Warbirds

The Mustang — Last Heard of as Derelict in Greece in the Mid 1960s — is the Former Raaf Ca-17 Mk.20, A68-5. C/n 1330, Later to Become Vh-bvm Then G-arkd. It Turned Up on the Uk Civil Aircraft Register Recently as G-arkd.

Its History is Interesting: Assembled by Cac From Components Supplied by North American and Supplied to the Raaf in July 1945, It Did Not Do Much Air Time Before Being Struck Off Charge in January 1953. On January 30 of That Year It Was Registered as Vh-bvm to Raaf Flight Lieutenantt James Whiteman.

In July, He Flew the Mustang From Sydney to Auckland to Win the Then Trans-tasman Flight Record in of Three Hours 31 Minutes. Later Bought by Arnold Glass and His Firm Australian Aviation Investments of Sydney, the Machine Occasionally Was Flown From Bankstown From 1953-1961.

It Was Struck Off the Register on February 24, 1961 and the Same Day Placed on the Uk Register as G-arkd. Registered Owner Was Scottish Motor-racing Driver William Ronald (Ron) Flockhart of Edinburgh.

On February 28 the Mustang Left Sydney Bound for the Uk on an Australia-britain Speed Record Attempt. Crossing the World the Machine Ended Up in Athens. On March 4 the Record Attempt Was Abandoned When the Engine Overheated, Reportedly as a Result of Being Held on the Ground for Too Long, and a Head Gasket Blew.

It is Understood Ron Flockhart Went on to the Uk Where He Bought a Replacement Engine. The Aircraft Was Still at Athens on September 7 When, During the Engine Installation, a Serious Cockpit Fire Caused It to Be Abandoned. G-arkd Was Struck Off the Uk Register on November 21 1961 as ‘destroyed’.

In Later Years It Was Rumoured the Airframe Had Gone to a Local Tech College, Delta, but This Has Never Been Confirmed.

Ron Flockhart Died on April 12 1962 in the Crash of Cac Mustang G-aruk (Ex Vh-uwb) in the Dandenong Ranges, East of Melbourne. He Was Preparing for a Second Attempt on the Australia – Uk Record in the Replacement Mustang When He Lost Control in Poor Weather While Trying to Fly It From Moorabbin Airport, Melbourne to Bankstown, Sydney. He Was Only 39.
No Word Was Heard of the Aircraft for 50 Years Until June 6 This Year When a Cac Ca 18 Mk 22 Was Registered in the Uk as G-arkd. The Phoenix Had Arisen.

Registered Owner is the Classic Flying Machine Collection, Foundry House, Station Road, Foulsham, Dereham, England and Its Director is Philip G. Earthey. The Cfmc Has a Registered Address at Station Rd, Brundall, Norwich, Norfolk.

It is Interesting to Note That While the Uk Air Registration Board Has Accepted the New G-arkd as the Previous One, the First Registration Listing Was as a North American Corporation P-51 Series 20 With a C/n of a-68-5 (the Raaf Serial).

The New G-arkd is Listed as a Cac Ca 18 Mk 22 (Mustang P-51d) With the C/n of 1330 and a Build Date of 1950. But It Was Built in 1945 as a Mk 20.

The Story Continues. This May There Was a Request on a Warbird Forum From ‘yak 3‘ — New Owner Phil Earthey — Seeking a Source for a Blank Cac Data Plate as Used on a Cac-built Mustang.

He Also Was Looking for a Complete Cac Mustang Parts Catalogue, Apparently Unaware the Aircraft Was a North American-built One Supplied in Kit Form Then Assembled by Cac.

No Photos Are Available of How Much of G-arkd He Obtained but While He is Looking for Various Parts He is Not Seeking a Fuselage or Mainplanes, Giving Rise to the Possibility That Substantial Structure From G-arkd Has Been Recovered From Greece.

But One Well-placed Uk Warbirds Industry Observer Has Commented That He Would Be Surprised if More Than ‘a Pocketful’ of Mk.20 G-arkd Had Survived.

However, There’s More to the Story. On July 20 2006 a North American P-51d-na, C/n 122-38640, ‘ex-usaaf’,was Registered as G-cebw. The Registered Owner Was Dental Insurance Solutions, Run by — You’ve Guessed It — Philip Earthey, With the Same Brundall, Norwich Address.

This Mustang Was Usaaf Serial 44-71818, ‘sunny Viii’. It Crashed on Castleshaw Moor, Yorkshire, England on April 29, 1945 Killing the Pilot, First Lieutenant Harold H. Fredericks. A Member of 366th Fs, 4th Fighter Group, He Was Ferrying the Aircraft From Debden to Speke.

A Photo of the Wreckage Taken in 2002 Shows Only Shredded Wreckage, Giving Real Credence to the Thought That the Rebuild of G-cebw Will Be From the Maker’s Plate Upwards.

And Perhaps This Applies to Two Aircraft — if a Second Maker’s Plate Can Be Produced.

Grumman Mallard Import

Following From Our Exclusive in July’s Australian Aviation of the Import of a Grumman Mallard, More Details Are Now at Hand.

The Amphibious Aircraft, N611ds, is Being Imported by Peter Lynch’s Aviation Company Thrillionair for Business and Occasional Specialised Charter.

Mr Lynch is a Member of the Evans Head Memorial Aerodrome Heritage Aviation Association, a Not-for-profit Group That Promotes the Aviation Uses of the Aerodrome, on Nsw’s North Coast. He Also One of the Key Partners in Buying the Aerodrome and Developing It Into the Evans Head Airpark, Complete With Air Museum.

The Mallard Will Be Used to Promote the Airpark, the Consortium Having Come to an Agreement With Richmond Valley Council to Buy the Evans Head Aerodrome Outright —excluding an Area to Be Sold Off for a Retirement Village —- for the Development.

There Will Be at Least 70 Residential Airpark Lots. The Remaining Bellman Hangar Will Be Restored to Its Original Glory and Become the Site for the Aviation Heritage Centre and Museum — and the Museum Already Has Four Aircraft.

The Grumman G-73 Mallard, Powered by Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Series Radial Engines, is C/n J-35. Currently N611ds, It Will Become Vh-lyx When Registered in Australia.

The Machine Has Had a Long and Interesting History. Built in 1948 It Became Pk-akd for Battafsche Petroleum, Batavia, Trading as Asiatic Petroleum Co, New York and Operated by Royal Dutch Shell in the East Indies/indonesia.

Retired by Royal Shell in 1960 With 4,310 Airframe Hours, It Took Up the Marking P-2011 With the Indonesian Police Force/angkatan Kepolisian, Djakarta. In 1976 It Became N22df With Grumman Amphibian Dealer Dean H. Franklin, Miami, Florida.

It Went Back to the Us via Europe and the Atlantic. By Late 1977 the Aircraft Was With Art Haack at Ketchikan, Alaska and 1984 Saw Red Fox Charters of Miami as the Owner. It Stayed With Them Until 1988 When It Was Bought by Performance Aircraft of Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

In 1985 It Spent Most of the Year in Support of a Hotel Project at Palau, in the Philippines and in 1992 It Had a New Owner, Mk. Iv Aviation of Fort Lauderdale. Into 1993 and Mallard Aircraft Corporation of Wilmington, Delaware Was the Owner. The Registration Then Changed to N100br.

Don Simmonds of Abaco, Bahamas Became the Owner in 1998 and the Registration Changed to the Current N611ds. The Aircraft Stayed on the America Mainland, Flown Off Fresh Water and Hangared When Not Flying. The Aircraft Now Has Some 7150 Hours Total Time and as Such is One of the Lowest Time Mallards in Existence.

Peter Lynch Bought the Mallard in Northern Idaho. It Was Then Flown to Okmulgee, Oklahoma to Covington Aircraft Engines, Which Specialises in the Overhaul of Radial Engines.

The Initial Intent Was to Replace the Engines but It Was Then Decided to Overhaul Them and the Propellers. The Mallard Was Then Test Flown at Oklahoma Before Going South to Fort Lauderdale for Minor Maintenance and Avionics Work.

With Some Seats Removed to Lighten It for the Ferry Flight to Australia, It Was Then Flown Around Florida to Check Systems and Performance Followed by a Flight to Merced, California, Where It Was to Be Fitted Out With Extra Tankage and to Obtain an Export Certificate of Airworthiness.

At the Time of Writing, the Mallard is Understood to Be Almost Ready for the Trans-pacific Flight.

There May Be Three Turbine Powered Mallards at Darwin but the Arrival This of Radial-engined Grumman Mallard Will Be of Interest to All With an Ear and Eye for a True Waterbird Classic.

Queen’s Birthday Honours Awards

The June Queen’s Birthday Honours Lists Carried a Number of Aviation-related Awards Military and Civil. One Relating to the Australian Historical Aviation Scene is That of the Order of Australia Medal to Queensland Aviation Museum Vice President Ronald J. Cuskelly.

Ron Has Had a Lifelong Commitment to Aviation and Worked With Qantas for 32 Years. In 1971 He Joined the Aviation Historical Society of Australia. He Also Was Involved in the Formation of the Queensland Air Museum, Now Established at Caloundra, Queensland.

He Became Its President in 1989 and in 1996 Stepped Down to Become Vice President.

Ron Has a Special Interest in Lockheed Aircraft in Australia and Assisted in Obtaining the Lockheed Constellation for the Historical Aircraft Research Society as Well as the Recovery of the Boeing 707 for the Qantas Founders Outback Museum at Longreach.

In His Many Years of Research and Involvement He Has Enhanced the Knowledge and Preservation of Aviation History in Australia. Ron’s Oam is Well Deserved.

Register Notes

In New Zealand Classic Cessna 170b, N4400b, C/n 26744, Has Been Imported and Registered as Zk-sjk to Mr. J. Kelly of Richmond on May 1.

Ryan St-a, Vh-uvq, C/n 132, Has Been Struck Off the Register on June 6 as Having Been Exported to France. It Was Last Owned by Lyn Zuccoli at Toowoomba, Qld.

Grumman Tbm-3e Avenger, Vh-vtb, Had a Change of Ownership to Round Engines P/l at Toowoomba, Qld. On June 20.
Cac Ca-27 Mk.32 Sabre, Vh-sbr, Has Had a Change of Serial Number From A94-974 to A94-352. The Owner is Still Jeff Trappett at Morwell, Vic. The Aircraft is Close to Flying. Sabre A94-974 is Held in the Classic Jets Fighter Museum at Parafield, South Australia.

An Interesting New Registration is Convair C-131f Vh-eaq, C/n 308, Registered on June 28 to Gregory Ackman of Camden. On July 2 There Was a Change of Operator to Hars of Albion Park. It is Understood That American Registration N340cv Was Allocated but Not Taken Up. The Aircraft Previously Was Bu.141025. With the Us Navy. The Aircraft Has Been Restored to Airworthy Status by Hars Personnel at Tucson, Arizona.

Vale: Don Charlewood

Wartime Bomber Navigator Air Traffic Controller, Atc Trainer, Writer. Donald (Don) Ernest Charlewood Was All These. He Died on June 18 Aged 96.

During Ww11 Don Mustered for an Raaf Aircrew Position, Became a Navigator and Was Eventually Posted to Britain, Where He Flew in Wellington and Later Halifax Bombers With the Raf’s No 103 Squadron, Elsham Wolds, North Lincolnshire.

After the War He Joined the Then Department of Civil Aviation, Initially as an Air Traffic Controller and Later as a Trainer. He Continued His Pre-war Writing and Wrote the Famed Book No Moon Tonight, About His Wartime Experiences.

He Wrote Several Others but His Most Well Known Was Take-off to Touchdown, the Story of Air Traffic Control in Australia.

In 1992, Don Was Made a Member of the Order of Australia for His Services to Literature.

Shuttleworth Dh53 Humming Bird Accident

It is Unfortunate to Record the Fatal Crash of the Dh53 Humming Bird, G-ebhx, of the Shuttleworth Collection at Old Warden Aerodrome, Bedfordshire, Uk, on June 1.

The Aircraft Had Been on a Short Local Morning Flight and Was Making an Approach to Land When the Engine Apparently Faltered and the Aircraft Hit the Ground, Killing Pilot Trevor Roach. More Than 600 Spectators Were Looking on. The Airshow Was Abandoned.

Mr. Roach Was Chief Pilot for the Shuttleworth Collection and Had Been Flying With the Organisation Since 1995. A Former Raf Tornado Pilot in the First Gulf War, He Later Flew British Airways Boeing 767s and 777s.

The Dh53 Was Built in 1923, One of 15 of the Type Built for Trials. It Was Powered by a Blackburn Tomtit Two-cylinder, Four-stroke Engine of 670cc 19 Kw (26 Hp). With Its Blue Fuselage and Silver Wings and Tailplane, the Single-seat Aircraft Was a Tribute to the Early Post Wwi Years of Aviation Development.

Many Australians Have Visited the Shuttleworth Collection Over the Years and Have Seen the Aircraft Flying. Three Dh53s Came to Australia.

In Brief

● New Council, New Agenda for Dc-2 at Albury — This Could Be the Situation With a Final Decision on the Fate of the Dc-2 Uiver Replica Rebuild at Albury After a Move to Delay Its Sale Was Successful in the Lead-up to the September Council Elections.

The Council Had Called for Expressions of Interest for Its Sale in March but the Process Was Put on the Back Burner in Late June Pending an Independent Assessment of the Aircraft. A Local Heritage Consultant Had Submitted a Request for Assessment of Its Historical Significance.

During Discussions, It Also Was Revealed That Plans to Relocate the Camden Aviation Museum at Albury Had Collapsed.

● Raaf Base Wagga is to Be the Home of F-111c, A8-142. The Aircraft, a Veteran of 37 Years Service With the Raaf,was Moved by Road From Raaf Amberley on June 12, Arriving at Wagga on June 14. The Aircraft Flew More Than 7,000 Hours. The F-111 Fleet Was Retired in 2010. It Will Become a Gate Guardian, Joining Several Other Former Raaf Aircraft Already on Display.

● With the Death of Queensland Warbird Aircraft Collector Steve Searle, His Collection and Proposed Aircraft Acquisitions Are Slowly Being Dispersed. In the Us, Courtesy Aircraft Sales Has Two Aircraft for Sale Said to Be Owned by or Being Obtained by Mr Searle.

North American B-25j, Later a Tb-25n, N25na (Ex 44-86725) ‘super Rabbit’ is for Sale — Make an Offer. Photos Show the Aircraft With the Wings Off. The Aircraft is for Sale in an as-is, Where-is Basis.

Lodestar L-18 N6166 Also is Being Sold via Courtesy Also as-is, Where-is. Douglas A20j, N3wf, Was Said to Being Going to the Searle Collection in 2007 but by 2011 Was Said to Be Owned by Us Collector Rod Lewis and Being Restored to Ww11 Configuration.

Contact Dave by Email at [email protected]