Warbirds

A Postcard From New Zealand

During the Easter break, the Warbirds Fighter Meet Airshow was held at Hamilton, on the north island of New Zealand. The show was a runaway success as only the Kiwis seem to manage, not by sheer numbers of aircraft but by the quality of the types, the action during the airshow and of course the fabulous countryside as a backdrop. The Hamilton show is to alternate each year with the Warbirds Over Wanaka airshow in the south island. Both provide warbird activity unseen in Australia. The Hamilton show commenced in the morning with a formation flight and display by the Douglas C-47, ZK-DAK, DH Devon and the NZ CAF Beech 18. For those who love the sound of Harvards they would have enjoyed the flypast of nine Harvards in the air at once while another remained on the ground for all to look over. A Yak-52 has recently arrived in NZ and this performed aerobatics while down below its Chinese built equivalent, a Nanchang CJ-6, was on static display. No New Zealand airshow would be right without an appearance by Sir Tim Wallis and his Mk.XVI Spitfire, ZK-XVI. Sir Tim gave a spirited solo aerobatic display and then joined up with Mustang ZK-TAF for a formation display. For those who like the air battle show acts that the New Zealanders do so well there was a Pacific air battle with the Corsair ZK-FUI, Kittyhawk ZK-FRI, Grumman Avenger ZK-TBM, the newly arrived Catalina and the Zeke, ZK-ZRO, a much modified Harvard. There are no guesses as to which aircraft got ‘shot’ down! As the show progressed so did the years and types. The ex-Swiss DH Venom, ZK-VNM, gave a solo display and the Cessna A-37B Dragonfly, ZK-ITL, joined with the sole New Zealand NA T-28C Trojan, ZK-JGS, for a formation flight. Late in the show there was the mass airfield attack with seemingly everything in the air at once going every other which way, and yet under a well choreographed plan. The day closed with a formation of fighters that no doubt brought a lump to the throats of WW2 veterans when the Spitfire, Mustang, Kittyhawk and Corsair did a formation flypast. All in all a great show. The Hamilton event was a good time to collect a few notes on NZ Warbird activities. The Sea Fury, ZK-SFR, of Skyrace Tasmania fame, arrived and practiced for the show but did not go on stage due to engine problems. Others that did not fly were the former Australian Vampire, now ZK-VAM, reportedly due to problems within the syndicate that owns it. Tim Wallis recently took delivery of a newly built Yak-3 but this was not in the show having to have some additional work done to its engine cooling system. Protective Sea Furies circle around an RAN Firefly shot down behind enemy lines in the Korean war, in a painting by David Marshall for the Australian Naval Aviation Museum at Nowra. David’s painting, Korean War Rescue, shows the crew racing for the safety of the rescue helicopter sent to retrieve them while they were under fire from hidden North Korean soldiers. David specializes in aviation paintings and can be contacted on (02) 9997 2262. Also of interest is that the FW190 being built in the USA will be transported to Christchurch for completion but will not be ready for the Wanaka 96 show. The Hurricane being built up by Sir Tim is most likely to be ready in 1998, such is the amount of work required on it. The Japanese built Oscar that was sold by Col Pay to the Kiwis is to be rebuilt but only to the taxiing stage. Apparently to get it to flying condition would effectively involve replacing so much of the metal structure that it would in effect become a replica. For those wanting to see more of the New Zealand Warbird action don’t forget that Australian Aviation in conjunction with Torii Tours will be running an aviation enthusiasts tour to the Easter 1996 Warbirds over Wanaka airshow. Interested? Contact Torii Tours at (02) 233 8500 or fax (02) 231 2758.

Connie Update

The HARS Lockheed Super Constellation’s arrival in Australia has now been put back to Sunday September 17. The Connie’s restoration is complete, but the delay has been caused by problems completing the Reg 308 paperwork. The plan is to have the aircraft used by the very helpful Pima County Air Museum as a special exhibit for several weeks prior to its departure. Lockheed Aeromod at Tucson will also host a special function around the aircraft, something that the company will duplicate at historic Burbank before the Connie tracks north to Oakland for its long awaited departure to its new home. En route, the big airliner (actually a converted USAF C-121) will fly at 12,000ft at 230kt (425km/h), and during daylight only. (Readers would well be aware of the recent losses of the UK destined Shackleton, and the NZ bound Catalina whose fates may well have been different if they had not been ferried at night.) The Connie will depart mainland USA for Hawaii and Fiji, where it will layover for several days. And the time it is planned to arrive in Sydney, well, 10:49am of course!

Queenslands Watts Bridge Aerodrome

Every state seems to have at least one or more aerodromes where the flying of private, homebuilt and antique aircraft are the norm rather than the exception. In WA there is Serpentine, south of Perth, in Victoria there is Tyabb, Riddell and Coldstream and in NSW there is Wedderburn, south of Sydney. These are a few of the better known ones. As time passes it is unfortunate to record the closing of some aerodromes, Casey airfield at Berwick, Victoria, is one and Surfers Paradise Gardens on the Queensland Gold Coast is another. Given these closures it is good to record the growth of a Queensland aerodrome that is close to Brisbane and that caters for the enthusiast pilot and his type of aircraft. Situated some 50km west northwest from Brisbane, the Watts Bridge Memorial aerodrome is one airstrip that is close to a major population centre and yet is expanding without having major airspace and development restrictions placed upon it. Watts Bridge was originally built during WW2 but in the end saw little operational use. It effectively reverted back to pasture until the 1980s when its potential was seen and today the Watts Bridge Memorial Airfield Association operates the field. With the growing trend of weekend flyers wanting to get away from controlled airfields such as Archerfield, Watts Bridge has come as a breath of fresh air to a good number of flyers in SE Queensland. It features two runways of 914m and 1158m, while the compacted grass over gravel surfaces effectively offers all weather operation. To date Watts Bridge has hosted several large fly-ins run by the Queensland Vintage Aeroplane Group. As time goes by the WBMA Association is little by little improving the site with facilities and now aircraft owners are erecting hangars to house their mounts. Plans are now afoot to lengthen the east-west runway by the closing of a road that cuts across it. The full length of the runway will then allow safer use of the field by warbirds and twins. In some areas of the country, airports are under attack from all sides but it is certainly a good thing to see the development of Watts Bridge. May it long continue.

Bankstown Aviation Museum Progress

Recently the design for the main building of the museum was finalized with selection of an aerofoil shaped structure that will cover some 2.5 hectares when completed, which is expected to be in time for the year 2000 Olympic Games to be held in Sydney. The design for the museum was the work of Damien Drew who managed to put the aerofoil shape into the structure of the building. Situated on an area of land bounded by Milperra Road, Henry Lawson Drive and Tower Road the museum is to use enough landfill to ensure that it is above what is known as the 100 year flood level at the airport. Recently the Department of Defence donated four WW2 Nissen huts from an Army site at Penrith. These will be used as exhibition halls at the museum and will lend a real period flavor to the place. The museum will also have an aviation reference library, flight simulator, a 100 seat auditorium, an aircraft restoration workshop and a restaurant as well as an Australian Aviators Hall of Fame. A variety of aircraft and aviation memorabilia, with particular emphasis on Bankstown airport and its role during WWII, will be displayed. Hawker de Havilland manufactured the Mosquito there during the war years. Also, the RAAF, US Army Air Force (USAAF) and the Royal Navy were stationed there during the war, the RN designating the airport HMS Nabberley. Late last year the Prime Minister Paul Keating unveiled a plaque to mark the official commencement of work on the project. When completed the museum at Bankstown will compliment the air museums at Archerfield and Moorabbin airports and as such will add a sense of history to all three of those important secondary aerodromes.

In Brief

Filming was recently completed for the movie ‘Sahara’, a remake of a film of the same name from many years back. Starring Australian actor Simon Westaway, the tough cop from the ABC’s Janus TV series, the movie is about a tank Brisbane based Pacific Air Freighters has taken delivery of this DC-4 freighter which it intends to use for freight operations out to various Pacific islands. While N9013V will be used commercially, the DC-4 did begin life in 1945 as a C-54 Skymaster for the US Army Air Force. Its USAAF serial was 44-9126. For more details refer Traffic, elsewhere in this issue. Australian Aviation August 1995 that gets separated from the WW2 battle of El Alamein. The tank and its crew encounter sand, heat, lack of water and of course the enemy. Filmed in the sands near Newcastle, one sequence has the tank attacked by enemy aircraft. If you want to know more about the aircraft you will just have to wait to see the movie! Warbirds at work. May it long continue. If you are a fan of big prop driven aircraft then a recently released CD entitled ‘The Glorious Sound of the Big Props’ will be of interest. The CD contains 61 stereo tracks of propeller driven aircraft, ranging from the DC-3 and Convair 340 through to the DC-6, Lockheed Electra and Vickers Viscount. The CD is recorded by Aero Dynamic Recordings. Try your specialty record shop to get a copy. If you have a problem with noisy neighbors who like heavy metal artists like Meat Loaf then this CD, played on a 150 watt amplifier, could be just the thing to convince them of the error of their ways. Workmen grading fire trails in the New South Wales Southern Highlands near Moss Vale discovered the remains of a crashed RAAF Fairey Battle light bomber recently. The Battle was one of five en route to RAAF Richmond when it struck trouble and crashed. Its pilot, WW1 veteran Flight Lieutenant Hector William Ross DFC, was killed when his parachute became entangled in the stricken aircraft’s tailplane. It is hoped that the Battle will be recovered for display in an aviation museum. The wreckage of RAAF Sabre A94-924 which originally crashed on a beach north of Newcastle in February 1960 has re-emerged. The RAAF originally buried the Sabre after it had ascertained the cause of the crash, but the remains were recently rediscovered by a local fisherman. The Sabre suffered a flameout while on approach to Williamtown, unfortunately the pilot was killed as the canopy failed to separate properly during the ejection.