Warbrids

The aircraft is reported to have made a rapid descent resulting in a heavy landing and gear collapse. The aircraft suffered a destroyed propeller plus fuselage, engine and undercarriage damage. The aircraft, a Supermarine Spitfire Tr. Mk.9, ZK-WDQ, was only recently rebuilt following earlier accident damage.

The Spitfire, carrying serial MH367 and the code letters A – FL, that was at one stage destined for Australia, was due to go to the Wings over Wairarapa Airshow the next weekend.

The aircraft was imported from the USA in 2008. It had an incident described as a heavy landing on 15 January 2009. On 3 December it had another incident, this time at Ardmore. In all events no one was injured. It has been said that the undercarriage on the Spitfire does not make for easy landings as the above reports show.

Ww11 Japanese Pilot Revisits Australia

Ironic connections. That is the best way to describe the February visit to Sydney by Ito Susumu. Ito was the Japanese Navy pilot of the Yokosuka E14Y ‘Glen’ floatplane that made a reconnaissance flight over Sydney Harbour on the night of 29 may 1942.

The flight was to gather intelligence that culminated in the attack on Sydney Harbour the next day by three midget submarines. All three submarines were subsequently lost, the last being found in 2006. The submarine attack resulted in the sinking of only a depot ship. The floatplane returned to the mother submarine, a type B-1, serial I-21, but during the night landing on rough water the machine was damaged and later sunk. Pilot Susumu was rescued and survived the war.

When the Glen floatplane was making its way around Sydney harbour a raw army recruit by the name of Phil Dulhunty was at the Georges Heights Anti-Aircraft battery and like everyone else mistook Ito’s floatplane for an American aircraft off one of the warships in port.

After the war Phil Dulhunty became a floatplane pilot and went on to start the Seaplane Pilots Association of Australia (SPAA) of which today he is chairman.

In 1994 Phil and a team of divers found the remains of the Glen floatplane on the ocean floor off Norah Head

In recent years Phil has managed to track Ito down and found that even after all this time he was still alive. They have become good friends and Ito has become an Honorary Life Member of the SPAA. Ito Susumu is aged 96 and Phil Dulhunty 87. Both are still working. The thread of life sometimes has some amazing connections.

B-17 Fortress Lost To Fire

While the world at large is trying to restore and preserve historic aircraft it comes as a bit of a disappointment to record that a Boeing B-17 was lost due to fire on 13 June.

The B-17G Flying Fortress, N390TH, known as ‘Liberty Belle’ had just taken off from Aurora Municipal Airport, Aurora, Illinois, bound for Indianapolis. Six minutes after takeoff a fire was detected in the port inner engine. The engine was feathered and shut down and the B-17 made an emergency landing in a cornfield at Oswego. Although the fire bottles were discharged the engine fire became uncontrollable. The crew and passengers, seven in number, exited the aircraft on the ground. Fire crews from nearby towns tried to put the fire out but were hampered by muddy conditions on the field and did not get to the aircraft in time to prevent it being burnt out. The cause of the fire is unknown at this time.
There are only about 50 B-17s still in existence with some 15 flyable.

Ansett Airlines Memorabilia To Museum

The Australian National Aviation Museum, a.k.a. the Moorabbin Air Museum (MAM) is the recipient of several aircraft engines and a mass of records from the final 30 June windup and liquidation of Ansett Airlines.

The engines include two Rolls Royce Dart turbo props, one sectioned. A Pratt and Whitney R-2000 Twin Wasp radial engine and a Bristol Hercules sleeve valved radial engine plus two Lycoming ALF502 turbofan engines. This type powered the BAe 146 passenger airliner.

It is reported that the Ansett Museum at Hamilton, Victoria, has been gifted a Wright Whirlwind radial engine of the type that was used in the Fokker Universal that was the type that the airline commenced using on its operations. A restored Universal is on display at the Hamilton museum.
In recent times the MAM has obtained the fuselage of an Optica surveillance aircraft. The Optica was a British built aircraft but was not a notable success. One Optica is one the Australian civil aircraft register. That aircraft, an Optica series 2000, VH-BMC, c/n 018, has a NSW address. The fuselage was not unlike a helicopter in that it was a large bubble that could seat 3-4 people. The engine was a pusher and two booms were supported from the wings. The Optica fuselage will be restored as a display and open cockpit display item at the museum.

Reforms To Disposal Of Military Equipment

In July the Minister for Defence Materiel Jason Clare announced that there were to be reforms to the disposal of military equipment. In making the announcement the Minister said that Australia was about to undertake the biggest disposal of military equipment since World War II. Included in the planned disposals are to be up to 70 combat aircraft, up to up to 110 other aircraft plus up to 120 helicopters.

The announcement noted that in the period of 1997 to date the British Government had generated about $1 billion AUD from their military equipment disposals while for the same period the disposal of surplus Australian military equipment had cost around $20 million. Historically significant pieces of military equipment will still be made available to the Australian War Memorial, RSLs and other historical organisations for preservation.

Even before the announcement the Minister had stated that Westland Sea King helicopter, serial N16-118, Shark 07, was to be preserved at the Fleet Air Arm Museum at Nowra given the significant role that the Sea King had played in naval Aviation over the last 36 years.

The Sea King entered Royal Australian Navy service in 1975. Twelve aircraft have been taken into service.

Shark 07 was chosen because it has the most operational history of all Sea King helicopters, including service in the Middle East and East Timor.

The Sea King will be withdrawn from RAN service in December 2011.

Catalina Association Disbands

The 11th June saw a last gathering of members of the NSW Catalina Association with a last gathering of members at Albion Park, Wollongong, NSW. Like so many other similar organisations that were formed from the ranks of former WWII comrade’s member numbers are decreasing as the years go by to the extent that they are no longer able to continue as a collective body. The NSW Catalina Association formally closed on 30th June. The members at the Wollongong gathering were treated to an inspection of the HARS Catalina, VH-PBZ, and saw it taxi by, radial engines ticking over, just like their black cats did during the war. Lest we forget.

In Brief

● The Queensland Air Museum, located at Caloundra Airport, has acquired and restored a 1953 LIM 2 (Mig-15) jet fighter trainer, a significant aircraft that was the feared symbol of the Korean air war. The aircraft was formally placed on display on 23 July at the Museum.

The QAM runs an annual open cockpit weekend when visitors can sit in the cockpits of many of the museums aircraft and no doubt sitting in the cockpit of the Mig for a photo will be a highlight for many. This year the open cockpit weekend was on 2/3 July.

● In the new aircraft game a Cessna 120 is being imported by Victorian, Mike Dalton. The aircraft is N1993V, a 1947 built machine with c/n 14204. Powered by a Continental C85 engine the machine was removed from the US register on 23 May. It is reported that the aircraft is to go on the RA register. It was last owned in Texas.

From New Zealand we hear that Boeing A75N1 Stearman, N52629, has been imported and placed on the Kiwi register as ZK-KJO. With serial 75-2100 the biplane was registered to Classic Aircraft Sales of Blenheim.

Also in New Zealand Curtiss P-40C ZK-TWK, serial AK295, was removed from the register on 16 May as exported, to the USA.

● In July the Minister for Defence Science and Personnel, Warren Snowdon, congratulated 11 veterans of the Korean War who were awarded the United States Air Medal for service in Korea. The medals were awarded to the 11 veterans, from the Royal Australian Air Force’s Number 77 Squadron, who flew in support of the 5th United States Air Force during the Korean War. Authorised by President Roosevelt in 1942 the US Air Medal is awarded to any person who, while serving in any capacity in or with the armed forces of the United States, shall have distinguished himself by meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight.

● The Narromine Mosquito Restoration Project (NMRP) is gearing up to restore a Mosquito aircraft and display it at Narromine. To date the NMRP group has collected an engine test stand, main undercarriage and a Rolls Royce Merlin 25 series engine. These items have been on display at the HARS collection at Albion Park, Wollongong. Mosquito aircraft were based at Narromine during the later stages of World war II with many ending their flying days there. After being sold off as surplus the aircraft were sold to local farmers and broken up for parts at the airport. Now the NMRP is keen to hear from local farmers to obtain any and all Mosquito parts to help in the restoration project.

Contact Dave by email at [email protected]