Warbirds

It has been reported that during a local flight the pilot requested a straight in approach. When asked if operations were normal the reply was yes. Shortly afterwards the aircraft diverged to the left of its flight path and impacted with the ground some five kilometres south-west of Canberra airport. The aircraft was destroyed and the pilot and passenger killed. The aircraft was owned by Gordon Glynn of Sydney, NSW. It was built in the mid fifties and flew with the Polish Air Force as s/n 1A06015, nose code ‘015’. Imported into Australia in 1989 the aircraft was restored to airworthy condition. The machine was painted silver with a red ring around the nose intake. The tail and rear fuselage were also painted red. It carried the letters 6015 in large black letters on the nose. The fourth of the five MiG-15s to be put on the Australian civil register, it was registered as VH-LSN on 13th March 1992. One year later, to the day, it was no more.

Fire Destroys Five Cwh Aircraft

A devastating fire on the morning of February 16 destroyed five aircraft and reportedly heat damaged another at the Canadian Warplane Heritage museum at Hamilton Civic Airport, Mount Hope, Ontario, Canada.

The fire, which destroyed hanger number three, one of two hangars belonging to the museum, also destroyed the administration offices and the engineering department which were situated in the same building. It has been reported that some of the loss may not be covered by insurance.

The five aircraft lost are reported as Hawker Hurricane XII, C-GCWH, Auster AOP. 6, C-FLXT, Stinson 105, C-FBSU, Grumman TBM-3 Avenger, C-GCWG and a Supermarine Spit-fire understood to be actor Cliff Robertson’s model HFMk. IXc, N521R. The aircraftdamaged by heat was the AvroLancaster C-GVRA, previously with the Royal Canadian Air Force as FM213. This aircraft had for a number of years been mounted on a pylon at Goderich, Ontario, until acquired by the CWH in 1977. After rebuild the aircraft returned to the air in September 1988.

Doug Arnold Dies

Doug Arnold, the UK warbirds wheeler-dealer has died. Although it is known that he died sometime in the first two weeks of November 1992 no details of the location or circumstances are known.

His company, Warbirds of Great Britain, and his family both decline to disclose any details. His death, like his warbird activities, remains cloaked in a air of mystery, for reasons best known to Arnold and his inner circle. At last count Doug Arnold and Warbirds of Great Britain had a fleet of some 25 warbirds.

Doug Arnold is best known in Australia for his 1979 efforts to smuggle the Messerschmitt Bf 109, w/n 163824, out of the country. The attempt was prevented at the last minute and the machine later became the property of the Australian War Memorial. It is understood that Australian Customs had wanted to interview Arnold regarding his involvement in the matter but that he avoided returning to Australia for that very reason. This writer recalls meeting Doug Arnold in Melbourne in the mid 1970s when he was mixing a bit of business with catching up with family. He apparently had a married daughter in Melbourne. As history has shown Doug Arnold was never one to let the bureaucracy interfere with his plans. During the discussion the subject of his Blackbushe airport operation was mentioned. Arnold commented that the local council was preventing him cutting down the trees that were growing at the end of the runway. When asked how the trees were going to effect future operations Arnold simply smiled and said it was amazing the effect battery acid had on tree roots.

Queensland Dak for Warbird Scene

For several years Douglas C-47B Dakota, VH-AGU, has languished at Kingaroy aerodrome, Qld.

Recently Mustang owner Jeff Trappett, with a little help from local agricultural operator, Tony Pratt, became aware of the aircraft and following an inspection purchased it with the view to putting it back in the air.

At present one engine has been removed and is being looked at by round engine specialists, Superior Aviation, at Moorabbin airport. After the engine is reinstalled the Dak will be ferried to Toowoomba where Aerotech Toowoomba will work on the machine to bring it back to pristine condition. The former RAAF workhorse has the cargo door configuration. Jeff re- ports that the interior is in excellent condition and although it has 33 seats in it at present it can be converted to the freighter role if required. During his RAAF days Jeff, now a Qantas Captain, flew various aircraft types including the C-47B. Aerotech Toowoomba will work on the aircraft under the eyeof Engineer Nobby Bartsch. Aerotech also has Jeff’s Winjeel, A85-444, in its hangar and this will be overhauled and put on the register in due course. Of late Toowoomba has become quite a hive of warbird activity.

Jeff Trappett has indicated that the C-47B will be used to attend various flying events such as airshows. With the number of seats available there will no doubt be room for a lot of aviation enthusiasts as passengers.

Jeff is looking at various colour schemes to apply to the aircraft and a base for the aircraft has not been selected but both Toowoomba and Jeff’s home base of Latrobe Valley, Vic, are being considered.

For the record VH-AGU started life as a C-47B with USAAF serial 44-76336. Later it entered RAAF service as serial number A65-72. It took up civil marks in December 1959 and for a number of years was operated by Adastra Airways of Sydney.

A Post Card From New Zealand

From New Zealand comes news that Pacific Aviation, on behalf of Charles Darby and Jim Pavitt, is to restore four Curtiss P-40s.

The P-40s largely comprise ex PNG wrecks plus parts ac quired from other sources. As a result of this, Pacific Aviation has started P-40 Rebuild Line’ a contact listing for P-40 rebuilders worldwide in order to be able to share knowledge of parts availability.

At the February NZ Tiger Moth Club Fly-In, at Greymouth, leading New Zealand warbird collector, Tim Wallis, announced that a MiG-15 is being imported by a Dunedin owner and that a second P-51 Mustang will be airborne in NZ during 1993. Mr Wallis has under construction one of the new build, full size US engined FW 190s being built at Fort Collins, Texas. He is also importing a Yak-3 into New Zealand and to cap off all this activity he has acquired one each of the pre-WWII Russian Polikarpov 153 single seat fighter biplane and a Polikarpov I-16 monoplane fighter. This aircraft type served in the Spanish Civil War where it became known as the “Rata’ or Rat. These two machines are being rebuilt in the CIS.

On another front it is reported that the RNZAF base at Wigram is to be closed. Since WWII the base has been the home of the RNZAF’s Central Flying School. The RNZAF Air Museum, which is on the base, is to remain in place even if the rest of the base is disposed of Cost saving is the reason behind the impending closure.

Jindivik for Moorabbin Air Museum

At Moorabbin airport, the Moorabbin Air Museum has managed to obtain a GAF Jindivik Target Drone.

The Jindivik is one of the quiet successes of the Australian aircraft manufacturing sector. Jindivik s were first operating at the Woomera Rocket Range back in 1952 and is still in operation. A number were also exported to the USA, Great Britain and Sweden and even today are still being operated under contract for the RAN at Jervis Bay, NSW. As a result the Museum is very pleased to have obtained an example, its serial being WRE-601. The drone is about 60% complete. Parts required to bring the machine up to display standard are a centre and forward fuselage, landing skid, horizontal stabilizer and the forward and aft portions of the wing camera pods. Can any reader assist? Ph (03) 580 7752.

Other projects that the museum has under way include the restoration of Cessna 310 VH-AER, which is now in the work-shop, being stripped and assessed. A second 310, VH-RCJ, has been acquired as a source of parts. Also underway is the rebuild of Tiger Moth A17-377. About 12 months should see the Tiger completed and on display. Auster VH-ACY has recently arrived at the museum having been beautifully restored by craftsman Borg Sorenson. This aircraft will reside in the main hangar until the Lord Casey hangar, obtained from Berwick airfield, is erected later in 1993. The Auster will then be housed in the Casey hangar.

Of Registrations and Serial Numbers

A couple of updates in the registration and serial number department. The two Cessna A-37 Dragonflys recently imported into Australia are understood to be s/n 67-14810, for Guido Zuccoli of Darwin, and s/n 67-10779 for Doctor Michael Silva of Sydney.

It has been reported that the Darwin A-37 will be stored until the remaining Darwin T-288 have been put back in the air. The T-28D that recently took to the air at Darwin is VH-DPT. Owned by Ian Sylvester of Darwin the machine started out as a T-28B with s/n Bu138232. Later it went to the Royal Thai Air Force as 55-138232. Modified to become a T28D it went into Royal Laotian Air Force service as s/n 3416.

It is reported that the third Nanchang CJ-6, s/n 2751248, is being worked on in order to bring it onto the register. The registration for this aircraft will be VH-NNC. At one stage it looked as though the machine was to go to Belgium but the deal fell through and as a result the CJ-6 will fly the local skies.

The Awm Mustang Wings and B-25 Saga

During 1982 the Australian War Memorial advertised the sale by tender of the stored N-AB-25J Mitchell, VH-XXV, and a pair of Mustang wings from aircraft serial numbers A68-136 and A68-140.

It is understood that the proceeds of the sales were intended to offset the cost of the purchase of the Curtiss P-40E, s/n 41-3608-4/A29-133, that had been rebuilt by Nelson Wilson of Melbourne over many years. Later the tender for the Mustang wings was altered to advise that the serial of the aircraft, that the wings came from, was A68-150. While the advertised closing date for the tender was September 19 1992 the AWM has so far declined to release any details of the outcome of the sale. The official line has consistently been “No comment is available yet”.

One can only ask the question why does it take an organisation like the AWM more than seven months to release even the basic outcome of the tenders? One must remember that the AWM is funded by the Australian taxpayer and should be accountable for its actions.

Although the AWM has so far not released any details of the outcome of the tender a number of people already claim knowledge of the result. One part of the answer came from an overseas source before Christmas! It would appear that the B-25 has not been sold and has now been taken off the market as the price tendered simply did not meet the figures expected by the AWM. It is understood that the AWM was expecting bids inthe order of $250-500,000 while the actual bids received were considerably lower.

The Mustang wings are more interesting. Once again there has been no official release to the media but it is understood from several sources that the wings went to Bruce Morehouse of Denton, Texas. Apparently the wings will be used to repair an accident damaged P-51D. Morehouse owns N-A Mustang, N51BK. This aircraft was badly damaged in a takeoff accident at Denton in September 1989.

It is also of interest that a local warbird enthusiast also claims to own a pair of wings from Mustang A68-150!

In Brief

• At Pakenham, Victoria, the Commando Skydivers Parachute Club has started gathering exhibits for a proposed National Parachuting Museum. The museum will be at the Pakenham Drop Zone. Exhibits are sought and will be very welcome. • From South Australia it is understood that Boeing Stearman owners Ivor Paech and Geoff Davis have imported a pair of Russian aircraft in the form of a Yak-52 and a Yak-50. Four more Yak-52s and another Yak-50 are to follow. • At Toowoomba, Qld, the overhauled Griffon engine has been reinstalled in Spitfire Mk. XVI, VH-XVI. The aircraft last flew some four years ago and shortly after the post rebuild test flight problems were detected with the engine. An overhaul was the end result and this was carried out in the USA by Vintage V-12s. The engine has still to be fully hooked up but this will take place at the same time that the machine has its annual inspection.

• Thorp T-18, VH-CMC, was damaged during a landing accident at Nullarbor airstrip in early March. The aircraft was on the return flight from visiting the Albany airshow, in WA. The wings and undercart are reported as badly damaged. The pilot was unhurt. The Thorp was built by well known aviator, Clive Canning, and made an historic flight to England in 1976. Clive later wrote a book about his adventure. The aircraft was later sold and for the last few years has been on display at the Airworld Air Museum at Wangaratta, Vic. The museum has advised that the aircraft will be rebuilt.

• Paul Garber has passed away.

Garber was the man responsible for gathering the aeronautical collection for the Smithsonian Institution in the 1920’s that in 1946 became what is known today as the National Air and Space Museum. The Museum is in Washington, DC. Among the exhibits in the museum are the Wright Flyer and Lindbergh’s Ryan mono- plane, the ‘Spirit of St. Louis. The Smithsonian Restoration and Storage facility just outside Washington is named after Garber. • March 1993 saw RAAF Pilot Officer Don Mason buried in France 49 years after he was shot down and killed in Normandy during a strafing attack. P/O Mason was flying a 198 Squadron Hawker Typhoon on June 18, 1944, when it crashed after attacking German army trucks. During the attack a local farmer was also killed. His son thought that Mason was the person responsible and as a result never told anyone about the crashed Typhoon in a gully on the family property. Recently the son, now a man of 68, had a change of heart and told a local war museum about the aircraft wreck. P/O Mason was formally buried in the St. Charles de Percy Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery near Bayeux on March 10, 1993. • Those readers who attended the Avalon Airshow in October will recall the display of former RAAF Canberra, A84-229, on the Sunday.

Now registered as N229CA, to US warbird enthusiast Steve Picatti, the twinjet bomber only left Australia in late February to return to the USA. For Canberra enthusiasts, don’t despair, it is understood that the machine is due to return to Australia in about six months time.