Table of contents for May-Jun-Jul 2019 in Flightpath

A Spitfire that has been a star in the US since its arrival there in 2006 will now call Australia home. In a deal brokered by Platinum Fighter Sales (PFS), RN201, a Griffon-powered high-back Mk.XIVe, has been sold to a New South Wales buyer who wishes to remain anonymous. The aircraft will be based at Scone, NSW, under the care of Ross Pay’s Vintage Fighter Restorations. Built at Keevil in 1945, RN201 was allocated to 350 (Belgian) Squadron in 1946, but later returned to the UK to be placed into storage. It went back to the Belgian unit in 1948 and, although built as a F.XIV, at some time while with the squadron the wings were exchanged for those of an E Wing armament configuration (a common improvement built into…

Both Navy Historic Flights in the UK and Australia are undergoing significant change. In the UK, the Royal Navy Historic Flight (RNHF) is transferring from Naval ownership and operation to the civilian Navy Wings charity organisation. The Navy Wings operation has supported the RNHF for the last 25 years with fundraising, finance and other aircraft operation. Currently the RNHF operate two Fairey Swordfish; a Hawker Sea Fury FB.11 and Sea Hawk FGA.6; and a DHC Chipmunk, and have been the Navy’s heritage air arm since 1972. In Australia the Navy decided they no longer wished to operate vintage aircraft, grounding the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) Historic Flight’s flying Bell UH-1B, and stopping work on the flight’s other aircraft. The Australian Defence Force Disposals decided on the Historic Aircraft Restoration Society…

Jerry Yagen’s Bell P-39F Airacobra (41-2175), under restoration for the past few years at Pioneer Aero in Ardmore, New Zealand, has flown. With the tail code ‘42-20341’ applied and creating confusion over its identity, this restoration first began at the late Murray Griffith’s Precision Aerospace workshop in Wangaratta, Victoria, in the early 2000s. Following the sale of Precision Aerospace’s assets, the project moved to Pioneer in May 2015 (along with Yagen’s two Vought OS2U Kingfisher projects). On 26 February, with Frank Parker at the controls, the first post restoration flight of the Airacobra (as ZK-COB) was successfully made. The aircraft was in a flight of six Airacobras that left Townsville for Port Moresby, New Guinea, on 1 May 1942. Bad weather and inexperience forced the flight to turn back and,…

As these words are read, almost twenty Douglas DC-3/C-47/C-53 variants will be on their way, or about to be on their way, to the UK for the first stage of the much-anticipated ‘Daks over Normandy’. This event will be a major part of the 75th anniversary commemorations of the D-Day landings. These aircraft from North America will join a similar number of UK and European based transports in several massed formations and parachute drops. The founders of Daks over Normandy – Andrew and Geraldine Dixon, and Peter Braun – have been bringing it all together since 2016 after successfully gathering nine aircraft for the 2014 commemoration. The seeds sown in 2014 have grown impressively. “We aimed for thirty aircraft,” said Peter, “then 35, and there’s some more from Europe and…

After languishing as a display aircraft for nearly twenty years at Nut Tree Airport, Vacaville, California, a Stinson AT-19-VW Reliant has made several test flights. Plans are for NC1141 to be ferried to its new owner in Iowa by the time these words are read. The Stinson was owned by Earl Benedict for more than thirty years and has been on display with the late Duncan Miller’s collection and at the local airport museum. As the United States entered W.W.II, production of the earlier civilian model Stinson Reliants ended (Stinson became a subsidiary of Consolidated-Vultee in 1939) and a number of civilian machines were impressed into military service as the UC-81. Production started up again, though, with the last Stinson Model SR-10, which underwent some airframe and design changes, built…

On 31 January 2018, on a cold, but clear, afternoon, with pilots Doug Rozendaal and Thom Travis at the controls, Douglas C-47A Skytrain ‘That’s All, Brother’ took off from Wittman Field at Oshkosh, Wisconsin. After the Pathfinders that led the airborne invasion of Normandy, this aircraft was the leader of about 800 C-47s that dropped the 101st Airborne Division as part of Mission Albany on 6 June 1944. The recovery of this C-47 was the result of various factors, but was achieved, above all, by the tenacity and passion of the people of the CAF who, having discovered its identity and history, campaigned strenuously to raise funds to enable its recovery and restoration to original wartime configuration. The Skytrain rolled off the Douglas production line in Oklahoma City as a…

For the Royal Navy, the nature of carrier warfare had changed enormously by 1944. No longer were aircrew forced to fight in aircraft often inferior to those of the enemy. By degrees, other options had been tried, especially when it came to fighters. Some of the RAF’s battle hardened, but aging, Hawker Hurricanes went to sea and proved themselves in combat, particularly in the Mediterranean during 1942. The Grumman Wildcat was also acquired, under Lend/Lease, as another stop-gap measure. Britain, however, despite escalating its investment in modern purpose-built seaborne aircraft, struggled to produce machines as advanced and as tough as those developed in the United States or Japan. To help fill the gap, the Supermarine Spitfire Mk.V was adapted for service as the Seafire Mk.I, II and III during 1942…

The 16th Australian International Airshow was held under perfect blue skies at Avalon, Victoria, on 1-3 March (following the well-attended Trade Days on 26-28 February). Despite the ridiculously hot weather (reaching 38°C each day), the organisers are to be congratulated for an event run with minimal disruptions. The ADF once again showed off its fleet, including the new F-35 Lightning II, and featured the retiring Pilatus PC-9/A and ‘classic’ F/A-18 Hornet. The Roulettes performed a special display to mark their transition to the PC-21. International contributions came from the USAF, RNZAF, and the JASDF with their recently-introduced twin turbofan Kawasaki C-2. The Friday ‘Night Alight’ spectacular, while missing the crowd favourite Super Constellation from HARS this year, impressed with a Swedish-based Grumman Ag Cat and a SZD-59 Acro Glider laser…

Australia’s premier collection of airworthy historic aircraft has been donated to the Royal Australian Air Force. In this major move, it was announced that Defence (ADF) has entered into an agreement with the Temora Aviation Museum (TAM) to transfer ownership of eleven historically significant aircraft to the Royal Australian Air Force. ‘Officially’ announced in a short post on social media on 18 April, the donated aircraft were listed as the English Electric Canberra, DH.115 Vampire, Gloster Meteor F.8, both Spitfires, Lockheed Hudson, CAC Wirraway, CAC Boomerang, Cessna A-37B Dragonfly, DH.82A Tiger Moth and the Ryan STM S2. The Cessna O-2, second Dragonfly (VHDLO), and a recently donated Tiger Moth will be retained by the museum. Obviously, the ‘Avon’ Sabre, operation of which was already a joint agreement between the RAAF…

Unique Auster VH-SEB has appeared in the Port Lincoln airport terminal. Taylorcraft Auster Mk.V, RAF serial TW522, was used for (unsuccessful) floatplane trials in Singapore in 1946. Afterwards, it was sold to the Royal Singapore Flying Club, but wrecked. The fuselage was obtained by John Doudy and Gerry Wells, who built a new Auster with a pair of Mk VI wings and struts, Mk V split flaps, and a Lycoming engine. They added an access hatch behind the front seats, completing it in early December 1958 as John was demobbed from the RAF. He flew it solo to Adelaide hoping to start his own flying school, but the Department of Civil Aviation would only register it for private use, forcing John to sell. Subsequently it was flown by Port Lincoln…

The latest arrival in the restoration queue at WestPac in Colorado Springs, Colorado, is a rare Curtiss Helldiver (BuNo 75552). This particular aircraft was originally ordered as a USAAC A-25 Shrike, but was converted to SB2C-1 configuration and allocated to the US Marine Corps as a stateside training aircraft. The Helldiver was originally developed to replace the legendary Douglas SBD Dauntless/A-24 Banshee. However, the SB2C was an extremely complicated and heavy aircraft that suffered a protracted development period due to a myriad of issues. It entered service much latter than expected, after the Grumman Avenger that had begun development two years later, but did preform admirably in US service in the later stages of the Pacific war. Australia ordered 150 Curtiss Shrikes for the RAAF and the first ten aircraft…

The demise of Lufthansa’s airworthy Lockheed L-1649A Starliner project was disappointing to say the least. The silver lining, however, is that the distinctive shape of a Constellation will once again grace New York’s JFK Airport (JFK). Starliner N8083H, like many old propliners, had a long flying career that started with TWA passenger services in 1958. Following years as a freighter with a multitude of operators, including some apparently shady ones, the aircraft ended up with renowned Connie aficionado Maurice Roundy and stored near his property at Auburn-Lewiston Airport, Maine. It was then acquired by the Lufthansa project as a spares source, giving up, among other things, its flaps, engines and rudders. As things began to grind to a halt for Lufthansa’s rebuild in Maine, an intriguing development was well underway…

On 16 February, Markus Rheinländer flew his Dornier Do 27 from Paderborn-Lippstadt Airport’s runway for the first time, the culmination of an intensive four year restoration. It is painted as ‘U.9-51’, the first production Do 27 of Spain’s Ejército del Aire, a nod to the prototype’s first flight in that country in June 1955. The aircraft was built in 1960 as a Dornier 27A-4 (serial 471) and flew with LTG61 (Lufttransportgeschwader – Air Transport Squadron) Penzing as GA+374. After being used by several units of the Bundeswehr, the Dornier was retired in 1970. Between 1976 and 2013 it had a second career at Skydive Kiel taking many parachutists aloft. Markus was able to acquire the tired aircraft in 2015 and brought it to the Quax-Hangar at Paderborn (home of the…

The origin of the Swallow design started with Hanns Klemm, who founded the Klemm Leichtflugzeugbau GmbH (Klemm Light Aircraft Company) in Böblingen in 1926. Previously, he had worked for both Zeppelin and the Daimler Aircraft Company. With Daimler, he had developed a light touring aircraft, the Daimler L 15, one of the first dedicated light aircraft, initially flown as a glider in 1922 (after an accident under power in 1919) then given a 12.5hp (9.3kW) Harley Davidson engine, and, in 1924, also operated, as the WL 15, off the water on floats! It was carefully constructed in transportable, demountable sections and with the engine and fuel tank nose able to be swapped with a glider nose unit. Though successful enough, Klemm decided to go for a slightly more robust, larger…

An Australian infantry patrol had first surveyed the wreckage on 25 July 1943, led there by tribesmen who saw the aircraft crash. The tail was sufficiently intact that a sketch of its markings was subsequently produced in an Allied intelligence summary. This report notes that the fighter, which crashed fourteen miles (23 kilometres) northwest of the highlands village of Asaloka (also known as Asaroka), was dark green, and its tail had three red stripes. They did not appreciate at the time how significant the wreck was, for it was among the first Hien to be surveyed by Allied intelligence. Today we know that the constructor’s number ‘239’ indicates the fighter was manufactured by Kawasaki in April 1943, and that it was included in the first 78th Sentai delivery to New…

The unit arrived in the UK in mid-January 1943 and flew its first mission in April. Its association with the Thunderbolt had begun Stateside, unlike other early fighter groups deployed to the European theatre at the time, and, as is well known, flew the type until the cessation of hostilities. Falling just short of being the USAAF’s highest scoring fighter group in the theatre (for air-to-air victories), despite the emergence of the Mustang as the pre-eminent escort fighter, the 56th benefitted from early use of auxiliary fuel tanks and, as the focus shifted to the Mustang, new tactics that increased its chances of encountering the Luftwaffe. Naturally, the unit’s rugged aircraft were ideal fighter-bombers and were heavily employed in this role as well. Nigel Julian and Peter Randall are the…

The biennial Wings over Wairarapa airshow was held over three days from 22 February. Two years ago the whole show was cancelled due to rain and this year, after weeks of hot, sunny weather, the outlook was terrible with wind and heavy rain forecast. Luckily, flying on Friday, officially a practice day, went ahead with light winds and mostly nice weather, but only good enough for one of the The Vintage Aviator Ltd (TVAL) flying scenarios. Other acts cancelled after not being able to get to the airfield. Saturday was much better than forecast and TVAL flew in three slots. The event was cancelled on Sunday due to atrocious weather. What a display! To see so many accurate W.W.I reproduction aircraft, with original or exact reproduction engines, flying together (in…

Following an on-and-off restoration started in the mid-eighties, the DH.60M Gipsy Moth VH-UQH made its first post-restoration flight at Caboolture, in the hands of co-owner Ed Field, on 8 April 2019. Ed found the aircraft and two logbooks among a shed full of Tiger Moth parts in the Western Australian wheatbelt town of Trayning almost forty years ago. The Moth was damaged in a cyclone in 1953 and stored, considered beyond repair. After researching VH-UQH and discovering its historic significance, Ed moved the aircraft’s remains to Melbourne, then Caboolture. The restoration to its 1930s splendour was completed by Complete Aircraft Care at Caboolture, including its original British registration markings (G-ABHY). The Moth’s (c/n 1685) first post-restoration flight was almost 88 years to the day after it arrived in Australia, piloted…

The rare British Aircraft Swallow II VH-UUM (c/n 409), which has been restored for Moorabbin’s Australian National Aviation Museum (ANAM), recently had an airing at Lilydale Airport, Victoria, during the airshow there on 25 November 2018. Originally registered to R.H.F. Hickson at the start of November 1935, it was damaged in a landing several days later at Wallerawang, Western Australia. Passing through a couple of owners, its Pobjoy Cataract was replaced by a Niagara radial (the Cataract was a de-rated variant of the Niagara) in 1937. The aircraft was then obtained by prospector ‘Lang’ Hancock of Roebourne, Western Australia, in August 1943, but was again damaged in a forced landing 12 miles (19 kilometres) from Mulga Downs Station on 16 November that year. Passing though several owners in New South…

The Sun ’n Fun International Fly-In at Lakeland, Florida, in April, despite warbird attendance seeming down on previous years, did have one very big coup. The event saw the first public appearance of the long-awaited North American XP-82 Twin Mustang (serial 44-83887). Damaged during test flying in 1949, it was bought as scrap by famous aircraft collector Walter Soplata and stored on his Ohio farm for almost sixty years. It was eventually bought and restored by Tom Reilly and his team in Douglas, Georgia. The first flight, after a ten year restoration, was accidental when, on 31 December 2018, a gear down circuit was flown when it was realised the aircraft was accelerating too fast during a high-speed taxi test. The first official test flight occurred a month later. At…

Currently touring the west and northern part of the United States, the Liberty Foundation, of Port Clinton, Iowa, has its Ford Tri-Motor 5-AT-B on loan to the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA). In recent years, the EAA, of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, has been operating its own Tri-Motor (a 4-AT-E) and Liberty’s example on opposite coasts, telling the story of early commercial air travel and introducing thousands of adults and children to an unforgettable ride in the ‘Tin Goose’. These two aircraft have been around for ninety years now, carrying thousands of passengers and tonnes of mail and cargo. Still wearing its original tail number, NC9645, the Liberty Foundation 5-AT-B made its first flight on 1 December 1928 and was sold to Transcontinental Air Transport (TAT) where it was named ‘City of Wichita’…

On 10 April 1929, Keith Anderson and ‘Bob’ Hitchcock, took off from Richmond, New South Wales, and headed towards north-west Western Australia where Charles Kingsford Smith’s famous ‘Southern Cross’ was reported missing. Their aircraft, a diminutive Widgeon named ‘Kookaburra’ (G-AUKA), was forced down by engine trouble in the Tanami Desert. This sealed the fate of Anderson and Hitchcock, in what became known as the Coffee Royal Incident, as they died of thirst and exposure and were found with their aircraft eleven days later. While the ‘Kookaburra’ men were buried, then exhumed and recovered, the same conditions that killed the men prevented the aircraft from following suit. It was left to the elements, accidentally rediscovered in 1961, and lost again before being found and recovered by Dick Smith in 1978. Its…

It was always the dream of commercial pilot, Peter Monk, to one day own and fly a Supermarine Spitfire. While certainly not a unique dream, relatively few like it come true. Monk’s started taking shape, however, in 1994 when his flying skills and experience enabled him to display the Dutch Spitfire LF Mk.IXb PH-OUQ at air shows throughout Britain and Europe. “I had always wanted to fly since the age of nineteen and I was always fascinated by Spitfires. It was an ambition of mine to fly one and I decided the only sure way to do that was to own a Spitfire – but it’s not cheap! Luckily, in 1994, I was invited to fly and display one belonging to the Royal Netherlands Air Force … and that just…

Menzies learned to fly with the RAF in Egypt in the late twenties, became a test pilot with the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment in 1932, and joined Fairey in 1935 as lead test pilot of the northern arm of the company. From 1943, he took on a role as head of service and liaison. Fairey supplied a great many aircraft to the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) in W.W.II, and maintaining the relationship between the company and the Royal Navy’s squadrons was essential. Menzies spent much of the last few years of the war shuttling between Fairey’s home bases and FAA shore stations, helping the crews get the best out of their aircraft and gathering opinions and information to deliver back to the factory. It was therefore natural that when…

The 43rd AAAA National Fly-in was held on 20-22 March at Echuca and attracted more than 130 aircraft, championing all things antique and vintage aviation, and featuring the 80th anniversary of the first flight of the venerable Auster. In 1938 Alexander Lance Wykes, a Leicestershire businessman and flying enthusiast, travelled to America to negotiate a licence agreement to build the Taylorcraft Model B in England. Construction commenced in February 1939 and the first aircraft was completed on 24 April. To comply with British Civil Airworthiness requirements, it differed from its American counterpart, as it had to be strengthened, and thus was designated a Taylorcraft ‘Plus C’ model. It made its first flight on 3 May 1939, but the outbreak of war in September meant civilian aircraft production and private flying…

Air Fighter Academy’s Hangar 10, based at Heringsdorf airfield on the Baltic island of Usedom, has collected an excellent array of airworthy historic aircraft. Two open house flying days were organised in late September 2018. The event was also billed as a war-bird fly-in to attract warbird visitors from elsewhere in Germany and Europe. This was not an airshow, but more an informal flying event with some practice displays. First on the program each day was Yak-9 D-FASA, but, on both days, it wouldn’t start! From then on, though, it was good news with the P-51D Mustang ‘Little Ite’ (serial 44-63473, D-FUNN) flown by either Rob Davies or Klaus Plasa. Rob Davies also flew the former Rudi Frasca Spitfire Mk.XVIIIe TP280 (D-FSPT). Messerschmitt Bf 108 Taifun D-ERTT also flew once,…