Warbirds

Some 12,000 spectators enjoyed the show in warm sunshine and a tad of wind. A unique feature for spectators at the TAM Airshow was being able to purchase tickets on line and thus avoid having to queue to buy an entrance ticket.

There was a good mix of Temora Aviation Museum (TAM) aircraft, RAAF aircraft and a number of non-TAM civil owned warbirds.

The airshow gave the spectators what they wanted to see, warbirds in the air and on the ground. With around 50 display aircraft the show had in the air a Spitfire, Mustang, Boomerang, two Kittyhawks, a Hawker Sea Fury, five T-28 Trojans, four Harvards plus numbers of Winjeels, CT4s, Hudson, Birdogs, the HARS Connie, and jets in the form of the Meteor and Sabre. It was a show not to be missed! The show was the first real public display for the Moree based Sea Fury and the newly arrived N-A T-28A model Trojan.

Other aircraft noted were a Wirrway, Avro Cadet, Tiger Moth, Auster Mk.111, Ryan STM and PT-22, Boeing Stearman, Cessna 0-2, Iroquois, Cessna A-37B and a pair of classic high wing Cessna 195 monoplanes. A good selection of Australian warbird types. There was an interesting and large collection of visiting aircraft in the aircraft park on the western side of the main runway.

During the airshow there were gaggles of Trojans, Harvards, piston engined fighters and piston fighters mixing it with jet fighters flying past the main spectator area. Photographers had a field day.

The Warbirds Downunder Airshow at Temora was clearly a winner!

Interestingly enough the Temora Warbirds gathering was probably the biggest since the Warbirds over Scone event held in 1984. None of the aircraft displayed at Scone were displayed at Temora.

TAM officials have indicated that the event was a success but that no date has yet been set for the next Warbirds Downunder Airshow at Temora.

The twice-a-month Aircraft Showcase events will continue. Check the TAM website for details. The Showcase events have a selection of TAM aircraft in the air, often accompanied by other non-TAM aircraft.

Another Wartime Raaf Spitfire Wreck Found

The wreckage of another RAAF WWII Spitfire and its pilot has been found in northern France. The remains were found buried under some 5 metres of soil having dived into the ground at high speed near the village of Hardifort. The wreck was found by a film crew in October while they were searching for a Czech aircraft when they came across the Spitfire wreckage. The remains of the pilot, RAAAF Sergeant William James Smith were found in the cockpit. Sergeant W.J. Smith was identified from his identity disc that carried the service number 400942. Sgt. Smith’s Spitfire Vb, serial BM180, was apparently shot down by a Messerschmitt Bf109 during a dog fight on May 9, 1942. He was with 457 RAAF Squadron.

WWII German combat records credit German fighter ace Obit Josef Hailbock of JG26 with the kill. Less than a month after Sgt. Smith was lost 457 Squadron returned to Australia where it was involved in the defence of Darwin.

Sergeant Smith will be buried in April at the Commonwealth War Cemetery at Arneke, France. His name is on the Runnymeade Memorial at Surrey. The memorial is dedicated to those British and Commonwealth airmen who vanished without trace during the Second World War.

The wreckage of the aircraft will be delivered to Le Coupole, a former rocket base turned war museum in the nearby town of Saint Omer.

Last year the remains of another Australian pilot, Flight-Lieutenant Henry ‘Lacy’ Smith were found in the wreckage of his Spitfire in Normandy’s Orme River.

Scrapped F-111 Aircraft Buried As Landfill

Disposing of the now surplus F111 fleet was always going to be a problem. The US Government wanted a say in the disposal of the aircraft and there were potential problems with breaking up the aircraft due to various possible structural materials that are classed as contaminants. A number of F111 aircraft have already been delivered to select Defence locations around Australia to be displayed. Two F111s are held for public display at the RAAF Museum at Point Cook. Seven aircraft have been held with a decision on what organisations they will be permanently loaned to be made in 2012.

At Evans Head, NSW, Richmond Valley Council and Evans Head Airpark P/L plan to establish an airpark at the heritage listed Evans Head Memorial Aerodrome and intend to put in an application to obtain one of the surplus F-111s for preservation and public display there. The F-111, when is RAAF service, operated on the nearby Evans Head bombing range from the 1960s until 2010. It is felt that the F-111 has a strong attachment to the Evans Head area.

The rest of the fleet to be disposed of presented a problem. During 2011 the remaining aircraft were dismantled with the wings and tailplanes being removed. The fuselage hulks were then buried at Ipswich as landfill. In the past most former defence aircraft have been broken up and parted out as scrap metal. In this case it was decided that a risk to health may occur so the decision was taken to bury the surplus aircraft. Photographs show the fuselage hulks being covered with earth by a bulldozer.

The reported listing of F111s buried as landfill at Ipswich, Queensland in November are as follows; F-111C aircraft, A8-112, -114, -131, -135, -140, -143, -144, -145 and -146. Nine aircraft. F-111G aircraft, A8-259, -264, -265, -270, -271, – 274, -277, -278, – 281, – 282, – 506, -512, and -514 Thirteen aircraft plus F-111A 63-9768. This aircraft was the 3rd pre-production aircraft and was shipped to Australia in 1965 for use as a ground training aid. One aircraft. A total of 23 aircraft in all.

Manufacturing New German Ww1 Rotary Engines

From New Zealand comes amazing news of a firm that has actually manufactured not one but two copies of a German WW1 aero engine, and a rotary engine at that!

The firm is the Vintage Aviator Ltd. Based at Wellington and at Hood Aerodrome at Masterton the firm is approved by the NZ CAA to manufacture aircraft and engines from the 1914-1918 period. Using CNC and CAD technology the firm is capable of not only making copies of WW1 aircraft and their many components but also aero engines.

A recent first is that of manufacturing a German Oberursel UR.2 rotary engine. This was the sort of engine that powered the famed Fokker DR.1 triplane. The Vintage Aviator (VA) managed to obtain a disassembled UR.2 engine but with no owners manual or drawings it was somewhat in the dark. Then it was found that the engine was based on the LeRhone 110 rotary engine for which there was at least partial plans. In all the Oberursel engine has 1209 parts not including the accessories (oil pump, carburettor and magneto). The VA then set about obtaining the correct metal and cutting it to the desired shape using CNC and CAD capability. Manufacturing an engine like this was no mean feat but two engines have now been built and run. One engine, at last count, had run more than 10 hours ground running time and was then stripped down to check for wear and correct assembly and tolerances.

When the VA is comfortable with the newly manufactured Oberursel rotary engine it will be used in a reproduction WW1 German aircraft. Given that most WW1 aircraft were make from wood and covered in fabric the construction process will be fairly straight forward and using the knowledge gained over the years since WW1 to enhance safety in the new aircraft.

One has to be amazed at a New Zealand firm manufacturing not one but two new-build WW1 German rotary engines. Something that only a few years ago would have been unthinkable.

The future and what next the Vintage Aviator firm will manufacture is to be seen but it promises to be very interesting.

Register News

A bit of interesting Australian news this month. We have had Canadian and British built DHC-1 Chipmunks in Australia but now a Portuguese built OGMA built aircraft has graced our shores. The aircraft, a DHC-1 Mk.22, serial OGMA43, was registered to Thomas Russell of Hawthorn East, Melbourne, on November 21. It was built in 1956 and went to the Portuguese Air Force as FAP1353. When sold off as surplus it became CS-DAC. Later it went to the UK where it became G-BYYW then to Canada as C-GDWF. Now it is VH-BGM.

A 1941 antique in the form of a high wing two seat Porterfield LP-65 was registered to Robert Glenn of Canowindra, NSW on November 28 as VH-POF. With serial 953 the aircraft was previously N37733 with Don Bishop of Bowie, Texas, it is powered by a 65 hp Lycoming 0-145 engine. Maybe it is cheaper to get two aircraft into one sea container and so Robert Glenn has registered a second antique, a Taylorcraft BL-65, c/n 2782, on November 29 as VH-TZK.

This machine, which looks like a two seat Auster but with a flat four Lycoming 0-145B 65 hp engine, was previously N33932. The 1941 T-craft was last owned by Guy Baker of Onalaska, Texas, USA.

A former Swiss Air Force (SAF) trainer in the form of a Pilatus P3-03 has arrived in Australia. The aircraft VH-YYN, serial 472-21, was added to the register on November 25 to Robert Sheehan of Camden, NSW. Powered by a Lycoming GO-435 engine of 240 hp the aircraft was previously A-834 with the SAF and later N834RD. Built in 1958 the machine is reported to have come from Charlotte in North Carolina in the US. The Pilatus P3 was later developed into the turbine powered PC9 that is in current RAAF service.

The strong Australian dollar and the poor American economy have resulted in a number of purchases from the US of late of both antique aircraft as well as more modern GA types.

Another import is Yak-18T VH-YHA. The Yak, serial 05-36, was added to the register on November 20 to Richard Maguire of Lennox Head, NSW. It was previously Hungarian registration HA-YAG but had been noted at White Waltham aerodrome in the UK in recent years.

The two former RAAF DHC-4 Caribou transports, A4-210 and A4-234 have been registered to the Historic Aircraft Restoration Society (HARS) at Albion Park, NSW, as VH-VBA and VH-VBB, on November 8.

For twin radial enthusiasts a Beech G18-S has come onto the register. The 1960 build aircraft VH-NWB, serial BA-548, was added on November 22 to Neville Pringle of Condell Park, NSW. It is understood that the aircraft is owned by a syndicate and will be based at Wedderburn, south of Sydney. The aircraft was last registered as N181WB to Wild Blue Yonder of Goldsby, Okalahoma, USA.

From New Zealand we learn that Cessna A-37B, ZK-JTL, is up for sale and may be go overseas.

In Brief

Former civilian Mustang pilot, Brian Wetless, passed away on December 2.

Brian was well known as a professional Sydney flight instructor. He was also known as the owner of a Messerschmitt Bf109 that he later sold to Sid Marshal. Brian was also known as the pilot who flew civil registered Mustangs when this type of aircraft was being used for aerial work operations in the NSW area.

Contact Dave by email at [email protected]