Warbirds

The Warbirds Downunder show is being billed as using all of the collection and more than a few outside aircraft. For warbird enthusiasts this will be the show to visit and to take home a few memories and a few good photos.

Already accommodation is being filled fast at Temora and nearby towns, so for those planning to attend now could be a good time to start preparations.

Tiger Moth race is all go

Following the note in the June edition of AA regarding a possible DH. 82a Tiger Moth race, organising committee chairman Richard Brougham has advised that, yes, the race is on.

The race is to be held on April 25 and 26 2014. Day one will be a departure from Maitland, home of the Royal Newcastle Aero Club (RNAC) to Camden via Sydney Harbour for the traditional memorial flypast. The intent is to make the flypast a part of the Sydney ANZAC Day activities. The first actual race leg will be the Camden – Maitland return that afternoon.

Day two, Leg 2 of the race will be Maitland-Port Macquarie and following a refuel/lunch Leg 3 will be Port Macquarie to overhead the finish line at Maitland but landing at Luskintyre. That night the presentation dinner will be held at Luskintyre.

In previous races there used to be an airshow held at Maitland as part of the post race activities to which the general public was invited to attend. This did not happen after the last race and there was some disappointment expressed by the public. To avoid creating a lot of issues and problems the RNAC is arranging a fly-in instead. During the weekend the Auster owners group of the Antique Aeroplane Association will be holding its annual fly-in at Luskintyre. This combined with the Tiger Moth race will make the air race weekend an event to attend. The recent successful fly-in of the AAAA at Echuca confirmed that a fly-in can have as much attraction as an organised airshow.

Aviators fly on

Terry Mulholland passed away on June 1 at Kyabram, Victoria. Terry was a flight instructor who organised the Tasmanian Skyraces held at Valleyfield, south of Launceston, in the mid-90s. He later went on to operate a floatplane service at Port Arthur.

Colin (Col) Griffin was a WW2 pilot who continued flying until he was in his 90s and in his own aircraft, a Vans RV-6, VH-EMG. During WW2 Colin was a pilot in Australian Squadron No. 456 in the UK flying Mosquito fighters on ranger patrols over Germany.

Following the war he was an airline pilot with Australian National Airlines and later Ansett-ANA until his retirement. He passed away at Kyneton, Victoria on June 3 aged 93.

James (Jim) Norman Spark passed away on November 29 2012 at Kyneton, Victoria. Jim became the founding director of the National Aviation Space Academy (NASA), the first live-in full-time flight training college in Australia. For training he devised a more advanced simulator than the ex-air force Link trainer still in use in the 1960s. Later Jim went to New Zealand with Massey Aviation before returning to Australia.

In the June 2013 Queen’s Birthday honours list James Spark was posthumously awarded the OAM for services to aviation training.

Commemorative move plans

From the US we learn that the Commemorative Air Force is planning to move from its current HQ at Midland, Texas to another base airport, but closer to a major city.

Previously known as the Confederate Air Force or CAF, the organisation is dedicated to the preservation and flying of warbirds, typically American WW2 types.

The CAF is keen to have a facility that will enable year-round operations and with a large metropolitan population will see increased tourism.

While the CAF is planning to move to a large city for its national HQ, the site at Midland, Texas will be maintained with plans to improve the CAF Airpower Museum. The annual Midland/Odessa CAF Airshow will still be conducted by the CAF.

Register update

New on the New Zealand register is Boeing A75N Stearman ZK-PJS. Ex- US registration, N245TF, the biplane, serial 75-4245, was registered on May 8 to Peter Sundberg of Papakura. Also new for NZ is ZK-ZKF a DH. 104 Devon C. 1 c/n 04312. It was registered to Milford Breaton of Fielding on May 31. It is ex-RNZAF NZ1805. The aircraft has been stored at Woodbourne for a number of years where it was a RNZAF Tech School Instructional airframe.

The Australian register has seen a few interesting movements in recent times.

Stampe VH-ZSV, an SV-4B c/n 38, was put on the register on May 22 to Tomislav Filipcevic of Hamilton East, NSW. Originally built for the French air force in 1950 the biplane is understood to have come from Ontario, Canada where it carried registration C-GOCK.

Former RAAF trainer CT-4A VH-CTU was taken off the register on May 6. With serial 36 it is to be used as a static laboratory airframe with RMIT University. The aircraft carried the serial A19-036 when in Air Force service and ZK-DZY when ferried from New Zealand.

A correction to the last Warbirds column, Ryan ST-M/2 VH-AGW, not VH-AGM, was transferred to Walker Trusco Pty Ltd on April 17.

Stampe SV-4B, c/n 163 and registration VH-BVU changed ownership to Kevin Bailey of Mundijong, WA on April 30. The biplane was noted at the AAAA Echuca fly-in of April 12/13 on its way to WA.

Luscombe 8E, VH-CAI, c/n 5339, is recorded as going to Mark Clayton of Redwood, Queensland on April 29.

Museum news

The Moorabbin Air Museum has acquired the prototype DH. 114 Heron. The type made its first flight on May 10 1950. The first 51 aircraft had a fixed undercarriage with a castoring nose wheel, though later aircraft had retractable undercarriage. The Heron was a development of the DH. 104 Dove twin-engined feeder liner.

Over the years the prototype aircraft acquired a number of operators and registrations. It first carried G-ALZL then LN-BDH before resuming G-ALZL, in the UK. Later to go to the continent where it flew as OY-DGS before coming to Australia to take up registration VH-CJS with Altair. It later flew with Coveair in South Australia and finally with Amalgamated Air in WA. It made its last flight at night on a three-engined hop from Perth airport to Jandakot on May 21 1976.

Slated to go into the planned Aviation Heritage Museum of WA it was dismantled and stored, the last time with the RAAFA WA Museum at Bull Creek. Recently it was purchased by the Victoria-based Airliner Museum of Australia and was trucked to Victoria. The Heron was to be the first actual aircraft in its collection. The founder of the museum reportedly died and the aircraft passed to the Moorabbin Air Museum, arriving there in the last days of May. It is now stored, dismantled, in the museum’s new storage compound next to the display museum. The Narromine Aviation Museum has received a grant of $210,000 from the federal government, the result of some five years of applying for funds, allowing the museum to be expanded.

New exhibits will include the achievements of Nancy-Bird Walton and the only Aboriginal pilot to serve in the RAAF during WW2, Les Waters. The display improvements will see the Corben Baby Ace and the Venture Glider better displayed as well as the Wright Flyer replica. A coffee shop, retail area and enhanced conference facilities will also be part of the expansion program.

Rathmines Catalina update

Following on from news in the June edition regarding the acquisition of a new Catalina for the Rathmines Catalina Memorial Park Trust (RCMPT), it is now possible to give an update on progress.

The Park Trust Team is back at San Juan, Puerto Rico and already has made good progress in dismantling the aircraft for shipping to Australia. By early May the rudder had been removed and the tail section made ready for separation from the rest of the fuselage.

Progress has already been made to remove the two engines from the wing. It was planned to have the wing removed by mid-June, as due to heavy rain and with the Cat out in the open, work has been delayed. The recovery team has been surprised at the local interest and have received offers of help, both labour and machinery, from companies within the airport complex at San Juan Airport.

The Catalina, a model PBY-5A, currently carries the registration marks N7238Z.

Blood, sweat and valour A new book has been released by Brisbane author and 41 Squadron historian Steve Brew about Australian flying with the RAF during WW2. Entitled Blood, Sweat and Valour the book is the first published history of 41 Squadron and covers its history between August 1942 and May 1945.

The squadron was involved in the Battle of Britain and later in the war flying Spitfires, and was moved forward with the invasion of German-occupied Europe. Ten per cent of the pilots were Australian. By the end of the war the squadron had destroyed 200 enemy aircraft and 53 V-I ‘Doodle Bugs’.

The book is from publisher Fonthill Media.

Warbird Briefs

The Folland T. 1 Gnat at Essendon airport, VH-XSO, is being worked on to get it into the air again. The two-seater jet, previously XS101 with the RAF Red Arrows Aerobatic Team, has been in Australia for several years but has not flown here as yet.

Randall McFarlane is selling his Douglas A-26C Invader and Focke Wulf 149D. The Invader is an ex-Canadian firebomber and was brought to Australia some few years ago. It currently carries the registration VH-VNI and was previously 44-35898, N3328G and C-FPGP before it came to Australia in 2006. It was registered as VH-VNI in 2008. Randall is also selling his Focke Wulf P. 149D utility aircraft, VH-FWS. Randall has cited ill health as the reason for bowing out of flying warbirds. He has recently sold his Spitfire project and a Cessna O-1G, VH-XVB, is no longer under his name. The Invader is located at Archerfield, Queensland.

Beech F17D VH-AME is back in the air. The Staggerwing departed Moorabbin on May 25 after extended repair work as a result of an accident at Jamestown in December 2008. The aircraft is owned by Geoff Davis who also owns Avro Avians VH-UQE and VH-UVX, Curtiss Robin VH-JUV and Stampe VH-LFO.