Warbirds

In the event of the sale of the 11 aircraft not raising adequate funds the Commissioners will then look at a stage two auction of a further six aircraft at a later date. Exactly which six aircraft has not been stated as yet.

Normal council elections by local ratepayers are not due to be held until March of 1997. The elected councillors will then replace the State Government appointed Commissioners.

The Wangaratta Airport Manager and Airworld Museum Director, Mr Gerry Dowling, said that none of the 11 aircraft held a current maintenance release (i.e. none are airworthy to fly). Mr Dowling was of the view that five aircraft could be put into the air on short notice and ferried away on a Permit to Fly. He said that all the aircraft in question had flown in the last 10 years. Mr Dowling did say that the Beech 17 required a rebuild and new fabric and that the Auster also required a total rebuild and new fabric. The roof of the museum has inbuilt window panels and these had let in enough UV light to damage the fabric of aircraft over the years (Other Museum Curators take note — AA).

Mr Dowling said that Moorabbin airport based Schutt Aviation is scheduled to set up a division at Wangaratta to service and maintain aircraft in the NE of the state and that such a facility would be well placed to assist the museum with maintenance work on its aircraft. At present there is no maintenance facility on the airport.

In discussion Mr Dowling said that Airworld was promoting a fly-in at the Museum on Saturday October 26 to celebrate the 65th anniversary of the world renowned DH.82a Tiger Moth. The Antique Aeroplane Association of Australia and its members have been invited and any Tiger Moth owner and pilot would be made most welcome. The history of Airworld has been a long and involved one.

Starting out as a small collection of biplane aircraft gathered by Mr Joe Drage of Albury, it grew to become a small museum alongside a private airstrip at nearby Wodonga. When the highway extensions intruded onto the museum area in the early 1980s Mr Drage began looking for a new home for the collection. A number of interested parties from various states expressed interest but eventually the City of Wangaratta purchased the collection in 1984 and it was moved into a purpose built hi-tech Strach Hangar at the newly built Wangaratta airport.

The money for the purchase and building came in part from the ratepayers of Wangaratta with the view that it would create a major tourist attraction for the area that would bring in tourist dollars and provide employment for locals. Visitor attendance was expected to rise when the new Hume highway passed close to the museum. When completed the highway simply increased the number of people passing the museum but not visiting it.

For a time the locally based interstate coachline, De Luxe, used the museum as a terminal complete with meals, showers, lounge, log fire etc., but fewer than one in five coach travellers actually visited the museum. When De Luxe collapsed things went even quieter at the museum.

Initially known as Drage Airworld Wangaratta the museum was later retitled Air World, The Aviation Museum, however to this day it is typically called The Drage Museum or Drage Airworld by aviation enthusiasts and others. Joe Drage stayed with the museum as curator and consultant after the purchase but his direct involvement with the museum decreased as the years passed. Today he has a few aircraft of his own on display in the museum and these are sometimes flown. Air World brochures and publicity have long said that the museum has the world’s largest collection of flying antique civil aircraft but this would now appear to be suspect given that the 11 aircraft to go under the auctioneers hammer are not airworthy.

Military aircraft collector Malcolm Long relocated his aircraft collection from Chewing Gum Field in Queensland in the 1980s and these aircraft added to both the numbers and variety of types on display. Reports have been rife for years that Mr Long intends to sell or move a number of his aircraft in the near future and if so this will further deplete the museum display collection.

The Point Cook based National Air and Space Museum of Australia has had a number of discussions with Air World over the past year when it became apparent that the future of the museum was in doubt. It was suggested that Air World could become a satellite wing of NASMA, however this has not occurred.

For the locals at Wangaratta the museum has long been a bone of contention. The City of Wangaratta used ratepayers’ money to purchase the collection and build the museum with the view that it would be an asset for the district. Since then there has been a love-hate relationship with some locals very keen to see the museum forge ahead as a major regional attraction, while others expressed open concern at such a large expenditure for such a low return and would like to see it sold off.

Air World has always been considered to be the biggest air museum in the country, if only in aircraft numbers. To have to auction off a sizable number of those machines shows that for any air museum having and retaining are two different things. The sale of 11 aircraft by Air World will do several things. It will put a number of antique aircraft back into private ownership and probably back into the air. Some may even go overseas. It could also be a watershed for Air World. Only time will tell.

Kittyhawk Recovery Foiled

A planned exercise by the RAAF to recover the engine and remains of a crashed Curtiss Kittyhawk have been nipped in the bud when it was found that someone had already been there and removed the engine.

The P-40E Kittyhawk, A29-71, crashed in Lake Reeve, near Seaspray Victoria, in January 1945. The pilot was killed. As the crash site, south of RAAF Base East Sale, was hard to gain access to, the wreckage was left where-is although over the years a few people have visited it. The aircraft had at one stage been the mount of Sqn Ldr Les Jackson of 75 Sqn during WW2. Jackson became an Ace with five victories (and is featured in AA’s latest book, Australia’s Air Aces, advertised elsewhere in this issue).

Recently the RAAF decided to recover the wreckage but when it got there it found that the engine had been removed shortly before. It is unknown as to who removed the engine but a bulldozer is reported to have made a track in to the site. Both the police and the RAAF have attempted to find the person or persons involved. As a result known local relic collectors and warbird rebuilders have been visited and questioned by the police. While the engine was removed the wrecked airframe was left behind. The present location of the engine remains unknown.

Iskra Jet Trainers

Of the warbird jet fighters and trainers that are in Australia one type that has been brought to prominence since the 1996 Tasmanian Skyrace is the Polish built PZL Mielec TS-11 Iskra jet trainer.

At Skyrace Mike Falls flew his red and white painted TS-11, VH-ISK, around the pylons and created much interest in the marque. Based at Essendon Airport, Melbourne, VH-ISK is jointly owned by Dr Mike Giles and Mike ‘Metal Bender’ Falls, as is painted below the cockpit canopy. This aircraft was purchased from a WA importer of Eastern bloc aircraft and was aircraft number three with the Polish Air Force (PAF) Aerobatic Team.

Since Skyrace, the Essendon TS-11 Iskra population has multiplied with the arrival of another four of the type, three of which are being rebuilt for Canberra based owners. The aircraft are all being worked on by Dave Crabtree Aircraft Maintenance. Dave put Mike Falls’ Iskra back in the air. The new arrivals are TS-11 PAF s/n 1H0705, red and white colour scheme with #4 on the tail. This machine was also in the PAF Aerobatic Team. Below the cockpit canopy on the port side can be read ‘POR. G Lenenewski’. This is the most recent arrival at Essendon and is owned by Chris Clearihan of Canberra. Chris flew Aerostar 600, VH-HJU in the 1996 Skyrace. S/n 1H0403 ‘403’ on the nose, is painted silver and has the Polish nationality marks still on it. Owned by Don Beaumont of Canberra, 403 arrived at Essendon on April 30. S/n 1H0701, also silver with the PAF markings is owned by Derek Whitcombe of Canberra. During the 1996 Skyrace Derek flew his ex RAAF CT-4A, VH-NCT, around the pylons.

The fourth Iskra is s/n 1H0717, again all silver etc. Reported to have arrived at Essendon on April 30 this machine is owned collectively by the owners of the other three aircraft and was bought as a spares ship. After the other three aircraft are back in the air it will then be offered for sale on an as is, where is basis but not before then. All the aircraft at present have their wings and tail surfaces removed, with the fuselages on support stands while they are restored to airworthy condition. The fact that Dave Crabtree has already put Iskra VH-ISK back in the air will make the task of doing the same with the next three so much easier. There are two other TS-11 Iskras on the east coast. These are owned by Gordon Glynn of Sydney. The first, with PAF s/n 1H0816, arrived in Sydney in May 1992. This became the first Iskra to fly in Australia, using the registration VH-ADG. It was put on the civil register on October 21 1993. Gordon also owns a second Iskra but this has not flown as yet.

With seven TS-11 Iskras on the east coast and possibly a few more in store in the west the future looks good for this Polish warbird.

There is also a strong possibility that we will see more than one Iskra polishing the pylons in future air race meets!

Essendon Airport 75th Anniversary Open Days

The weekend of August 10/11 saw an open day being held at Melbourne’s historic Essendon airport.

In the 75 years that have passed since it was called St Johns paddock in 1921 the airport has seen depression, wars, and many many aircraft arrivals and departures. During the open days, jointly hosted by the Federal Airports Corporation and the Essendon Airport Chamber of Commerce, visitors, spectators, aviation enthusiasts, former airport workers and just the curious were able to stroll around the airport, even areas normally off limits, and view the buildings, operators and aircraft, both old and new.

Essendon was an international airport until 1970 when the volume of traffic and types of aircraft operated brought about the transfer to the just completed Tullamarine airport, to the northwest. Since that time Essendon has developed as a busy and vital secondary airport catering to the non airline traffic on the northern side of Melbourne.

The open days also featured a limited air display. There were flypasts, aerobatics and handling displays. Probably the best received aircraft was the Lockheed Super Constellation, VH-EAG, down from Sydney for the event. The Connie had more than 2000 people walk through it to see what an airliner of the fifties looked like.

Also in the heavy metal department was DC-4, VH-PAF, down from Queensland. Lockheed 10, VH-UZO, showed what a prewar Ansett airliner looked like and Ted Rudge had a DH Dove VH-DHA in the flypast along with the Mike Falls/Shortstop Jet Charter DC-3, VH-OVM. Other interesting aircraft noted in flight or on static display included Mustang VH-BOB, NA Trojans VH-NAW and VH-DPT, NA Harvards VH-OVO, VH-USR & VH-HVD, Cessna L-19 Bird Dog VH-LQX, and Winjeels VH-FTS, VH-HOY and VH-HWI. The antique aeroplane display included Luscombe VH-LOL, DH Leopard Moth VH-UUL, Miles Falcon VH-AAT, DH.87B Hornet Moth VH-UTE, Chipmunk VH-DCZ, Auster VH-WFM, Ryan STM VH-AGW and Stearman VH-PUD.

One aircraft that was not on display was MiG-15UTI, VH-ADY. Seen tucked away in the back of a hangar the aircraft was noted to have the canopy and a number of panels off. It is painted up in a grey and green colour scheme complete with Polish Air Force markings. Although it was registered to Mr Greg Lovett of Melbourne back on June 23 1992, the aircraft has not flown as yet. This is one machine that would have created a lot of interest had it been parked outside where the visitors could see it.

All in all the Essendon Airport 75th Anniversary Open Day was a great success. It created a lot of goodwill by allowing visitors to look over the workings of the airport and its operators and gave the opportunity to get the message across that Essendon airport has a place in the fabric of Melbourne society.

Ex RAAF Spitfires

Noted British Spitfire historian Peter Arnold recently visited Australia.

The acknowledged world expert on the type, he has been assisting Spitfire owners and restorers to locate airframes and elusive parts for 30 years. Peter lays claim to having personally inspected and verified the original RAF identity of the 180 Spitfires extant in various states of restoration, static and flying, around the world. All except one that is, because, despite visits to Rangoon for the express purpose, Burmese military authorities have consistently denied him access to a static display Spitfire reportedly stored on an upcountry air base.

Interestingly, Peter Arnold considers the validity of a Spitfire ‘restoration project’ is not necessarily related to the amount of metal held. Much more important is the intention of the owners that, what can sometimes be little more than a firewall bulkhead with an authenticated identity and a collection of parts, will eventually flourish into an immaculate static or flying Spitfire. Some projects fall by the wayside as the owner’s enthusiasm (or finances) diminish, usually to be merged with another Spitfire restoration project. The surprising revelation from his records of the 1996 world Spitfire population is that it includes 26 former RAAF machines, all Mk.Vc and Mk.VIII classifications.

Of these only two are currently flying — Col Pay’s well known A58-758 /VH-HET, based at Scone NSW, and A58-671 flying in the UK with Rob Lamplough as G-BKMI. The rest are under restoration in Australia, New Zealand and the UK, having been recovered from a variety of locations: stripped airframe hulks from farms around Oakey, Queensland where the majority of RAAF Spits surviving WW2 were sold for scrap; dug up from wartime burial on satellite strips near Darwin or recovered from the Papua New Guinea jungle.

The RAAF Museum even holds in store a Mk.Vc, A58-54 salvaged from the mud of a tidal river in the Kimberley region, guarded by very unfriendly crocodiles! On his recent Australian visit Peter unearthed a new RAAF Spitfire project in an outer suburb of Melbourne, also confirming the identity of two other Melbourne rebuild projects. A hydraulic engineer by profession, Peter Arnold is no desk bound historian. As well as assisting numerous Spitfire transactions he is working on his own Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm carrier version, Seafire Mk.22, at his English home, after saving the wreck from a scrapyard.

The following is a listing by Peter Arnold of extant ex RAAF Spitfires — complete, projects and substantial wrecks — as at May 1996. A58-36/BR528*, A58-51/BR545, A58-63/BS164, A58-81/BS199, A58-92/BS231, A58-106/EE606(G-MKVC, crashed), A58-146/EE853, A58-149/EF545, A58-178/JG891, A58-232/MA353, A58-246/MA863, A58-300/JF620, A58-377/JG267, A58-359/JG355, A58-408/JG484, A58-441/JG668*, A58-445/MD228, A58-467/MD338, A58-471/LV750*, A58-481/JG653*, A58-483/JG659*, A58-529/MT682*, A58-671/MV154 (G-BKMI, flying) and A58-758/MV239 (VH-HET, flying).

Details of owners can be found in the third edition of the Warbirds Worldwide Directory, just released. Those marked thus * are new and not yet listed in the directory. Peter Arnold has also found a further three ex RAAF Spitfires for which he can find no identity.

Fighter World Receives Gift

Fighter World of Williamtown received a gift of a microfilm reader and copies of historical documents on microfilm from the authors of The RAAF Mirage Story on Friday August 23. Also included was an honour board dedicated to the memory of those who lost their lives flying RAAF Mirages.

The RAAF Mirage Story won the 1989 RAAF Heritage Award and was jointly written by Wing Commander Martin Susans and his father Air Vice Marshall Ron Susans who was involved with the Mirage project for much of its life.

The gift of the microfilm represents the start of what Fighter World hopes will be a comprehensive library of the RAAF Tactical Fighter Force. Fighter World is hopeful that the library will create international interest in the museum and boost its visitors. Some 50,000 people per year pass through the Hunter Valley museum.

In Brief

Former Australian MiG-15UTI VH-NZM, now registered ZK-MIG (very appropriate) made its first New Zealand flight on April 23 at Dunedin. It had been hoped to have the jet trainer at the Warbirds over Wanaka gathering in April but it was just not possible to pull all the strings together as the Easter break came up.

Wirraway VH-WIR is up for sale. Currently registered to Vin Thomas of Albury, the two seat warbird previously A20-652 with the RAAF, was once on display at a service station at Laverton Vic, and then later on a pylon at another service station. Rescued from an inglorious fate the aircraft was rebuilt at Essendon airport and took to the air as VH-WIR on September 19 1986. For any aircraft owner, particularly that of a warbird, parting must be a hard decision to make but it usually means that someone else can then enjoy the aircraft and the previous owner can perhaps move on to another warbird type.

At Morwell airport in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley Macchi A7-014 was sighted in storage during August. The aircraft had been given to the local 26 Sqn ATC (Air Training Corp) but suffered damage to the tail when the low loader went under a bridge. It is understood to now be going to the RAAF base at East Sale for repairs. The machine is painted up in a Roulettes colour scheme. It came from RAAF Wagga where it was a technical training aid.

Biplanes are still of interest. Ken Orrman recently sold his DH Hornet Moth, VH-UVV, to a South Australian buyer but his Avro Cadet is still up for sale. The aircraft does not appear in the latest civil aircraft register listing. Also up for sale is his DH.89 Rapide, VH-IAN.