Warbirds

The Aircraft, in Fact Only a Fuselage, Was Apparently Exported From Australia in 2008 or 2009. It is Currently With Hawker Restorations at Milden, Ipswich, Suffolk.

The Reporting of the Se5a Poses More Questions Than It Answers.

Hawker Restorations Report That the Wooden Fuselage is to Be Matted With New Wings Being Built by Hawker and That an Engine Has Been Found in the Uk, Unused Since Ww1. A Propeller, an Unused Original Made in 1918 Was Found in Edinburgh. The Se5a Was Mostly Powered by the Wolseley W4a Viper of 200 Hp (148 Kw).

It is Reported That the Se5a Came From the Group of 35 That Were Sent to Australia After Ww1 as Part of the So Called Imperial Gift. The Gift Was a Way of Getting Rid of Surplus Ww1 Aircraft and Military Hardware and at the Same Time Maintaining a British Influence in the Australian Armed Forces. Some of the Se5a Biplanes Were Assembled and Flown but a Number Were Never Assembled. In 1928 Approval Was Granted to Reduce These Aircraft to Produce Due to Age and Decay in Their Wooden Structures. One Se5a Survives, A2-4, in the Awm Collection, Plus a Non-flying Replica, ‘a2-31’ Built by Ajd Engineering in the Uk. That Aircraft is on Display at the Raaf Museum at Point Cook.

Now for the Questions.

Was the Se5a, A2-25, Granted Approval to Be Exported? Was It Exported in the Face of the Restrictions Placed on Moveable Cultural Heritage Items Enshrined in Law in 1986?

A Photo of the Fuselage of the Aircraft in Australia is Shown on the Hawker Restorations Website. The Fuselage, on Its Undercarriage, Does Not Appear to Be a Decayed Wooden Structure That Was Condemned. There is No Sign of Fabric Ever Having Been on the Subject Fuselage and Indeed the Woodwork Looks New and Fresh. The Hawker Website Claims That One Aircraft, C8996, Was Recorded as ‘components Retained by Munitions Board’ and That the Munitions Supply Board Was Located in Victoria, Which is Where This Aeroplane is Said to Have Come From. Another Report Has It That A2-25 Was Flown and Was Damaged in a Training Accident in 1927.

There Were Government Supply Warehouses at Maribyrnong but These Were Demolished Many Years Ago.

If the Aircraft Was Not Broken Up in 1928 We Are Asked to Believe That It Has Survived for the Last 80 Years Without Any Locals Having Any Knowledge of It.

In the Warbird Rebuilding Game Provenance Comes About When an Aircraft is Rebuilt and the Owners Can Say That It Had Such and Such Wartime History.

That History is Used to Tell the Authorities That the Subject Aircraft Was a Rebuild or Restoration Rather Than a Replica. That History Also Gives an Increased Value to the Machine as and When It Changes Ownership.

It is Known That a Se5a Replica Was Under Construction in Adelaide Some 10-15 Years Ago but the Project Appears to Have Faded From View. In the Course of Construction the Builder Would Have Had to Make Contact With People in the Uk Regarding Plans and Parts for His Replica. One Has to Ask the Question is the Aircraft Fuselage Now in the Uk the Part-completed Adelaide Replica Aircraft?

Aviation History Book Launch

The June Meeting of the Aviation Historical Society of Australia Was the Launch Pad for Two New Books That Cover Interesting Sections of Australian Aviation History. Held in Melbourne the Meeting Saw Well Known Aviation Author, Mac Job, Formally Release His New Book, ‘into Oblivion’ the Story of the Loss of the Avro Airliner Southern Cloud in 1931. It Was Not to Be Found, and Then by Accident, Until 1958.

The Second Book Release on the Same Night Was the Book ‘a Flying Life, John Duigan and the First Australian Aeroplane’. Author David Crotty Delivered the 2010 John Duigan Memorial Lecture Which This Year Was on the Life and Times of John Duigan. Mr Crotty Delivered the Lecture to a Packed Audience and Spoke About the Lead Up to the First Flight of an Australian Built Aeroplane and Then the Later Life of John Duigan. It Was Interesting to Hear About an Early Australia Aviator and How He Went About Building and Flying His Aeroplane.

Museum Victoria Has the Original 1910 Duigan Biplane in Store but Has a More Recent Replica on Display at the Victoria Museum. A New Replica is Being Built and the at the Book Launch the Builder Said It Will Fly on August 8 at Bendigo, Vic.

Register Notes

Cessna 190 C/n 7129 Was Added to the Register as Vh-aal on June 10 to Craig Tabernar of Highton, Vic. Dhc-1 Mk 22. Chipmunk Serial C1/0722 Was Added to the Register on June 23 as Vh-ath to Karl Moore of Burpengary, Queensland.

A Stewart P-51 Replica With Serial 158 Was Added to the Register as Vh-jwk on May 17 to Garnot Pty Ltd of Moorooduc, Vic. Jim Wickham is the Owner/builder of the Machine. A Round Tailed Cessna 170a, C/n 20145 Was Added to the Register on May 6 as Vh-sly to Michael Poole of Frankston, Vic. In the Change of Ownership Department Warwick Henry of Maryborough, Qld. Took Ownership of Stinson L-5b, Vh-cro, on May 24. In New Zealand Hawker Hunter Fr 74s, Zk-jil, Serial 517, Changed Ownership on May 19 to Clevedon Aviation Ltd. Of Papakura.

Changes at Classic Jets Fighter Museum

Having Just Finished the Restoration of Their Lockheed P-38h Lightning, Serial 42-66841, There Are Other Changes Afoot at the Parafield Airport Based Classic Jets Fighter Museum (Cjfm). The Museum’s Gloster F8 Meteor, Wk685/a77-867 Has Changed Ownership and is Now on Its Way to a New Owner, the Ashburton Aviation Museum at Ashburton Aerodrome, Ashburton, New Zealand. Acquired by the Cjfm in 1992 It Was Restored and Has Been on External Display for the Past Several Years.

A Second Cjfm Aircraft to Move is the Sblim-2, (See July Aa). That Aircraft Has Gone to the Queensland Air Museum at Caloundra. It Had Also Been Restored by the Cjfm.

New to the Museum is a Corsair F4u. Acquired From the Vanuatu Island of Efate the Bent Wing Fighter Had Ditched Out of Fuel on May 5 1944. It Almost Got to Its Home Base! The Aircraft is Deemed to Be a Long Term Project but Comes at a Good Time Due to the Fact That the Museum’s Restoration of Its P-39 Airacobra is Drawing to a Close So the Volunteers Working on That Will Be Able to Be Moved Across to the Corsair Project. Museum Ceo, Bob Jarrett, Has Said That the Corsair Will Be a Long Term Project. Bob Advised That the Museum is Loathe to Part With Any Aircraft Especially Aircraft Which Have Been So Painstakingly Restored Over the Many Years. ‘the Reality is That as We Complete Each New Project There is No Room in the Hangars Once the Aircraft is Assembled’ Advised Bob. ‘the Main Thing Was That the Aircraft Have Gone to New Museums Where They Will Be Stored and Exhibited Under Cover’ He Said.

There is No Room Left in the Hangars at Parafield or Likely to Be in the Foreseeable Future So Unfortunately the Museum Has to Work Within the Space Confines That Exist at Present. Nevertheless the Complete Aircraft on Display Plus the Aircraft Under Restoration/rebuild Make for Fascinating Viewing!

B-29 Fifi to Fly Again

The World’s Only Remaining Flyable Boeing B-29’fifi’ N529b/44-62070 is Due to Fly Again! There Are Effectively Only Four Types of Wwii Four Engine Bombers That Are Still Flying, the Lancaster, the Liberator, the Boeing B-17 and the Boeing B-29. Of These There Are Only One or Two Lancasters and Liberators Still Flying. There Are Still a Few B-17s Flying but for the Last Four Years the Last Flyable B-29 Has Remained Out of the Air Due to Engine Problems. The Commemorative Air Force’s (Caf) B-29, Named ‘fifi’, Has Been Ground Bound. The Original Power Plants Were Wright R-3350-57am Engines. Keeping Them Airworthy Has Proven to Be a Costly Time Consuming Affair. When It Was Found That the Engines Had Metal in the Oil (‘making Metal’ as Aircraft Engineers Say) It Was Decided That the Aircraft Would Not Be Flown Until New Engines Were Fitted. The Engines That Were Installed Were Custom-built From a Combination of R-3350-95w and R-3350-26wd Engines.

The New Combination Required Alterations to the Engine Mounts and Cowlings. The Caf Had Planned to Fly the Bomber in Late June but a Hold Up With the Paperwork Following the Engine Modifications Has Held Up the Post New-engines Flight Until Into July, at Least.
Warbird Enthusiasts Will Await News of Fifi Taking to the Air Again!

In Brief

• the Friends of the Raaf Museum Will Be Holding the Annual George Merz Memorial Lecture on September 3. The Topic This Year Will Be the History of the F-86 Sabre. The Lecture Will Embrace Not Only the North American F-86 Fighter Series but Also the Locally Built Cac Ca-27 Avon Sabre. The Venue is the Officers Mess Raaf Base Williams, Laverton. Entry is Free. Those Wishing to Attend Should Contact the Secretary of the Friends of the Raaf Museum at [email protected].

• the June 14 Queen’s Birthday Awards Included Two Aviation People. Captain Warwick Tainton of Blair, Qld. Was Awarded the Order of Australia Medal (Oam) for His Work in Relation to the Preservation of Australia’s Aviation and Outback History. More Specifically Captain Tainton Has Been Involved With the Development of the Qantas Founders Outback Museum at Longreach.

Alan Storr of Canberra, Act. Was Also Awarded the Order of Australia Medal (Oam) for His Work Involving Research of World War Ii Raaf Service Personnel. Mr Storr Has Been Recording the Fate and Details of the Loss of Wartime Raaf Personnel.

• Dha-3 Mk 3. Drover Vh-fdu, Was Flown From Wangaratta, Vic. To Coolangatta in Late June. It Made a Fuel Stop at Dubbo Enroute. The Aircraft is Owned by Well Known Warbird Rebuilder, Ron Lee.

• the at-6g Harvard, Vh-yvi, Has Not Been Seen in the Air in Australia, Yet. Owned by Steve Death of Albury the Two Seat Trainer is Currently Being Re-wired by Dick Hourigan in Melbourne. The Aircraft Was Previously Owned by Hamish Brunton at Narromine, Nsw, but Has Long Been a Project Aircraft. With Usaf Serial 51-15202 It Was at One Stage With the Italian Air Force With Serial, Mm53652.
Contact Dave by Email at [email protected].