one thinks about the aircraft type the middle of the year can expect to see the NASMA machine arrive in Australia.

The aircraft is now being brought up to flying standard in the maintenance yard of the PimaAir Museum at Tucson,Arizona, having been obtained from the storage yard of nearby Davis Monthan Air Force Base. The aircraft was probably the last of its type at the DM yard, others having been sold off or broken up some time ago. NASMA is working in conjunction with the Historic Aircraft Restoration Society (HARS) and a team of Qantas former Connie engineers, as well as Neptune rated maintenance engineers, to bring the machine back up to standard, even though it has been found that the aircraft was in very good shape to start with.

Leader of the team is well known Neptune enthusiast and HARS member Bob De La Hunty who had been looking at the possibility of obtaining a Connie at the same time as NASMA was looking at doing the same thing. It was apparent that the two organisations could work together to best achieve the same end result and just this has been happening, first in obtaining the Connie and secondly to get it back in the air.

Engine starts were expected to take place in January at the time of writing.

Some sponsors have been found to assist the project and even Lockheed has agreed to recover the three rudders for the machine.

When finished the machine will carry a Qantas colour scheme and already carries the NASMA and HARS logos as well as the Australian flag and Kangaroo symbol. While the ferryflight will be made under US registration, VH-EAG has been reserved for use at a later date in Australia

The NASMA aircraft was previously a USAF C-121C, sin 54-157, held at Davis Monthan on behalf of the USAF Museum at Dayton,Ohio. It was from the museum that NASMA obtained the aircraft. Last flown in 1977 the Connie had accumulated 18,452 hours. Just run-in as some would say. Official arrival date is scheduled for November 2, 1993, which is the birth date of Qantas back in 1922.

After arrival in Australia and final finishing out, the Connie will see some airshow display work, bearing in mind the size of the aircraft and the size and number of large scale airshows held in Australia At present it is proposed that the airliner will be based at Mascot while final fitting out work not done in the US will be carried out. Tip tanks are not fitted at present and these may be installed at Mascot to bring the machine closer to the appearance of the Connies operated by Qantas.

Later it is expected that the aircraft could be based at Tamworth, Nowra, Mascot or the proposed NASMA site of Laverton, Victoria Ownership of the C-121C is officially to the Museum of Victoria which is working in with the NASMA and HARS.

Since obtaining this particular aircraft the group have managed to get a hold on a second of the type. This second machine is a former US Navy EC-121K, Bu141311 now at Chanute AFB Technical Training Display Centre at Rantoul, Illinois. This second machine was a WV-2, later redesignated an EC-121K The civil 1049A is its equivalent.

While things have been moving steadily in the warbird movement the arrival of the NASMA Lockheed Super Connie will be a great flag waver for not only NASMA but the whole of the historic aeroplane movement.

We await the arrival of the machine with much interest.

Ceres on Display at Mam

A new display in the form of a Commonwealth CA-28 Ceres Agricultural aircraft, VH-WOT, was recently added to the collection on show at the Moorabbin Air Museum at Moorabbin airport.

Built in Melbourne in 1959 the machine was operated for a number of years by Airland Improvements Ltd. of Cootamundra, NSW.

Unfortunately, in 1974 the Ceres came off second best in an argument with a windmill and water tower following a power loss on takeoff. The museum managed to obtain the wreckage and parts from other Ceres aircraft but the project was put on hold until 1985 when restoration began in earnest. November 21 last year saw a formal roll out of the aircraft, when at a night time presentation, the museum’s side hangar door was rolled open, and with almost a Hollywood style production, the engine on the backlit aircraft came to life with a puff of blue smoke as the chief of the rebuild team, Ashley Briggs, pushed the right levers. The Ceres is now on display in the MAM building and looks as good, if not better, than when it was a working agricultural aircraft.

It is not just aircraft by themselves that make up an interesting air museum and with this in mind the MAM has recently obtained a Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation Comair bus built in 1972. In line with the MAM policy of preserving all manner of objects produced by the Australian aircraft industry the Comair bus joins several other items including a lawn mower (yes, a Victa), a pressure cooker, a bath and a public pay phone, all of which were made by local aircraft manufacturing concerns.

The Comair bus was donated by the Melbourne firm of Dyson’s BusLines which had recently retired the vehicle after a long and active life of public transport. The interior will eventually be put to use as a display room.

The Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation ceased building coaches in 1975 and today examples are becoming quite rare. Examples from the late 1940s have long disappeared from the road scene.

Weeks Air Museum Oz Connection

August 24, 1992, was a sad day for the aviation museum sector at large when hurricane Andrew swept through the American state of Florida destroying everything in its path. For those with an interest in aviation museum aircraft the devastation at the Kennit Weeks Air Museum at Tamiami, a suburb of Miami, came like the destruction of one of the great wonders of the world.

While overseas publications have covered the damage and destruction of the museum and its aircraft in some detail none have made mention of the fate of the former Australian aircraft known to have been included in the collection.

The Weeks museum did not have any of the former Oz aircraft on display in the main museum building, which took the brunt of the storm, but apparently these aircraft, and others, were scattered throughout a number of other buildings where they had been farmed outfor storage and or restoration.

The four former Australian aircraft known to have been with the Weeks museum are as follows: Wirraway A20-649/VH-WIR (not taken up). This aircraft was sold by the Moorabbin Air Museum to a local during 1988 and shortly afterwards it was exported to the USA and the Weeks collection. Surprisingly, it has not been seen since that time.

A more recent aircraft is Commonwealth CA-13 Boomerang A46-165, the remains of which were to have been rebuilt into a complete machine. It is not known how complete the remains of the aircraft were when obtained by Weeks or what or if any work had been done on the aircraft since acquisition.

During the 1987-88 period the Weeks collection obtained two aircraft from the auction sale of the Joe Terteling collection at Boise, Idaho. These machines were De Havilland DH90 N2034, previously G-AEDT, previously VH-AAD, which had been sold and flown out of Australia in 1963. It travelled to the USA via way of the UK. Last but not least was an Australian built General Aircraft Genairco cabin, N240G, previously VH-UUI, that had been exported from Australia in the mid 1960s.

Of all the above, this aircraft, not unlike a DH Fox Moth in appearance, was probably the most significant and one that has little historic value in the USA

The destruction of the Weeks collection is most unfortunate and one is left to hope that, giventime and money, moneythe collection

In Brief

• Aviation businessman Anthony Masling and his two daughters died in the crash of a helicopter near Yass, NSW, five days before Christmas day. The Helo is reported to have hit power lines after taking off from Lake Burrinjuck. Mr Masling had been heavily involved inthe helicopter scene for many years. In addition to dealing in helicopters Mr Masling was also the owner of a classic Cessna 195, VH-MJQ, that he imported from the United States and put on the register in November 1990. Powered by a Jacobs R-755 radial engine, VH-MJQ is one of three 195s on the Australian Civil Aircraft Register with another soon to take up local markings.

• Graham Horne is no longer the Curator of the RAAFAssociation Museum (WA Division) at Bull Creek, WA Graham recently left the Bull Creek Museum to take up the position of Curator at the Energy Museum of the State Energy Commission of WA (SECWA) at Fremantle.

• The Royal New Zealand Air Force’s Strikemaster fleet is to be retired after 20 years service. Alas, however, it would appear unlikely that NZ or Australian warbird enthusiasts will be able to obtain the aircraft as they will go to the Italian firm of Aermacchi as part of the purchase deal for the 18 Aermacchi trainers that will replace the Strikemasters. can be rebuilt to its former glory. At the same time one can only hope that the former Australian aircraft have not suffered the same fate as some of the collection and that eventually they will be refurbished and put on display and flown for the enjoyment of all. Updates on the fate of the Australian aircraft would be most welcome. The first of 16 BAC 167 Mk 88 Strikemasters were delivered in 1972. Three of the machines have been written off and three too fatigue damaged to fly. These are being used as instructional airframes. Another three will be allocated to the RNZAF’s technical training schools, although one of these may be put in the RNZAF’s museum. The remaining seven will go to Aermacchi and will no doubt be resold in due course.

• The fourth Australian Aviation Museums Conference took place at Bundaberg, Qld, during early November. AAM spokesman, Mark Clayton, reports that the conference was a success with some 50 delegates attending, including visitors from several overseas countries. A decision was taken to hold an Australasian conference at Christchurch, NZ. during Easter 1994. No formal decision on date or venue of the 1993 Australian Conference has yet been made.

• The Pilatus PC-6B Turbo Porter is no longer in Australian Army service. During October a series of fly pasts took place over most eastern states’ capital cities to mark the withdrawal of the type from service. The aircraft have seen almost 25 years of service. Porter A14-652 has gone to the Museum of Army Aviation at Oakey, Qld. while A14-690 has gone to the Australian War Memorial at Canberra, ACT. The remains of A14-704 are also with the MAAF. Porter A14-705 has been registered as VH-ZCZ to Mr Jim Czerwinski of Toowoomba, Qld. Mr Czerwinski is, among other aviation interests including warbird rebuilding, involved in Sport Parachuting and the Porter is an ideal parachuting jumpship. NinePorters were, atlast report, at Essendon Airport, Melbourne, having been sold back to Pilatus. These aircraft are A14-653, -661, -662, -684, -687, -689, -693, -701 and -703. Seven Porters were written off during service including one that was shot down during the Vietnam war.

• A spokesman for the Australian War Memorial has indicated that the outcome of the sale by tender of its B 25 and a set of Mustang wings has still to be finalised and that details will be released only after negotiations have been completed. In Victoria DH Vampire T. 11, VH-ZVZ, was registered on May 4 to Mount Sherman Pty Ltd. , although ownership is better known as the Pay/Pay/Hosking/Vuillermin syndicate. The aircraft, previously sin R4221 of the Zimbabwe Air Force, had been restored at Tyabb, Vic. Originally it had been planned that the machine would be taken to Laverton AFB for its test flying however on November 11 the twin boomer was road transported to the former National Safety Council Aerodrome at West Sale, in Victoria’s The Gippsland region, where the first flight will take place.