Warbirds

They were among 11 historic aircraft, four hangars, a Mercedes Benz classic car (a 1983 380SL convertible) and a number of residential and rural properties seized from Hart, who in 2005 was found guilty of nine counts of defrauding the Commonwealth and sentenced to seven years imprisonment. Bidding started on September 27 and was due to wind up on October 18, just after this issue of AA went to print.

A Yak-3M in the collection was sold off in last year for $335,000.

So who will bid for what aircraft and for how much? Will the aircraft stay in Australia or be bought to go overseas? The Sea Fury in particular should attract a lot of overseas interest and with the current exchange rate it would be a cheap acquisition for an American collector. (As we went to press it had attracted three bids, reaching $520,000.)

RAAF Museum RE8 Flies Again

The RAAF Museum’s Royal Aircraft Factory RE8 biplane has returned to the air, flying from Point Cook for the first time in some years on October 8

A replica of the World War 1 light bomber known affectionately to its crews as the ‘Harry Tate’, the RE8 was built by the The Vintage Aviator Ltd (TVAL) in New Zealand in 2012 (with the registration ZK-RES). It then came to Australia for the 2015 Avalon Airshow and was later bought by the RAAF Museum, and carries the registration VH-OTF.

The Australian Flying Corps operated some 130 of the type during World War !. In all some 4,000 RE8s were built, but only two or three survived after the war.

So the Point Cook machine, one of three RE8 replicas built by TVAL, is a real time machine.

Ran Fireflies on the Move

The Fleet Air Arm Museum’s Fairey Firefly WJ109 has found a new home, with the aircraft headed to the Australian War Memorial in Canberra before the end of this year.

A gate guardian at HMAS Albatross, Nowra from 1965 to 1972, the Firefly would go on to be used as a source of spare parts, ultimately including its engine, for the RAN Historic Flight’s airworthy Firefly, WD826/VH-NVU.

With the recent disbandment of the RAN Historic Flight Firefly WD826 (which hasn’t flown since the late 1980s) will go on display with the Fleet Air Arm Museum, which means WJ109 can to Canberra and the AWM.

WJ109 carries a Korean War colour scheme complete with invasion stripes, even though it never saw action in Korea. Built as an AS.6 anti-submarine warfare variant and delivered to the RAN in 1953, it was later converted to be a target tug.

At present it is unknown if WJ109 will go into storage or be put on display at the AWM.

Register News

We have a few older register movements to catch up on, including Stinson 108-1 Voyager VH-NNK, c/n 108-2190, which was placed on the register on May 4 to David Ozanne of Paynesville, Victoria. Built in 1947 the Stinson was previously N9190K and NC9190K.

Two aircraft to be removed from the register are Cessna A-37B VH-AZD, 43158, which was removed from the register on May 2 as withdrawn from service, and

Piper (Taylor) J-2 VH-FZL, 1754, which was deleted from the register on May 22 with its transfer to the RAAus register.

With the recent downward slide of the Australian dollar against the US dollar it will be interesting to see what impact that will have on future warbird and antique imports.

Shifting Beeches

A trigear Beech H18, serial BA-764 and previously N26493, has been purchased in Florida by Mike Spaulding of North Queensland Warbirds fame. Mike, it will be recalled, owned a Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawk at one stage.

One of the last of the Beech 18s built, Mike’s machine was delivered to Japan Air Lines in November 1969. At one stage it was based at Guam in the Pacific. We look forward to seeing this aircraft grace Australian skies.

Another local Beech 18 is D18S trigear, registered N2500. Based at Redcliffe north of Brisbane, it has moved to Caboolture and is reported to have new owners.

And a third Beech 18 is E18S, VH-CII, owned by Geoff Hunt of Darwin. This machine came to grief when it hit a kangaroo on take off at Caboolture. It went into the hangars for repairs and is still there. No reports on the Kangaroo.

In Brief

• Following on from our October issue update on HARS’s Fokker Trimotor Southern Cross replica restoration, it can now be reported that on September 28 the aircraft’s main undercarriage was installed and it is now standing on its own undercarriage. Next task is to fit the Fokker’s rebuilt Jacobs engines.
• Caloundra-based Queensland Air Museum has taken delivery former RAAF Macchi MB-326H A7-072. The jet trainer, which had been in storage at RAAF Wagga Wagga, wears the iconic RAAF ‘Fanta can’ training scheme colours and 2FTS tail markings.

Contact Dave by email: [email protected]