Warbirds

Built During 1945 It Flew With the Usaaf and Later the Usaf as 44-9126.

Withdrawn From Service in December 1971 It Was Put Out to Pasture at the Davis Monthan, Arizona, ‘bone Yard’ Facility Until 1975. It Became a Civil Freighter With Registration N9013v and Plodded Around America on Freight Runs of Various Sorts.

If Only Aircraft Could Talk! On June 16 1995 the Machine Arrived in Australia, and the Following Year It Became Vh-paf and Was Used for Freight Runs Around the Southern Pacific.

It Carried the Logo Pacific Air Freighters Along the Polished Metal Fuselage and Was Registered to Air Freighters International of Southport, Queensland. In Early 2005 the Aircraft Was Withdrawn From Service and Was Known to Be Up for Sale.

Donated to Hars, in Early July the Society Had a Team of Engineers Inspect the Aircraft and Run the Engines in Preparation for Flying the Old Douglas to the Hars Home Base at Albion Park, South of Wollongong.

Wartime Hudson Wreck Found

More Than 60 Years After It Disappeared the Wreck of Raaf Lockheed Hudson Mk. Iv A16-126 Has Been Found in Papua New Guinea.

The Aircraft Was Part of a Flight of Three Hudsons Detailed to Attack Japanese Shipping in Gasmata Harbour, New Britain, on February 11 1942. Over the Target the Raaf Bombers Were Intercepted by Four Japanese Mitsubishi A5m4 Claude Fighters That Had Been Scrambled From Gasmata Airfield. Hudson A16-126 Did Not Return From the Mission and Along With Its Crew of Four Was Listed as ‘lost by Enemy Action’.

The Remains of the Aircraft Were Found in Thick Jungle on a Ridge Inland From the Town of Gasmata in May by Mark Reichman, a Missionary on New Britain.

Since Then a Raaf Team Has Conducted a Survey of the Aircraft and Its Surrounds.

The Bomber Had Broken Into Several Large Sections With the Cockpit Upside Down and Partially Buried in Mud. Bullet Holes Were Found in the Tail Section. No Bombs Were Found With the Aircraft but Live Machine Gun Rounds in Original Clips Were Discovered.

The Four Men Lost With the Aircraft Were Flying Officer Graham Gibson, Pilot Officer Frank Thorn, Sergeant Barton Coutie and Sergeant Arthur Quail.

The Air Force is Now Planning a Full Recovery Operation With the Assistance of the Png Government. A Team Including Forensic Specialists Will Conduct a Thorough Examination of the Site. This Will Involve Dividing the Area Into Grid Squares and Conducting a Detailed Search for Any Human Remains, Personal Artefacts and Military Items.

A Tale of Two Wackett Trainers

There Are Only Four Complete Ww2 Cac Ca-6 Wackett Trainers in Australia, but Recently Two of Those Survivors Gained Some Limelight as They Became New Exhibits for Museums.

In Western Australia the Former Broome Based Wackett of Horriemiller, Vh-aiy, Was the Star Attraction of the Recent Opening of the Horrie Miller Wackett Aircraft Display at the Raafa Wa Heritage Aviation Museum at Bull Creek.

This Wackett Had Served the Raaf During Ww2 and When, as A3-31, It Was Sold Off as Surplus It Went to Macrobertson Miller Airlines and Then to the Founder of That Airline, the Famed Wa Flyer, Horrie Miller, as His Personal Aircraft.

Macrobertson Miller Airlines Was Taken Over by Ansett in 1963 and in 1981 Was Renamed as Airlines of Wa. In 1993 It Was Renamed Yet Again Becoming Part of Ansett Airlines. As History Will Recall Ansett Collapsed in 2001.

Horrie Miller Retired and Lived in Broome Where He Occasionally Flew the Wackett. After His Death in 1983 the Aircraft Languished Until the Raafa Museum Managed to Obtain It in 2002 and Moved It to Perth Where It Was Rebuilt Over Six Years.

That Rebuild in Itself Created a Problem in That the Museum Already Had a Wackett of Sorts. The Second Aircraft Was a Kingsford Smith Ks-3, a Wackett Trainer That Had Been Converted for Use as a Crop Duster.

This Second Wackett, Previously Vh‑ajh, Was One of Five Such Conversions to the Ks-3 Configuration, and Was the Last of That Breed Remaining. It Had Had a Hopper Fitted in the Rear Cockpit and a Modified Canopy. Owned by Air- Culture, the Machine Faded From Service in the 1960s and Was Struck Off the Register in Late 1968. Obtained by the Air Force Association in 1971 It Was Initially Stored, but by 1979 Had Been Restored and Was a Star Exhibit at the Opening of the Museum.

As Wackett Vh-ajh (Ex Raaf A3-49) Had a History of Having Been Operated in Queensland During Its Service Career, in May 2008 Philanthropist Greg Ackman Managed to Purchase the Aircraft Which He Presented to the Queensland Air Museum. It Was Loaded Into a Container at Bull Creek, Wa, and Arrived at the Qam Site at Caloundra on July 17.

It is Understood That the Qam Will Exhibit the Wackett as a Ks-3, Complementing Ag Configured Dh. 82a Tiger Moth Vh-bks That Greg Ackman Had Also Obtained From the Raafa Museum and Presented to the Qam.

Cac Built 202 Wackett Trainers During Ww2. Of Steel Tube Construction With Wooden Wings and Tailplane the Type Was an Intermediate Trainer During Its Service Life. After the War a Large Number Were Sold Off as Surplus and Gained a Further Life as Flying School and Privately Owned Aircraft.

The Wackett Was Powered by a 165hp (135kw) Warner Scarab Radial Engine. As the Years Advanced the Wooden Structure of the Wings Deteriorated and by the Late 1960s the Breed Had Ceased Flying.

Wackett A3-22/vh-alv Survives at Moorabbin and A3-139/vh-bec Can Be Found at Alice Springs. Both Are in Museums. Vh-bec Has the Chequered History of Having Been Lost in Central Australia for Three Years After Its Ownerpilot Flew Off Course and Ran Out of Fuel.

The Pilot Was Never Found.

Berlin Airlift 60 Years on

in 1945 Ww2 May Have Finished but by 1948 Britain, France and the United States Found Themselves in Opposition to Their Former Ally, the Soviet Union, Over the Control of Berlin, the Former Capital of the Nazi German Regime. In 1948 the Soviets Imposed a Blockade of the City, Giving the Allies No Choice but to Attempt to Supply the Two Million Inhabitants of the Western Zone of the City Under Their Control by Air. Thus Began the Largest Airlift in History.

The Airlift Lasted for Two Years and Was Called Operation Pelican by the Raaf.

To Commemorate This Massive Post- Ww2 Airlift and the Involvement by the Raaf a New Exhibition is Being Held at the Raaf Museum at Point Cook. Entitled ‘berlin Airlift’ the Display Opened in July and Will Run for About Eight Months.

Earlier This Year a Book by Raaf Historian Dr Chris Clark, Entitled Berlin Airlift 1948-49, Was Released Recording the Raaf Involvement in the Airlift.

Interestingly the Raaf Still Has a Connection to the Airlift in the Form of Douglas C-47b Dakota A65-69 Which is on Display at the Berlin Airlift Museum at Raf Gatow, Germany. The Aircraft Departed Australia for Germany on June 6 1980 Before Becoming Raf Serial Zd215 for Delivery to the Museum on June 18 1980. The Reason for the Change From Raaf to Raf Serial Was That the Treaty Only Allowed British, Us or French Military Aircraft Through the Berlin Air Corridors Until 1989.

In Brief

• of the Two T-28 Trojans Mentioned in Our August Issue One, N28rf, Has Turned Up at Toowoomba, Qld for an Australian C of a.

• the Temora Aviation Museum (Tam) Has Another Meteor Pilot. Only the Second Pilot in Australia in 45 Years to Become Endorsed on the Meteor F. 8, Gpcapt Al Clements Completed His Endorsement on July 17. A Raaf F/a-18 Pilot, Al is the Former Co of 77 Squadron and is the Chief of Staff at Air Combat Group.

• a Correction to Last Issue, the Grumman Avenger Pictured on Page 83 at the Sunshine Coast Belongs to Steve Searle, Not Randal Mcfarlane. Randal’s Machine is Hangared at Archerfield. O Contact Dave at Flyer02@optusnet. Com. Au