Warbirds

“It is a unique and enjoyable experience to fly this authentic reproduction and experience what flying was like 100 years ago,” Andrew Carter, who was at the controls of the Fokker’s first flight, tells Warbirds.

“The Gnome rotary is a magnificent engine, with a simplefuel lever for control, which you set immediately after its starts. The fuel tank needs to be pressurised and I have a hand pump on the right hand side to do this. Prime it to about 1. 5 psi before start-up, ensure it is at one psi before takeoff and pump on downwind and again on base. If you pump too much pressure in, you need to lean the mixture with the fuel lever on the left side. Reports from WW1 claim it needed to be done at least eight times per hour. ” Continues Andrew: “Turning with the wing warping is incredibly effective. Very little pressure on the stick and rudder gives a nicely balanced turn. Blipping the ignition switch on and off is the only way to control speed on descent. ” The aircraft was on display as a non-flying exhibit at the recent Avalon Airshow.

Mustang for Moorabbin?

The Australian National Aviation Museum at Moorabbin Airport has launched a fund-raising campaign to purchase the oldest CAC-built Mustang in Australia. The aircraft, VH-VID, has been in covered storage in rural Victoria for some years and the owner has now elected to sell the machine.

The museum has been given the opportunity to obtain the Mustang and is now seeking to raise $350,000 to secure its purchase.

Built in 1946, the Mustang is a CAC CA-17 Mk 20, previously A68-71 with the RAAF. It was used as an instructional airframe by the RAAF from 1949 until sold off to the Perth Technical College at Midland. There it stayed until 1972 when it was donated to the Air Force Association of WA. In 1984 it was sold to Derek Macphail. On November 15 2002 it was registered as VH-VID (51D!). At first in WA and later Victoria, the Mustang has been under slow restoration.

The Mustang would be a significant addition to the Australian National Aviation Museum’s collection of Australian-designed or built aircraft.

Already the Mustang car club has donated some funds towards the purchase! Other donations are welcome. The museum’s website – www. aarg. com. au – gives more details.

Airworld hangar sold

The hangar site of the former Airworld Air Museum at Wangaratta Aerodrome in central Victoria was sold at auction on April 11. The winning bidder was Doug Hamilton of nearby Whorouly South who placed the winning bid. Doug is having a P-40 built up in the complex.

It is reported that there were two other prime bidders, one a well-known warbird rebuilder and the other an electrical component builder.

Tom Scott, step-son of Murray Griffith, will continue to operate the site as a warbird rebuild shop, although it has been reported that several rebuild projects carried out at Wangaratta will now be sent to New Zealand for final fitting out. Wangaratta has been a good location for metal work for rebuild projects but the cost of labour makes New Zealand a more attractive option for the final fitting out and electrical wiring work.

The hangar was built in 1984 to be the home of the aircraft of the Drage Historical Aircraft Museum. The Drage collection had to move as its site at Wodonga was being prepared for development. The City of Wangaratta boughtthe collection and had it moved to Wangaratta. The intent was to create a tourist attraction that would bring visitors to Wangaratta. Unfortunately the museum was not quite the success first envisaged and it closed its doors in 2002. The museum’s aircraft were sold off in two lots and many were sold to owners who have returned them to flying standard again.

The hangar then became a centre of warbird rebuilding when Murray Griffith moved his firm Precision Aerospace into the huge building to commence rebuilding warbird aircraft including a number obtained from the Pacific Islands. Murray passed away in late 2011 but the warbird rebuilding has continued since that time.

Chinook for RAAF Museum

An ex RAAF and Australian Army Boeing CH-47 Chinook heavylift helicopter has become the RAAF Museum’s latest exhibit, arriving at Point Cook on April 20.

The twin rotor helicopter, A15‑106, was built for the RAAF as a CH-47C (USAF serial 73-21975) and was delivered in March 1974. It was operated by 12 Squadron from Amberley until the RAAF handed over rotary-wing operations to the Army and all 12 CH-47Cs were placed in storage as a budget saving measure.

Then in September 1993 A15‑106 was shipped back to the US where it and three other ex RAAF machines were upgraded to CH-47D standard before returning to Australia to be operated by Army’s 5 Aviation Regiment from Townsville.

Now that the Army’s CH-47Ds are being replaced by new-build CH-47F ‘Foxtrot’ Chinooks (see Rotor Torque elsewhere this issue) disposal of the D-models is now underway, allowing one to beallocated to the RAAF Museum.

A15-106, with 6,500 hours in its logbook, will be an invaluable addition to the Point Cook collection, given its dual RAAF and Army heritage and operational service in Afghanistan. It will also make for a good comparison to the fixed-wing transport aircraft that are at the museum.

Second Corsair for CJFM

Classic Jets Fighter Museum at Adelaide’s Parafield Airport has acquired another Corsair, or at least a good amount of the fuselage of one.

The aircraft, Vought-built F4U-1 Corsair serial 02608, crashed while on a training flight at Vanuatu, New Hebrides, on October 22 1943, while on strength with VFM‑214, the so-called ‘Black Sheep’ squadron. The pilot, Texas-born 2nd Lieutenant Wayland E Bennett of the US Marines, was killed.

The aircraft was rediscovered in September 1993, and arrived at the CJFM hangar in February. The museum is already working on another Corsair, serial 02270, and has that machine well on the way to being a major exhibit at the museum.

Register roundup

In New Zealand a new Yak-52 has been placed on the Kiwi register as ZK-KEV, serial 9511904, on April 24 to K Jane of Thames. The aircraft was previously OY-YAC. Meanwhile, The Vintage Aviator Ltd (TVAL) placed a replica BE12-1 biplane on the register as ZK-ZEP on April 23. Maker’s number is 0249. From Christchurch Douglas DC-3 ZK-AMY of Southern DC-3 was struck off the register on April 16 as withdrawn from service.

In Australia Beagle A109 VH-UEM (c/n B520 ) has been withdrawn from service effective April 29. This aircraft will mostlikely return to the register in due course. Loveable Piper PA-22-160 Tripacer VH-FAT had a registration change on April 30 to VH-FTL. Owner is Mackellar Financial of Manly, NSW.

Greg Beel of McCrae, Victoria took ownership of Cessna 120 VH-NNW, c/n 13579, on May 1. North American AT-6D VH-NZX, c/n 8817011, changed owners to Victory Aviation of Kingston Beach, Tasmania on April 27. On the subject of T-6s the John Rayner AT-6, VH-TXN, a Noordyn Aviation-built T-6, is reported to have changed owners to Ian Close. The aircraft is to be based near Point Cook.

Bomber Command Centre for Lincoln

In the UK the International Bomber Command Centre (IBCC) is being constructed outside the city of Lincoln, in Lincolnshire, which during WW2 was known as the centre of Bomber Command Country.

As well as being an impressive memorial to the 125,000 (including more than 10,000 Australians) who served and the 55,573 aircrew killed in action (some 4,050 from the RAAF), the IBCC will be an important research centre so that Bomber Command’s role in WW2 is not forgotten.

The memorial will list the names of all those who died from 1 and 5 Groups (predominantly based in Lincolnshire) and has a direct line of sight across the valley to Lincoln Cathedral, the landmark that returning aircrew sought out as a sign that they were ‘home’.

In late May IBCC founder and chairman of trustees Tony Worth CVO and director Nicky Barr were to welcome guests of honour at a luncheon in Sydney hosted by 460 (RAAF) Squadron Veterans andFriends Group aimed at raising awareness of and generating support for the project in Australia.

Tony is a former Lord-Lieutenant of Lincolnshire and has close ties to Bomber Command – his father and two uncles all served in Bomber Command during WW2 – both his uncles failed to return. Further, Tony’s grandfather was Australian-born Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Longmore GCB DSO.

“Tony felt strongly that as titular head of ‘Bomber County’ he had a responsibility to redress the long-standing failure to recognise the contribution to the war effort made by Bomber Command and all those who served and supported them, as well as recognising the contribution given by the county itself,” writes IBCC Australian visit coordinator Richard Munro.

Tony and Nicky will also use their Australian visit “to engage with media representatives to ask for help with the public sourcing of information from Bomber Command veterans, their families and people with knowledge and documentation on WW2 Bomber Command, also in recruiting volunteers to record their oral histories, scan documents, and to attract corporate, institutional and individual support in fund raising. ”

In brief

Following on the note in the last AA regarding a Beech Queen Air going on display at the Stockman’s Hall of Fame at Longreach, we can now advise that the aircraft is VH-FDS, a Beech 65-B80 Queen Air, c/n LD-509, built in 1977. The former RFDS aircraft is the centrepiece of a display devoted to the story of the RFDS and the great work that it does in the Australian outback. The machine is hanging from the roof inside the building.