Table of contents for Nov-Dec-Jan 2017/2018 in Flightpath

The last USAAF fighter to be lost in combat in Europe flew again on 22 June after a seven-year restoration. No expense was spared in returning the P-47D Thunderbolt to how it was on the day it was lost. Remarkably, this aircraft was recovered from a lake in Austria in mid-2005. Second Lieutenant Henry Mohr, on 8 May 1945, flew low over Lake Traunsee and the Thunderbolt’s propeller hit the water, quickly followed by the rest of the aircraft. Mohr, fortunately, was rescued. Named after the wife of its regular pilot, Lieutenant Larry Kuhl, of the 511th Fighter Squadron, 405th Fighter Group, ‘Dottie Mae’ flew 93 combat missions. Kuhl claimed three aircraft destroyed on the ground during one of these sorties. He has avidly followed the project. Despite sixty years…

In September 2017, the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society (HARS) announced that they have been offered two New Zealand-based Fokker F27-500 Friendship airliners ZK-PAX and ZK-POH. New Zealand Post had disposed of the aircraft, used to deliver mail to Blenheim in Marlborough for the past 25 years. Friendship ZK-PAX was built in 1980 and is fitted with 41 passenger seats, while ZK-POH, built in 1984 is in freighter configuration. The aircraft will need servicing and rectification before they can be ferried to Australia. To achieve this, HARS is looking to fundraise $100,000 to $150,000. If successful, they propose to base them at HARS Parkes or Wagga Wagga, NSW. HARS state: “Your support for this project will have one or maybe even two Fokker Friendships flying in Australia in historic airline colours,…

While the collection of the Glenn H. Curtiss Museum in Hammondsport, New York, is centred on the aircraft designed by that great American aviation pioneer, there has always been a desire to acquire and display a Curtiss P-40, designed and built well after his untimely death in 1930. Besides the Curtiss link, the locally-based Aerial Service Corporation, as Mercury Aircraft, fabricated tail surfaces and belly tanks for the P-40 series. Slowly but surely, the project has been making progress, with a major milestone achieved at the end of 2015 when the completed starboard wing was removed from its jig. Original drawings are being used for reconstruction and fabrication wherever possible. Another major step was made in early August this year when the Allison engine was mounted on the airframe. The…

The first aircraft to land at the idyllic Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome was a 1941 Fleet 16b Finch. That aircraft took up residence at the New York State airfield in May this year. This model of Finch was built for the RCAF as an elementary trainer in the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. Powered by a 130 hp (97 kW) five-cylinder Kinner radial, it was the equivalent of the Tiger Moth until both types were replaced by the Fairchild Cornell. This particular aircraft, NC24197 (serial 303), was owned by Old Rhinebeck founder Cole Palen in the sixties, so when it was offered for sale in Texas, the museum saw the opportunity to bring it home. Bought from Bruce Allen, the Finch also spent time with Bob Norris in California who had…

Following its first post-restoration flight in New Zealand and subsequent shipment across the Pacific, the Flying Heritage and Combat Armor Museum’s de Havilland Mosquito T.MK. III (TV959) flew its first public display on 22 July from Paine Field, near Seattle, Washington. Painted as NS838, a FB.VI flying night intruder ops with 605 Squadron RAF in 1944, the Mosquito carries the personal markings of Flight Lieutenant Alan Wagner DFC and Bar. A Battle of Britain veteran, he scored his first victory in April 1941 when his Defiant gunner brought down a He 111. As a Hurricane pilot, he claimed two bombers destroyed during the Japanese attack on Colombo on 5 April 1942. Wagner returned to the UK and was flying NS838 ‘Wag’s War Wagon’ when he became an ace on 5/6…

The New England Air Museum in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, is not one to rest on its laurels. Besides opening new galleries overlooking two of its massive hangars, as part of a multi-million dollar improvement project, work continues on a unique transport aircraft. The Burnelli CBY-3 Loadmaster is a bizarre-looking machine from any angle. Designed by American Vincent Burnelli and built by Canadian Car & Foundry in 1944, its engines are mounted on the forward corners of a fuselage that has a 20 foot (6 metres) rectangular cross-section. The wide, blended fuselage, a ‘lifting body’, contributed to an excellent load carrying ability and short field performance. Since 2014, a large team of volunteers has been restoring the aircraft to static condition. Sadly, it had been on outside display since 1964, following…

It is probably fair to say that almost everyone involved in Australian vintage aviation is familiar with Joe Drage’s name, and certainly with the defunct, but never forgotten, remarkable aircraft collection ‘Airworld’ at Wangaratta, Victoria. At its peak, including aircraft on loan to the museum, it was the largest collection of civil and military aircraft in Australasia, and unique in the number that were – at least nominally – airworthy. In global terms, it was one of the most important collections of 1920s –1950s aircraft, with many being rare or unique survivors. After working as a saw miller and farm labourer, Joe Drage started his own earthmoving business in the fifties, enabling local farmers to develop bushland into viable farmland. He did this by converting a war surplus tank fitted…

One of the latest classic aircraft to return to Australian skies is the stunningly refurbished Beech 18 VH-BHS ‘Miss Maple’. Owned and restored by Chris and Haley Tibbetts of Beech Adventures, the aircraft is now based at Maitland in the Hunter Valley, just west of Newcastle, New South Wales. Built for the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) in 1952 as a D18S-3TM Expeditor, (serial CA-198, RCAF 1598) the aircraft served for around sixteen years. It was then sold off as surplus in 1968 and acquired by Hamilton Aircraft Co. in Arizona where it became N6127. While Beechcraft built civilian versions of their Model 18, the surplus ex-military airframes were a popular (and cheap) choice for many roles including short-haul airliners, freighters and business and private transports. To increase the performance…

“Seven men and their tired aircraft were pitted against New Guinea weather” The nickname 'Wrong Way Corrigan' was given to Douglas Corrigan, an American aviator born in Texas in 1907 (see Flightpath Vol. 28, No. 4, pp14-19). He received the sobriquet in 1938 following the transatlantic flight he made from New York to Ireland. He had lodged a flight plan for New York to Long Beach, California, the opposite direction, and blamed his unauthorised flight on misreading his compass and bad weather. Corrigan was in fact a skilled aircraft engineer who had modified his Curtiss Robin beforehand in preparation for the transatlantic flight. Denied permission to fly to Ireland , his 'error' was thus viewed as deliberate. For the rest of his life, Corrigan refused to admit publicly that the…

The first B-17 Flying Fortress I ever saw was on outside display at the Hill Air Force Base Museum in Utah, USA. It was 1987 and I was ten years old. It was big, but the B-29 across the paddock was bigger. Even the F-4 Phantom nearby rivalled it in size. The B-17, though, was what I had been reading about in the school library and here was one looking like it had leapt out of the history books. These aircraft have, happily, since been moved inside after the museum’s massive redevelopment and expansion in the early nineties. For a type of its age and importance, and relative scarcity, there are still a number of Flying Fortresses displayed outside. Large aircraft are wonderful and imposing, but they only fit in…

Hosted by the Camarillo Wings Association, with the support of volunteers from the Southern California Wing of the Commemorative Air Force and Experimental Aircraft Association Chapter 723, the Wings Over Camarillo Air Show returned with another quality installment over the weekend of 19-20 August. In typical Camarillo fashion the morning’s cooling marine layer broke before noon to leave a bright, clear sky as a backdrop to the flying activities. Featuring more than eighty aircraft in the air or on static display, the show highlighted vintage aircraft, experimental aircraft, warbirds, jets and helicopters, with friendly public access available to the machines, pilots and crews. There were numerous formation flybys including the North American/Ryan Navions, Beechcraft T-34 Mentors, the West Coast Ravens in Vans RV homebuilts, and the Condor Squadron with their…

Long-time Antique enthusiasts, Craig Taberner from Geelong, and Mark Davis from Essendon, have recently purchased Auster Mk.V VH-ATS from David Friday in Benalla. Originally built as an Auster Mk.V for the RAF (serial TW371), it was shipped to Arkonam, India, then post-war to Iwakuni in Japan as part of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force there. It was brought into Australia in 1952, registered as VH-AZV, and civilianised as an Auster 5. It was withdrawn from use in 1972, but had not flown since 1967. It was acquired by Dave Friday, to be restored with Ron Molloy, and re-registered as VH-ATS in October 2000. The first post-restoration flight, with the aircraft finished in its original Mk.V guise, was in 2007. The Auster will take up residence alongside Craig’s C195 on his…

The RAF’s Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF) has repainted Lancaster PA474 to represent two different aircraft. The port side represents a Lancaster that flew with 460 Squadron RAAF. Built in early 1943 as a B.III, Lancaster W5005 joined the Australian squadron in May as ‘AR-L’, ‘L-for-Leader’. It was first flown on ops by the crew led by Flight Sergeant Ken Giles. They completed the last eight raids of their tour with the aircraft. The skipper of the next regular crew, Sergeant ‘Jock’ Ogilvie, was Scottish and he and his men devised the nose art – a kangaroo wearing gumboots and playing the bagpipes – that soon adorned the aircraft, painted by ‘Vic’ Watts (later to receive two DFCs), and now graces the well-known PA474. The next regular crew, skippered…

A Lockheed Neptune that had a firefighting career spanning more than two decades has been retired to gate guard duties in Missoula, Montana. During its military service, it had patrolled off the coast of Florida during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Missoula-based Neptune Aviation Services, the largest air tanker provider for the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), is replacing its remaining Neptunes at the end of this year’s fire season with converted BAe 146 airliners (of which it already has a substantial and hard working fleet). This SP-2H (BuNo 144681) was retired several years ago, but took four months to prepare for its new role. Non-essential parts were removed and holes and areas where birds and animals might access the airframe were filled in. The P2V-7/SP-2H Neptune was used widely during the…

In mid 2017, the Musée de l’Air et de l’Espace, at le Bourget Airport, Paris, France, returned their historic Morane-Saulnier AI aerobatic aircraft to public display. It has been fully restored by the Museum’s team led by Laurent Rabier. The Morane-Saulnier AI was a French parasol-wing fighter aircraft produced in 1917, developed as a refinement of the Morane-Saulnier Type N, in competition with the SPAD XIII, both aiming to replace the Nieuport 17 and SPAD VII. However by 1918, most AIs had themselves been replaced and they were relegated to becoming advanced fighter trainers, including a batch of 51 bought by the American Expeditionary Force. Several examples were used postwar as aerobatic aircraft, and a number survive (several of which are airworthy) at Old Rhinebeck and Fantasy of Flight in…

Former Ansett DC-3 VH-BZB is on display outside the National Science Centre for Education in Bangkok, Thailand. Built in 1943 as a C-47A, it saw service with the RAF as a Dakota III (FD868). It moved on to the civil register in 1945 as G-AGHN and flew with BOAC until, five years later, after a stint flying livestock with Guinea Air Traders Ltd, in Lae, New Guinea, it was sold to Ansett. Named 'Ansertes', as previously carried by the airline’s Lockheed 10A VH-UZO, it was seconded to Butler Air Transport in 1958. It was sold later that year to Thai Airways and became HS-TDF. It was transferred to the Royal Thai Air Force in December 1966 and finished its flying career in 1973 as '22352' with the RTAF 603 Squadron.…

A former RCAF Beech D18S has flown almost 6000 nautical miles, from California to Switzerland, to be delivered to its new owner. It is the third example of the classic twin to join enthusiast Hugo Mathys’ collection. After sixteen years serving the Canadian military as an Expeditor Mk.3 (serial CA-130), the aircraft passed through several owners before being placed in open storage and falling derelict until it went in for an overhaul in the early 2000s. It has since been fully restored by Taigh Ramey’s Vintage Aircraft in Stockton, California. All three of the Mathys’ twins have been restored or refurbished by the Beech 18 specialists. Ramey joined Jürg Marti at Goose Bay, Labrador, Canada, and set off on the Atlantic crossing on 13 September. Following the northern route, stops…

William Stout formed the Stout Metal Airplane Company in 1922 in Dearborn, Michigan, to build his aircraft designs. Henry Ford was one of the original investors in the company. The Ford Motor Company purchased Stout outright in 1924 and the first aircraft built under Ford’s ownership was the 3-AT, but it proved very underpowered with three Wright Whirlwind J-4 200hp (149kW) engines. An improved model was built, the 4-AT, and included sub-variants powered by several Whirlwind variants or the Pratt & Whitney Wasp. A further improved model, the 5-AT, was equipped with three Pratt & Whitney C-1 or SC-1 radials. Australia had four Ford Trimotors added to its civil register, all having previously been registered in the USA and then the UK. Two of the four were duly impressed into…

The 54th Reno National Air Races featured one of the most exciting Unlimited Gold finishes in the history of the event. On the race’s final lap, perennial winner ‘Strega’, the highly modified P-51 Mustang piloted by James Consalvi, edged out fellow racing Mustang ‘Voodoo’, flown by seven time champion Steven Hinton, by less than a second. Hinton led the race until just before the final turn when, as he battled through traffic, Consalvi climbed slightly and then dived to gain enough speed to pass just before the home pylon. The average speed of both aircraft was at least sixty miles per hour (100km/h) faster than the rest of the field of seven. The great story from the Unlimited Class was that of the team from New Zealand. ‘Full Noise’, a…

The Midwest Antique Airplane Club has held its annual fly-in at Brodhead, Wisconsin, since the eighties. Its popularity is evident with more than 200 aircraft visiting for the 2017 event. A highlight this year was Larry Harmacinski’s DH.60M Gipsy Moth that, after a couple of years of ownership, had just moved to his hangar at Brodhead. The busiest aircraft was Ed Lachendro’s Waco IBA. Ed was busy giving rides to whoever wanted one. Unusual among Wacos, it features side-by-side seating and is powered by a small 100hp (75kW) Kinner radial. One of just two built, it is the only survivor. Its rebuild many years ago incorporated some components from its sister ship. Wacos were the most numerous aircraft present with eighteen on the field, however, it was also nice to…

The Antique Airplane Association fly-in is held every Labor Day weekend (first weekend in September). The Antique Airfield, in Blakesburg, Iowa, is the perfect place for a vintage aircraft fly-in as it is well out in open countryside, with a a 2,500 ft (760-metre) grass runway and plenty of amenities on site. More than 350 aircraft from at least 34 states attended the fly-in and association members and guests also arrived from Canada, Switzerland and the UK. Perhaps the furthest-travelled flying visitors was the group of three Bücker Jungmann that flew from San Diego to the annual Bücker fly-in at Kalispell, Montana, the weekend before, then headed to Blakesburg. Regular attendee Russell Williams flew his Ryan SCW from Seattle, twenty hours each way. Flying commenced at dawn and continued largely…

The well-known sight and sound of Australia’s oldest airworthy Douglas DC-3 is gracing the sky once again. The former Australian National Airways (ANA) aircraft, VH-ABR, flew on 14 August after a two-year refurbishment (see Flightpath, Vol 27, No 1, p14). The third DC-3 imported into the country (c/n 2029), it began flying for ANA in late 1938 and, major repairs and storage periods aside, continued flying revenue services into the seventies. Since its first return to flight in 1988, ‘ABR has been cared for by an exceptionally dedicated team of volunteers. This team weathered the collapse of Ansett Airlines and today, as the R.M. Ansett Historical Aircraft Society (RMHAS), has again been responsible for breathing life into an aircraft that has touched the lives of thousands of Australians, enthusiasts and…

Arizona’s Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson has acquired a rebuilt P-40E Warhawk from Australia. The aircraft fills a significant hole in this world-class collection. Starting with the late Murray Griffiths’ Precision Aerospace in Wangaratta, Victoria, the Warhawk was built from a combination of parts from multiple 49th Fighter Group (FG) wrecks and new build components. It was completed by Rob Greinert’s Historic Aircraft Restorations in Albion Park, New South Wales. The museum has decided its new exhibit will represent P-40E 41-25163, the regular mount of ace Sidney Woods. Woods was born in Texas, but spent the majority of his life in Arizona. He joined the 49th FG in December 1941 before it left for Australia and flew with the 9th Fighter Squadron (FS) in defence of northern Australia…

The 2017 Thunder Over Michigan Airshow at historic Willow Run airport presented a special opportunity that saw the U.S. Navy Blue Angels solo aircraft perform a legacy flight with John O’Connor and his Blue Angels-marked Grumman F8F-2 Bearcat. Blue Angel solo Commander Frank Weisser (No. 5), along with Tyler Davies (No. 6), coordinated with TOM staff and O’Connor to arrange the shoot at Willow Run on 31 August. On the Thursday before the airshow the Yankee Air Museum launched their B-25 Mitchell photo-ship to join the Bearcat. Weisser then moved the Hornets into position for the photo-shoot over the field. The U.S. Navy Blue Angels flight demonstration team was created by Admiral Chester Nimitz in 1946 flying the Grumman F6F Hellcat. They have the distinction of being the world’s second…

Newly-rebuilt Airco DH.9 E8894 arrived at Duxford in mid-July after making its public debut in the BAE Systems heritage display at the Royal International Air Tattoo at Fairford. The aircraft is one of a pair that were recovered for Guy Black from the elephant stables of Junagarh Fort in Bikaner, Rajasthan, in northern India in the late nineties. They were part of the Imperial Gift of aircraft to various countries within the British Empire after the end of the Great War, India receiving sixty examples of the DH.9. The various components recovered from India allowed two examples of this largely unsuccessful bomber type to be reconstructed. The other aircraft (D5689) was restored to static condition for the IWM and placed on display at Duxford in 2007. E8894 has been restored…

In January 2017, Defence Disposals issued a tender for the disposal of fourteen retired Bell/CAC Kiowa Helicopters. Defence Disposals has in recent years initiated a program to see retired airframes make their way into Australia’s aircraft museums for preservation, the most high profile example being the F-111 Aardvarks going to numerous collections. (This was additional to the policy of key airframes going, on retirement, to the appropriate national collection or the Australian War Memorial, that is in place already.) The successful tenderers were notified of their allocated airframes in June. By August most museums had collected their airframes. All of the Kiowas had previously been used as spares recovery airframes for the active fleet, while the remainder of the fleet and spare parts will be disposed of commercially. Defence Disposals…

By his own estimation, Sergeant Bombura Akira regained consciousness about an hour after impact, before searching the scattered burning wreckage of the Kawasaki Ki-48 ‘Lily’ twin engine bomber for his three comrades. All he found were their remains, burned beyond recognition; pilot Lieutenant Kondo, nose gunner Warrant Officer Utsunomiya, and dorsal gunner Sergeant Uemura. Extraordinarily, Bombura had sustained only minor injuries when thrown clear by the impact, enabling him to wander the jungle and hills for the next five days trying to find his way to the coast. On the fifth day he encountered local children who gave him biscuits. He was captured by Australian soldiers several hours later. Thankful for the good treatment received from his captors, Bombura elaborated on his plight in detail before being sent to the…

Like many young men in early W.W.II, John Charles Bailey was keen to enlist as a pilot, and was expecting to be sent to fight in Europe. But it was remarkable for him to have even got through the medical. Born on 8 December 1922, he suffered from osteomyelitis bone infection as a young boy, and went through a number of operations that saved his leg from amputation, though it was made shorter than the other for some time afterwards. Family life was hard, living on a farm while his father was prospecting for gold. Despite the RAAF medics testing him thoroughly, he recalled: “I managed to conceal the limitations, and I was accepted. The leg gave me no trouble flying except that at over 30,000 feet altitude it would…

The A-20A (40-166) put down at 7-Mile Drome after it was damaged by flak during a raid over Lae on 1 November 1942. Relegated to the boneyard, where it would become a spares source, it was eventually found to be in better condition than initially thought. Towed to 3-Mile, where the Havocs were based, it was stripped of its wings. Another Havoc, 39-724, had suffered a nosewheel collapse on 15 December 1942. Its twisted fuselage was of no use, but its wings were fine so, in short, at least two aircraft became one (40-3153, ‘Yellow Fever’, is also reported as a major donor, but it pranged on 24 February 1943 after 40-166 is reported to have returned to service). ‘Fat Cat’ was the nickname given to the, somewhat unofficial, unit…

The 41st annual Columbia Gathering of Luscombes, hosted by the Continental Luscombe Association, took place near the old gold rush town of Columbia in the Sierra foothills of Northern California. An excellent turnout of aircraft arrived for the event, with thirty Luscombes in attendance on day one. Columbia Airport is an ideal venue, with both grass and paved runways, and it also has an active CalFire air tanker base. Next to the aircraft parking area along the grass strip is a campground and clubhouse for those who flew in. Event stalwarts, Don and Donna Sprankle, maintained their perfect record by arriving to attend their 41st Gathering. With the density altitude hovering around 4000 feet, the Short Field Takeoff award went to Warren Smith of Oak Harbor, Washington, who, in his…

The Experimental Aircraft Association’s AirVenture 2017 attracted almost 600,000 people and 10,000 aircraft during the week-long convention and airshow. The highlight for many was the much anticipated formation of the only airworthy examples of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress as ‘Doc’ (44-69972) flew with the Commemorative Air Force’s ‘Fifi’ (44-62070). To celebrate and honour the last Doolittle Raider, twelve Mitchell bombers were present and 101 year old Lieutenant Colonel Dick Cole was on hand as the event also celebrated the 75th anniversary of the famous B-25 raid on the Japanese mainland. He was Jimmy Doolittle’s co-pilot, and subsequently ‘Hump’ pilot, and made sure he waved off each of the Mitchells as they taxied out. Impressively, there were 1162 vintage aircraft and 351 warbirds on show. The Bell Cobras were out in…