Warbirds

The Point Cook RAAF Museum Pageant is to be held on Sunday 28 and will allow visitors to view the new museum Caribou which will on display.

The next day, November 27, Caribou A4-140, landed at Canberra to be presented to the Australian War Memorial. The historic aircraft was presented to Ms Nola Anderson, Assistant Director, AWM Branch Head National Collection by Air Commodore John Oddie, Commander Air Lift Group.

A4-140 was the oldest of the RAAF’s remaining Caribou and is the oldest in the ADF fleet. It was part of the initial three Caribou which were delivered to Australia in April 1964. In its 45 year career it flew in Vietnam from 1968 to 1971. In later years it was involved in evacuation missions betweens East Timor and Darwin.

All those who have seen the Caribou at airshows will miss the sound of the Pratt and Whitney radial engines and the display of landing on the nose gear.

The Caribou has been replaced by the Beech Kingair in the short term pending a decision on its replacement. Several aircraft are reported to be in storage pending disposal but can be brought back into service if a critical situation deems their service necessary. While the remaining aircraft have not yet been disposed of it is reported that several Australian museums including HARS and the Temora Aviation Museum may receive an example.

On the topic of the RAAF Museum at Point Cook the museum is due to receive another exhibit in the form of the forward fuselage of former RAAF Boeing 707 A20-627, “Windsor Town”. The fuselage section will be restored by Omega Air Transport for display at the museum. A20-627 was retired from active service in February 2001 having flown 50,234 hours. It has been a source of spare parts for the other RAAF B707s. The Boeing was built in 1968 and went into service with Qantas as VH-EAG. It was the last Qantas 707 being retired in 1979. It then became A20-627. The fuselage section will be restored by Omega at Richmond RAAF base and transported to the RAAF Museum at Point Cook when completed.

New Zealand Spitfire Damaged

New Zealand’s only two seat Spitfire, a Tr.IX, ZK-WDQ, ex RAF MH367, was damaged in an undercarriage collapse on landing at Auckland’s Ardmore Airport.

The accident, which occurred on December 3, is reported to have taken place when the aircraft bounced on touch down. The undercarriage then collapsed and the aircraft slid to a halt on its belly. The propeller was destroyed. The owner pilot, Doug Brooker, who the sole occupant of the historic machine, was not injured. The machine had been flown in preparation for a forth coming airshow display. The same aircraft suffered damage in a forced landing at Hood aerodrome near Masterton of January 15. It had since been repaired. It is expected that the Spitfire will be repaired from its latest incident.

First Powered Flight Claims

Who made the first powered flight in Australia and when? That is the $64 question that will be argued between three states and will depend on what is the definition of flight. Was it a hop or was it a sustained powered controlled flight or was it a circling flight? In NSW the Aviation Historical Society of Australia (NSW Branch) has sided with the Royal Aeronautical Society to state that both organisations now recognise December 9 1909 as the date of the first flight when Englishman Colin Defries flew a Wright Model A Biplane The Stella about 105 metres at Victoria Park Racecourse in Sydney. The engine of that aircraft still exists. Recent research by AHSA member John Scott has disclosed that the Wright made a flight on December 9 1909. A newspaper report of the day said that the flight was for some 105 metres and at a height of between 1 and 3 metres. Defries was a trained pilot having been taught to fly in Cannes in France and had even flown The Stella near Paris.

In South Australia it has long been recognised that Fred Custance made the first flight in a Bleroit XI on March 17 1910 at Bolivar, South Australia. Meanwhile in Victoria the Victorians are about to celebrate the March 18 flight by Harry Houdini in a Voisin Biplane at Diggers Rest, north-east of Melbourne. If nothing else the controversy will generate interest in early Australian aviation.

Register Notes

From the CASA Civil Aircraft Register we learn that a Hawker Fury has been registered as VH-SFW to David Warburton at Moree, NSW. The aircraft, a Fury Mk.II with serial 37539 was registered on November 26. The Fury is a former Iraqi Air Force machine and has come to Australia from the UK where it was registered as G-CBEL. Another interesting addition to the register is Boeing A75L3 Stearman, VH-NCX, that was added to the register on December 3 with serial 75-1425 to David Bullen of Hughes, ACT.

Australian Aviation Museum On The Move

The Bankstown based Australian Aviation Museum is to move to Camden Airport. The move of the AAM to Camden will allow the Bankstown site to be used by Bankstown Airports Limited for Industrial and Retail development. The move will take place in early 2010. The new AAM complex will comprise three buildings. The first will house aircraft displays, historic aviation memorabilia, flight simulators, photographs and a coffee lounge over looking the operational runways. The second building will be used for aircraft restoration with provision for visitors to see the work in progress. The third building will be the reconstruction of Sir Charles Kingsford Smith’s actual 1930 hangar, once located at Mascot Aerodrome. This will be used to display historic aircraft of the period and house a tribute to the late Nancy-Bird Walton AO, OBE, a beloved Patron of the AA for 15 years.

Temora Big November Weekend

The Temora Aviation Museum hosted what was probably its biggest piston warbird weekend on November 28/29 when Spitfires, Grumman Avengers plus a Kittyhawk, Wirraway, Harvard’s and a Mustang growled around the local skies. The Avengers from Steve Searle’s collection travelled from Queensland to attend while Alan Arthur’s P-40 Kittyhawk flew up from Albury. The two Spitfires were from the TAM collection and with one being flown by Red Bull Race pilot, Englishman Nigel lamb. Another Red Bull pilot, Matt Hall, was the pilot of Mustang VH-MFT that came down from Caboolture, Queensland. The TAM has listed five flying weekends for 2010.

17 Year Old Jet Fighter Pilot

Budding pilots eat your heart out! Australia now has a 17 YO who has flown an L39C Albatross Jet fighter. Jay Ekinci is the son Ray Ekinci who is the owner and chief pilot/CFI of Camden based Air Combat Australia. When Jay completed his HSC he celebrated by completing another goal, his first jet endorsement, in an L39C Albatross jet fighter, VH-NCI. On November 2 Jay took off solo from the runway at HMAS Albatross Nowra in the L39C and proceeded to do some aerobatic manoeuvres. Jay started flying at age 12 and went solo on his 16th birthday, the first legal date he could do so. He passed his private Pilots licence at age 17 and now with the L39C command time in his log book is the youngest approved jet fighter pilot in Australia if not the world.

In Brief

• Still coming is the Catalina VH-EAX. After leaving Cuatro Vientos, near Madrid in Spain, on October 5, the big water bird got as far as Singapore. There it was found that one engine needed major work and has to be replaced. At last report a spare engine held by the Catalina Flying Memorial whose Catalina, VH-CAT, is currently at Bankstown, was the most likely candidate to be loaned to assist getting VH-EAX to Australia. The aircraft is destined for the Qantas Founders Museum at Longreach. Also another problem is that avgas stocks are reported to be nil between Singapore and Australia. Problems, problems.

• A 1930’s control tower was officially unveiled at the Luskintyre Aviation Flying Museum near Maitland, NSW. The tower, named the Nancy-Bird Walton Memorial Tower, was erected in memory of famed flyer Nancy-Bird Walton who enjoyed the airfield and all that it represented. Nancy-Bird Walton passed away recently and her family had her ashes scattered from Tiger Moths over the airfield. The unveiling of the tower took place on November 7. One of the special guests was Mr Ray Bride, now in his 70’s. As a three day old baby Mr Bride was airlifted by Nancy-Bird Walton in her flying ambulance which saved his life.

•A celebration to commemorate a century of gliding in Australia was held at North Narrabeen on Saturday December 5. A replica of the original George Taylor glider was built by the Gliding Museum in Victoria and was on display. George Taylor took to the air in a glider on December 5 1909 at the Narrabeen site and in so doing made the first heavier-than-air flight in Australia.

• A fly-in was held at Nhill airport on October 17 to raise awareness of the part that the airport played during WW@, training thousands of RAAF aircrew. Some 50 aircraft attended including a Wirraway, two Winjeels, a CT4 Airtrainer and a DH Chipmunk. In the sole remaining RAAF hangar there was a display of aero engines and the fuselage of a former RAAF Anson that is to be restored. An impressive collection of vintage cars and trucks added to the nostalgic atmosphere. Kevin O’Reilly who grew up in Nhill during the war has recently published a well researched book on the Nhill RAAF Base 1941 -1946 titled “In just Five Years”. His book is highly recommended: www.injustfiveyears.com

Contact Dave by email at [email protected]