Warbirds

With the Corsair back in the air it will no doubt be one of the top exhibits at the 8 March 2020 Tyabb Airshow, an event that local enthusiasts will be keen to attend now that issues with local council have been sorted out.

The Corsair is currently for sale via Platinum Fighter Sales. Also for sale via Platinum is the Hawker Hurricane VH-JFW / V6749.

And on the subject of Corsairs, the North Queensland Warbirds Corsair at Mareeba, west of Cairns, undertook an engine run on 20 December 2019. The aircraft still has a lot of work to have carried out before it takes to the skies, but the engine run is a clear indication that the machine is well on the way to flying again.

Meanwhile at Point Cook, Victoria, Peter Clements took RAAF Museum CAC-built Mustang VH-SVU / A68-170 into the air on Thursday 14 November 2019. The aircraft had not flown for some seven years during which time the engine had to be sent to the UK for overhaul.

Yet another Mustang is back in the air. At Caboolture Mustang VH-MFT (below) made its first flight in over two years on 27 May 2019. Old news perhaps but good news to hear about.

NEW OLD MUSTANG

Yet another ex-RAAF Mustang has appeared. In the USA former North American-built P-51D-20-NT Mustang 44-12853 that served with the RAAF as A68-641 has turned up with warbird rebuilder Tom Reilly. While it is only a fuselage that has been in storage for many years, it is to be rebuilt to become a flyable aircraft with dual controls.

NEW ZEALAND TVAL COURT OUTCOME

How the mighty have fallen. In New Zealand the former production manager and pilot for Sir Peter Jackson’s Vintage Aviator Company (TVAL) has been found guilty of the six charges levelled against him. Gene De Marco was the leading light in the TVAL operation. He had more flight time flying WW1 aircraft replicas than any living being. In December he was sentenced to two years and five months jail on charges including fraud against the company.

Eugene (Gene) De Marco aged 57 was sentenced in the NZ High Court in Wellington on 5 December 2019. In summary it was a case of De Marco making sales deals to his benefit unknown to TVAL. During the trial it was revealed that De Marco had a previous run in with the law in the US when he reportedly stole a Piper Cub aircraft.

Australian enthusiasts will recall that De Marco was the chief pilot when TVAL brought a number of WW1 aircraft to an Australian International Airshow at Avalon.

TVAL would appear to be back to normal with the production and sale of WW1 aircraft and even reproduction aero engines. May it continue.

REGISTER REVIEW

From New Zealand we learn of an interesting import. ZK-SSW is listed by the NZ CAA as being a Carl Swanson Fokker DIV replica and put on the register on 11 December 2019. In fact, the aircraft is a Siemens-Schuckert DIV replica, with c/n S-10. It is ex-USA N1094G. No doubt the NZ CAA will have a look at the details later on.

In Australia Canadian-built DHC1A-1 Chipmunk VH-MCC has gone to Peter Ruwald of Murrumbateman, NSW on 9 December 2019. Champion 7EC VH-PTP has moved to Ian Pearce of Yass, NSW on 14 December 2019.

DH82a Tiger Moth VH-SSK went from Ken Broomhead to the Commonwealth of Australia RAAF Amberley Flying Club on 9 December 2019.

New on the register is Vickers Supermarine Spitfire LF Mk XVI TE392. The ex-RAF aircraft has been in the US for some years as N97RW. It was registered as VH-XWE on 2 December 2019 to Bishop Aviation Pty Ltd of Kelvin Grove, Queensland.

Bell UH-58A Kiowa VH-FFZ 44053/006 was struck off the register on 4 November 2019 having been withdrawn from service. Cessna 190 VH-PEK was re-registered as VH-FNM on 15 November 2015. Bell UH-1H VH-UVC Iroquois 5144 was struck off the register on 6 September 2019 as a result of it crashing into the sea near Port Stephens, NSW.

Beech D17RM Staggerwing, VH-BBL, c/n 6763, had a new owner of Arthur pipe and Steel, Albury on 4 October 2019.

THE MOSQUITO MAN HAS GONE

New Zealand Mosquito builder Gwyn Powell passed away on 26 November 2019. He was aged 85.

Gwyn was a man who had an idea that new Mosquito aircraft could be built. He started with a group of enthusiasts, but that group faded with time and left Gwyn to power on by himself. He chased up drawings, looked at Mosquito aircraft around the world and gathered parts and engines. Now the Mosquito is built in two halves on a concrete mould. He built the concrete moulds and built not one aircraft but three. The moulds alone took some five years to build. Two more aircraft are yet to be built or completed. The jury is still out as to whether Gwyn rebuilt aircraft or if he built new aircraft. Regardless, the world of warbirds is better off due to the dedication and perseverance that Gwyn put into getting his Mosquito build program up and running when lesser men would have walked away from the complexity of the project.

The warbird industry can only be proud of the man who built Mosquito aircraft in a country like New Zealand. He showed the world at large what he and his country can do. Now we have Mosquito aircraft airworthy and flying in the USA, the UK and soon again New Zealand.

THE BIG WARBIRD SHOWS OF 2020

The two big Warbird airshows in Australia in 2020 are going to be at Temora and Scone, only a month apart.

Warbirds over Scone will be held Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 September this year. Warbirds Downunder 2020 Airshow, celebrating 100 years of the RAAF, will be held at Temora by the Temora Aviation Museum on Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 October this year.

Both Temora and Scone have online ticket sales and already are promoting buying tickets early.

MUSTANG BACK IN TIME

At Scone, NSW CAC Mustang VH-URZ has become VH-BOZ, its original civil registration. The owner of the Mustang, Shaun Browne, wanted the aircraft restored to its original appearance as a camera aircraft including the RAAF original markings of A68-199. The work was carried out in the Scone Vintage Fighter Restoration hangar.

AAAA 2020 FLY-IN AT WANGARATTA

The President of the Antique Aeroplane Association of Australia (AAAA) Matt Henderson has announced that the 2020 AAAA Fly-In is to be held at Wangaratta, Victoria, over the weekend of 27-29 March 2020. In making the announcement President Matt Henderson said that while the last few Fly-Ins had been successfully held at Echuca, Victoria there was a need for a change of venue if for no other reason other than to give members a new place to visit.

IN BRIEF

At Essendon Fields, Essendon Airport, the recently revamped terminal building has been named the Bell Business Centre. Greg Bell was the owner/operator of Gee Bee’s Aerospace Shop in the former terminal selling pilot supplies. It was unfortunate to record that Greg passed away in May 2019 due to cancer.
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From West Sale, Victoria we learn that the Folland Gnat T1 VH-XSO, painted as XS101, has been exported to China.
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The Edinburgh RAAF Airshow on November 9 & 10 last year was a resounding success from an old aeroplane and warbird point of view. HARS had some six aircraft on display. There were two CAC Boomerangs flying and one real oldie was the DH84 Dragon VH-AON being flown by its rebuilder, Harvie Mcbain from Nelson, Victoria. Aircraft on display included a Neptune, Caribou, Catalina, Lockheed Hudson, Hurricane, Kittyhawk and Spitfire.

‘While it is only a fuselage that has been in storage for many years, it is to be rebuilt to become a flyable aircraft with dual controls’