Warbirds #385 | Forgotten Caribou & Anzac celebrations

When A4-236 arrived at RAAF Base Amberley in November 2009, little effort was initially made to preserve or protect the aircraft while it was parked in the elements. However, in recent years, Air Force’s History & Heritage Branch has stepped in to help and initiated a project to restore many of the retired aircraft at RAAF bases around Australia. 

The Branch’s static display aircraft support section (SDASS) now works to bring aircraft, such as the Caribou, back up to a shining display standard. Work started on A4-236 by removing the wing-mounted flight controls before the existing paint was stripped from her entire upper surface. The group spent five weeks painstakingly removing all that old paint, sanding the newly exposed surface and removing all remnants of oil, grease and dirt. To finish, the team applied No. 38 Squadron markings and about 200 individual paint stencils and decals. 

Throughout its 44-year career, A4-236 wore many liveries and markings, including an all-white United Nations scheme in the early 1990s for a planned deployment to Cambodia that didn’t eventuate. In the 1990s, it received a green and black “lizard scheme” that was carried through operations in Timor-Leste and the Solomon Islands until its retirement. 

For its refurbishment, a gloss olive-green finish was applied to showcase the aircraft as it appeared in 1983, including a prominent blue-and-white No. 38 Squadron flash on the tail. The livery echoes the earlier refurbishment of Caribou A4-199 at RAAF Base Townsville, which is displayed in a similar No. 35 Squadron livery. 

Last remaining rescue launch

Next up is a rather unusual entry, as the RAAF announced it has been gifted the only remaining rescue launch used during World War II. O2-06 is one of 15 separate O2-class vessels built for the Air Force in 1941 and will be restored in its original livery before being displayed at the RAAF Museum at Point Cook. The boat was originally in service in the Gippsland Lakes, East Sale and Point Cook and was declared for disposal in 1954. It subsequently had three owners, including its latest, Howard “Harry” Bowman, who bought it in Melbourne in 1986. Air Force operated boats from 1921 to 1993, and the fleet peaked at 1,300 during WWII, with 600 powered craft and 700 unpowered.

After the cessation of hostilities in the Pacific, the RAAF commenced disposing of its unwanted boats. A revision of the RAAF Small Marine Craft Program led to the retention of only 107 to provide support in the areas of supply, torpedo recovery, air-sea rescue and flying boat service at eight bases. These bases gradually diminished in number until only three marine sections remained at Townsville, Williamtown and Point Cook for SAR duties. These three sections remained operational until 31 January 1993.

When Bowman realised he had bought a piece of RAAF history, he motored it across Port Phillip Bay to Mordialloc Creek, loaded it on a trailer and transported it to Sale. During the past 36 years, it has been a regular sight on the waterways between Sale and Lakes Entrance and has generated a great deal of interest from locals and holidaymakers.

Bowman maintained the boat as originally as possible, marginally converting it internally into a comfortable family cruiser without detracting from its unique military past. He had always wished to donate the boat to an appropriate organisation that would restore it to its former glory and display it for future generations. Defence has now confirmed its History and Heritage Branch will restore the boat before putting it on permanent display.

Finally, the South Australian Aviation Museum (SAAM) has donated the cockpit and forward fuselage of a Gloster Meteor. A77-851, also called Halestorm, is the very same one that Sergeant George Hale flew when he shot down a MiG-15 during the Korean War. A77-851 was first delivered to the RAAF all the way back in August 1952. Not even one year later, on 27 March 1953, Hale intercepted a number of MiG-15s while on an armed reconnaissance mission. An air-to-air attack ensued, and Hale is credited with destroying one MiG and damaging a second.

The History and Heritage Branch says the Halestorm restoration will involve taking the cockpit and forward fuselage, which was previously recovered and refurbished by SAAM volunteers and merging it with part of another Meteor. The process is expected to take around a year and a half and will end with it being put back on public display. It’s full history, though, is even more fascinating than that: Halestorm not only had a distinguished service career in Korea but was also a pioneer aircraft for emerging technologies – following the war, Air Force converted Halestorm into a drone and used it to conduct aviation trials at Woomera. Volunteers from SAAM later recovered and refurbished the cockpit/forward fuselage and put it on display for two decades.

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Congrats to The Spitfire Association, which marked its 60th Anniversary with a commemorative dinner at the Temora Aviation Museum. Of particular note is how the group has looked to the future with its Spitfire Memorial Defence Fellowship, which since 1998 has recognised top scientists, researchers and engineers whose work aids the defence of Australia. This year, the University of NSW’s Bianca Capra took the prize for her pioneering research into hypersonics. The fellowship was initially conceived by Spitfire pilots from No. 457 Squadron to act as a living memorial rather just a traditional trophy. 

Air show news

After two years of COVID interruptions, we’re finally returning to seeing air shows held without restrictions. As previewed in our last issue, Warbirds Over Scone took place on 26 and 27 March. Despite some challenging weather that reduced flying on the Sunday, the highlight was watching four P-40 Kittyhawks in the air together for the first time since WWII. Other aircraft of note included replica Bristol Fighter F-2B and a gorgeous North American Harvard, VH-HAJ, that was a former Oshkosh award winner and sports a fantastic USAAC Moffat Field scheme (although it’s never served with the US Navy, instead spending its service life with the USAF). 

There was also a special visitor: former Air Force flight crew instructor and fighter pilot Jack McDonald, now 92, was reunited with Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation Wirraway A20-695, the very aircraft he instructed trainee pilots in at RAAF Base Point Cook in the mid-1950s. The aircraft changed hands privately numerous times post decommissioning, with McDonald himself owning the much-cherished Wirraway for a period during the 1980s. In 1993, a syndicate of pilots bought 695 and by 1997 they had it back in the air. 

Finally, in semi-separate news: an ex-RAAF Mirage III, A3-44, arrived in Scone in February as another new addition to the Hunter Fighter Collection. Teams have restored its cockpit; ejector seat and instrument panel and a new canopy has been fitted to replace its cracked previous one. It comes as the team have recently been getting to work reassembling a MiG-17F that arrived in far more complete condition – though still required 10 people to spend three days on the complex project. The rear fuselage alone required five volunteers to spend six hours on the refit. If you haven’t already, a visit is well worth the effort, with the varied collection also boasting a North American T-6G Harvard and a Boeing Stearman Model 75. 

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If you weren’t able to get down to Warbirds Over Scone, keep your eyes peeled for Warbirds Downunder – the largest Warbirds air show in the Southern Hemisphere – in Temora on 15–16 October. The usually biannual event was twice postponed, but this year is hoping to pull in more than 22,000 visitors. We’ll have a more thorough preview next issue, but you can already buy tickets at their website, warbirdsdownunderairshow.com.au. Another postponed event, the Brisbane Airshow, is returning on 2-3 July and its confirmed line-up includes an L-39 Albatross used in the Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies and a JS-MD 3 glider. 

Anzac Day flypast

HARS put on its largest-ever flypast to mark Anzac Day. Aircraft flying overhead included an Orion, Mustang, Harvard, and Huey Helicopter, which flew over the South Coast from Kiama, Kangaroo Valley and Wollongong, while a Tracker, Dakota, and Caribou flew past Cronulla, Coogee and Sydney City.

Register

A CAC CA-6 Wackett Trainer, built in 1942 and first registered in 1946 is back on the Register. VH-LNW’s registration is now held by owner and restorer Mark Pilkington. The aircraft has an interesting history. As production of the CAC Wirraway began in 1938, Lawrence Wackett, a manager at CAC, produced a new design for a trainer initially known as the CA-2, which boasted a similar cockpit. It also featured a metal tube fuselage like the Wirraway but had an all-wood wing and tail. However, production didn’t begin until 1941 and concluded a year later after 200 were made (It was also deeply unpopular, with RAAF pilot and author Geoffrey Dutton referring to the Wackett as “a horrid little aircraft” in his autobiography). LNW, A3-167, was eventually sold to Newcastle Aero Club in 1945 but was seriously damaged five years later, and struck off the register. It subsequently had a number of owners and registrations, but is now part of a restoration project in Lara, Victoria.