Warbirds

While Here in Australia the Cat Carried the Marks of Raaf Cat A24-387, Dubbed Sea Bitch, With the Squadron Code Nb-n on the Fuselage. After It Returned to the States It Was Stored Outside and Went Downhill, Eventually to Be Part Stripped for Spares. In More Recent Times It Was Taken Over by the Texas City of Brownsville.

Put Up for Auction in Late November the Aircraft Was Purchased for Less Than $5000 in a Private Purchase by Mark Pilkington, the Secretary of the Australian National Aviation Museum at Moorabbin Airport (Better Known as the Moorabbin Air Museum). The Museum Al-ready Has the Hull of Catalina A24-88 and is Chasing Up Parts With the View to Even-tually Restoring the Historic Cat Back to Display Standard.

With a Keen Interest in the Catalina Mark Was Keen to Enure That N68756 Was Not Scrapped and So Put in a Trans-pacific Bid, a Bid That Won Him a Catalina. Now the Goal is to Store the Aircraft Until Shipping Across the Pacific to Melbourne Can Be Arranged. Mark Has Already Stated That He Does Not in-tend to Strip the Brownsville Catalina for Parts to Use in the Rebuild of A24-88.

Trackers on the Move

With the Closure of the Qantas Sydney Apprentice School, Grumman Tracker N12-152812 Was in Need of a New Home. Initially Slated to Go to the Australian Aviation Museum Bankstown the Machine Now Has New Owners With Hars at Albion Park. The Aircraft Was Moved by Low Loader in November but Suffered Some Underbelly Damage in the Move. It is Understood That the Aircraft Wll Be Restored to Airworthy Standard.

Meanwhile the Ran Historic Flight Tracker is Understood to Be Being Returned to Airworthy Condi-tion to Fly Again in 2007. With Nowra and Albion Park So Close, Will the Two Trackers Be Seen in the Air Together? Finally, With the Recent Passing of Peter Hookway of Hookway Aviation, His Collection of Grumman Trackers, Stored at West Sale, Victoria, Has Come Up for Disposal. Two of the Type Are Being Sought by a Local Museum but the Fate of the Others is Unknown at Present.

Naval Museum Has a Name Change

the Australian Naval Aviation Museum at Nowra Has Been Renamed the Fleet Air Arm Museum. The ‘new’ Museum Has Terry Hetherington as Manager. With the New Title Comes a Possible Change of Direction for the Museum and It Has Advised That It is Currently Undergoing an Evaluation of All Exhibits Before Decisions Are Made on Future Conserva-tion, Restoration and Exhibits.

It Would Appear That the Museum is Currently Looking to Its Naval Aviation Roots in Preference to an All Embrac-ing Australian Aviation Museum.

Heard at the Hangar Doors

a Collection of Snippets Worth Noting: German Ww2 V2 and Enzian Missiles, Long Held in Storage With the Raaf Museum at Point Cook, Have Been Moved to Canberra and the Australian War Memorial. The Raaf Museum Col-lection Policy Did Not Encompass the Missiles and So They Have Been Transferred to the Awm as Being a Better Recipient of the Hardware.

Two Yaks Were Involved in Incidents in November. A Yak-18 Suffered a Reported Power Failure on Takeoff at Batchelor, Nt, on November 19 and Was Burnt Out Fol-lowing the Forced Landing. The Three People on Board Were Not Injured. Meanwhile, a Yak-52 Suffered Substan-tial Damage at Brisbane’s Archerfield Airport on November 22 in a Go-around Accident. Again the Occu-pants Were Not Injured.

Lynette Zuccoli’s Cac Boomerang, Vh-bom, Has Been Transferred to the Museum of Australian Army Flying at Oakey, Qld.

With the Closure of Hangarage at Point Cook for a Number of Aircraft and Organisations, Cac Mustang, Vh-bob, Has Taken Up Tem-porary Residence at Essendon Airport. Cessna Bird Dog, Vh-fxy, Owned by Writer and Photograper Rob Fox, Has Also Moved, From Point Cook to Moorabbin.

Register Update

Beech D17s, Vh-uuv, C/n 3108, Was Removed From the Australian Register on November 24. Following Its Lack of a Sale in Australia the Aircraft Was Shipped Back to the Us Where It Will No Doubt Turn Up on the American Civil Register in Due Course.

Cac Boomerang Vh-mhr Was Transferred From Matt Denning to the Temora Aviation Museum on October 30.

Jet Provost Vh-jpe Changed Owners on November 22 From Jet Fighter Flight Advenures in Queensland to Warbird Adventures Downunder, Sale, Victoria.

Two New Nanchang Cj-6as Have Turned Up on the Register. Vh-nng, With Serial 4432005, on November 1 and Vh-nnz, With Serial 4932012, on October 11. Both Are Registered to Lampa Holdings of Canberra.

Across the Tasman Yk-52 Zk-yaq Was Added to the Nz Register on November 14 While Yak-18t Zk-ssr Was Added to the Nz Register on November 24.

Books of Interest

Two Small Print Run Aviation Books Have Come Out of Late Which May Be of Interest.

The Boats That I Flew is by Noted Australian Pilot Brian Monkton. Brian, Who Passed Away in May 2003, Served in the Raaf During Ww2 Flying Catalinas. After the War He Bought Five Surplus Sunderland Flying Boats and Started Commercial Opera-tions in the South Pacific. When His Airline Was Sold to the Ansett Organisation Brian Moved to the Usa Where He Flew Short Solent Flying Boats. He Later Became a Freelance Airline Captain for a Number of European Airlines. Later He Flew Dc-4s During the Congo Conflict. Back Onto Flying Boats He Flew With Antillies Airlines for a Time and Then Delivered New Aircraft Across the Pacific.

Brian’s Book Records His Life and Times and a Period of History That Readers Will Only Find Fascinating to Know About. Released in December ‘the Boats That I Flew’ is Avail-able Through the Australian Aviation Museum Bankstown at a Cost of $39. 95, Plus $10 Postage. The Museum Can Be Contacted on (02) 9791 3088, Fax (02) 9791 3197, or at Po Box 630, Moss Vale Nsw 2577.

Another Publication Worthy of Note is the Monograph P-40s Over Eden in the Year of 1942. Published by the Author, W J Fancourt, the Publication Records the Story of a Flight of Four Usaaf Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawks That Took Off From Canberra Bound for Moruya, on the Nsw South Coast, on a Gunnery Exercise. The Aircraft Became Lost Over Fog and Eventually Two of the Four Crashed.

Author Fancourt Has Covered Not Only the Fateful Flight but Also Writes About the Aircraft Type and Its Short Comings. The Monograph is A5 in Size, 24 Pages With Photos and Costs $10, Including Postage. For Your Copy Write to W J Fancourt, 1 Frazer Ave, Peak Hill Nsw 2869.

In Brief

• the Auction of Militaria From Barry Ryan’s Dubbo Military Museum on November 11 Saw Dh Vampire Fb. 31 A79-165 Sold to an Unnamed Buyer. Lockheed Sp-2h Neptune A89-279 Did Not Sell at Auc-tion but Barry Later Reported That He Was Considering Overseas Offers. The Museum Was Originally Located at Shepparton, Victoria, but Was Moved to Dubbo in the Early 1980s.

• at the Point Cook Raaf Museum Ct-4a A19-007 Has Taken to the Air Again. The Aircraft Flew Again on November 27 With Wing Commander Warren Madsen at the Controls. The Aircraft Last Flew on May 24 1994. The Type Was Retired From Raaf Service in 1993.

• One for the Calendar. At Narromine, Nsw, on Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 September 2007 There Will Be an Air Pageant and Festival of Flight.