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39 Articles

Farewell Flightpath

It was July 1998, 21 years ago, that I assumed the big chair at Flightpath. As momentous as this anniversary should be, it’s my sad duty to inform you that this, my 84th issue, is the second last edition of Flightpath. After 31 years of bringing the historic aviation movement into the homes of you, our loyal readers, from this November Flightpath will be no more. I have endeavoured, with the help of many talented contributors from around the globe, to maintain the magazine’s position at the forefront of Australia's historic aviation movement. From my first edition, I’ve kept our focus on the preservation of aviation heritage, covering the latest antique, vintage and war-bird aircraft news worldwide, including detailed historical and technical feature articles, to keep readers current on aviation’s past. When…

Farewell Flightpath

Ryan Resurrection

Quietly making steady progress in a hangar at the Temora Airpark, New South Wales, in the hands of owner (Wing Commander ret.) Martin Susans, a Ryan STM is nearing completion. This long-term project began when Martin’s late brother, (Wing Commander ret.) Geoff Susans, acquired the wreck of Ryan VH-RAE (s/n 467) in 1974. A year later the brothers bought another crashed STM, VH-AGQ (s/n 473), and moved both to RAAF Amberley, Queensland, where they were serving at the time. The aircraft were later relocated to Canberra where work concentrated on rebuilding a pair of wings. In 2011 the fuselage of VH-RAE was transported to Wagga, NSW, for structural repair by the late Mark Wallace of Encore Aviation. Mark was also working on the restoration of Guy Kendall’s STM VH-DBD at…

Ryan Resurrection

Two Pigs in a pen

At the South Australian Aviation Museum (SAAM), Port Adelaide, on 18 May, two F-111Cs were reunited for a brief time. The supersonic all-weather strike jet was affectionately known as the ‘Pig’ in Australian service due to its ability to fly ‘in the weeds’. A reconnaissance variant on loan from the RAAF and on static display at the museum since March 2013, A8-134 was delivered to the RAAF on 25 July 1973 and converted to a RF-111C in 1980 with the installation of cameras in the weapons bay. Of great historical significance, it saw active service over East Timor and is the only remaining example of this variant. With its wings, elevators and tail removed, the aircraft was transported to Canberra and is now on display at the Australian War Memorial. The…

Two Pigs in a pen

Sopwith Snipe for RAAF Point Cook

The RAAF Museum recently acquired Sopwith Snipe replica VH-SNP. The Snipe was scratch built by Nick Caudwell from the original Sopwith plans. The project, completed in 2014, consumed more than ten years and approximately 10,000 hours of work before Nick made the first flight at Tyabb on 17 October that year. He was able to incorporate many original parts, including all the cockpit instruments, switches and the gunsight, during the build (see Flightpath Vol.25 No.4). The Snipe entered service in September 1918 and, in the short period before the Armistice, earned the reputation as the best Allied fighter of the war. It was only used by three squadrons during that time – 43 and 208 Squadrons RAF and 4 Squadron AFC. Production of the Snipe ceased in 1919, but it remained…

Sopwith Snipe for RAAF Point Cook

Spectacular Fury

One of the newest warbird restorations in the US is a spectacularly prepared and highly polished Sea Fury known as ‘On Eagles’ Wings’. Based in Centennial, Colorado, the Hawker fighter (serial 87954, N63SF) is a T Mk.20 originally built as a T.20 and delivered to the Iraqi Air Force. The aircraft was saved, alongside other Furies, by famed warbird collectors Ed Jurist and David Tallichet. The incomplete airframe lingered at various storage sites for years until being meticulously restored by Sanders Aircraft in Ione, California. As is common in the US, the Bristol Centaurus was replaced by a Pratt & Whitney R-2800. Components from other Sea Furies, including the outer wings of ‘Cottonmouth’/’Conch Fury’ (now under rebuild in Germany), were used to complete the project. Now owned by Eagle’s Wings…

Spectacular Fury

A daughter’s tribute

Few feats of Australian aviation can compare with PG Taylor’s desperate in-flight draining of the Southern Cross’ crippled starboard engine oil into a suitcase using a thermos flask, at night, over a menacing Tasman Sea. All so the process could then be repeated, replenishing the critical but labouring port engine so it would not fail. The story has been told many times in print, on celluloid, even appearing in this issue on page 24, but the sight of PG Taylor’s daughter Gai, standing beneath the broad wing of the Southern Cross replica at this year’s Wings over Illawarra, re-telling her father’s courageous deeds, was a rare treat, enthralling adults and children alike. A unique, inspiring, and very personal tribute to this true great of Australian aviation.…

A daughter’s tribute

Omaka’s ‘Restoration Row’

Omaka’s ‘Restoration Row’

British Bulldog

Mark Reed of Half Moon Bay, California, has recently repainted his 1975 Scottish Aviation Bulldog B.125 into the type’s high visibility ‘Bumble Bee’ scheme. Built in Scotland between 1969 and 1982, 320 Bulldogs were sold as basic trainers to ten different countries. The Royal Air Force acquired 130 examples in 1972, easily making it the largest user of the type. The RAF aircraft were a very familiar sight in their original red and white scheme, which is how this Bulldog was previously painted. The last RAF Bulldogs were sold in 2001. This particular aircraft (BH120/417) served as a basic trainer with the Royal Jordanian Academy of Aeronautics and was later transferred to the Royal Jordanian Air Force before it was retired in 2002. It was returned to the UK on board a…

British Bulldog

The wings of friendship returned to Australian skies last June when the second of two Fokker F27 aircraft landed at its new home with the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society (HARS). Now registered VHTQN, the ‘relatively new’ 34-year-old Fokker Friendship was ferried from New Zealand, via Norfolk Island, to the museum at Illawarra Regional Airport. The F27-500 was retired by New Zealand Post in 2017 and donated to HARS to be maintained in flying condition as a tribute to the airlines of yesteryear. From 1959, more than eighty Fokker Friendships served with airlines across Australia, replacing the legendary DC-3, to provide a vital link to the major cities for people in regional, rural and remote areas. The distinctive high-wing aircraft, with its Rolls Royce Dart engines, flew thousands of passengers around the…

Graham Hosking’s F4U-5N Corsair (BuNo 123168) has been fully refurbished and has completed its first engine runs at Tyabb, Victoria. The former Fuerza Aérea Hondureña fighter (see Flightpath Vol 26 No 1) has been out of action since suffering a wheels-up landing prior to the Hunter Valley Airshow at Maitland on 28 January 2017. With a ‘new’ overhauled Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Twin Wasp installed, and repairs to the skins and flaps done, all that is holding this stunning machine back is favourable weather conditions needed to dry out the grass edges of the Tyabb airstrip.…

An Evening at Shuttleworth

The first evening display of the year saw patrons treated to the sight of the Shuttle-worth Collection Westland Lysander taking off in formation with the Aircraft Restoration Company’s example. This was the first time two Lysanders had flown together in a UK display since Flying Legends 1999. However, the highlight of the evening for many was the English Electric Wren making its first appearance since restoration. With the engine overhauled and tweaked, and new lighter fabric, it took off under its own power, a vast improvement on the bungee assisted hops that it was only capable of previously. With the calm wind, the Edwardians closed the show, starting with the Blériot making its first display appearance in about five years and managing two lengthy hops down the runway. Shuttleworth can…

An Evening at Shuttleworth

Great War en masse

An impressive and historic formation was staged over Masterton, New Zealand, during The Vintage Aviator Ltd’s (TVAL) pilot training weekend. It was thought to be the largest formation of RFC/RAF Great War aircraft, all with original or reproduction engines, to have flown since not long after the cessation of hostilities. Leading was TVAL’s RAF F.E.2b, followed by an R.E.8 and Sopwith Pup pair, then the US-built and TVAL-completed DH.4 reproduction, three S.E.5as and a Sopwith Snipe. Several other British and German W.W.I aircraft were flown during what was the last training weekend of the season. We look forward to seeing what will be flying next season, with a newly-restored Fokker D.VIII almost ready to fly, and de Havilland DH.2s and Fokker Eindeckers also expected.…

Great War en masse

Rare Riviera joins Quax

Another rarity arrived at Paderborn-Lippstadt airport’s Quax-Hangar in early 2019. A syndicate has acquired SIAI Marchetti FN.333 N918NS. The four-seat Italian aircraft was built in 1964 and is one of the last flying examples worldwide. The prototype was designed by Fratelli Nardi and flew for the first time in December 1952. In 1959 SIAI Marchetti acquired the rights to the type and subsequently produced most of the approximately thirty examples built. Most were sold in the United States. In addition to the German-based Riviera, there are currently three more examples in Europe: LN-BEG is stored in Norway, F-BTAM is restored in France, and the Milan Museum of Technology has an example in storage. Now based at Paderborn, N918NS belonged to an enthusiast from southern Germany for many years and was lovingly…

Rare Riviera joins Quax

Ex-RAN Firefly Flies

Captain Eddie Kurdziel has flown his ex-RAN Fairey Firefly WB518 after an extensive second rebuild by QG Aviation at Fort Collins Colorado. The test flight on Saturday, 29 May, was completed with only a few minor squawks reported, a great testament to the restoration team. The Firefly AS.Mk 6 was severely damaged when its landing gear failed on landing at the 2012 Wings over Gillespie airshow. Acquired from Australia in 1993, Kurdziel contracted Ray Middleton's QG Aviation to carry out the initial seven-year restoration. Today, WB518 is finished to represent WB377. The latter was loaned to HMAS Sydney’s 817 Squadron by the Royal Navy for duty in Korea.…

Ex-RAN Firefly Flies

Silver Spitfire

A 1943 Spitfire Mk.IX (MJ271) is set to begin a circumnavigation of the world with pilots Matt Jones and Steve Brooks. Christened the ‘Silver Spitfire’, and finished in polished aluminium, the aim of the venture is to highlight the timeless beauty of the design. The two-year rebuild of the historic airframe has seen G-IRTY modified to carry eight fuel tanks, increasing the Spitfire’s famously limited endurance. One crucial modification was the removal of anything military in nature so the aircraft can cross borders more easily. The Spitfire is planned to depart from Goodwood on 5 August and cover more than 43,000 kilometres over several months, visiting some thirty countries in the process. The expedition is the brainchild of Steve Brooks and Matt Jones with IWC Schaffhausen as the expedition’s main…

Silver Spitfire

The new kids on the block

Launched in 2014, Aero Legends has quickly become a premier provider of historic aviation experiences in the UK, its flagship product being flights in two-seat Spitfires, namely its Tr.IX NH341 ‘Elizabeth’ and the Aircraft Restoration Company’s similar PV202. Flying primarily from Headcorn, an ex-wartime grass airfield in Kent (then named Lashenden), and Sywell in Northamptonshire, the company also offers a range of other experiences, from flying in a Tiger Moth or Harvard to a seat in the de Havilland Devon that can offer a view of a Spitfire or two, or even a Hurricane, flying alongside. There is also the prospect of flying alongside ‘Sally B’, Europe’s only airworthy B-17 Flying Fortress. The driving force behind Aero Legends is Keith Perkins. Raised on a diet of Airfix kits and Battle of…

The new kids on the block

North American A-36

By the beginning of 1942, even though the aircraft had yet to go into action, the excellent performance of the RAF’s Mustang Mk.I at low-level was apparent. The Mustang in British service was heading towards a tactical reconnaissance and close-support role rather than being a pure fighter. At the same time in the US, attempts to acquire a tactical close-support aircraft had run into trouble after belated recognition of the value of this class of aeroplane. The US Army had initially attempted to procure purpose-designed dive-bombers, but these were facing troubled development. Perhaps anticipating the need, and drawing on the Mustang’s low-level credentials, North American Aviation (NAA) began work on a dedicated ground-attack version. In the last week of February, NAA’s ‘Dutch’ Kindelberger offered the USAAF such an aircraft. Design work…

North American A-36

Personal Effects

The Trans-Atlantic Pioneers This book takes a well known aviation history story and joins two aspects together that are often seen in isolation – the pioneering era of successfully crossing the Atlantic by air at all, with the modern era of making it one of the most heavily-trafficked intercontinental routes in the world. While the narrative scores points for covering many of the air attempts, and is refreshingly not just Anglo-centric, disappointingly the remarkable, gritty 1922 Portuguese effort to make the first crossing of the South Atlantic is only mentioned in the timeline. The book is subtitled ‘From the first flights to supersonic jets: the battle to cross the Atlantic’ and the modern airliner records don’t seem to sit well compared to those that were either performance quantum leaps (like the…

Personal Effects

Pratt Collection – Barnstorming

These images are from a collection formerly in the hands of a well-known airline pilot, the late Bill Waterton, who passed them on to Auster owner Ken Strange some years ago. Recently, Ken passed them to Flightpath Contributing Editor James Kightly who then placed the collection with the Civil Aviation Historical Society (CAHS) at Essendon for digitisation and archiving. After a significant amount of work by CAHS Vice President Phil Vabre, we are able to share a small selection of the 300 or so images. We have been able to establish these come, in the main, from Charles Pratt, and would like to thank Kevin O’Reilly for his help with the history. Here we take a look at the era when Pratt was using a miscellany of aircraft for pleasure…

Pratt Collection – Barnstorming

Leading at the front

From RAF Ford, near the south coast of England, and directly north of Normandy, for 453 Squadron and its Spitfire Mk.IXs, the days and weeks leading up to the landings involved sorties of all types – not just the traditional fighter sweeps the Spitfire is famous for. They, and others, also dive-bombed radar sites, such as the one at Cap Gris-Nez, and conducted armed recces, looking for ground targets to strafe around Caen and the Normandy countryside. Pilots also had new photos taken for use on fake identification papers should they find themselves behind enemy lines and in touch with the resistance. On 4 June, ‘invasion stripes’ were painted on the aircraft. Black and white markings had been used before on other operations, but never on such a scale. Most of…

Leading at the front

Dakotas over Normandy

June marked the 75th anniversary of D-Day and the gathering of more than thirty Douglas DC-3 variants in the UK, France and Germany to mark the occasion. The flights by eighty year old aircraft over the unforgiving North Atlantic were eagerly tracked by warbird and aviation enthusiasts. Air travel over vast expanses of water has long been conquered by humans, but this was different. It ignited a huge following from not only aviation enthusiasts, but by the general public and mainstream media. The sense of adventure was real. Fifteen of the aircraft formed the D-Day Squadron, the US component of the much larger Daks over Normandy. The D-Day Squadron formed up in Oxford, Connecticut, and retraced the historic wartime Blue Spruce ferry route to England via Newfoundland, Greenland and Iceland before…

Dakotas over Normandy

LOCATION Essendon Airport, Vic. Located on Edgar Johnston Lane, which is near the corner of Lionel St & Wirraway Rd. Melway Map Ref 16 C7. Enter via Edgar Johnston Lane at the rear of Building 44. Phone: (03) 9374 3905 President: Roger Meyer OAM. Ph: (03) 9818 4950 (h) Postal address: Box 6, 20 English St, Essendon Airport, Victoria 3041 Email: cahs@optusnet.com.au Website: http://www.airwaysmuseum.com OPENING TIMES Tours of the Airways Museum are available on Tuesdays 9am-3pm. Check the website for other times and events. Groups are welcome. ADMISSION FEE entry by donation MUSEUM BACKGROUND The Airways Museum is an aviation museum, but with one difference – there are no aircraft! Instead, the Museum houses a collection of national importance that traces the development of Australia’s civil aviation airways system through innovation and technical development from its beginnings in the 1920s to today. The…

For more than 25 years Fighter World has been preserving the history of Australian fighter aircraft and is officially recognised as the RAAF Williamtown Heritage Centre. Born from humble beginnings, the RAAF Base at Williamtown was created out of necessity in wartime. The establishment has developed into Australia’s most important air defence and fighter base. Following a multi-billion dollar redevelopment RAAF Williamtown has become the home of Australia’s newest Defence acquisition, the 5th Generation F-35 Lightning II. The RAAF Base and high technology have been marching hand in hand for over fifty years. The base saw the introduction of Australia’s first jet aircraft – the Vampire, the first supersonic fighter – the Sabre, the first Mach 2 aircraft – the Mirage III and of course the multi-role F/A-18 Hornet. Fighter…

HARS AVIATION MUSEUM

HARS Aviation Museum is one of the largest and most unique collections of aircraft in the Southern Hemisphere. The museum attracts over 30,000 visitors annually and houses more than 40 aircraft of historical significance, many of which are maintained in airworthy condition. HARS Aviation Museum tells the story of civil and military aviation history in Australia. With over 10,000 m² of indoor exhibition space, the facility allows you to get up close to the aircraft and imagine what it was like to fly such historic machines as the Tiger Moth and Dakota of the 1930’s through to the fast jets and airliners of the 2000’s. Take a seat in our flagship, the classic Lockheed Super Constellation or the record-breaking Qantas Boeing 747-438, City of Canberra. Additional 747 tours can be booked, including…

HARS AVIATION MUSEUM

NARROMINE AVIATION MUSEUM

ADMISSION DETAILS Open daily 10am to 4pm except Tuesdays Entry Fee: • Adults $10.00 • Pensioners / Seniors / High School Students $7.00 • Primary School Students $5.00 • Bus Groups of 15 or more $7.00 per person *Closed Christmas Day and Boxing Day OUR COLLECTION Many people are surprised to learn that flying at Narromine started as early as 1919. Australia ’s oldest regional aero club, which is still active, was formed there ten years later. A host of famous aviators made regular visits during the 1920s and 30s, and were enthusiastically hosted by the townspeople (see Timeline). During the Second World War, the aerodrome was upgraded to host firstly a large RAAF flying school, and in 1945 a unique RAF Mosquito bomber squadron. The post-war years saw Qantas conduct much of its pilot training there, as…

NARROMINE AVIATION MUSEUM

QANTAS FOUNDERS MUSEUM

Qantas Founders Museum is dedicated to telling the story of Qantas. The Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services began in the Longreach region of outback Queensland in 1920, a fitting home for the airline known as ‘the Spirit of Australia’. The museum tells this story of the founding of Qantas through interpretive displays, interactive exhibits, replica aircraft and an impressive collection of genuine artefacts. The museum collection incorporates four of the world’s most significant aeroplanes— PBY Catalina Flying Boat, Douglas DC3, Boeing 707, the legendary Boeing 747 and many more. Experience the main exhibition hall with interactive displays and the National Heritage listed Original Qantas Hangar containing the replica aircraft. A free daily hangar tour is available within the museum. Access to the Boeing 747, 707 and DC3 aircraft is only available on…

QANTAS FOUNDERS MUSEUM

Located at historic RAAF Base Point Cook, the birthplace of the Royal Australian Air Force, the RAAF Museum is home to an amazing range of beautifully preserved historic military aircraft. Here you will find a treasure trove of priceless artefacts and fascinating stories of past deeds, giving visitors an understanding of the rich history and traditions of this arm of the Australian Defence Force. Our Heritage Gallery incorporates multimedia technology and hands-on experiential activities to take the visitors through time from the Australian Flying Corps operating during World War I through to the RAAF’s peacekeeping and civil aid missions to the present day. The displays are augmented by thirty historic aircraft from the entire 98 year history of the RAAF, some of which are maintained in flying condition for displays at 1:00pm every…

TEMORA AVIATION MUSEUM

LOCATION 1 Tom Moon Avenue (PO Box 263) Temora, NSW 2666 Phone: 02 6977 1088 Website: www.aviationmuseum.com.au Email: info@aviationmuseum.com.au OPENING TIMES 7 Days from 10 am to 4 pm except New Year’s Day, Good Friday, Christmas Day, and Boxing Day. ADMISSION FEE Children from $10, Adults from $15, contact us for group bookings MUSEUM OVERVIEW Temora has a rich aviation history, it was the home of No 10 Elementary flying Training School (No 10 EFTS), set up by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) in May 1941. Which was the largest and longest lived of the flying schools established under the Empire Air Training Scheme during World War Two (WWII). No 10 EFTS ceased operation on 12 March 1946 making it the last WWII flying school to close. The Temora Aviation Museum was established on the former site of No 10…

TEMORA AVIATION MUSEUM

The only museum in Australia that concentrates solely on the first 30 years of powered flight - and houses the only collection of flying WWI type aircraft in this country. See a full-size replica of the first aircraft to achieve powered, controlled flight – 2 years before the Wright brothers did. Get up close to a 100% accurate reproduction of the first ever true fighter aircraft of all time - it is one of only two in the world. This one painted in the colours of the one to shoot down the last Australian to die at Gallipoli. See two flying aircraft that represent ones flown by interesting Australian Aces of WWI. One of the flying WWI aircraft in the collection is literally powered by a 100-year-old engine. Of all the aircraft in the museum,…

Two Boomers Missing

By late 1943 several Ki-43 Hayabusa (Allied codename ‘Oscar’) units were stationed at the numerous airfields along New Guinea’s northern coast, centred on Wewak. In late 1943 Wewak’s ‘Oscar’ units were in a state of flux. The 24th Sentai (Air Regiment) returned to Japan in October and was replaced by the 59th Sentai when it returned to New Guinea on 1 November, after recuperating in the Philippines, with 25 new Mark II Hayabusa. Meanwhile, the 13th Sentai was in the process of packing up at Wewak before moving to Wakde. There they would leave their Hayabusa to other units and re-equip with twin-engine Ki-45 Toryu fighters. Despite conducting several attacks against US bases in the Ramu Valley in early to mid-November, for most of the rest of the month these Hayabusa…

Two Boomers Missing

We flew the recce Typhoon

From early 1942 the primary type operated by the RAF’s Army Co-operation/ tactical reconnaissance squadrons was the Allison-powered North American Mustang Mk.I/IA. Lacking the high-altitude performance the RAF was looking for in early 1942, the Mustang excelled in its eventual employment. Modifications, to improve engine boost at low altitude, fit oblique and vertical cameras, combined with long range on internal fuel, made the Mustang near perfect for the role. By early 1943, however, production was moving to Merlin-powered variants. With plans for the invasion of mainland Europe well advanced, projections for Allison Mustang losses indicated the RAF would face a shortage of aircraft. Other types would need to be introduced if the 2nd Tactical Air Force (2TAF) was to have sufficient Tac/R resources. A number of types were considered as potential…

We flew the recce Typhoon

The vast enterprise

The Empire Air Training Scheme (EATS) remains one of the single largest aviation training programs in history, and it is acknowledged as the predominant driving force that saw the RAAF grow from humble beginnings to become the fourth largest air force in the world. In the five years between 1939 and 1944, the RAAF expanded from 3489 personnel, to peak on 29 November 1944 at 183,822 personnel. This increase corresponded with a similar expansion in facilities and hardware for the RAAF. To accommodate the growth, the 22 units that comprised the RAAF at the start of the war increased, by September 1945, to 480. Undoubtedly, this growth can be largely and directly attributed to the training commitment Australia agreed to as its contribution to the Empire Air Training Scheme. Churchill once described…

The vast enterprise

Fokker F.VII VH-USU ‘Southern Cross’

This Fokker F.VII was ordered by expatriate Australian explorer George Hubert Wilkins for his Arctic expedition in 1926 and named the ‘Detroiter’. To maximise the fuel and payload he requested the then-new larger wing version of the type, becoming the first Fokker customer for the F.VIIb-3m, the ‘b’ for the larger wing, the ‘3m’ for the trimotor configuration. The expedition suffered multiple setbacks including someone being killed when hit by the aircraft’s propeller and a broken undercarriage as the result of a bad weather landing in Alaska. Back to the US, it was bought without engines or instruments by Charles Kingsford Smith – ‘Smithy’, and Charles Ulm with the express purpose of making the first Pacific flight from California to Australia. New engines and long-range tanks cost money, but two fundraising…

Fokker F.VII VH-USU ‘Southern Cross’

Berlin Airlift 70

As great a celebration as the events of the 70th anniversary of the Berlin Airlift were, they took place at the US Army Airfield at Wiesbaden-Erbenheim, not Berlin! On 26 June 1948, the first flight to supply the city’s starving population took off from Wiesbaden-Erbenheim. The initiator of the supply effort was the then American military governor, Lucius D. Clay, the airfield was renamed in his honour in 2012, so there was no more suitable place outside Berlin to celebrate the greatest of humanitarian airlifts. Nearly twenty historic Douglas DC-3/C-47 transports flew in to Wiesbaden on Whitsun weekend (8/9 June). Among them were several examples specially restored in the US, for the D-Day and airlift anniversaries, and flown across the Atlantic. The most celebrated of the airlift pilots, now 97-year-old Gail Halvorsen,…

Berlin Airlift 70

‘Ilyusha’ of the Arctic

In August 2018, a W.W.II Russian aircraft was recovered from Lake Krivoe, located in the Arctic Circle to the east of Murmansk. Its resting place for the past 75 years was a mere 8-10 kilometres from its base at Vaenga-2 airfield. The Shturmovik has since been transferred to the Aviarestoration facility at Novosibirsk, Siberia, to be restored to flying condition. On completion, it will mean an example of each major design variant of the Il-2 will be airworthy as this single-seater will join the straight-wing two-seater, with Vadim Zadorozhny in Moscow, and the well-known ‘swept-wing’ (outer wing planform) example flying with the Flying Heritage & Combat Armor Museum in Seattle. The Shturmovik The Il-2 was the most numerous military aircraft ever produced: 36,136 examples were built from the beginning of June 1941, when…

‘Ilyusha’ of the Arctic

Illawarra’s ‘Wings’ excels again

With defence exercise Diamond Storm underway in Australia’s Top End during May, one of Wings over Illawarra’s most popular drawcards, the F/A-18 Hornet, was unavailable for this year’s show. Its absence resulted in lower numbers through the gate than in 2018, but those who came were still treated to a first-class spectacle that, it seems, only improves with age. The two day event showcases the best of popular aviation, be it warbird, military or aerobatic flying. Illawarra Regional Airport is also home to the comprehensive range of aircraft operated by the Historical Aviation Restoration Society, and showgoers were spoilt for choice when deciding which of the many open-for-inspection aircraft they should look at. The cavernous HARS hangars also provided welcome shelter when two rain bands temporarily suspended flying on the…

Illawarra’s ‘Wings’ excels again

Yealands Classic Fighters

The biennial Classic Fighters airshow at Omaka, New Zealand, is now a well-established fixture on the international airshow circuit. The show in 2017 was hit hard by heavy rain making for trench-war like conditions underfoot. Over Easter 2019 (19-21 April) the show had two good weather days before Sunday flying was cancelled (after valiant attempts by some operators) due to persistent rain. In contrast, Friday’s conditions were ideal and made for a magnificent evening show. While there may not have been a standout new act this year, there was a remarkably diverse array containing aircraft types from before the Great War through to current RNZAF and RAAF machines. Humour and humanity was not overlooked with a light-hearted ‘drug bust’ Beech 18 act, and a focus throughout on women in aviation,…

Yealands Classic Fighters

Duxford Air Festival

Duxford's 2019 display season got underway over the May Bank Holiday weekend and once again offered a family friendly programme with a diverse array of display acts not usually seen at this Cambridgeshire airfield. With a theme celebrating the jet engine, the static highlight for many was the Martin Baker-operated Gloster Meteor T7 WA638 which was making a rare visit to Duxford from its Chalgrove, Wiltshire base. After many years out of the limelight, the Army Air Corps returned to the UK display scene with a once-familiar line up of aircraft, but a new name, the 'Historic Army Aircraft Flight Trust'. Still based at Middle Wallop, the flight displayed an Auster AOP 9, DHC Beaver, Augusta Bell Sioux and West-land Scout. The display performance of the day went to veteran…

Duxford Air Festival

Chino carries on

The Chino airshow is probably the best event in the US to watch warbirds flying. With a curved display line, allowing the pilots to make topside passes, and experienced pilots used to flying together, it is a great spectacle and far more dynamic than many US shows where passes parallel to the display line are the order of the day. The display, held over 4-5 May, started with two traditional ‘missing man’ formations to honour those lost in combat and Planes of Fame pilot David Vopat respectively. American aircraft were the first group to fly, with many of the ten P-51 Mustangs airborne, together with a B-25 Mitchell, A-26 Invader and three Curtiss P-40s, including the newly restored Yanks Air Museum P-40E (N40245) in Flying Tiger colours. A Spitfire XIV also joined…

Chino carries on

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