Warbirds

Examination of the Engine Revealed That a Connecting Rod Had Broken, With Resultant Internal Damage to the Engine. This Means That the Engine Will Have to Be Removed and Overhauled With a Further Delay as Well as Additional Cost. This is Most Disappointing to the Cfm, Its Sponsors and the Ground and Air Crews.

Consequently the Ferry Crew Was to Return to Australia and It Will Be Into the New Year Before the Rebuilt Engine Can Be Reinstalled and the Ferry Flight Contemplated Again.

Fortunately the Engine Problem Occurred at Seia and Not in the Air or Over Some Remote Country en Route to Australia.

The Cfm Remains Determined That the ‘rathmines Catalina’ Will Get to Australia, and Reports That in the Meantime Support for the Project Has Been Growing.

A Very Fast Nanchang

a Very Interesting Resident of Goolwa, South Australia, is Nigel Dunn’s Nanchang Cj-6a, Vh-nno. Nigel Has Modified the Normally Placid Two Seat Chinese Trainer Into a Fighter Look-a-like by Replacing the Standard Sectioned Canopy With a One Piece Unit, Giving the Aircraft a Totally Different Appearance.

Registered in the Experimental Category the Aircraft Has Been Flight Tested, Revealing a 150m Takeoff Roll, an Increased Climb Performance of at Least 800ft/min, and a Cruise Speed of 134kt Indicated at 600mm and 2000rpm. With Power Settings of 760mm and 2400rpm the Aircraft Gives 155kt Indicated.

Quite an Improvement for a Canopy Clean Up! Further Improvements Are Planned With Vh-nno Soon to Have a Three Bladed Jl-2a Prop Installed, Which May Improve This Special Nanchang’s Performance Even More.

Vale – Malcolm Long

Historic Aircraft Owner and Restorer, Malcolm Long, Passed Away on the Gold Coast on November 16 Aged 80.

Born on May 19 1927, Malcolm Was Co-owner of Musgrave & Long, Electrical Engineers, in Melbourne.

He Learnt to Fly in the 1960s and Got Into Aircraft Ownership With a Cessna 150.

Through His Association With Moorabbin Based Schutt Aviation He Saw the Restoration of Wirraway Vh-bff, the First Permit to Fly Warbird in Australia. It Was Rebuilt by Ron Lee and Graham Schutt.

He Later Bought Out Graham Schutt’s Share in the Aircraft.

With the Passing of the Years Malcolm Bought Two Lockheed Hudsons From Adastra Aerial Surveys at Tamworth. Later He Got Involved With the Purchase and Rebuilding of Several Stinson L-5 Ww2 Air Observation Aircraft. In Later Years One of the Hudsons Went to the Australian War Memorial Ashe Felt That Was the Right Place for One to Go to. The Second Former Ww2 Bomber Was Ultimately to Go to the Temora Aviation Museum Where It is Displayed and Still Flies, the Last Hudson in the World to Do So.

Later Moving to Queensland, There Malcolm Bought the Firm Air Gold Coast, Which Has Remained in the Family Ever Since. His Interest and Involvement With Ww2 Types Continued and He Subsequently Bought Examples of the Auster Iii, Tiger Moth, Fairchild F24, Winjeel, Beech 18, C-47 and Bristol 170.

Between 1980 and 1985 a Lot of Malcolm’s Aircraft Were on Display at Cliff Douglas’s Chewgum Field Air Museum in Southern Queensland. Discussions With the Queensland Government Regarding a Larger Museum Did Not Progress Far and Eventually the Collection Was Moved to the Air World Aviation Museum at Wangaratta in Victoria.

With the Later Demise of That Museum His Aircraft Collection Was a Long Way From Home and Was Subsequently Slowly Sold Off.

The Wirraway Went to the Temora Aviation Museum to Join the Hudson. His Kittyhawk Project Was Sold and Later Became Vh-kti.

Rebuilt, It Flew in 2002 and is Now With Murray Griffiths at Wangaratta. The C-47 Was One of the Last to Leave Wangaratta. The Former Brain & Brown Air Freighter is Now With Mike Spalding and the North Queensland Warbirds at Mareeba, Queensland. It Will Fly Again.

Malcolm, Who Died of a Brain Tumor, Will Be Remembered for His Love of Old Aircraft, Many of Which May Not Have Been Preserved if Not for His Involvement With Them. Along the Way He Employed a Lot of People, Both Directly and Indirectly, in the Business of Restoring, Flying and Moving Old Aeroplanes.

A Memorial Service Was Held at the Coolangatta Airport Air Gold Coast Facility on Wednesday November 28 to Remember His Life and Times.

Aust Built Zeros for Movie Role

Oceanic Aviation Museum at Cowes on Phillip Island Has Been Undertaken to Build Two Replica Japanese Zero Fighters and a Japanese Military Tank to Feature in the New Tom Hanks/steven Spielberg Film, the Pacific. A Follow on to Saving Private Ryan, It Follows the Lives of Three Us Marines in the Pacific Campaign During the Later Stages of Ww2.

Filming Has Already Taken Place in a Number of Locations Including Queensland and Victoria. In Victoria an Airstrip Was Created Near the You Yang Ranges, to the Southwest of Melbourne.

There Dc-3/c-47 Vh-edc Was Blown Up as Part of the Filming. Several Other Dc‑3/ C-47 Aircraft Are to Feature in the Movie Along With at Least One Local Warbird, a P-40 Kittyhawk.

Oceanic Aviation Museum Will Use the Funds From the Zero Replica Construction to Help Restore Canberra A84‑307. As Mentioned in ‘warbirds’ December Aa This Canberra Will Eventually Be Displayed at the National Vietnam Veterans Museum, Located at the West Side of New Haven Aerodrome on Phillip Island.

Png Aviation Historian Passes

It is With Regret That We Also Record the Passing of Aviation Historian Alan Bovelt.

Alan Passed Away in Sydney in June Aged 78, but With No Immediate Known Family It Was Not Until November, Following Media Publicity, That His Sister Was Located in New Zealand. His Funeral Took Place in Sydney on November, 19. His Cremated Remains Were to Be Scattered From the Discovery Air Tours Dc-3, Vh-dna, by His Friend Captain Jack Curtis.

A Long Time Recorder of Png Aviation History and More Recently the Douglas Dc‑3/ C‑47 in South Pacific Service, Alan Recorded Historic Data That Would Have Been Lost for All Time but for His Efforts. Born in New Zealand Alan Spent a Lot of His Years Living and Working in or Around the Aviation Industry in Australia and Png.

His Aviation Records Have Been Saved and Are Now in Safe Keeping With the Bankstown Based Australian Aviation Museum.

Warbird Owner in Fatal Accident

Warbird Owner and Pilot Geoff Milne Was Sadly Killed in the Crash of His Cessna 337g, Vh-chu, on Saturday November 17. Geoff Was Flying the Aircraft With Three Passengers From Moorabbin Airport, Victoria, to Merimbula, Nsw. It is Reported That the Cessna Dived Into the Sea Just Off the Coast at Cape Liptrap Near Wilsons Promontory.

Geoff Milne Had Been Involved With Several Warbird Aircraft and Projects Over the Years. In the Early 1980s He Had Been Involved With the Ownership and Flying of Wirraway Vh-wir, and a C-47 That Was Obtained From the Raaf in Exchange for Ex Mildura Warbirds Museum Mosquito A52-500 (Now Under Static Display Rebuild at Point Cook, Vic). Geoff Was Also Involved in the Ownership of N-a P-51d Mustang A68‑674, the Remains of Which Were Shipped to the Usa to Be Rebuilt. With Registration Vh-cva Reserved for It the Machine Took Up Us Residence and Registration. The Mustang is Now in New Zealand.

Geoff ’s Cessna 337 Was a Recent Purchase, and It Has Been Reported That He Had Purchased Hawker Sea Fury T. 20 Wg655, Nx20md, in the Last Few Months. Geoff Was in the Rear Seat of the Two-seater When It Flew From the Reno Air Races, Nevada, to California on a Delivery Flight in September.

In Brief

• the Raaf Museum Has Recently Taken Delivery of a Full Scale Replica of a 1914 Deperdussin Aircraft From Jack Gillies. The Aircraft Was Relocated From Essendon in November Where Jack Had Been Working on the Construction for Several Years.

The Aircraft is Presently Disassembled and in Storage. The Deperdussin Was One of the First Aircraft Operated at Point Cook in 1914.

• ‘tarmac Terriers – Raaf Military Working Dogs’ is the Subject of a New Raaf Museum Special Exhibition.

The Special Exhibition Looks at the 64 Year Old History of Dogs in Service With the Raaf. The Exhibition Was Due to Open on December 9. O Contact Dave at Flyer02@ Optusnet. Com. Au