Warbirds

A former RAAF flight instructor, Darren Crabb has flown Macchi jets and F/A-18 Hornets. A current corporate jet pilot he is type rated on 14 jet aircraft types. His flying experience includes the Cessna Dragonfly, Vampire, Meteor and Canberra jet aircraft at Temora.

The Sabre is owned by the RAAF Museum, loaned to the Temora Aviation Museum and operated by the Temora Historic Flying Club. Commenting on the flight Darren said it was fantastic and that the machine flew flawlessly. This is the first flight of an Australian Sabre for many years.

The Sabre took pride of place as a static exhibit at the TAM flying weekend on July 26/27 with Darren Crabb fielding many questions from interested spectators.

The aircraft was loaned to the Temora Aviation Museum by the RAAF under an agreement made in 2005 by the Chief of Air Force to preserve historical military aircraft. The aircraft was restored to airworthiness by the Temora Aviation Museum’s Engineering team and will be a feature of the Museum’s regular flying weekends.

Temora Boomer Meeting

Two CAC Boomerangs were on the same aerodrome on July 25/26 at Temora when Boomerang VH-XBL/A46-63 had the company of the Temora Aviation Museum Boomerang VH-MHR/A46-122. Matt Denning, who rebuilt VH-MHR, was ferrying the recently rebuilt VH-XBL to South Australia for the owners, Jim Whalley and James Edwards. It had been hoped to have both aircraft in the air at the same time but a small mechanical snag with XBL prevented that. The South Australian Boomer departed on the Saturday after the snag was fixed but not until after a photo opportunity of the two together on the ground had been arranged. Given the way that warbirds migrate to common interest destinations it is probable that the two flying Boomerangs will be seen together in the air at Temora in the future.

Another Catalina For Australia

Yet another Catalina is due to come to Australia. In a bold move the Qantas Founders Museum (QFM) at Longreach, Qld. is hoping to buy a Catalina in Spain and to have it join the museum’s collection of aircraft types that Qantas Airlines have operated over the years. Already the museum has a DC3, Boeing 707 and 747 as well as replica Avro 504 and De Havilland DH61 aircraft. A DH60 Gipsy Moth is also on long term display with the collection.

The Catalina sought is one of two in storage in Spain. Both are former water bombers. Ironically the Catalina sought is from the same group that has seen two flown to Australia in recent years, one for the HARS collection and the other for the Catalina Flying Memorial. The QFM is hoping to fly the Catalina to Australia later this year.

Situated at the airport at Longreach the QFM is a unique museum covering the start of the airline that we know today as Qantas. It is well worth a visit to Longreach to see this museum and its expanding collection.

Keith R. Meggs Dfm, Am(us), Aom

The Queen’s Birthday Honours listing included the award of the Medal (OAM) of the Order of Australia to noted aviation historian and former RAAF and civilian pilot, Keith Meggs, of Parkdale, Victoria. The award was made for service to the community through the research and documentation of Australian aviation history.

Keith, 81, is well known as the President of the Aviation Historical Society of Australia. For the last 50 years he has been collecting information for a four volume encyclopaedia detailing the history of the Australian aviation industry and aircraft built in Australia. The first volume of his book titled Australian Built Aircraft and the Industry, Vol.1 1884-1939 is soon to be released.

Keith’s interest in aviation started while he was in school and as a teenager his first job was with the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation. He later joined the RAAF and flew Mustangs and Meteor jet aircraft in the Korean War.

It was while flying a Mustang that he was shot down and made a safe belly landing between the lines. He continued flying with the RAAF followed that by working as an air traffic controller and then got into freelance charter flying. When Keith closed his log books he had flown more than 19,000 hours. The award is seen by many in the aviation industry as appropriate and overdue.

Taylor Glider Replica To Fly

The first flight by a manned heavier-than-air machine in Australia was made by George A. Taylor at Narrabeen, NSW, on December 5 1909. The flight covered 86 metres. To commemorate that historic flight the Australian Gliding Museum has built one replica Taylor Glider and has two more well on the way to being completed. The three will be used to commemorate the centenary of that first Australian flight later this year, and provide displays for interested museums now and into the future. A highly experienced hang glider pilot, Rohan Holtkamp of Dynamic Flight, Trawalla, Victoria, is to be the pilot for the first flights. The Taylor Glider had an 8.5 metres (28 feet) wingspan, and was a cotton fabric covered wire braced biplane with a box kite tail and an empty weight of 46.7 kg. Control was carried out by movement of the pilot’s body to achieve weight shift. A later version of the glider had a moveable canard mounted in front of the pilot.

Of the Taylor gliders one was completed in time to display it at the Avalon airshow. Fortunately it was not damaged in the windstorm that damaged more than ten aircraft. The second replica is about to be rigged while the third replica is ready for covering.

The Avalon showing was the first event used by the Australian Gliding Museum to publicise the Taylor Glider centenary and emphasise the significance in Australian aviation history of the first flights. The other earliest aviators were Harry Houdini, who flew a Voisin biplane on March 18 and John Duigan who flew the first Australian built powered aircraft at Mia Mia on July 16 1910. A replica Duigan biplane is being constructed to commemorate that flight. (see last AA).

Of the three Taylor replicas one is to be displayed at Narrabeen, north of Sydney, where the first flight took place. Another is to be displayed at the Australian National Aviation Museum (Moorabbin Air Museum). Placement of the third craft is still under review.

Taylor Glider Replica To Fly

An Australian airliner, built back in 1938, is a prized new exhibit at a US naval aviation museum. The aircraft, a Lockheed L-10A Electra, arrived in Australia in 1938 and was registered as VH-ABV to MacRobertson Miller Aviation with the name “R.M.A. Gascoyne”. Initially it was used on the Perth to Darwin run but in 1942 it was flown to the east before returning to the west for airline work. In 1948 the registration was changed to VH-MMD. By 1953 the Lockheed had flown some 20,000 hours flight time. It was then sold to a US firm and was shipped back to the United States. There it became N4886V and was operated by a number of companies. In 1975 the aircraft was re-registered, this time as N19HL. It was struck off the US register in 1980 but by 1987 had been restored to the register with Valiant Air Command of Titusville, Florida. In 1996 the machine was gifted to the National Museum of Naval Aviation, Pensacola, Florida.

This year the former Australian airliner, now restored, was placed on display at the National Museum of Naval Aviation at Pensacola after having been converted to a US Navy L-10E/R20-1 standard and marked with the fictitious serial of 1130. The aircraft is in polished natural metal finish with the tailplane painted dark blue. The marking US Navy is carried on the sides of the fuselage. The aircraft may not be on display in Australia but it is nice to see it has gone to a good home and has been preserved for all to see.

In Brief

● Warbird no but it may come as a surprise for many to learn that the veritable Airtourer made its first flight on March 30 1959, 50 years ago. Australian designed and built the civilian Victa Airtourer spawned a veritable raft of military trainers, a number of which are still in military or semi-military service today. Most of the RAAF’s former CT4A Airtrainers’ are still flying in Australia as entry-level civilian warbirds. The wooden Airtourer prototype, powered by a 65 hp Continental engine, made its first flight at Moorabbin airport under the command of Laurie McPherson, the then CFI of the Royal Victorian Aero Club. That prototype, VH-FMM, survives today and is owned by the Museum of Victoria and is currently on loan to the Australian Naval Aviation Museum at Nowra, NSW.

● Cessna 0-1G Birddog VH-EAZ took to the air on Saturday July 18 at Bankstown, Sydney, following a lengthy restoration. The aircraft, owned by Gordon Glynn, is to be operated by Combat Dragon out of Bankstown airport for adventure flights. Combat Dragon also operates a Cessna A37B Dragonfly.

Contact Dave by email at: [email protected]