Table of contents for August - September - October 2016 in Flightpath

The RAAF Museum at Point Cook has sent its P-40E Kittyhawk project to Precision Airmotive for completion. The historic 75 Squadron RAAF aircraft (41-5336/A29-28) is a veteran of that newly-formed unit’s brave defence of Port Moresby from March to May 1942. The Kittyhawk’s brief but hectic combat career lasted until April 17 when it was damaged by enemy fire over Port Moresby. Patched up, it was flown back to Australia to be repaired by No. 5 Aircraft Depot in Queensland. Although made operational, it was eventually sent south and served with 2 OTU in Mildura, Victoria. On 2 October 1944, however, the aircraft’s Allison engine caught fire and it was force landed five miles south-west of its Mildura base. It was declared a write-off three years later. In the 1970s,…

Oakey’s DHC-4 Caribous were disassembled for transport to their new homes in June. The Australian Aviation Heritage Centre at Caboolture received A4-228 after a relatively short journey, while the National Vietnam Veterans Museum on Phillip Island, Victoria, faced a more complicated challenge to have their two aircraft delivered. The South Australian Aviation Museum should have received A4-225 by the time these words are read. This Caribou, like A4-228 pictured, still has its centre wing box attached, as the museum could not justify the man-hours to remove it (or the unacceptable alternative, actually cutting into the airframe!). So the overwidth load was required to travel to South Australia directly from Queensland via the Strzelecki Track.…

After a full refurbishment, the only fully authentic airworthy Mitsubishi A6M ‘Zero’ returned to the sky again at Chino, California, in time to take part in the 2016 Planes of Fame Air Show last April (see page 72). Powered by its original Nakajima Sakae radial engine, the A6M5 (serial 5357) was first restored by the Planes of Fame Air Museum in 1978. In 1978, shortly after it was restored, 61-120 was shipped to Japan for an extended flying tour. In 1995, along with a P-51D Mustang, the ‘Zero’ was disassembled and returned to Japan for another extended tour of the Home Islands, flying along with the Mustang in a program billed as ‘Flying As Friends’. It visited Japan once again in 2013 for static display and engine run-up demonstrations at…

Visitors to the Air Force Museum of New Zealand have a new space to explore with the museum’s reserve collection of aircraft, vehicles and engines now in their new building. Ultimately, these aircraft will go on public display when the museum takes full occupation of its new aircraft display hall. Completed in February 2013, and including new technical conservation workshops, a large section has been made available for conferences and events, while Christchurch continues its recovery from the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes. The week-long move saw the most aircraft-related activity the Wigram tarmac had seen in many years. Manoeuvring the Freighter was a delicate operation due to its large wingspan. The team had a precise plan with the position of each aircraft, vehicle, and engine laid out. Sometimes there were…

In the Sierra foothills of Northern California, the 40th Annual Columbia Gathering of Luscombes was held at Columbia Airport during the weekend of May 20-22. Short field takeoff, spot landing and flour bombing competitions were the order of the day on the Saturday. Awards were also presented for the best of the various Luscombe models in attendance. A bright yellow and red Monocoupe 90AL, belonging to Jan and Elden Iler, was parked among the Luscombes. It was certainly not out of place, as Donald A. Luscombe built the early Monocoupes before he left the company to found the Luscombe Airplane Development Corporation in 1933. The oldest aircraft on the field was Robin Reid’s rare 1929 Monocoach, powered by a Wright Whirlwind R-670-8, flown down from Oregon for the event.…

Having been assigned to the Southern California Wing of the Commemorative Air Force (CAF) in 1993, this North American PBJ-1J Mitchell (BuNo 35857) was one of the wing’s first aircraft. However, after flying in to their base at Camarillo Airport, it would be another 23 years before the bomber flew again. In fact, it was quite some time before the Wing even discovered the bomber was a rare U.S. Navy PBJ. When it arrived at Camarillo, the Mitchell was known as ‘Big Ole Brew’ and sported the USAAF serial 44-30988. A few months after Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle led sixteen B-25B Mitchells off the deck of the USS Hornet for the first bombing raid against Japan in April 1942, an agreement was reached allowing the Navy to share in the…

Before it had advanced very far, and perhaps before the dream of flying around the world had properly taken root, the aircraft was off to war. With war, however, came great technological leaps, and the aircraft that saw out the end of the conflict were veritable monsters compared to the types that were the first to see combat. In late 1917, the Reverend John Flynn received a letter proposing the use of aircraft to help solve his problem of delivering timely and effective medical care to those living in some of the most remote areas of Australia. The man who sent the letter, John Clifford Peel, was sailing to Europe at the time, and would ultimately join 3 Squadron AFC as an R.E.8 pilot. Sadly, he was killed shortly before…

The Waco Cabin series of aircraft was the firm's first successful cabin biplane design with the QDC model based on their successful Model F open-cockpit biplane. This evolution gave the cabin biplanes the inherent good handling attributes of the F2, with its robust construction, and an ability to get in and out of the short, unmade strips of the day with a good useful load. The cabin class luxury of the QDC paralleled luxury automobiles of the day so Waco could give the public the aircraft they were asking for. Although they were developed at a perilous time, just as the western world was recovering from the shock of the Great Depression of 1929, entrepreneurial confidence in the pioneer aviation companies in America, led by Waco and Stinson, reached its…

Airspeed Ltd. was an unusual company even in the remarkable diversity of aero companies in inter-war Britain. Founded by the engineer (and later author) Neville Shute Norway and designer A. Hessell Tiltman, with A. E. Hewitt, Lord Grimthorpe and Alan Cobham, they quickly developed a range of innovative, remarkable aircraft that were high on the technological and performance standard of the era – but pre-war were only built in small numbers. The Airspeed AS 10 Oxford was one of the company’s main successes, but its origins go back to the single engine Courier, via the light twin seven-seater Envoy. All three were designed by Tiltman and used the same wooden construction, radial engines (though in-line were an option), and similar outer wing panel flying surfaces. The retractable main undercarriage was…

With a theme commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, this year’s Planes of Fame Airshow at Chino, held over three days from April 29, included an opening sequence involving five P-40 Warhawks, a pair of ‘Zeros’, a Tora ‘Val’ replica and Kent Pietsch’s Interstate Cadet. The Planes of Fame ‘Zero’ had only taken to the air on the Friday before the show, after spending several years undergoing a rebuild following its trip to Japan. A sixth P-40 (the Friedkin example, restored by Precision Aerospace at Wangaratta and finished off at Nelson Ezell’s shop in Texas) was due to make its public flying debut, but was sidelined by brake problems. An innovation at last year’s event, continued this year, was the Friday twilight airshow. This allowed…

Hispano-Suiza powered biplanes took centre stage during the 21st Annual Antique Aero Barbecue & Fly-In at Central California’s Paso Robles Airport on June 4. Hosted by Chuck Wentworth’s Antique Aero crew, and Javier Arango’s The Aeroplane Collection, the invitation-only event generally attracts a host of warbird, classic and vintage aircraft which bask on the Antique Aero apron alongside classic automobiles and motorcycles. The event begins with a flying display by several original or replica aircraft from The Aeroplane Collection. With Hispano-Suiza powered aircraft being the theme this year, the display featured a SPAD XIII, an S.E.5a and a Standard J-1. Finished to represent an Escadrille SPA153 scout flown by Maréchal de Logis Gaston Bourgeois, the SPAD was piloted by Chuck Wentworth. Mike Melville, of Space-ShipOne fame, flew the S.E.5a which…

Some of the best known warbird images from New Zealand’s famous Warbirds over Wanaka airshow have come from the lens of Philip Makanna. In featuring many of those images in several of his ‘GHOSTS’ calendars, Makanna introduced the world’s aviation community to the superb aircraft operated by the Kiwi historic aviation movement and the stunning landscape over which the biennial airshow is held. ‘The Ghost’ was there for the 2016 event, now called the Warbirds over Wanaka International Airshow, and has shared a few of his images with Flightpath.…

A P-40N Warhawk project, consisting of a fuselage and wings, that has been under rebuild at Precision Airmotive in Wangaratta has been sold. Owned by an undisclosed European entity, Platinum Fighter Sales brokered the deal with well-known warbird identity Ross Pay of Scone, New South Wales. The rebuild of the wings and fuselage will be completed by Precision along with the addition of a rear cockpit with dual controls. The P-40 will then move to Scone and the final fit out and engine installation will be completed by Pay’s Air Service.…

The eleven former Royal Australian Navy Grumman Trackers stored at West Sale now have a certain future. The subjects of much interest from Australian collectors, museums and enthusiasts, the aircraft will be employed in the aerial firefighting industry in the United States. The Tracker has proven to be a successful firefighting asset when upgraded with modern avionics and the radial engines replaced by turbines. As the West Sale Trackers are some of the lowest timed examples of the type to survive, they are an attractive proposition for use in the firefighting role. Four aircraft were found to be in worse condition than the others and have been disassembled for shipment to the US. The outer wings were removed and will be used as spares and the fuselages will also keep…

The former Shell Lockheed Vega 5C featured in the previous issue of Flightpath (Vol. 27, No. 4) was delivered to the Jimmy Doolittle Center, at Vacaville's Nut Tree Airport in northern California, in May. It was unveiled in early June at an event attended by Joanna Doolittle Hoppes (Jimmy Doolittle's granddaughter) and aviation great Bob Hoover. Although restored to an airworthy standard, it has not flown, and will be displayed statically at the museum. Also delivered with the Vega was an incredibly rare Kinner R-5 Playboy. This aircraft (NC14963) is the last surviving complete example of eight Playboys manufactured by Kinner in Glendale, California, between 1934 and 1935. Powered by a 160hp (119kW) Kinner R-5 five-cylinder radial, the Playboy was a two-seat side-by-side coupe. Five examples were bought by the…

GAF Canberra A84-226, long-term resident of RAAF Forest Hill, Wagga Wagga, NSW, being loaded for delivery to the Australian National Aviation Museum in Moorabbin. A team of volunteers disassembled the bomber for transport over the course of several months. After its flying career, the aircraft served as an instructional airframe at Wagga from 1971 before being placed on display within the grounds of the base. It arrived on June 19 amid much media attention and will be restored to static condition.…

Since 1989 a major focus of the Collings Foundation has been its ‘Wings of Freedom Tour’ of airworthy W.W.II aircraft. In April, with the help of photographer Keith Charlot, the Foundation added a variation to this season’s tour. During a stopover in Marana, Arizona, after the day’s flying had been completed, a static night photo-shoot for a gathering of local aviation photographers was conducted. This involved firing up, one at a time, the B-24J Liberator, B-17G Flying Fortress, B-25J Mitchell and TP-51C Mustang. The Collings Foundation is based in Stowe, Massachusetts, and the ‘Wings of Freedom Tour’ visits more than 120 cities across the United States annually. The collection includes almost thirty aircraft, many of which regularly fly, that range from a 1909 Curtiss Pusher to a Vietnam-era F-4D Phantom.…

Those Mariners Hi Rob, I have just finished reading about the Martin Mariner (Flightpath Vol 27, No. 4) and remembered taking photos of what I think is a piece of the rudder from one of these aircraft. The numbers, as you can see are just about obliterated but the ‘A70’ is still there followed by the number ‘1’ (I think). The piece was against the fence near the Warbirds hangar at Goolwa airport, South Australia, and was, I assume, owned by them as there was a photo of a Mariner on the wall in their hangar. These photos were taken mid-2006 when I went there for a ‘warbird dog fight’ in Nanchangs which I and my stomach survived (just). Yours, Graham Bouquet Hi Graham, this is the rear fuselage of…

Prior to the commencement of hostilities, and before Buna and Gona became synonymous with military campaigns, Reverend James Benson managed the Anglican Mission station at Gona assisted by two mission Sisters. Benson was to be a lucky survivor, his 1957 post-war memoirs a gift to history, as they provide important detail on the fate of missing Allied and Japanese airmen. Benson’s routine was interrupted on the afternoon of 21 July 1942 when a fleet of Japanese ships anchored offshore. The mission staff hastily evacuated on foot while the Japanese established defensive positions and used the mission to store supplies. Accordingly, the mission would be regularly targeted by Allied bombers, and the area including Gona would not be recaptured by Australian forces until early 1943. While the Japanese busied themselves with…

One of the more obscure USAAF units that entered New Guinea late in the war was the 675th Bombardment Squadron (Light). Much of the unit’s social history, including associated photos, has become blurred by the passage of time, however the circumstances of its losses are meticulously recorded in official logs and records. The following brief history of the 675th BS in New Guinea underlines a litany of operational casualties, with few directly caused by enemy action. The squadron called themselves the ‘Dauntless Demons’ and was one of the four squadrons that comprised the 417th Bombardment Group (BG), in turn one of three Bombardment Groups in New Guinea that operated Douglas A-20G Havocs. Ironically the losses do not reflect poorly on the A-20G, a rugged and versatile light bomber with reliable…

The 40th National Fly-in of the Antique Aeroplane Association of Australia (AAAA) celebrated a significant milestone for a stalwart of the movement with the 70th Birthday of the DHC-1 Chipmunk. The annual event was held at Echuca, Victoria, over the weekend of 15-17 April and attracted fifteen examples of de Havilland’s legendary trainer. The attendance represented one-third of the country’s ‘Chippy’ population. The type was pleasingly joined by a superb collection of its de Havilland siblings including two rare DH.60 Moths, a DH.85 Leopard Moth, numerous DH.82 Tiger Moths and a DH.89 Dragon Rapide. Other standout classic types among the 181 attending aircraft included a rare pairing of Waco Cabin biplanes, a British Klemm B.A. Eagle, four Cessna C195 Businessliners, and a Stinson 108. All were dwarfed by the polished…

The Imperial War Museum Duxford’s flying season traditionally opens over the Spring Bank Holiday weekend at the end of May. This year’s event was purposely themed to tie in with the recent reopening of the American Air Museum (AAM) following its major refurbishment. The AAM has been greatly enhanced and now really tells the story of the people behind the aircraft and is far less sterile than its previous incarnation. The display program was designed to reflect all aspects of American aviation and a varied display was put together. Highlights included the exhilarating display by the North American OV-10B Bronco and Shorts Skyvan representing the conflict in Vietnam. The sequence was accompanied by the Jimi Hendrix version of 'All along the watchtower' which was rather refreshing for a Duxford display.…

The San Diego Chapter of the Antique Airplane Association held its 2016 West Coast Regional Stearman/Ryan Fly-In, hosted at the Allen Airways Flying Museum facility on Gillespie Field, El Cajon, California, by Willis M. ‘Bill’ Allen and his wife, Claudia, in May. The Allen Airways Flying Museum is the home of more than 10,000 display items primarily relating to aviation, but also including classic automobiles and vintage toys. Allen’s personal aircraft collection includes a PT-17 Kaydet once owned and flown by movie great Steve McQueen; a Ryan STM-2 built for the Dutch East Indies military in 1940; a classic ‘Square Tail’ Stearman C3R; and a Boeing F4B-1 under restoration in Nevada. In addition to 21 Stearman biplanes and six Ryans, the event also attracted a Waco UPF-7, a Laird LC-1B-300…

The Wings over Illawarra Airshow was held over the May Day long weekend in excellent conditions. Illawarra Airport is the home of the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society (HARS) and, although they do not run the Wings over Illawarra Airshow, they are the major participant. The Constellation opened the show with a flyover in formation with the RAAF Roulettes on each wing tip. One of the HARS Caribous then demonstrated its capabilities with incredibly short take offs and landings and also dropped the Army’s ‘Red Berets’ parachute team on both days. Warbirds were well represented with the Temora Aviation Museum sending their Spitfire Mk. VIII and CAC Boomerang. Two Mustangs were present, with Jeff Trappett’s example being joined by his CAC Sabre. Unfortunately, the Sabre did not fly due to excess…

The only non-CAC built Mustang flying in Australia, P-51D 45-11526, VH-FST, has been acquired by Brad Bishopp in Brisbane, Queensland. The Mustang was flown north on 2 June by Cameron Rolf-Smith after the sale by Platinum Fighter Sales on behalf of Pay’s Air Service of Scone, New South Wales. Imported in 1999, the aircraft was rebuilt by Panama Jack's Vintage Aircraft Restorations, at Jandakot Airport, Western Australia, for the late Bill Wyllie. It was finished in the colours of an 82nd Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron F-6D Mustang flown by Medal of Honor recipient Captain William Shomo. After Wyllie's passing, the Mustang was owned and operated by Mike Aitchison and Peter Croser in South Australia until the sale to Pay’s Air Service. Earlier this year Pay’s overhauled and reinstalled the Mustang’s Packard…

An exciting addition to the impressive Queensland Air Museum (QAM) fleet at Caloundra is former 10 Squadron RAAF Lockheed Neptune A89-277. The Neptune had been on display with the Syd Beck Collection in Mareeba since 1978. The Beck collection has been winding down and QAM took the opportunity to secure this large and impressive aircraft. While on display at Mareeba, the aircraft, a SP-2H/P2V-7, was displayed inside a hangar so it is in good condition with relatively little corrosion. It is not a simple task to dismantle and transport large aircraft, but the volunteers from the QAM accepted the challenge with their usual gusto and, over several days in February and March, broke the Neptune down into its structural components ready for transport to Caloundra. The aircraft is now safely…

Two significant Boeing airliners made their final flights to retirement at the Museum of Flying, Seattle, Washington, USA, earlier this year. At 11 o’clock on the morning of 2 March 2016, the first-ever Boeing 727 returned to its birthplace of Boeing field and the Museum of Flight. Flying from Paine Field on the other side of Seattle to Boeing Field took 15 minutes after months of preparation. The brief trip was flown with only essential flight crew: pilot Tim Powell, copilot Mike Scott, flight engineer Ralph Pascale, and safety officer Bob Bogash. After the welcome ceremonies, with thousands of fans, Boeing workers and 727 crews in attendance, the aircraft was opened to the public. The Boeing 727-100 N7001U first flew on 9 February 1963, the first of 1,832 examples. It…

For more than twenty years, Flying Legends has been the pinnacle of warbird air shows. It attracts the finest aircraft and most experienced pilots from around the world to Duxford airfield in Cambridgeshire, UK. The organising team, led by Jane Larcombe, produced another superb event despite the less than ideal weather conditions with strong winds continually threatening to disrupt the flying programme. Stealing the show was Richard Grace in the recently imported Fury FB.10, G-CBEL (ex-VH SFW). His Air Leasing company reassembled and repainted the aircraft into the Sea Fury prototype scheme just in time following its arrival from Australia. The Fury is owned by Graham Peacock who will base it at North Weald in Essex as part of his growing North Weald Heritage Aviation collection. Among the many highlights…

One of the most historic DC-3s in Australia, VH-AES ‘Hawdon’, has found a new home. Hawdon Operations Ltd has been brought into the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society (HARS) fold and the aircraft was flown from Melbourne to the HARS facility at Illawarra Regional Airport on 11 June. It joins a fleet that includes two ex-RAAF C-47 Dakotas. The aircraft was completed in late October 1942 as a C-47. As 41-18660, it was dispatched to the USAAF’s Fifth Air Force and arrived at Archerfield, Queensland, in January 1943. Nicknamed ‘Shanghai Lil’, it quickly accrued 1,700 hours but was released for civilian use and registered to the Department of Civil Aviation on 4 September 1944. Initially operated by ANA as a freighter, VH-AES was extensively damaged in an aborted take-off on November…

Although 1,575 Baltimore aircraft were built by the American manufacturer, the Glenn L. Martin Aircraft Company, the Baltimore was never operated by the various American air forces. It was used only in the Mediterranean and Italian theatres and was flown by a number of allied air forces including the RAAF. The RAAF’s experience with the Baltimore was generally very positive. The aircraft could take a fair amount of punishment, unusually was overpowered, so it could make a rapid escape from enemy fighters, and was forgiving of the hot, sandy desert conditions. In time, air and ground crews alike got to like their Baltimores, once the aircraft’s vices had been mastered. By mid-1941, RAAF aircrew training had developed to the stage where new RAAF squadrons could be raised for the war…

The aircraft was rebuilt by the German company MeierMotors on behalf of Jerry Yagen’s Fighter Factory which is based at the MAM. The restoration was anything but straightforward. At the heart of the project were the remains of a Me 109G-4 (Werke Nr 19257) found in Russia. In short, these were merged with new components and the wings and some minor parts of a Hispano Buchón Yagen had delivered to MeierMotors in 2005. Research into the fate of the German aircraft revealed its pilot, Feldwebel Viktor Petermann, an ace serving with 5./JG 52, was forced to land behind enemy lines after the coolant system was damaged on 6 June 1943. He managed to survive for several days and make it back to his unit on foot. Petermann would end the…

On 16 April, ten TBM Avengers gathered in Peru, Illinois, USA. This was the largest gathering of the type since it was retired from service by Forest Protection Limited of New Brunswick, Canada. More than 10,000 spectators, fifty warbirds and 250 other aircraft attended this inaugural event organised by Brad Deckert and his company TBM Avenger LLC. Aircraft in attendance included the ten TBMs (of the sixteen airworthy examples in the world), ten T-6/SNJs, two P-51 Mustangs, two Lockheed Shooting Stars, two Twin Beech 18s, and single examples of the A-1 Skyraider, B-25 Mitchell, FM2 Wildcat and L-39 Albatros. At one point more than 130 aircraft arrived in one hour! The tiny Illinois Valley Regional Airport resembled a mini Oshkosh with aircraft parked on the grass, tarmac and any flat…

With ‘Honoring Our Armed Forces’ being the theme of the six-day Experimental Aircraft Association’s 42nd Annual Sun ‘n Fun International Fly-In & Expo, hosted at Florida’s Lakeland Linder Regional Airport from 5 April 2016, it was no surprise to see a lot of attention being paid to veterans this year. On 6 April, 75 World War II and Korean War veterans boarded a ‘Flight of Honor’ for a trip to Washington, D.C., to view various monuments before returning amid much fanfare the following evening. Many of the veterans also received special attention from the Commemorative Air Force which was on hand with its Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress ‘Texas Raiders’ and North American P-51D Mustang ‘Red Nose’. Among the veterans honoured by the CAF were Tuskegee Airman George Hardy and Flying…

2016 was always going to be a difficult year for UK air display organisers, but the team at the Shuttleworth Collection produced one of the finest events I have ever witnessed at Old Warden in this post-Shoreham world, thanks to hard work and determination and inspired bookings. The afternoon of 5 June in Bedfordshire started in dramatic style with Simon Hargreaves in the Sea Vixen led by the collection’s own Sea Hurricane. With the new CAA regulations making Classic jet operation almost untenable, the booking of the Sea Vixen was a bold move. The Air Leasing Seafire III made its Old Warden début, gracefully displayed by Dave Puleston, followed by the indomitable Royal Navy Historic Flight (RNHF) Swordfish which flew with the Collection’s Gladiator and the RNHF Harvard. A show…

On the weekend of 23-24 April 2016, The Australian Vintage Aviation Society (TAVAS) held a flying weekend at Caboolture Airport to commemorate ANZAC Day. In addition to the resident aircraft, numerous warbirds and historic aircraft types from around the region attended the event. The Society’s Great War fleet was the star attraction with the Ranger-powered Bristol F.2B, Fokker Dr.I and Fokker D.VIII all performing to the delight of the crowd. Several other W.W.I types were also on display on the flightline. For many, seeing the 160hp (119kW) Gnome-powered D.VIII fly was their first opportunity to hear and see a rotary engine in action as the aircraft was put through its paces. The Beaufort Restoration Group opened its hangar to display the progress on the rare DAP Beaufort Mk. VII. The…