Warbirds

When Flying Again It Will Be the Only Airworthy Merlin Powered Kittyhawk in the World, but Maybe Not for Long. The Aircraft Has Been Under Rebuild at Tyabb With Judy Pay’s Firm, the Old Aeroplane Company.

Ebay Wirraway Ownership Decided by Court

in a Move That Sets a Precedent for Future Ebay Internet Auctions in Australia, a Court Has Decided That Own-ership of Wirraway Vh-wir Should Go to Peter Smythe of Adelaide.

In August 2006 Cac Wirraway Vh-wir Was Listed for Online Auction on Ebay Australia’s Website With a Reserve Price of $150,000. The Only Person to Bid for the Item Was Adelaide Warbird Enthusiast Peter Smythe, Who Bid on the Item, Matching the $150,000 Reserve, With Just Seconds to Spare Before the Auction Closed. But the Wirraway’s Owner, Vin Thomas of Albury, Reportedly Had in the Meantime Agreed to Sell the Aircraft to a Queensland Buyer for $250,000. Smythe Then Took the Case to the Nsw Supreme Court to Have a Decision Made Regarding Who Owned the Aircraft.

In August This Year Acting Judge Nigel Rein Handed Down His Decision That Ruled Against Thomas and That the Aircraft Should Be Handed Over to Smythe for the Bid Amount, $150,000.

“it Follows That, in My View, a Binding Contract Was Formed Between the Plaintiff and the Defendant and That It Should Be Specifically Enforced,” Justice Rein Said in His Decision.

The Judgement Sets a Precedent for Future Cases by Confirming That Ebay Sales Are Legally Binding.

The Judge Had Last Year Ruled That the Aircraft Could Not Be Moved From Its Hangar at Albury Until the Dispute Was Settled. At the End of August the Machine Was Still in the Hangar as Final Details of the Judgement Were Secured.

North Queensland Warbirds Kittyhawk is All Go

North Queensland Warbirds is Powering Ahead With Its Kittyhawk Rebuild Project With Only About Six Months to Go Before It Flies.

The Curtiss P-40n-5, 42-104977, Was Retrieved From Finschafen, Png, in Late 2004 From Its Wartime Resting Place Since Being Reportedly Shot Down by a Japanese Zero. Work Has Continued Since Then at Mareeba Airport, West of Cairns, and to Meet Director Mike Spaulding’s Restoration Time of Three Years Some Components Were Subcon-tracted Out to Specialist Shops and All Brought Together in Mareeba for Completion.

Work Remaining on the Project Includes Installation of the Engine Which is Being Overhauled by Well Known Victorian Engineer, Borg Sorenson. Engine Cowlings and Various Other Fairings Are Also Well Advanced.

As Well as Working on the Kittyhawk Rebuild, the Chief Engineer Paul Knox and His Volunteers Also Keep the Group’s Fleet, Which Comprise a Harvard, Several Winjeels, a Chipmunk and a Nanchang, Airworthy.

Register Changes of Note

Boeing Stearman A75n1, C/n 75-2055, Ex-n52648, Has Been Added to the New Zealand Register as Zk-bwr on June 21 to Kaipara Aviation Trust, Auckland.

In Australia Winjeel Vh-xra Had a Change of Registration to Vh-cze Effective August 1. The Owner is Still Sandora Aviation P/l, Caboolture, Qld.

A Change of Ownership of North American at-6g, Vh-whf, Took Place on August 23 to Anderson Warbird Collection of Canning Bridge, Wa.

Vh-yzc, a Bac T Mk. 5a Jet Provost, Changed Owner-ship on August 14 to Peter Hanneman of Eglinton, Nsw.

Qantas Founders Outback Museum

Historically, Longreach is Known for Its Role With Qantas. The Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Service Was Founded at Winton on February 10 1921 but Was Soon Moved to Longreach, Queensland, Where a Hangar and the Coun-try’s First Purpose Built Land-ing Field Were Constructed.

These Days the Original Hangar is Part of the Qantas Founders Outback Museum (Qfom) and is Heritage Listed. The Museum Has Gained New Exhibits in Recent Times and is Well Worth a Visit. The Largest Aircraft on Display is Boeing 747 Vh-ebq, City of Bunbury. Alongside It, and Looking Quite Small by Comparison, is Recent Arrival, Boeing 707 Vh-xba.

Outside the Museum and Awaiting Complete Restoration is Dc-3 Vh-eap, With Grey Colour Scheme and Qantas Empire Airways Markings. Inside the Main Museum Building is an Avro 504 Replica. Nearby is Red and Silver Dh-60g Gipsy Moth, Vh-uae, on Loan to the Mu-seum. In the Original Hangar, as Part of the Museum, is a Full Size Replica of Dh-61 Giant Moth Vh-ujb, Apollo. This Very Large Single Engined Biplane Was Used by Qantas in the Early 1930s.

Plans Are Afoot to Drasti-cally Alter the Layout of the Longreach Airport to Both Accommodate Large Commercial Airline Visitors as Well as Increase the Size of the Qfom. The Large Museum Aircraft Will Be Kept Under Cover Under a Series of Hardtop Sails or Roofs. It is Understood That the Museum is Also Keen to Obtain Other Former Qantas Aircraft Types Including a Lockheed Constellation and Catalina.

Focke-wulf 190 Replica Up and Away

While There Are a Good Number of Spitfire Replicas Flying, One Replica That Has Not Had Much Publicity is an Australian Built 9/10 Scale Replica Focke-wulf 190 Butcher Bird Fighter.

Noted at the Recent Bundaberg Airshow in Queensland, the Aircraft is Fw 190a-ttk Vh-fwb, a One-off Scale Replica That Has Two Seats. The Machine is Powered by a Russian Vedeneyev M14 Nine Cylin-der Radial Engine of 360hp (266kw) and Looks for All the World Like the Real Thing. The Radial Drives a Three Bladed Propeller.

Vh-fwb Was Built by Owner Terry Kronk of Toowoomba, and Was First Registered on July 11 2003. The Replica is Painted in a Grey and White Colour Scheme Complete With Ww2 Type German Markings and a Big Red ‘1’ on the Fuselage. Just Forward of the Tail is a Yellow Band Around the Fuselage.

Liberty Display

a Slice of History. On Display in the Terminal Building of the Tennant Creek Airport, Nt, is the Hulk of a 400hp (300kw) Liberty V12 Aircraft Engine.

The Engine Was From Raaf Airco Dh-9a A1-1 That Crashed on April 21 1929 During a Forced Landing Near Tennant Creek After the Engine Seized. The Crew, Flt Lt C Eaton and Cpl P Sullivan Were Later Rescued. The Dh-9a Had Been Tasked to Assist in the Search for the Lost Westland Widgeon G-auka During the Famed ‘kookaburra Search’. Information Boards With the Engine Give a History of the Search and the Fate of the Dh-9a.

The Remains of the Widgeon Kookaburra Were Recovered in Recent Years and Are Now on Display at the Central Australian Museum in Alice Springs.

Aviation Bookseller Passes Away

Melbourne Aviation Book-seller, Arthur J Hyland, Passed Away on August 15 Aged 79.

Arthur Was a Bookseller With a Technical Bookshop in Melbourne but Later Branched Out and Ran His Own Book Shop at Successive Locations Around Melbourne. His Speciality Was Militaria and His Store Always Had a Large Selection of Aviation Books, Both New and Used and Not Always Mainstream.

Ever Smiling and With a Friendly Comment He Seemed to Have an Almost Photo-graphic Mind for Both Books and Remembering His Custom-ers. Customers Came From Interstate and Even Overseas to Check His Latest Stock.

A Few Years Ago Arthur Passed the Business to His Son-in-law. The Shop Still Operates as Hyland’s Book Shop in Melbourne.

In Brief

• Fairchild 24r Vh-abz Suffered Substantial Damage During a Forced Landing After an Engine Failure Soon After Takeoff From Coffs Harbour on August 27. The Pilot and Passenger Were Unhurt.

• a Replica of the Australian Built Wiko Cabin Sports Was Unveiled at the Queensland Air Museum, Caloundra, on July 1. The Wiko Cabin Sports Was the First Aircraft Designed and Flown in Queensland and Flew for the First Time on January 25 1931 at Archerfield. The Pilot Was Charles Kingsford Smith Who Commented That It Was “a Very Fine Little Machine. ” • the Winterburn Aviation Collection at Arnold, 45km West of Bendigo, Has Acquired Three Cockpit Sections From the Us, That of B-57 S/n 554298, F-86d S/n 534036, and a Mohawk Cockpit, Serial Un-known. Visitors Are Welcome.

• Casa Has Released an Information Pack for People Who Book Adventure Flights on Warbirds or Other Classic Aircraft. The Online Service “explains How the Safety of Adventure Flights is Man-aged and the Responsibilities Adventure Flyers Must Take,” and is Available at Www. Casa. Gov. Au/publicinfo/index. Htm.

• Doug Hamilton of Whorouly, Victoria, Has Taken Delivery of Lockheed 12a Vh-hid. The Lockheed Was at Broken Hill but Doug Bought the Aircraft, Had a 100 Hourly Carried Out on It and Flew It to Albury to Store While He is Building a New Hangar at Whorouly. The Casa Register Records the Change of Ownership as August 9. At Early September the Vintage Twin Tail Dragger Was Still at Albury. R Contact Dave at Flyer02@ Optusnet. Com. Au