Warbirds

The Australian Aviation Museums Association, in conjunction with the South Australian Aviation Museum, will be running another three day National Conference in Adelaide commencing May 3 1996. The keynote speaker will be Contessa Maria Caproni whose management of the Caproni Aviation Museum has earned her considerable international regard. For further details on the conference contact the AAMA at PO Box 286, Williamstown 3016. Ph (03) 9395 1444 or fax (03) 9368 1094.

It seems that each month more artifacts are turned over to or discovered by aviation museums. In Western Australia the AFA Museum at Bull Creek has just obtained a Flying Flea homebuilt of pre WW2 design while in Victoria the Moorabbin Air Museum has obtained the cockpit and forward fuselage of an ex RAAF Canberra. The aircraft is said to be A84-222, one of the aircraft that was obtained by the Hookway organisation with a view to export but was eventually cut up for scrap at Essendon. The Canberra nose was located in Gippsland in eastern Victoria.

Winjeel A85-421 has been reported as having turned up at Bankstown, the intent being to rebuild/restore the aircraft to airworthy condition once again. Anyone who bought a Winjeel in whatever condition years ago will not have lost money on their original purchase, such is the interest in owning one of these locally built trainers. The same can be said for any and all Winjeel parts and components.

America Report

Interest in the B-29 ‘Enola Gay’ reached an all time high as the 50th anniversary of the dropping of the first atomic bomb on August 6 drew closer. Due to time and space constraints the Enola Gay was not completed and fully assembled when put on display in the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum in downtown Washington, DC. Instead only an engine, prop, fin, rudder and the forward fuselage were displayed. To view the bomber one had to first obtain a viewing ticket (free) then check in any bags or bulky hand held items before filing past the display in a partitioned off area of the museum, at all times under the watchful eyes of security guards. Apparently emotions were running so high about the display that even before August 6 the aircraft had been attacked twice, once with paint and once with animal blood while anti atomic bomb leaflets were handed out. Meanwhile, over at the USAF Museum at Dayton, Ohio, where the B-29 ‘Bock’s Car’, the aircraft that dropped the second atomic bomb on Nagasaki on August 9 1945, was on display, it was business as usual without any special display or guards. PS. For the record the B-29 ‘Enola Gay’ was not a Boeing built aircraft but one built under licence by Glenn L Martin Co. of Omaha, Nebraska.

Bob Hoover to get a retrial? In case you have just returned from another planet you will be aware that famed American air show pilot Bob Hoover had his second class medical taken from him by the FAA in 1992 on the basis that he failed to pass neurological and psychological tests. Hoover contested the decision, won, and then had the original decision enforced against him. Hoover next came to Australia in order to fly in the inaugural Tasmanian Skyraces and was tested for and got both a clean medical and an Australian commercial licence. With that licence he then flew in Australia (the crowds loved his displays!), Japan, Canada, Mexico and France. Due to his loss of income — his airshow performances in the USA – and the expense of fighting the FAA over his medical he was forced to sell his Sabreliner and his T-28 Trojan and had to put his P-51 Mustang in storage. Hoover has recently taken a new round of tests in order to try and get his medical back. This followed discussion with Dr Jon Jordon, the federal air surgeon, who suggested that Hoover do the tests to try and clear the air. Hoover had hoped that if the tests gave him a clean bill of health he could have had his licence back in time for Oshkosh ’95. Dr Jordon apparently did not receive the test results in time for an Oshkosh licence reissue. At Oshkosh it was interesting to listen to the airshow announcer interviewing Hoover and going on about how the FAA had pulled his medical and then going on for some length about how he had obtained another licence that let him fly all over the world, except America. It was only when Hoover came on the microphone that it was casually mentioned that Australia was the country that had first issued him with a medical and commercial licence. The American magazine General Aviation News and Flyer ran a recent report quoting Hoover as saying that the FAA had contacted the Australian authorities saying that they were embarrassing the US Government by letting him fly in Australia. The Whaleworld museum at Albany, WA, has a number of aircraft and aircraft components on display, including this is Kingfisher (left) and Catalina (right). The Vought Sikorsky Kingfisher is the only one remaining of 18 taken on RAAF strength during WW2 and is being restored to static display condition. The Catalina has been assembled from parts from a number of Catalina airframes, and is also being restored to static condition. Both aircraft are missing a number of items to complete their restoration, including a right wing for the Kingfisher. Whaleworld would love to hear from anybody with Kingfisher or Catalina components. (Keith Anderson) 70 Australian Aviation October 1995 Bristol Freighter VH-TBB on the fire dump at Tullamarine airport, wearing spurious registration VH-JIM. The ex TAA Freighter was one of four TAA acquired for its Sunbird services in New Guinea through to 1967. From 1968 through to 1977 TBB was operated by Air Express on charter freight duties. The full history of TBB and all other Bristol Freighters to wear VH registration is comprehensively recorded in our Airliners in Australian Service book (Vol 1), details of which appear on p78 of this issue. (Dick Winterburn) The downside of all of the FAA’s treatment of Hoover has been a backlash against FAA administrators almost every time they meet with pilots. At Oshkosh Bob Hoover was awarded the Bill Barber Award for Showmanship as one of the all time great airshow performers in the world.

Warbird interest at Oshkosh has been growing over the years. In 1970 there were 110 warbirds present. Numbers stayed below 200 until 1985 when there were 231 warbirds present. In 1988 this rose to 324, dropped for a few years and then went to 350 in 1992. In 1994 the number was 427 and this year went to 453. As they say, incredible but true.

‘The war is over and a grateful nation remembers half a century later through the Freedom Flight America’ which was the punch line for the massive armada of historic WW2 era allied aircraft as they flew from one side of the USA to the other from July 28 to August 14. Organised by Morey Darzniek, the original intention was to have perhaps 30 to 40 warbirds make the flight. Instead, more than 500 owners responded and it was expected that altogether some 300 aircraft would take part in the flight, even if only to fly a sector or two. The flight commenced at Long Beach airport on July 28 and then went to Glendale, Arizona, El Paso, New Mexico, Fort Worth, Texas, Olathe, Kansas, Aurora, Illinois, Dayton, Ohio, Washington, DC and ending at McGuire Air Force Base at Wrightstown, New Jersey. August 11 saw the armada overfly the Statue of Liberty in New York harbour. Along the way the huge flight became part of several airshows and the aircraft were made available for inspection at each stopover and refuelling point. Publicity posters sighted across the country talked of more than 40 WW2 aircraft types alone as being part of the mass flight. These types included fighters, two and four engined bombers and even a handful of warbugs. Regardless of whether one was just an enthusiast, a WW2 vet or a crew member of one of the aircraft, the Freedom Flight America would have been a fantastic experience, one never to be repeated. It would be great to have had a like flight here in Australia, a great boost for the local warbird movement and aviation as a whole.

The big decision has been made. The Beech Mk.II, better known to us as the Pilatus PC-9, has been selected as the new trainer aircraft for the USAF and US Navy. To be built by the Beechcraft division of Raytheon Aircraft the supply of 711 aircraft represents a $7 billion contract, $9 billion if the ongoing supply of parts and possible foreign sales is taken into consideration. One of the five losing competitors in the Joint Primary Aircraft Training System contract (JPATS) was the Cessna Aircraft Company. Cessna, which had built two aircraft in order to tender lodged a protest about Raytheon getting the contract, but it was thought that the protest would only slow down, not stop, the formal signing of the supply contract. Raytheon will build a new 14,880 square meter plant to build the Mk.II. The Beech Mk.II will replace the Beech T-34 Mentor and Cessna T-37 currently in Navy and USAF service respectively as trainers. Already there are over 300 T-34s on the civil register and the surplus sale of the T-34s and the T-37s will only make available more aircraft for the warbird movement.

One of the honoured guests at the Dayton Airshow was retired engineer William Evans. Evans was one of the key engineers who during the early stages of World War 2 perfected the famed Norden bombsight to get the accuracy required when used at altitude and with the speed of a B-17 bomber. The original bombsight was designed by Norden in 1923 for use by the Navy. The Norden sight was used in the dropping of the first atomic bomb. Evans, who worked at Wright field in Dayton, Ohio, chuckled when asked about how tight was security surrounding the development of the sight. He told the tale of how the sight was transported across town from where it had been developed. The first half of the sight comprised the gyroscopic mechanism and this was transported with not less than six heavily armed guards to ensure its security. Next day the second half of the sight, the optics section, was transported across town but this time, due to an administrative foul up, there was only one unarmed messenger who simply asked for a signature of receipt and then walked away. So much for top level security!

For the Sport Aviation world, 1995 saw the unfortunate death of veteran pilot Steve Wittman and his wife, Paula, in an accident on April 27. Wittman, who had visited Australia a few years ago, was very well known having first risen to fame in the 1930s as an air race pilot. He competed in air races from 1926 through to 1969 and won more races than any other pilot in history. Wittman was also the airport manager at Oshkosh airport from the 1930s until 1969 when he retired. The airport was named Wittman Regional airport in his honour. Steve Wittman was also known as the man who invented the steel spring undercarriage leg that was used very successfully on many thousands of Cessna aircraft and as the designer of the Wittman W-8 Tailwind homebuilt. More than 500 of these machines have been built. It was in a much modified Tailwind, the O&O Special, that Wittman who was aged 91, met his fate. The aircraft was being flown from Oshkosh to his winter home in Ocala, Florida, when it went down over Stevenson in northeast Alabama. The accident is still under investigation however initial indications are that the tail unit separated from the aircraft on a VFR day over mountainous country. It was several days before the wreckage was located. The tail unit of the machine apparently had an adjustable leading edge for trim control and it is understood that investigations are centred around the possible loss of security of this followed by flutter and structural failure. Steve Wittman held EAA membership number 34 and was instrumental in the direction that the organisation took over years to become what it is today. Wittman may be gone but his memories and his legacies will live on.

One of the biggest warbird dealers in the USA is Courtesy Aircraft of Rockford, Illinois. In order to meet a new demand for warbirds to be owned and displayed, but not flown, by museums, collectors and aviation enthusiasts the firm was recently appointed exclusive distributor of a unique series of replica WW2 and other aircraft. Built from durable, lightweight composite materials the replica warbirds will use production moulds taken from actual aircraft. Aircraft such as the Mustang, Lightning, Kittyhawk, Thunderbolt, Shooting Star, Corsair and even the Bf 109 are now available. Mark Clark, President of Courtesy Aircraft, says “They’re extremely accurate replicas. From a few steps away, it’s very hard to tell these replicas from the actual aircraft”. Over the last 19 years Courtesy has sold more than 375 warbirds of all makes and models as well as general aviation aircraft. The replica aircraft are a logical extension for the demand for aircraft that are to be displayed but not to be flown. While good for museums and the like replicas are turning up around America and creating headaches for registration spotters. One such example is a P-38 Lightning at Lackland AFB at San Antonio, Texas. One has to look twice at close range to be able to say that the machine is a replica.

The interest in the last flight and fate of female American pilot, Amelia Earhart, continues unabated. A new book entitled Amelia Earhart — Case Closed, has just been released, to join numerous others published over the years on the same subject. The book promises to answer everything you wanted to know about Earhart and the fate of her aircraft, but then so have many others. To cap it off a 44 year old Texas woman, Linda Finch, plans to duplicate the around the world flight that took the life of Earhart and navigator Noonan. She has already purchased and restored a Lockheed 10E Electra, the same type as flown by Earhart. The flight is to be made in 1997 and Finch is now engaged in a fund raising project in order to obtain the $3.2 million needed for the flight. 1997 will be the 60th anniversary of the famed flyer’s fatal flight. Corporate sponsors have pledged monies as has National Geographic magazine.

Kelly Field, the historic USAF air force base in Texas is to close. The air base, 8km south of San Antonio, was opened in 1917 and was named after Lt George Kelly who lost his life in an early air accident. The base is huge, even by American standards. It is proposed that it will be progressively closed over the next five years. With the end of the cold war and the cutbacks in defence spending a number of bases across America are being closed and Kelly is just one. The base has 10 aircraft on display including two B-29 bombers. These aircraft will probably be dispersed to other base museums. Civil interests are already looking at setting up facilities at the base. One can easily compare the closure of Kelly with the cutbacks that have taken place at RAAF Williams that involve Point Cook and Laverton air bases here in Australia.

The American trade newspaper of aircraft advertisements, Trade-A-Plane, is alive and well. Most recently TAP handed out copies of the latest issue at Oshkosh to anyone that put out a hand. Back at home TAP gave away a number of copies of the publication at the Avalon Airshow, indeed they soon ran out. Talking with Managing Partner Cosby A Stone at Oshkosh he advised that over 1000 issues of TAP are sent to Australia each month. TAP is published three times a month and most Australian subscriptions are for only one issue per month which, considering the enormous amount of reading material in each issue, is probably just as well.

On the subject of things for sale, Courtesy Aircraft currently has for sale an SBD Dauntless that was fished out of Lake Michigan. Reported as restorable the machine is for sale for only $US325,000!

Being trialed at Oshkosh was a new FAA flightcrew licence. The licence is in fact a plastic card not unlike the licence issued by CASA here in Australia, however there is a difference. The American licence, due to be issued in 1996, is a smart card with a record memory chip built into it while on the outside there will be a photograph of the holder. The photo will be held in an electronic memory bank and could be transmitted around the country as required.