Warbird News

[Greyfell]

Aerial view of the museum from the Hudson River, Image via Wikiepdia

On the Aft end of the deck (the far end), I'd like to what that aircraft is, It seems to have Canadian markings.

 

[DaveM]

A Small Step Toward Positive Future For Binbrook Lighting XR724

By Chris Frear

After a winter of hard work in their new hangar, Saturday April 28th marked a milestone for members of the Lightning Association when their English Electric Lightning F.6 XR724 was rolled outside for the first time since October. As well as showing off the jet’s partially completed repaint, the engineering team was able to run tests that will hopefully eventually lead to XR724’s engines being started for the first time in over 17 years.​

To the British aviation community, the English Electric Lightning is almost as iconic as the more widely known WWII-era Supermarine Spitfire. But by the late 1980s, the Lightning — a 1950s-era air defense fighter akin to the F-102 and F-106 — was technologically obsolete and finally slated for retirement. As a type it served at many RAF bases, but it’s RAF Binbrook in the sleepy rural county of Lincolnshire that is considered the type’s spiritual home, as it was here in 1988 that the type was finally retired.​

In 1990 the RAF placed XR724 in climate-controlled storage at RAF Shawbury. In 1991 the Lighting Association was able to purchase her and begin making her flight-ready (including having to find two engines and a working ejection seat) as the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority had granted permission for one final flight, home to RAF Binbrook on July 23rd, 1992. Fast forward 31 years to this June and after more than three decades mostly outdoors, XR724 the last complete Lightning at RAF Binbrook, finally has a new home. As previously reported by Vintage Aviation News the Lightning Association has built a new aircraft shelter at the former airfield.

Chief Engineer John Watson told VAN, “We undertook priming starter runs on the Number 1 Avon engine and then a live and successful Start and ignition of the Plessey LTSA 140 Starter thus spinning the Rolls Royce Avon engine ready for ignition in the future.” So while it may have been a long wait, with a bit of luck the sound of a pair of Rolls-Royce Avon engines may once again reverberate around Binbrook and across the Lincolnshire landscape.​

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[DaveM]

Open Cockpit Day at The Palm Springs Air Museum: P-47 Thunderbolt

This Saturday, May 4, 2024, from 1o:00 AM to 12:00 PM, sit in the cockpit of the P-47 Thunderbolt at the Palm Springs Air Museum.

Considered by many the most significant fighter aircraft of World War II, the Republic Aviation P-47 Thunderbolt fighter was the largest and most powerful single-engine fighter of the war. Production topped any other Allied fighter with 15,683 P-47s produced. Due to the shape of the fuselage, the Thunderbolt was known affectionately as the “Jug” by its pilots and ground crews. Two distinctive versions were produced: The earlier “Razorback” design and later versions with a “bubble top” canopy. The Museum’s Thunderbolt is from the Robert J. Pond collection and has been restored to flying condition. It displays the nose art “Squirt VIII.”​

The was constructed as a P-47D-40-RA by Republic at Evansville, Indiana. In 1945 it was transferred to Oklahoma Air Material Area, Tinker AFB, Oklahoma City, OK. Contracted to TEMCO Aircraft Corporation, Hensley, Grand Prairie, TX for work on the airframe. In 1947 this Thunderbolt was taken on Strength/Charge with the United States Air Force with s/n 45-49205. In 1948 it was redesignated as F-47D and transferred to 1708th Ferrying Group, Military Air Transport Service, Kelly Field, San Antonio, TX. until 1953 when it was taken on Strength/Charge with the Fuerza Aerea del Peru with s/n 547 as well as 122 FAPe In 1969 it was acquired by Vintage Aircraft International Ltd/Ed Jurist, Nyack, NY with new c/r N47DE. The Thunderbolt was transported by ship back to the U.S. and it arrived at Brownsville, TX, on SS Rosaldina. The aircraft was reassembled by the back-then Confederate Air Force (now Commemorative Air Force) in Harlingen, TX. Thunderbolt 45-49205 eventually flew once again in 1973. In the last forty years, the aircraft changed several owners, including David C. Tallichet, Douglas W. Arnold ( in the UK), Stephen Grey, back in the U.S. under Robert J. Pond until it was donated to the the Palm Springs Air Museum/Pond Warbirds Llc in 1997.​

Museum guests are treated to the extra special experience of being allowed to sit at the controls and pose for pictures. From 10:00-12:00 each Saturday, a selected aircraft will be opened up and made accessible to the public. Museum Volunteers will also be on hand to answer questions and provide the historical backdrop for the aircraft you are sitting in. Guests are strongly cautioned to dress appropriately for climbing into the planes and also reminded not to leave their cameras at home. This is a rare experience that you’ll want to remember forever. The suggested $5 donation for the open cockpit experience includes a souvenir Air Museum-provided photograph. Air Museum admission also applies. The Palm Springs Air Museum reserves the right to refuse access to anyone deemed to be a hazard to themselves, other guests/staff, and/ or the aircraft.

The Palm Springs Air Museum is home to a large collection of flyable WWII aircraft. It’s equipped with air-conditioned hangars, several exhibits, and an extensive library located on the 2nd floor. The museum is open seven days a week, from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. Allow at least an hour and a half to enjoy the museum. Closed for Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. For more information, visit www.palmspringsairmuseum.org​

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[DaveM]

USS Lexington: An Inside Look at the Effort to Rescue Historic aircraft in the Pacific

On Wednesday, May 1st, the Military Aviation Museum will host a webinar with team members of the U.S.S Lexington (CV 2) Aircraft Recovery Project. A presentation of the significance of the Douglas TBD-1 Devastator torpedo bombers, a unique Grumman Wildcat F4F-3 fighter, and the famous men who flew these aircraft.

The USS Lexington, affectionately known as “Lady Lex” by her crew, met an illustrious fate during the Battle of the Coral Sea, a pivotal moment in naval history. In 2018 after more than 76 years of resting in the depths of the Pacific Ocean, she emerged from the shadows of history, thanks to the efforts of philanthropist Paul G. Allen and his research vessel R/V Petrel. The discovery of the USS Lexington not only unveiled a significant piece of WWII history but also honored the bravery and sacrifice of those who served aboard her. As her story resurfaces, it serves as a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and the enduring legacy of those who fought for freedom on the high seas.​

Walt Nelson’s TBD T-4 lies upside down on top of Gunner Talkington’s TBD T-9 some 3,000 meters beneath the surface of the Coral Sea. Image: Paul Allen

The presentation will provide an overview of how the project came together with support from families of veterans of the Battle of the Coral Sea and international organizations, the status at present, and a look at what will happen to the aircraft if the Director of the Naval History and Heritage Command approves the project.

To register, click HERE. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.​

The fuselage for the Military Aviation Museum’s Dauntless soon after its arrival in Pungo, Virginia. Unfortunately, this part of the project is still awaiting shipment to Pioneer Aero Ltd. in Ardmore, New Zealand, but that situation should change once the transportation issues are resolved. Pioneer has already been hard at work on the many Dauntless components they received in an earlier delivery however, and the wings are well under way with Aero Trader in Chino. (image via MAM)

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[DaveM]

Kiwi P-51D Reborn: The Restoration of Mustang Two Three

One of the stars of Warbirds Over Wanaka International Airshow 2024 was North American P-51D Mustang NZ2423, owned by The Biggin Hill Trust and flown from Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) Base Ohakea. A few weeks before the aircraft’s airshow debut at Wanaka Vintage Aviation News sat down with Trust chairman Brendon Deere to hear the story of how, after decades in a farm shed, this Mustang was restored to as-new condition.

By Zac Yates

On November 11th, 2023 P-51D s/n 45-11513 flew for the first time after restoration; 66 years, five months, and twelve days after making the final flight of the type in RNZAF service, where it wore the serial NZ2423. As related in our story late last year the aircraft, now bearing the civil registration ZK-BHT and the radio callsign of Mustang Two Three, had been saved from the scrapman, briefly looked at as the source of parts for a hydroplane, and then stashed in enthusiast John Reginald Smith’s farm shed of aviation treasures for more than fifty years.​

Only one colour photograph of NZ2423 in service has been found, taken at RNZAF Ohakea by the late Brian Darrah. [Photo via The Biggin Hill Trust]

More than 60 years later the same aircraft, now fully restored, is prepared to undergo engine runs at the same airbase. [Photo via The Biggin Hill Trust]

In his lifetime John Smith had countless enthusiasts call to his farm near Mapua, at the top of New Zealand’s South Island, in the hope of seeing his remarkable collection of aircraft which included the Mustang, a de Havilland Mosquito, a pair of Curtiss P-40s, a Lockheed Hudson and many others. Brendon Deere was one of those enthusiasts. “I’d seen it probably 40 years ago, when it was still in John’s shed,” Deere told us. “Because the Mosquito [was] the prime attraction, most people probably never saw the Mustang. I’m sure when I first saw it, it was somewhere else in the shed, but I can’t remember.”​

After John Smith acquired the Mustang it was parked alongside Mosquito NZ2336, which was protected with a rudimentary shelter. Smith later built a large shed to contain most of his collection and which allowed the Mosquito to be wheeled outside. [Photo via The Biggin Hill Trust]

Over the years Smith became so inundated with offers to purchase his aircraft that — as legend has it — he was forced to disconnect his telephone line. He would carefully “interview” visitors when they arrived to assess whether or not to grant them access to his collection as they were genuine enthusiasts or if they were about to get out their checkbook: this author has been told stories of folks who spent three hours talking airplanes with Smith without ever getting a glimpse inside his famous shed. Others, however, have told of how they were able to pass Smith’s scrutiny, the shed would be unlocked and the excited visitor would be confronted with a building packed with warbirds, Mosquito NZ2336 dominating the view. Some would even be invited to sit in the Mosquito’s cockpit.

When the news broke that Smith had died on August 7th, 2019 the warbird world was immediately abuzz with what would happen to the one-of-a-kind collection. Many Kiwi enthusiasts feared the aircraft — all veterans of service with the RNZAF — would be sold overseas, lost to foreign buyers who could paint them in schemes that ignored each aircraft’s heritage.​

A view of the Mustang inside John Smith’s shed, wedged behind the Mosquito. Note the gas-axed wings: fortuitously Smith had saved outer wings from another Mustang which overlapped with these cuts, saving time and lessening the use of new material during the rebuild. [Photo via The Biggin Hill Trust]

Fortunately for the vintage aviation community Smith’s family consulted with local experts to find the right home within New Zealand for each aircraft in the collection: the P-40N NZ3220 Gloria Lyons, Mosquito NZ2336 and Smith’s own de Havilland Tiger Moth ZK-BQB entered the stewardship of the Omaka Aviation Heritage Centre in nearby Blenheim (the Mosquito and Tiger Moth have since been returned to ground-running and taxiing condition respectively); P-40E NZ3043 Bess to a partnership (also at Omaka) where it is under active restoration to airworthiness; North American Harvard NZ1068 to Auckland-based Nick Sheehan (again under restoration to fly); spare parts not needed for the Mosquito (and a second Mosquito identity) went to renowned “Mossie” restorers Avspecs Ltd; within months the collection had been dispersed to worthy new owners across the country.

It was at this point, nearly forty years after their first encounter, that Brendon Deere re-entered the picture. His Biggin Hill Trust had previously restored Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IXc PV270, ZK-SPI to airworthiness (in the colors of the aircraft his uncle Air Commodore Alan Christopher “Al” Deere, DSO, OBE, DFC & Bar flew when he was Wing Commander of RAF Biggin Hill) and operated it on the Kiwi airshow circuit for more than a decade. In 2012 he re-imported the Grumman TBM-3E Avenger BuNo.91110, ZK-TBE which had previously been part of the late Sir Tim Wallis’ Alpine Fighter Collection at Wanaka and repainted it into RNZAF markings as NZ2518, Plonky (the same colors it had worn while in Wallis’ ownership). Initially on his own, and then in conjunction with the Air Force Heritage Flight of New Zealand, Deere’s name soon came up in the Smith family’s discussions.​

Brendon Deere and Mustang Two Three in the “Biggin Hill” hangar at RNZAF Base Ohakea. [Photo by Zac Yates]

“When John died and the family started considering what they were going to do, I spoke to Bill Reid [new owner of Smith’s Lockheed Hudson NZ2043],” Deere said. “Bill mentioned that they were potentially interested in a new home for the Mustang, as long as it stayed in New Zealand and somebody was prepared to put it back in the air. So they were the two conditions. And the family — eight of them — came up here to have a look at us and to see what we would be interested in doing; they seemed pretty happy with what we proposed, and that’s how it came about. We were able to purchase the Mustang off them, and the rest is history.”​

John Smith’s older brother George takes a look at the Mustang as it sees the light of day for the first time in many decades. [Photo via The Biggin Hill Trust]

Once the aircraft had been eased out of its home of more than 50 years and given a clean (the shed was full of dust which forced many working there to don masks to protect their lungs) the airframe was loaded aboard a truck and trailer while several tons of parts were gathered from all around Smith’s property and containerized. Deere said the sheer number — and location — of spare parts took the Mustang team by surprise.​

The Mustang arrived back at RNZAF Base Ohakea in August 2021. [Photo via The Biggin Hill Trust]

“John had stashed stuff all over the place we didn’t quite realize. For example in the gun camera compartment, and on top of the clamshell doors. When we first inspected the aircraft, there were bits in the engine bay that had been shoved under the cowls. And we were to get some surprises later as well. When we got the aircraft, a lot of the pipes weren’t there. So we’d factored in replacing those, but one of the crates that we got from John was full of pipes: every pipe for the aircraft except one. There was a lot of stuff that came with the Mustang that’s been particularly useful, or that we’ve been able to make use of in other ways.​

The box of pipes which, had it not been saved by John Smith, would have added untold time and expense for the project team to replace. [Photo by Zac Yates]

“There were a couple of complex panels at the back missing which we got from the U.S. I don’t think there was anything missing, to be honest [other than] little trim things — I suppose they’re decorative things — but the pilot’s relief tube was missing. We put that back in, not that it’ll ever be used! But fundamentally it was complete. And I think that’s the thing about it: when he got it, it was still pretty complete. And when we got it, it was unchanged. John had been pretty careful about letting people get too close to it.”​

In addition to loose components salvaged from scrapyards, John Smith had also collected many NOS Mustang components still in their original boxes. [Photo by Zac Yates]



Possibly the biggest issue facing the restoration was the wings, which had been gas-axed outboard of the main landing gear so they could be taken by truck — three at a time — to the ANSA company at Nelson, several miles from the Mustangs’ storage depot at RNZAF Woodbourne, near Blenheim.

Deere takes up the story: “I understand one of the plans for the aircraft was to use them as orchard wind machines, but they didn’t factor in the cost of running them: it would have been horrendous. So that’s part of the reason they could leave them on their wheels, tow them around to orchards and get rid of the frost.

This September 2020 photo graphically illustrates how little of the original wing remained after being cut up for road transport to the aircraft’s new owners. [Photo via The Biggin Hill Trust]

“So fundamentally, we had an aircraft where the wings had been chopped off. But the Mustang is quite a simple wing compared to something like the P-40, or certainly compared to the Spitfire, in that it’s only got two spars. They’re both just folded aluminum: there’s nothing special about them. And of those two spars, each of them is divided into two parts, so in fact, what they’ve done is cut through the inner spars. We’ve replaced all the spars, for obvious reasons.”​

Contracting the team at Odegaard Wings to restore the mainplane took an estimated two years off the restoration timeline. [Photo Odegaard Wings via The Biggin Hill Trust]
While the restoration of the Spitfire airframe had been done entirely in-house by Deere’s team it was decided to send the mainplanes to Odegaard Wings in Kindred, ND for restoration, a decision made based on several factors.

“One key part of it was project timeline. Doing the wings ourselves, as we’d never done them before, would have added another two years to the project. And I decided I didn’t want another five-year project. So I made the decision that we would be better off to send them off to somebody that’s already got the jigs, already got the know-how, and had a really good reputation for what they do.​

The core team from Odegaard Wings responsible for restoring NZ2423’s wings were (from left) Curt Kracke, Brent Meester and Daniel Meester. [Photo Odegaard Wings via The Biggin Hill Trust.]

“So Odegaard’s been a simple choice for me, even though they were miles away. That decision was made fairly early on, and it was just a matter of shipping everything to them. They were quite interested in the job because they do a lot of new-build wings, but they don’t do as many original aircraft restorations. So that was something of interest to them. And they had a slot that one of their jigs was coming free, so it was just good timing.​

With the restored wing back in New Zealand, Joe Deere works on measurements before trial fitting cockpit parts in this October 2022 photograph. [Photo by Zac Yates]

“Most of it’s original. You inevitably reskin, because those are stressed-skin aircraft. But I don’t think any of the wing frames were changed; all the gun-based stuff’s original. Most of the complex areas they could just reuse and they were able to refurbish. So the end count on new stuff was largely limited to wing spars and a couple of specialist areas like the gun ports, which are complex: they had been damaged in the cutting, so we had to replace those. But the wings are pretty original, bearing in mind the wings are a composite anyway, from two aircraft: the other wings that John had were off NZ2417 which is the Mustang that went to Kermit Weeks, which has got another aircraft’s [NZ2409] wings on it.”​

Another simple decision was where to send the aircraft’s Packard Merlin — the same engine NZ2423 left the Grand Prairie factory with in July 1945 — for overhaul. While New Zealand is renowned for airframe restoration there are few specialist engine shops so the Merlin was boxed up and airfreighted (due to time considerations) to Jose Flores’ team at Vintage V12’s in Tehachapi, CA.

The Packard Merlin sits almost ready for removal for shipping to Vintage V12s in this mid-September 2020 photo. [Photo via The Biggin Hill Trust]

“Jose said it’s one of the best they’ve ever seen. The stuff that needed to be replaced was pretty minor. And it was half-life. It’s probably the newest engine they’ve ever seen. And certainly was one of the cleanest: I think Jose said it was one of the cleanest they’ve ever seen, because it was all inhibited. So at the end of the day, it’s back to effectively zero time. But it still was pretty new anyway.​

Members of the Biggin Hill team (and the delivery driver) pose with the Packard Merlin before it was shipped to Vintage V12s. [Photo via The Biggin Hill Trust.]

“[The Merlin]’s never been touched, as best as we can tell. It spent a bit of time outside at Ruffell’s but it didn’t show any signs of degradation or anything from that. And when we took cam covers off, it was in beautiful condition. So as you would expect, it’s half-life. So it was a straightforward job for them. And once we got the engine back, we were able to mount it and plumb it and all that good stuff.”​

Team members with the now-overhauled engine after its return to the workshop in the “Palikulo Hangar”. [Photo via The Biggin Hill Trust.]
The propeller was overhauled by while Maxwell Aircraft Service in Minneapolis, MN and six replica .50cal Browning machineguns were produced by Aero Trader at Chino, CA. Back at Ohakea, although Mustang Two Three’s fuselage was remarkably original and complete that didn’t mean there weren’t issues for the Biggin Hill team to rectify.

As seen in this 2020 photo, the unrestored cockpit of NZ2423 was remarkably complete thanks to John Smith’s efforts to preserve the aircraft as it was when it left RNZAF service. [Photo via The Biggin Hill Trust]

By mid-September 2023 the Mustang’s cockpit was completely restored. [Photo via The Biggin Hill Trust]

Pilot Sean Perrett shows George Smith, John’s older brother, the restored cockpit of the Mustang — a far cry from its days in the shed at Mapua. [Photo via The Biggin Hill Trust]

“A simple example is the fuselage longerons, which are the extrusions. They had signs of corrosion on the horizontal surfaces as the rats had lived on them. And so you had 60 years of rats peeing on the longerons, so we had to replace those. But Odegaard supply those — they’ve got all the extrusions. And you just say ‘I want these four pieces’ and they ship them to you. But the Mustang structure is so simple that that’s it: that’s really the structure of a Mustang, is those longerons. So once they’re replaced, you’re dealing with a few frames and some very heavy skin.​

After the engine and its mount were removed the tailcone was also separated, and the central fuselage dismantled down to the last frame and bolt for careful inspection. [Photo via The Biggin Hill Trust]

When the writer visited Ohakea in October 2022 the Mustang’s fuselage was almost complete with the Merlin refitted. [Photo by Zac Yates]

“On the engine mount, there’s four big forgings or castings which hold the lord mounts. Three of them were good, one of them wasn’t. But you can get new ones from Cal Pacific Airmotive in Salinas, California. There was no shortage of sources of new stuff. But we’ve actually had to buy very little. The things that we expected to replace, in many cases some big stuff, we haven’t. The big rubber bladder fuel tanks for example might as well have been brand new: they’d been inhibited by the RNZAF, they’ve been kept in the darkness, and so they were essentially brand new. The radiator, once we cleaned it out, might as well be brand new. So those are big wins.”​

The preservatives used by the RNZAF when the Mustang was out into storage meant all of the aircraft’s original fuel tanks were able to be used more than 65 years later. [Photo via The Biggin Hill Trust.]
According to Deere, who has now “been there and done that”, the differences between the Spitfire and Mustang return-to-flight projects were many and eye-opening.

“The difficulty with an aircraft restoration is you can have the best plan in the world and you’re still going to get surprises. I’ve often said with the Spitfire project we had good weeks and bad weeks. We had good days and bad days. We had good mornings and bad afternoons. Good hours, bad hours. The Spitfire was a perennial nightmare, whereas the Mustang is so much easier. Spitfire stuff is hard to get and hard to find. And I spent a lot of time when I was overseas travelling looking for stuff because Spitfire stuff is quite rare and people want to collect it. So anybody can buy something off a Spitfire on eBay and put it on their mantelpiece, but if you want it for an aeroplane, it’s a different challenge.​

In March 2023 the fuselage was lowered onto the wing for the first time since it was assembled in Dallas. [Photo via The Biggin Hill Trust]

“Whereas there’s a huge industry in the US making Mustang stuff. Virtually anything on a Mustang is being made these days. So we had no difficulty getting replacement parts. As you go through the process, you say ‘Well, here’s a part: can we refurbish it back to serviceable?’ or ‘Do we have to repair or replace it?’. So where we came to the decision to replace things we did. It’s really hard to estimate the percentage of original parts. I think it’s around 90%, probably, which is pretty unusual these days.”​

Aero Trader at Chino built the replica .50cal Brownings but everything else is original, from the Hughes Aircraft-built ammunition links to the information placard on the gun bay door. [Photo by Zac Yates]

Another assembly that required new parts to be manufactured was the AN/APS-13 tail warning radar, for which some NOS antenna components had been saved by Smith but others had to be made in-house. Note the last three digits of the aircraft’s USAAF serial, over which the RNZAF fin flashes were painted. [Photo by Zac Yates]
For many enthusiasts the issue of the color scheme worn by a restored warbird or other vintage aircraft can be a sore point. Some owners choose to showcase their aircraft as it was when in service, others opt to paint different markings to tell the story of another aircraft. Deere explained that, while he has his feet in both camps with his WWII fighters, in the case of the Mustang there was only one option.

The Mustang was painted by the RNZAF onsite at Ohakea. [Photo by Nick Szalardi via The Biggin Hill Trust]

“You could argue with our Spitfire, it’s not painted in its original markings, but it’s painted in something suitable. But with the Mustang there was no question about the color scheme, ever. It was always going to be 2 Squadron [Territorial Air Force]. There’s a lot of Mustangs which are still natural metal, but if you polish an aircraft, you’ve got to keep polishing it. And we’re only 20km (12.4mi) from the sea, and we have a prevailing westerly wind, so we wanted it to have plenty of paint protection. And I think the end result with the High-Speed Silver has come out quite good. In certain lights it looks like natural metal, but it’s doing the job.”​

Resplendent in High-Speed Silver and accurately replicated 2 Sqn TAF markings, NZ2423 awaits its first flight. [Photo via The Biggin Hill Trust.]
The decision as to who would fly the Mustang was also a simple one. Sean Perrett formerly served in the RAF on the Hawk and Harrier, and flew three seasons with the Red Arrows. Having served 18 years in the RAF Perrett moved to New Zealand in 2003 and joined that nation’s air arm as an instructor and became a founding member of the Black Falcons aerobatic display team.

Squadron Leader Sean Perrett RNZAF with Mustang NZ2423 at Wanaka. [Photo courtesy New Zealand Defence Force]
For several years Squadron Leader Perrett has been the sole pilot for Spitfire PV270 and, to Deere, was the obvious choice to fly NZ2423. “For him, with his skill, it’s a straightforward aircraft,” Deere told us.

Sean Perrett consults with Joe Deere (left) and Brian Harris before the first post-restoration flight. [Photo via The Biggin Hill Trust]



“It’s faster than the Spitfire, but not as maneuverable. It’s got a lot more creature comforts, pilot comforts, than the Spitfire has. So far he’s enjoying it. There’s always little things that pop up in a test flying program, but we haven’t had any particularly big issues that we’ve had to deal with.

With Sean Perrett at the controls NZ2423 flies again, the culmination of a three-year restoration program. [Photo via The Biggin Hill Trust]

The first flight complete, Mustang NZ2423 taxis past an RNZAF Boeing P-8A Poseidon on its way back to The Biggin Hill Trust’s facilities. [Photo via The Biggin Hill Trust]

“Sean’s maximum flight time we’ve had so far [as of January 2024] is just over an hour, perhaps an hour and a quarter. It’s doing everything it should: all the temperatures and so on. The cooling system, we’ve got that in our rig so that’s spot on. The Mustang system is quite automatic, but you’ve got to get the [radiator] door adjustments right to make it automatic. So we’ve had coolant adjustments, oil coolant adjustments. Just mainly those flaps that come down. They’ve got to be set in the right position to make sure that they keep there. And the oil and coolant temperatures are now rock steady. They don’t change. So that’s all set up and running.”​

Mustang NZ2423 takes off for its first-ever airshow display, at Warbirds Over Wanaka 2024. [Photo by Grant Newman]

Sean Perrett executes a picture-perfect barrel roll for the Warbirds Over Wanaka 2024 crowds. [Photo by Grant Newman]

The Biggin Hill Trust’s Spitfire PV270 and Mustang NZ2423 over Wanaka township. [Photo courtesy New Zealand Defence Force]
What may surprise many readers is that this better-than-new restoration with meticulous attention to detail is the result of a very small but dedicated team of experienced engineers focused on one aircraft, rather than being the product of a major workshop that has several projects underway at any time.

Sean Perrett brings the Mustang in close to the RNZAF Hercules photoship. [Photo courtesy New Zealand Defence Force]

“We’ve had three full-time on the project: Pete Burgess, who is the project leader; Brian Harris; and Joe Deere [Brendon’s son] that worked continuously through it. We also had Jim Garner from Airbus working part time on it, and we also had David Thayer from Whanganui who did the bulk of the wiring and avionics work. So that’s the basic team of five.​

Core members of the team that made it happen: Pete Burgess, Sean Perrett, Brian Harris and Joe Deere. Not pictured is Brendon Deere, who was behind the camera. [Photo via The Biggin Hill Trust]

“With the Spitfire, we had up to eight or nine people on at any one time: the Mustang’s a much simpler aeroplane. My role was administration: you can’t have engineers running around trying to find stuff so I would do that. It was the first time they’d ever done a Mustang, but for most of them it was the first time they’d ever done a Spitfire. Either you do it or you don’t.”​

The Biggin Hill Trust’s Spitfire and Mustang over Lake Wanaka. [Photo courtesy New Zealand Defence Force]

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[DaveM]

Star Wars in Force at Museum of Flight

PRESS RELEASE

On May 4 the Museum celebrates everything Star Wars with family programs including lightsaber shows and training by the Saber Guild, wildly energetic music by the 8-Bit Brass Band, roaming R2-D2s and the 501st Garrison Titan Star Wars cosplayers, Star Wars collections of STARS Seattle, and a presentation by Star Wars artist Kevin Graham. Visitors are encouraged to come in-costume. Programs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; all are free for Museum Members and included with Museum admission.

Schedule​

8-Bit Brass Band

11 a.m. and 1 p.m.

8-Bit Brass Band is the cosplaying party band specializing in video game tunes, anime anthems, movie mashups, and fandom favorites, celebrating everyone’s inner nerd on the streets and stages of Seattle and way beyond.

Saber Guild 12-12:45 p.m., 3-3:45 p.m. Lightsaber training sessions

10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. 10-minute battle demos

Saber Guild is a not-for-profit, LucasFilm-recognized Star Wars costuming group that specializes in choreographed lightsaber shows. They perform to raise money for charity and share the love of Star Wars.

Kevin Graham Artist Presentation and Demonstration – 2 p.m.

Kevin Graham will talk about his time as a professional artist for Disney and Star Wars, followed by an art demonstration.

Exhibitors – 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM

Seattle Area LEGO® Users Group (SEALUG)

Pacific Northwest R2 Builders Club

STARS Seattle Star Wars collectors

501st Garrison Titan cosplayers​

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[DaveM]

Veteran Naval Aircraft Head to Falklands For New Exhibition on 1982 Conflict

PRESS RELEASE via Royal Navy

A retired Sea Harrier jump jet and Lynx helicopter are being transferred to the South Atlantic as islanders create an exhibition dedicated to the men and women who liberated the Falklands from Argentine rule in 1982. The museum in the capital Stanley has an existing gallery recounting the story of the conflict, but it’s expanding it and adding a new hall for larger exhibits – including the two veteran aircraft. Neither are able to fly to the Falklands or be transported by air. By sea is the only option.

So the military’s experts in such delicate moves – the Joint Aircraft Recovery and Transportation Squadron (JARTS), a combined RN-RAF unit at Boscombe Down in Wiltshire – were called in by RNAS Yeovilton in Somerset to disassemble the Harrier and transport the special load up the A303 back to their home.​

Overseeing the move for JARTS is Chief Petty Officer Stewart Wright – a former Harrier engineer who maintained the aircraft at sea and on land, including tours of duty in Afghanistan. “I began my career on Harriers so the aircraft means a lot to me and I’m just glad to be able to deliver this one back to the Falklands where it means so much to them,” he said. “We went to the Falklands to prepare the move and it’s evident how passionate the islanders are and how much the Sea Harrier means to them – it’s a symbol of their freedom, so they are really keen to have one on display.”

Watching CPO Wright’s team prepare the Harrier for moving by low-loader (the whole process took nearly 12 hours and ended after nightfall) was former jump jet pilot Lieutenant Commander Jason Flintham, who as commander of 727 Naval Air Squadron today assesses whether trainees possess what is needed to make it as aviators with the Royal Navy.

“It’s amazing – and right – that there should be a Harrier in the Falklands. It will serve as a testament to those who flew it and a memorial to those who did not return,” he said. “The Harrier is of huge historical importance to the islands and I’m proud that this one is going down there for all to see.”​

The JARTS team removes tail fin away from the Sea Harrier

The final Sea Harriers were retired by the Royal Navy in 2006 after more than a quarter of a century’s service. Of the two aircraft selected for the museum, only the Lynx saw service in the 1982 campaign; the Sea Harrier, ZH801, was delivered to the Fleet Air Arm after the war and served until 2004 when it acted as a ‘hangar guardian’ in display at RAF Cottesmore (the Navy’s Harrier force moved there when it merged with the Air Force) and more recently back at Yeovilton.

Before being shipped, the aircraft was given a thorough makeover; Chris Hodson, an engineer who built the very same aircraft at BAE’s Dunsfold works in Surrey made the trip to Somerset to fit the pilot’s ejector seat. The Fly Harrier Trust and Horizon Aircraft Services from St Athan provided a slew of parts and sections – weapons pylons, fuel tanks, panel sections – which had gone missing during the ZH801’s two decades of inactivity.

Lynx XZ725 saw action in the Falklands – and served with distinction until the end of her active life. Operating from the frigate HMS Brilliant, she attacked and crippled the Argentine submarine Santa Fe in South Georgia during the opening moves of Britain’s efforts to liberate its South Atlantic territories. The helicopter was constantly upgraded and overhauled, evolving into a Lynx Mk8 which last flew from the deck of frigate HMS Iron Duke before being transferred to HMS Sultan in Gosport to serve as a training aid for air engineers.

From Boscombe Down, both aircraft were moved by JARTS to Marchwood Military Port in Southampton Water for loading onto a Falklands-bound supply ship which sails next week. They are due to arrive in the Falklands in time for Liberation Day events in June and will be kept in storage while the new exhibition hall is completed. Its due to open to the public in the spring of 2025.

Despite a population on the islands of under 3,000 – and most of those are centered in the capital – the Falklands’ museum attracts 80,000 visitors a year, expected to rise to around 100,000 thanks to growing trade from cruise liners.​

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[DaveM]

Digitization and Aviation Museums

By Noah Stegman Rechtin

Why digitize?

Why digitize documents in the first place? To some this may seem like an obvious question, but to others used to paper documents, it may seem like a downgrade. Flipping through pages in a digital reader can be clunky at times. Also, isn’t it easy for digital files to be deleted or destroyed?

First, redundancy or, to put it more simply, “lots of copies keeps stuff safe”. Many museums have suffered from major disasters that resulted in the loss of large portions of their collections. While not exactly a formal “backup”, a digital surrogate constitutes a secondary copy that will continue to exist if the physical one is destroyed.​

Documents from the San Diego Air and Space Museum being recovered after a fire in 1979. [Photo by San Diego Air and Space Museum via Flickr]

Second, having a duplicate that the general public can access aids in the preservation of the original. Every time a document is handled, it suffers wear and tear. When properly digitized, the vast majority of research requests can be satisfied with a virtual copy. They can also be accessed in situations that an original never would have been. For instance, a student can be handed a tablet computer with a digital facsimile on it for use in an education program.

For anyone who has ever ordered blueprints of a World War II aircraft from the National Air and Space Museum, this is nothing new. NASM does not supply the original drawings, but instead reels of microfilm. Ironically, this microfilm also demonstrates the pitfalls of not creating access copies. Much of it is illegible or difficult to read. This is a symptom of repeated use. (For a deeper explanation of this with examples, see an article on the subject by Ester Aube of AirCorps Library.)

Thanks to the advent of optical character recognition (OCR) technology, a computer program can automatically detect and identify the words in a text to generate a machine-readable copy. Directly, it results in the ability to perform a Ctrl+F search of the document to quickly find a subject. Those who have had to search through several hundred-page-long parts manuals to find a single component can appreciate the usefulness of such a feature.

More broadly, when indexed by search engines, it makes the content eminently more discoverable. The ability to search large bodies of information quickly enables new kinds of research that wouldn’t have been possible before. For instance, a significant portion of the material Roger Connor, a curator at the NASM, used for his paper on aerial bootlegging came from searching for articles that mentioned the phenomenon in various online newspaper databases.

To take it one step further, documents on the Internet can of course be accessed anywhere around the world. Not everyone has the ability to visit an archive and do the research in person and the job of a historian is to make more knowledge available to more people. Imagine the young kid halfway around the world who wants to learn more about aviation history. There may be no aviation museums for many miles around him and even if there are, their coverage of U.S. aircraft is likely limited. However, with nothing more than access to a computer and the Internet, he can read all about how the autopilot on a B-17 worked or what training was like at an airfield in the southwest.

To return to the initial question of this section, the answer is that digital copies should not be seen as a replacement for a physical copy, but an augment to them.

Difficulties

So, with all of these benefits, why don’t aviation museums just slap all of their materials in a scanner?

The biggest difficulty with digitization boils down to the same problem that any aircraft restoration project has: limited resources. The three chief factors are limited time, limited money and limited staff. Proper digitization is tedious, requires expensive equipment and needs dedicated and knowledgeable workers.

Just because you own a copy of something, doesn’t mean you have the right to make more of it. This principle is called copyright and it can get very complicated, very quickly. It is not possible to cover every detail here, but it is worth going over the broad rules. (For those who want to read about the subject in more detail, check out this post in a Warbird Information Exchange thread.)​

A release from a base censor given to an American pilot in World War II allowing him to distribute, but not sell or reproduce a set of aerial photographs. While no longer applicable, it mentions an additional aspect of intellectual property not seen outside the military: classification. [Image from Tri-State Warbird Museum via Internet Archive]

Luckily, in the United States, any work produced by an employee of the federal government in the course of their duties is public domain. This means anything published by the military or the Federal Aviation Administration can be shared without restriction.

In addition, any documents published in the United States before 1978 with a defective copyright notice – that is, it lacks at least one of the following features: a copyright symbol or the word copyright, the name of the copyright holder or a date – are also public domain. Many aircraft manufacturers, for example, did not bother to include a proper notice on their materials, therefore making them public domain.

Furthermore, courts have ruled that the simple act of digitization alone does not produce a new copyright.

When it comes to the actual scanning itself, there are certain technical standards that need to be met. Again, these can get involved, but the three biggest concerns are resolution (measured in dpi), color depth (measured in bits) and file format.

It might seem like higher resolution is better because it means more detail, but that’s not always the case. It is unnecessary for many documents, such as books with nothing more than text, because there is no additional detail to capture. However, what it does result in are bigger file sizes, which just mean more unwieldy files.

The reason the latter point is important is that just like paper, digital files can degrade. The most common example is that of JPEG images. The file format uses “lossy compression” so that every time it is re-saved in a new location it becomes slightly more pixelated. This is part of the reason that the recommended format among professionals is TIFF.

No matter whether you’re using a flatbed or cradle scanner, the actual process is time intensive. With the former, the entire process of placing a page on the platen, or scanner bed, scanning it and replacing it with the next page can average 2-3 minutes. This may not seem like a lot, but for a 100 page document, it takes a total of 3-5 hours.

A quicker process, such as this cradle scanner at the Internet Archive, can be used for bound volumes in good condition, but loose papers and documents in poor condition will still require a slower, more manual process. [Internet Archive via YouTube]

Okay, so now you have all of your documents digitized. Where are you going to put them? The web hosting alone can be expensive, not to mention the cost of the software that runs on said host. One alternative to a proprietary system is the Internet Archive. While well known for attempting to archive the Internet, it also offers free hosting of digitized materials.​

The metadata form when uploading to the Internet Archive. [Screenshot from the Internet Archive]

Even after all of that, metadata still has to be added. Metadata – usually defined as “data about data” – is all of the extra information that categorizes a digital file. It comes in multiple types that include, but are not limited to, technical (such as the date a file was created or its file size) and descriptive (such as the title of a document or the name of the author). This information is important because it enables the discoverability mentioned above.

What to digitize?

One of the biggest decisions that museums have to make is settling on what to digitize, as limited resources mean that they do not have the ability to scan everything.​

The final page of a World War II-era special order listing, at the bottom of the page, the places and number of copies to be distributed. In this case, there were at least 492 other copies made. [Image from Tri-State Warbird Museum via Internet Archive]

First, rarity. If you have something that doesn’t exist in many other locations, then there is a greater value in digitizing it – both to ensure redundancy and preservation. For instance, a manual produced only by a specific air force base or distributed only to a certain command will have a higher priority than one published nationwide.

Closely related to rarity is duplication. While it may seem like the same consideration, it is not. The former deals with how many extant copies there are in the real world, whereas the latter refers to how many copies there are online. There is not much point to making a second copy of the same document available if there are other materials in the museum’s collection that are not.

While, as explained above, there is a benefit to having multiple copies available, the more there are, the less attractive a document is for digitization. For example, there are many, many copies of the P-51 pilot’s manual out there. (However, just to make things more complicated, manuals were periodically updated with multiple revisions. So, sometimes, the opposite is true. For more details, see this article by Ester Aube of AirCorps Library.)

Third, fragility. Documents that are at high risk of loss or in poor condition are generally prioritized for reasons the reasons explained above. As storage media – be it paper, film, tape, or other materials – begin to break down it becomes necessary to transfer the content to another format. (Periscope Film, a company specializing in recovering and digitizing old film, touched on a number of these issues, such as vinegar syndrome, in a video.)

Lastly, utility and public interest. In short, will anyone want to read what you have digitized? If the subject is very niche, then the audience will likely be small.

Uses

When it comes to aviation, often the motivating factor in determining what gets digitized are very practical concerns. For example, a blueprint that is needed for a restoration or a manual that is necessary for pilot instruction.

This brings up one of the most unique aspects of digitization in aviation museums: liability for aircraft production drawings. In the 1980s a series of lawsuits from the families of pilots killed in accidents nearly drove general aviation manufacturers in the United States out of business. While the General Aviation Revitalization Act of 1994 addressed many of these concerns, aviation museums took note of the risk and began requiring all requests for reproductions of production drawings to be accompanied with a general disclaimer stating that they are not to be used on airworthy aircraft.

On the flip side, family genealogy is quite popular and documents like training school classbooks (the largest digital collection of which is probably the Army Air Forces Collection website) can be a very valuable resource as to what a parent or grandparent did “during the war”.

A new group of virtual historians, such as Keith of the YouTube channel WWII US Bombers, have incorporated digitized documents directly into their videos. Others, such as Witold Jaworski of the blog Airplanes in 3D, have employed them to recreate entire airplanes in computer aided design programs. Still others have used them to great extent to increase the historical accuracy of video games they play, such as War Thunder or DCS World.

These factors can of course be at odds with each other. For example, an airman’s handwritten notes from training are certainly rare and can offer unique insights not found in official documentation – such as confirmation that certain nicknames for aircraft were actually in common use. However, outside of certain limited use cases, they may have limited utility. After all, how many people really want to read someone’s school notebook? In addition, since they are handwritten, OCR has a much harder time working on them.​

Results

So, where can you find the results of these digitization programs? There are a number of museums and other organizations that lead the way in terms of digitization. They include:

• AirCorps Aviation, which operates AirCorps Library, a subscription based service offering access to original manuals and production drawings
• Air University Library, which has a digital archives page
• Museum of Flight, which has a digital collections page
• National Air and Space Museum, which uploads its scans to the larger Smithsonian Online Virtual Archives
• San Diego Air and Space Museum, which has both a Flickr account and an Internet Archive collection
• Tri-State Warbird Museum, which has an Internet Archive collection
• University of Texas at Dallas, which has some of its aviation history collection on the Portal to Texas History
• Wright State University, which has a special collections and archives page

Conclusion

There are many more related issues – whether or not to charge for access, how to handle government classification and what to do with unpublished documents like production drawings. None of this is to mention video, audio or three-dimensional digitization either. (For example, the National Air and Space Museum 3D has scanned some of their most famous craft, such as the Space Shuttle Discovery.)

While digitization cannot completely replace onsite research, it can, if done right, bring a significant portion of the vast array of information that aviation museums have in their collections to the greater aviation-loving public.​

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[DaveM]

Charles McGee Selected as 2024 Paul E Garber Shrine Honoree

The First Flight Society announced today that Brigadier General Charles McGee has been named the 2024 Honoree to be inducted into the Dr. Paul E. Garber First Flight Shrine located in the Museum and Visitors Center at the Wright Brothers National Memorial, Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, USA. This honor is selected annually by a high-level panel appointed by the First Flight Society, from among numerous nominations submitted from around the world as well as compiled lists of qualified candidates. The induction ceremony will be held on Wright Brothers Day, December 17, 2024, with a celebration banquet held on December 16, 2024, in Kitty Hawk. A portrait of McGee will be unveiled and presented at the ceremony on December 17th, 2024, celebrating the 121st Anniversary of the Wright Brothers First Flight.​

At Ramitelli airfield in Italy, Charles McGee, then a Captain, stands in front of the P-51C he nicknamed “Kitten” in honor of his wife. At his side is Nathaniel Wilson the Mustang’s crew chief. (image via DoD)

Charles Edward McGee (December 7, 1919 – January 16, 2022) was a member of the 332nd Fighter Group in World War II, also known as the Tuskegee Airmen. His military service was 30 years from 1942-1973 with over 409 combat missions in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam. McGee was highly decorated with awards including Air Medal, Bronze Star, Legion of Merit, and Distinguished Flying Cross. In 2020 Charles McGee was inducted as an Honorary Lifetime Member of the First Flight Society. That same year he participated in the coin toss for Super Bowl LIV and was promoted from colonel to brigadier general. McGee was married to his wife Frances for over 50 years until her death. McGee lived until the age of 102 and is buried in Arlington Cemetery.

William Douglas, Chairman of the First Flight Society’s National Advisory Committee, served as Chair of the Dr. Paul E. Garber Shrine Selection Panel and managed the selection process. Honorees for the Paul E. Garber First Flight Shrine are selected annually by a National Advisory Committee from a list of nominees submitted to the First Flight Society and public that is passed to the Committee for consideration. For 2025 the committee accepts a letter of nomination accompanied by supporting documentation.​

Then-Lieutenant Colonel McGee (right) during his time as Commander of the 16th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron in Vietnam. Lieutenant Tom Coney (left) flew as his backseater on many of the 167 missions McGee flew during that conflict. (image via Wikipedia)

The nominee(s) may but does not have to be a “first” but rather “…a person, living or dead, who since December 17, 1903, either personally or with the assistance of others, have made such outstanding accomplishments in support of flight operations that they are generally recognized nationally and internationally for their achievements and contributions to aerospace activities.”

The Nomination Form for the Paul E. Garber First Flight Shrine can be downloaded from Call for Nominations - Paul Garber Shrine . This should be mailed with any supporting documents to: First Flight Society, Post Office Box 1903, Kitty Hawk, NC 27949. Nominations may also be emailed to: [email protected].

Nominations are due April 30, 2024. For more information about the Paul E Garber Shrine visit www.firstflight.org/first-flight-shrine/

The First Flight Society created the Paul E Garber Shrine in 1966 to honor individuals and groups for achieving significant “firsts” in aviation development since 1903. Charles Lindbergh, Mary Feik, John Glenn, Katherine Johnson (Hidden Figures), Gail Halvorsen, Sally K. Ride and most recently Walter and Olive Ann Beech, among others. First Flight Society’s vision is: One day people everywhere will be inspired by the dauntless resolution and tireless work of the Wright Brothers. Their mission is to tell the story of the Wright Brothers through community events, education, and the commemoration of the world’s very first powered flight, in Kitty Hawk, NC. More information about the First Flight Society can be found at Home - First Flight Society - Aviation Society on the Outer Banks in Kill Devil Hills, NC​

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[DaveM]

Second World War Week at RAF Museum

PRESS RELEASE

Travel back in time with the RAF Museum London this May Half-Term with a range of family activities. Discover all about the RAF and life during the 1940s, culminating in our D-Day Weekend.

D-Day, The RAF Story: The Tour

For the 80th Anniversary of the D-Day Landing, the RAF Museum will be offering a tour for a limited time only, telling the story of the role of the RAF during the D-Day Operations.

Explore the varied roles of the RAF during D-Day, from bombing to reconnaissance and logistics. See this story come to life in the Museum’s Hangars 3, 4, and 5 among iconic aircraft such as the Avro Lancaster, the Handley Page Halifax, and the de Havilland Mosquito. Delivered by our expert volunteer tour guides; they will meet you by the nose of the Lancaster at your tour time.

Tickets: £10.00 Location: Hangars 345 Date: Sunday 26 May, Tuesday 28 May, Thursday 30 May, Saturday 1 June, Wednesday 5 June and Thursday 6 June. Timings: 30 min timeslots available 11:00 am to 1:00 pm then 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm

Recommended Age: 8+​

Aircraft Access: Lockheed Hudson

This is the opportunity to fully experience the aircraft that bravely carried into and out of Nazi-occupied Europe.

Although often a forgotten hero of WWII, visitors will be privileged to gain exclusive access to the first Allied aircraft to capture a U-boat, be equipped with airborne lifeboats, and shoot down an enemy whilst operating from the British Isles.

Tickets: £5.00 Location: Hangars 345 Date: Saturday 25th, Monday 27th and Wednesday 29th of May Timings: 15 min timeslots available 11:00 am to 1:00 pm then 2:00 pm to 4:00pm Recommended Age: 8+

Audio Story WWII Trail

Embark on an exciting journey through aviation history with the RAF Museum’s brand-new trail.

Meet Woof Commander Antis the Dog and Flight Lieutenant Percy the Parachuting Penguin!

Enchanting narration interspersed with the hum of engines and the buzz of crucial radio chatter will guide visitors as they learn of the tales of the brave men, women, and animals who made a difference in Britain’s finest hour.

This audio trail promises an accessible experience that transcends anything you’ve heard before. All you will need you will need to access this journey to the pass is your own smart device, headphones and internet access.

What we want to know most is are you Team Antis or Team Percy. Make sure you let everyone know who is your favorite during your visit!

Tickets: FREE Location: Hangars 345 Date: Saturday 25 May to Sunday 2 June Timings: Drop-in throughout the day, just scan the QR code and go! Recommended Age: 4+​

For more information, visit www.rafmuseum.org​

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[DaveM]

Duxford Flying Days

By Nigel Hitchman This past weekend, the Imperial War Museum hosted the first of three “Duxford Flying Days” of the 2024 airshow season. Naturally, the show featured locally based warbirds, with a surprise visitor.

Before the show started, which had a “VE Day” theme, spectators were treated to a surprise visitor in the form of Air Leasing/Fighter Aviation Engineering’s newly imported Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation CA-21 Mk.21 Mustang A68-110 (G-JERK), which is painted to represent P-51D USAAF #44-415152 QI*T JERSEY JERK, flown by Maj. Donald J. Strait, commanding officer of the 361st Fighter Squadron/356th Fighter Group based Martlesham Heath Air Force Station 369.​

The fighter had made its first flight in the UK earlier in the day at Sywell with Cameron Smith at the controls and arrived at Duxford on its second flight, Richard Grace was in the back seat. Though it was not part of the display and departed before the end of the day, JERSEY JERK was an incredibly thrilling and unexpected sight to behold.

The display itself started with an interesting duo of the PBY-5 Catalina G-PBYA and the Fighter Collection’s Hawker Nimrod 1 G-BWWK/S1581. They were in a nice close formation while practicing behind the display area, but for the display the Nimrod just followed the Catalina for the first pass and then the two split up.​

Next up was Fighter Aviation Engineering’s Hawker Fury II G-CBEL together with The Fighter Collection’s Eastern Aircraft FM-2 Wildcat G-RUMW/JV579 which did one formation pass together and then performed individual displays. Followed that fighter duo was George Haye flying his USAAF painted Spitfire LF.XVIe G-PBIX/RW382 doing a nice display making good use of the curve around the M11 end of the display line.​

Isabel Rutland gave a very nice display in her Norduyn Harvard IIB G-BTXI/FE695, only her second public warbird display I was told. We look forward to seeing her displaying her recently acquired P-51D Mustang G-MRLL Marinell in the future. Following all of that heavy iron was Tom Harris’s de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver together with G-AOSY/WB585 DHC-1 Chipmunk doing a nice formation display.​

Probably the best display was Stu Goldspink in Fighter Aviation Engineering’s Spitfire FR.XIV G-SPIT/MV293 making its first public display in its new SE Asia colours scheme applied during rebuild at Air Leasing last year.​

The final display was probably the most famous warbird of them all, Fighter Aviation Engineering’s Lockheed 12A G-AFTL, the Lockheed Electra that Sydney Cotton flew on his clandestine missions over Germany just before the start of World War II.​

Not all of the excitement was in the air. There were several interesting aircraft found in the field’s hangars. They included Fighter Aviation Engineering’s Hawker Tempest G-TEMT/PR533 which is currently awaiting some engine accessories away for work and then hopefully it can resume test flying and start display flying.​

Comanche fighters Spitfire Mk.IX ML417 (N2TF), which was restored by ARCo over the last couple of years. This aircraft is unique in that it was converted back from a two-seater by PPS in the 1980s for Stephen Grey, something that wouldn’t happen today.​

G-BIRW Morane Saulnier MS505 which was recently acquired by Propshop/ARCo from the Royal Scottish Museum where it’s been since 1983, before that it was owned by Graham Warner, the founder of the company. Going full circle and still currently wearing the Luftwaffe colours it had when previously owned by Graham. They are now just starting restoration.​

The remaining “Flying Days” will be “The Americans” on July 26 and “19 Squadron” on August 31, 2024.​

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[DaveM]

Yankee Air Museum Is Now Michigan Flight Museum & Air Adventures

PRESS RELEASE

BELLEVILLE, MICH. (May 6, 2024) – Introducing the Michigan Flight Museum & Air Adventures formerly known as the Yankee Air Museum. “We’re thrilled to publicly share our brand refresh, as we feel it better reflects who we are and where we’re going,” stated Kevin Walsh, President and CEO of the Michigan Flight Museum. Walsh continued, “Summer is coming and with that we kick into high gear with our premiere events such as the Thunder Over Michigan Air Show and our flying season with our historic, flyable aircraft. What a great time to showcase what we do with an updated brand.” The location and mission of the Museum remains the same. Check out the new website at www.MIFlightMuseum.org.​

About Michigan Flight Museum: Established in 1981 the Michigan Flight Museum is a non-profit 501 (c) (3) organization. The Michigan Flight Museum dedicates itself to educating individuals through the history of American aeronautics, aerospace industry and its associated technologies while inspiring generations through personal experiences to instill pride in our national accomplishments. Visit www.MiFlightMuseum.org to discover more or call 734-483-4030.​

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[DaveM]

That’s All, Brother To Offer Living History Flight Experience in Atlanta

PRESS RELEASE

The C-47A Skytrain troop transport named That’s All, Brother is the airplane that led the Allies’ main airborne invasion over Normandy on D-Day, June 6, 1944. Tickets are available to fly on That’s All, Brother – flights are approximately 30 minutes long and may be purchased in advance online.

WHERE: Atlantic Aviation – DeKalb Peachtree, 2040 Airport Rd, Atlanta, GA 30341

WHEN: Sunday, May 12, 2024, starting at 11:00 a.m. – aircraft flights

ABOUT THE EVENT: Living history flight experience rides in That’s All, Brother are $275 per passenger. ​

That’s All … Brother cruising alongside the chalk cliffs near Dover, England. (photo by Rich Cooper/COAP)

About the C-47A That’s All, Brother

That’s All, Brother was the C-47A troop carrier aircraft that led the Airborne Invasion on D-Day, June 6, 1944, carrying 101st Airborne Division paratroopers into France during the D-Day invasion. The aircraft was named “That’s All, Brother” by the aircrew, who felt it was a fitting message to Adolf Hitler. Following D-Day, That’s All, Brother” served in Operation Dragoon, Operation Market Garden, the Relief of Bastogne, and Operation Varsity. After the War, the aircraft was sold as surplus, and its contribution to history was almost forgotten. In 2015, the Commemorative Air Force rescued the aircraft from a boneyard, completed a lengthy restoration to get it flying, and returned it to its World War II configuration. In June 2019, the aircraft returned to England and France to commemorate the 75th anniversary of D-Day (flying over Omaha Beach on June 6, 2019). The aircraft plans to return to Europe for the 80th anniversary of D-Day commemorations in June 2024.

Tickets may be purchased at Atlanta GA (PDK) - C47 That's All Brother via ThunderTix

Visit www.thatsallbrother.org for more detailed information.

About the Commemorative Air Force (CAF):

Through more than six decades of collecting and flying World War II aircraft, with a fleet of over 170 World War II airplanes, the CAF has become the world’s largest flying museum. The aircraft are assigned to unit locations across the U.S. and are maintained and supported by over 19,000 volunteer members. Nearly all CAF aircraft are kept in flying condition, enabling people to experience firsthand the sights and sounds of vintage military aircraft in flight. The CAF’s mission is to Educate, Inspire, and Honor through flight and living history experiences. To learn more about the organization, visit www.CommemorativeAirForce.org​

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[DaveM]

Vintage World War II Warbirds Gather in Atlanta in May

PRESS RELEASE

The month of May will bring several opportunities to see or experience a flight in meticulously restored World War II aircraft — trainers, fighters and bombers – at Dekalb-Peachtree Airport (PDK). The aircraft tours, operated by Commemorative Air Force (CAF) units from Georgia, Texas and Arizona, will include Good Neighbor Day May 11, a one-day C-47A rides day May 12, and a first-time ever visit by the Flying Legends of Victory May 28-June 2, featuring a B-17 Flying Fortress “Sentimental Journey” and a B-25 Mitchell “Maid in the Shade”. The aviation event series is dedicated to the 80th Anniversary of D-Day.

Good Neighbor Day Open House and Airshow from noon to 5 p.m. May 11 will feature several restored aircraft from CAF Airbase Georgia, including a P-51 Mustang, SBD Dauntless dive bomber, P-63 Kingcobra, LT-6 Mosquito, PT-19A Cornell trainer and a T-34 Mentor.​

Three of fighters operated by the CAF Airbase Georgia. The P-63 Kingcobra, the iconic P-51 Mustang “Red Nose” and the FG-1D Corsair. Photo by John Willhoff.

On Sunday, May 12, a special appearance by the restored C-47A Skytrain, “That’s All, Brother,” which led the Allies’ main airborne D-Day invasion in 1944, will offer rides at PDK Airport beginning at 11 am. “That’s All, Brother”, operated by the CAF Central Texas Wing, is scheduled to depart the United States in June for the 80th Anniversary of D-Day Celebration in Normandy.​

Photo by Kevin Hong

Living History Flight Experiences on “That’s All Brother” are approximately 30 minutes long and tickets may be purchased in advance online for $275 per passenger here. Visit thatsallbrother.org for more detailed information.

Flying Legends of Victory is the 2024 U.S. tour for the B-17 Flying Fortress and B-25 Mitchell operated by the CAF Arizona Wing. The aircraft will arrive at PDK Airport May 27, with ground tours available May 28-29. Rides on both aircraft will be available May 30-June 2 and may be scheduled on the B-17 and B-25 here.

Airbase Georgia will add three aircraft to the event, with rides available on each of them May 30-June 2. The Georgia-based aircraft scheduled to appear are an LT-6 Mosquito, PT-19A Cornell and a T-34 Mentor. Living History Flight Experiences on CAF Airbase Georgia aircraft can be scheduled here.

“This is an amazing opportunity for aviation enthusiasts, history buffs, and family members of World War II veterans to experience a unique array of historic aircraft within a month in Atlanta,” said Airbase Georgia Leader Joel Perkins. “These events exemplify the mission of the CAF which is to educate, inspire and honor. We are proud to honor the Greatest Generation by sharing this experience with our Texas and Arizona units.”​

The hangar of the CAF Airbase Georgia in Peachtree City, GA. Photo by Tony Granata

About the CAF Airbase Georgia Warbird Museum CAF Airbase Georgia, based in Peachtree City, Ga., was founded in 1987. The Airbase is one of the largest units of the Commemorative Air Force (CAF). The group maintains and flies seven vintage military aircraft including a P-51 Mustang, an FG-1D Corsair, an SBD Dauntless, a P-63A Kingcobra, a PT-19 Cornell, LT-6 Mosquito and a T-34 Mentor. The Airbase, composed of more than 500 volunteer members, is a founding partner of the Georgia WWII Heritage Trail launched in 2021. The Airbase is part of the CAF, a non-profit, tax-exempt organization that relies on contributions of time and funds to conduct its mission. For more information, go to CAF Airbase Georgia.​

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[DaveM]

Walt Disney Studios and WWII Exhibition Opens at Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum

During World War II, the esteemed generation of Americans, often dubbed the Greatest Generation, wholeheartedly contributed to the war efforts, a feat that included the involvement of Walt Disney and his eponymous studio. In the aftermath of the Pearl Harbor attack on December 7, 1941, Walt Disney swiftly mobilized nearly his entire studio to aid the war endeavors. Disney’s contributions spanned a wide spectrum, from crafting over 1,200 insignias for the Armed Forces and affiliated groups to producing animated short films featuring beloved Disney characters. Additionally, the studio ventured into creating instructional materials, government educational films, posters, and publications. Such was the significance of Disney’s wartime output that it was safeguarded by troops around the clock, attesting to its vital role in bolstering national morale.​

The exhibit features more than 550 artifacts from The Walt Disney Studio’s work during World War II, including those above.

This year, from June 3 to December 30, the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum on historic Ford Island will showcase over 550 remarkable examples of The Walt Disney Studios’ extensive wartime contributions. Housed within the Museum’s Raytheon Pavilion, the “The Walt Disney Studios and World War II” exhibition is the result of a collaboration between The Walt Disney Family Museum and Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum, curated by Kent Ramsey. In 2022 the exhibition was successfully installed at the Museum of Flight in Seattle.

Expressing her enthusiasm, Museum Executive Director Elissa Lines remarked, “We are thrilled to present these enchanting historic treasures from Disney to our visitors.” She emphasized Disney’s unwavering dedication, stating, “Walt Disney and his creative team committed themselves entirely to the war effort.” Noting the significance of the exhibition, she added, “This marks the final opportunity for audiences to experience this extraordinary display.”​

Throughout World War II, The Walt Disney Studios not only ramped up film production but also organized blood drives, cultivated victory gardens, and staged Disney camp shows for the troops. These contributions, which played a pivotal role in uplifting spirits, were carried out without seeking profit, with much of the work remaining uncompensated. “Tomorrow will be better for as long as America keeps alive the ideals of freedom and a better life,” remarked Walt Disney, underscoring the enduring values underpinning his efforts.

Disney characters adorned insignias for numerous military units worldwide, embellishing aircraft, ships, vehicles, and attire. Donald Duck emerged as the most prevalent character, featured in nearly 150 designs, while Goofy and Mickey Mouse followed suit. Reflecting on his involvement, Walt Disney remarked, “How could you turn them down? The insignias meant a lot to the men who were fighting, and they didn’t know who else to go to. I had to do it. Those kids grew up on Mickey Mouse. I owed it to them.”

“Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum is honored to highlight the remarkable contributions of Walt Disney and his studio during World War II,” expressed Lines. She also noted the recent addition of nose art on the Museum’s iconic Swamp Ghost, a B-17 bomber, created by Walt Disney Animation Studios. Depicting Donald Duck emerging from the jungle swamp, the artwork serves as a poignant reminder of Disney’s ongoing support for the military.​

Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum
Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum is located on Historic Ford Island, where bombs fell during the attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941. Walk the Pearl Harbor battlefield where the attack began, enter the bullet-scarred hangars, and see the control tower and aircraft of the battle, including a Japanese Zero and the B-17 Swamp Ghost. Hear the stories of World War II heroes and their response to the attack that changed our nation and world. Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum’s mission is to steward American’s first aviation battlefield of World War II. It is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that depends on membership, volunteers, and donations for support. To join, volunteer or support, visit www.PearlHarborAviationMuseum.org.

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[DaveM]

Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum’s C-47 Restoration Takes Flight

PRESS RELEASE

The Douglas C-47A Skytrain (S/N 43-15512) was airborne at the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum this February thanks to the Museum’s partners at Aerometal International LLC. After years of displaying aloft on its outdoor pedestal, the aircraft is on the move inside the Aviation Museum for restoration services.

The Restoration team at Evergreen plans to accomplish a refurbishment that will allow the public to see the C-47 in her original WWII configuration. Built-in Long Beach, California in 1944, the 43-15512 became part of Greenham Common, England’s 89th Troop Carrier Squadron in May of that year.

Just after midnight on June 6, 1944, 1,200 aircraft dropped more than 24,000 American, British, and Canadian paratroopers across occupied Normandy in the largest combined air, land, and sea operation in history. The Museum’s C-47 carried members of the 101st Airborne Division’s, 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment to a drop zone near the town of Carentan, France.

“With the 80th anniversary of D-Day just a few months away, we want to begin restoration on this incredible aircraft as soon as possible,” Education Director Jay Lacano said. “Since Paris is also hosting the Summer Olympics, we at Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum are excited to begin restoring our C-47 as the world’s eyes turn toward France.”

During the multiyear restoration process, Evergreen’s C-47 will be restored and displayed in an interactive exhibit featuring the illustrious DC-3, the original civilian transport on which the Skytrain is based. Through this enhanced interactive exhibit, the Museum’s growing population of global visitors will gain a better understanding of the “Douglas Twins.” The goal is to complete the exhibit by June 6, 2026.

Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum will also host Remembering D-Day: a commemorative 80th anniversary event on Saturday, June 8 in honor of the Battle of Normandy and all World War II Veterans. Tickets are $15 for children and Veterans, $25 for adults, free for Museum Members, and include full-day access to both the Aviation and Space Museums.

About the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum

The Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum is home to the iconic Hughes Flying Boat Spruce Goose and is recognized for its remarkable collection of aviation and spacecraft. Whether it’s viewing the rare, record-breaking SR-71 plane or experiencing the original launch room of the Titan II Space Launch Vehicle (SLV), Evergreen provides a space to explore and discover. As a 501(c) 3, we proudly partner with the Academy of Model Aeronautics, the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab, the Oregon Space Consortium, and the Civil Air Patrol Cadet Program. Discover more than 150 historic aircraft, spacecraft, and exhibits on display, along with artwork and traveling exhibits daily from 9 am – 5 pm. The Museum is located at 500 NE Captain Michael King Smith Way, across the highway from the McMinnville Airport and about three miles southeast of McMinnville, Ore., on Highway 18. To make a reservation, buy tickets, or learn more, please call (503) 434-4180 or visit www.evergreenmuseum.org. Follow @evergreenmuseum on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for the latest updates.​

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[DaveM]

US Airways Flight 1549, Left Engine

In the aftermath of a birdstrike above New York City, Captain C.B. ‘Sully’ Sullenberger and First Officer Jeffrey Skiles demonstrated extraordinary skill as they safely guided US Airways Flight 1549 to land on the Hudson River. The aircraft touched down on the water at 140 mph, causing it to propel forward about 700 ft., resulting in the dislodgement of the left engine.​

The plane being recovered from the river during the night of January 17. Image via Wikipedia

Although the airframe and right engine were recovered promptly on January 17, 2009, just two days following the remarkable landing, it took an additional eight days to locate the left engine. On January 23, 2009, a sonar team successfully identified the left engine, which had submerged 65 ft to the riverbed directly beneath the crash site. Subsequently, a dive team retrieved the engine using a buoy.​

US Airways mechanic Paul Sullivan works to reattach the compressor and turbine section of the left engine to the fan frame. Image via Sullenberger Aviation Museum

The investigation’s primary focus on the engines caused delays in the insurance company’s release procedures. While the airframe was authorized for transfer to the Museum by the summer of 2011, it wasn’t until a year later that the engines were ready for transport. Over the subsequent three years, volunteers from US Airways (now American Airlines) undertook the task of reassembling the engines, facing complications due to preservation challenges. Unlike the fuselage, which had been previously cleaned, the engines arrived with significant amounts of silt and mud, leading to corrosion and necessitating treatment to prevent further decay.

Today, the left engine proudly stands on display alongside the Airbus A320 at the Sullenberger Aviation Museum, with ongoing conservation efforts ensuring the preservation of both significant artifacts. For more information, visit Sullenberger Aviation Museum.​

“The Sullenberger Aviation Museum will not just help us know and understand past achievements, it will enable and inspire us to create a brighter future,” said Capt. Sullenberger.

About Sullenberger Aviation Museum

Sullenberger Aviation Museum, renamed in honor of Capt. C.B. “Sully” Sullenberger, aims to Inspire, Educate and Elevate by re-imagining the greater Charlotte region as a hub for aviation and STEM innovation and creating more diversity and economic mobility by inspiring and empowering the next generation to pursue careers in STEM, aerospace and aviation. A Smithsonian affiliate, the museum receives support from the Infusion Fund, a partnership between the City of Charlotte, Foundation For The Carolinas and generous donors to support the arts and cultural sector.​

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[DaveM]

B-29 Doc to Bring its History Restored Tour to Allentown, PA

PRESS RELEASE via Doc’s Friends.

The B-29 Doc History Restored Tour will land in Allentown, PA, at Lehigh Valley International Airport (ABE), May 9-12, 2024

B-29 Doc, one of 1,644 B-29 Superfortress aircraft built by the Boeing Company in Wichita, KS, during World War II, will be available for ground and cockpit tours, as well as B-29 Doc Flight Experience rides during the tour stop at Hangar 10 / Gate 42B (602 Hayden Circle, Allentown, PA 18109).​

BOOK YOUR SEATS ON B-29 DOC NOW!​

• 05/11/2024: 9:00 am Flight
• 05/11/2024: 11:00 am Flight
• 05/12/2024: 9:00 am Flight
• 05/12/2024: 11:00 am Flight

B-29 Doc Flight Experience tickets are on sale now at www.b29doc.com/rides. Ground and cockpit tour tickets will be available for purchase on the days of the event at the gate. While the aircraft is on the ground, visitors will be able to climb inside the cockpit through the forward bomb bay to get a look inside one of only two B-29 Superfortresses still airworthy and flying today.

B-29 Doc Flight Experience tickets are on sale now at www.b29doc.com/rides. Ground and cockpit tour tickets will be available for purchase on the days of the event at the gate. While the aircraft is on the ground, visitors will be able to climb inside the cockpit through the forward bomb bay to get a look inside one of only two B-29 Superfortresses still airworthy and flying today.

“B-29 Doc provides a unique experience for people to climb inside one of only two remaining B-29 Superfortress bombers and learn about the technological marvel that helped deliver victory to the Allied Forces during World War II,” said Josh Wells, B-29 Doc executive director. “Our mission is to honor the legacies of the Greatest Generation and the stories of those who designed, built, flew and maintained these historic warbirds to protect freedom.”

Allentown will be the fifth of eight stops for the B-29 Doc History Restored Tour in April and May. Complete details about the B-29 Doc tour schedule can be found online at www.b29doc.com/events.​

Event Details for the B-29 Doc History Restored Tour in Allentown, PA

B-29 Doc will arrive at ABE (Hangar 10) on Monday, May 6, and will be available for ground and cockpit tours Thursday and Friday, May 9 and 10, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days. B-29 Doc Flight Experience rides will be available Saturday and Sunday, May 11 and 12 at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. both days, followed by ground and cockpit tours from 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. *Parking will be available in lot behind Hangar 7. Ride flight tickets are on sale now via www.b29doc.com/rides. Admission for ground and cockpit tours will be $10 per person or $20 per family. Tickets for ground tours will be available at the gate. B-29 Doc will be hosted by ABE during the tour stop in Allentown.​

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About Doc’s Friends and B-29 Doc

Doc’s Friends, Inc., is a 501c3 non-profit board managing the operation of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress known as Doc. Doc is a B-29 Superfortress and one of 1,644 manufactured in Wichita during World War II. It is one of only two remaining B-29s that are still airworthy and flying today. The mission of Doc’s Friends is to HONOR the men and women who sacrificed so much for the freedom of others, including those who designed, built, maintained and flew the B-29 during and after WWII. CONNECT people with the rich heritage of the B-29 and allow aviation enthusiasts to experience the thrill of a B-29 up close. EDUCATE today’s and future generations on the contributions of the Greatest Generation during wartime.

About the B-29 Doc History Restored Tour and B-29 Doc Flight Experience

Each year, B-29 Doc travels to cities across the United States to allow aviation enthusiasts a chance to B-29 Doc up-close and personal. Doc’s annual tour mission includes an average of 100 flight hours, beginning in early April and spanning through the summer until late October. Tour stops include ground and flight deck tours, as well as B-29 Doc Flight Experiences. The B-29 Doc Flight Experience will last approximately 90 minutes and include a 30-minute ride. Prior to takeoff, passengers will experience a crew briefing and learn more about the history of the B-29 and the role it played in U.S. history. Passengers will also get to hear and see the sights and sounds of engine starts and run-ups prior to takeoff.​

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[DaveM]

Planes of Fame’s Ryan FR-1 Fireball

By Adam Estes The U.S. Navy’s first jet aircraft, the Ryan FR-1 Fireball, was unusual in that it was powered by a Pratt & Whitney R-1820 Cyclone radial engine and a General Electric J31 turbojet engine. Developed at a time when jet engines did not offer sufficient acceleration rates to operate safely from aircraft carriers, it was anticipated that the piston engine would be used for long-range cruise and the jet for combat.

A U.S. Navy FR-1 Fireball of fighter squadron VF-66 at Naval Air Station North Island, California (USA), in 1945. This aircraft was assigned to the squadron CO, LCdr John Gray, who was later killed in a mid-air collision involving two FR-1s. Image via Wikipedia

The Fireball was designed and constructed by the Ryan Aeronautical Company of San Diego, California, and was first flown on June 25, 1944. Upon entering service with the United States Navy in March of 1945, the Fireball became the first US naval aircraft to incorporate a jet engine. However, the Fireball was still going through carrier qualifications with Fighter Squadron Sixty-Six (VF-66) when Japanese surrendered on September 2, 1945. The end of World War II also brought an end to production orders for the Fireball. With the rapid postwar developments in jet propulsion leading to the first pure-jet US naval aircraft such as the McDonnell FH-1 Phantom, F2H Banshee, and Grumman F9F Panther, the last Fireballs were retired from service by 1947. Of the 66 aircraft completed, only one survives today.​

R-1 Fireball Bureau Number 39657 was assigned to the Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, California. Now a NASA research center, Ames was then under the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), the direct predecessor of NASA. There, 39657 was one of six Fireballs used for flight control testing. Upon its retirement in 1947, 39657 was then acquired by California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, where it served as an instructional airframe for aeronautical students, alongside other surplus aircraft. In 1967, Edward T. Maloney, founder of the Planes of Fame Air Museum, acquired the aircraft from Cal Poly and transported it to Ontario Airport, the then-current location of the museum. Moved to Chino in the 1970s, 39657 has now been restored to static display condition and is the last remaining example of this unique aircraft.​

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[DaveM]

B-17 Liberty Belle Restoration – Don Brooks Interview

by Adam Estes and Moreno Aguiari

Over the past few decades, there have been numerous occasions where a wrecked warbird once considered a total loss was eventually resurrected into airworthy condition. The B-17G known around the world as Liberty Belle is one such example. Damaged by a tornado and ravaged by fire, the Liberty Foundation’s Flying Fortress has endured a stormy flightpath, but the clouds appear to be parting once again as it edges towards the completion of its second airworthy rebuild.​

Liberty Belle flying over the Golden Gate Bridge. (image via Liberty Foundation)

The Flying Fortress now known as Liberty Belle was one of the last B-17s constructed at the Lockheed-Vega production plant in Burbank, California. It rolled off the assembly line on May 14, 1945, and was accepted into the US Army Air Forces (USAAF) as 44-85734 two days later. Upon receiving modifications in Louisville, Kentucky, the aircraft flew into storage in Syracuse, New York on July 5, 1945. On October 12, 1945, it moved again, this time to the Reconstruction Finance Corporation’s reclamation center in Altus, Oklahoma. Given that the Altus-based Esperado Mining Co. purchased the airframe, 44-85734 could easily have become one of countless aircraft which went straight from the production line to the scrapyard; it had been part of a bid to scrap 423 aircraft on the field. However, Altus was just the first location where the aircraft encountered Lady Luck instead of the scrapper’s torch. Pratt & Whitney purchased the aircraft from Esperado, along with B-17G 44-85741, although the latter airframe, registered as N5110N, served more as a source of spare parts to keep 44-85734 (now N5111N) in the air.

During its time with Pratt & Whitney, Boeing modified N5111N’s forward fuselage to incorporate a massive, experimental turboprop engine, the T34 (which later powered the Douglas C-133 Cargomaster). In this new guise, with its cockpit pushed four feet further aft, N5111N was designated as a Boeing Model 299Z. Between 1950 and 1965, the aircraft amassed 994 flight test hours. Alongside EB-17G 44-85813, which helped evaluate the Wright T35 Typhoon turboprop, ‘One One November’ provided valuable feedback for the development of large turboprop engines.​

But after fifteen years of operation, N5111N became redundant once again. On June 16, 1967, Pratt & Whitney donated the airframe to the nascent Connecticut Aeronautical Historical Association adjacent to Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut. This organization, later known as the Bradley Air Museum, eventually became the New England Air Museum (NEAM) which we know today as one of the most prestigious aviation museums in the world. However, during the 1960s and 70s, much of the museum’s collection, including N5111N, was stored outdoors; exposed to the often harsh Connecticut climate. The museum’s staff did what they could with the limited funds available, but they could not have anticipated the tragedy which unfolded on October 3, 1979. A massive, F4 tornado barreled its way through Massachusetts and Connecticut, killing 3 and injuring over 500 people. The twister also ripped its way through the Bradley Air Museum, destroying sixteen of their aircraft outright, and severely damaging ten more – the B-17 being one of the latter. Grumman HU-16 Albatross (USAF 51-0025) was hurled into the air and crashed inverted onto the Fort’s waist section. Strong winds and flying debris also tore gashes into the wings of the former engine testbed. The museum began to rebuild in the storm’s aftermath, but had to focus the limited resources on its main infrastructure rather than any of the more heavily damaged exhibits. The B-17 remained in outdoor storage, awaiting future restoration.​

The B-17 sitting forlornly amongst the other wreckage at Windsor Locks following the tornado in 1979. (image via NEAM)

In 1988, the New England Air Museum chose to trade the B-17’s wreckage to aircraft restorer Tom Reilly, then based in Kissimmee, Florida. In return, Reilly restored NEAM’s ultra-rare B-25H Mitchell (43-4999), a fellow tornado survivor. An experienced restoration expert, Reilly had already rebuilt the Collings Foundation’s B-17G (which flew for several decades as Nine-O-Nine). Once Reilly completed the B-25’s restoration to static condition, he sent it back to Connecticut, receiving clear title to 44-85734’s remains which he then transported to his base in Kissimmee.​

Tom Reilly is also based in Douglas, Georgia and can be seen here standing beside components from the B-17’s empennage. (image by Jason Fuller)

Reilly then began the daunting task of restoring this battered and much-modified Flying Fortress back to airworthy condition as a stock B-17G. However, his workshop had many other projects for paying customers which had to take priority; work on the bomber continued to progress, albeit at a relatively slow pace. By 1996, Reilly founded the group ‘Fortress Flight’ to help fund the B-17’s airworthy rebuild to represent B-17G 42-31636. Nicknamed Outhouse Mouse, that aircraft survived 139 missions over Europe with the 91st Bomb Group (BG) between March 1943 and May 1945 only to end up being scrapped shortly after the war in Kingman, Arizona.

For a brief period, 44-85734 was registered to the Randsburg Corporation of Portland, Oregon, however Don Brooks of Douglas, Georgia ended up purchasing the project in March 2003. Brooks had long wished to own an airworthy Flying Fortress as his father, Elton Brooks, had flown 35 missions as a B-17 tail gunner with the 570th BS, 390th BG from RAF Framlingham in England. Although Brooks already planned to recover B-17G 44-83790 from the bottom of Dyke Lake in Labrador, Canada, the opportunity to purchase Tom Reilly’s project was impossible for him to refuse. Brooks immediately bought the Fort and established the Liberty Foundation to maintain the aircraft upon its completion.

On December 8, 2004, 44-85734 returned to the air for the first time in over 40 years. Brooks had it painted in the markings of his father’s B-17G 42-97849 Liberty Belle. In the following year, Liberty Belle received formal approval from the FAA to operate in the Living History Flight Experience program. The aircraft then began touring the country, offering rides to thousands of people, including many WWII veterans and factory workers, some of whom applied their signatures to the aircraft. In 2008, Liberty Belle even flew to England to participate in the Flying Legends air show at Duxford, arriving at the historic airfield, quite fittingly, on July 4th. Ray Fowler and Don Brooks were at the controls when it touched down that day. With the completion of its flights around the UK, Liberty Belle returned home to continue its tour across the USA. Unfortunately, misfortune again caught up with the beautiful bomber.​

Liberty Belle about to touch down at Duxford on July 4th, 2008 following a long journey from the United States. (image by Richard Mallory Allnutt)

Liberty Belle in flight over the English countryside in 2008. (image via Liberty Foundation)

Monday, June 13, 2011 started with Liberty Belle preparing to depart Aurora Municipal Airport in Sugar Grove, Illinois, some 45 miles west of Chicago. With a crew of three (pilot, copilot & flight engineer) and four volunteers aboard, Liberty Belle took off, bound for Indianapolis. During climb out, however, the crew noticed an acrid scent in the cabin, which was quickly followed by smoke billowing noticeably in the radio room. A T-6 flying as a chase plane on the flight reported seeing a fire on the underside of the left wing behind engine #2 (left inboard). The crew shut down and feathered the engine and turned back towards Sugar Grove, but as the fire grew in intensity, it soon became obvious that an off-airport landing was the only safe option available. The pilots quickly found a farmer’s field and made a successful, gear-down landing just southeast of the airport. All seven occupants escaped without serious injury. Fire trucks were called to the scene, but given the muddy conditions, they chose not to risk getting their vehicles bogged down around a burning aircraft which might explode. Left unchecked, the fire consumed most of the aircraft; just the tail and outboard wing sections survived the blaze. An NTSB investigation later concluded that a cracked fuel tank was the fire’s likely cause. Most people considered Liberty Belle to be a write-off, but Brooks was determined to see it returned to the air.​

The fire begins to take hold as Liberty Belle burns following her safe touchdown in a field near Aurora, Illinois in 2011. The blaze consumed much of the airframe.

In the years since that fateful day in 2011, Liberty Belle has been under restoration in Brooks’ workshop in Douglas, Georgia. Many of the fire-damaged components were only fit for use as templates for newly-fabricated parts. Significant sections from other B-17s, such as those from the example Brooks eventually recovered from Dyke Lake, have also found their way into the rebuild. Parts from B-17G 44-83542, an ex-Aero Union tanker written off in a 1971 accident (and later salvaged as a static exhibit for Kermit Weeks at Fantasy of Flight) have also been used in Liberty Belle’s rebuild. Liberty Belle’s surviving rear fuselage, however, was sent off for rebuild with Hangar 13 in Asheville, North Carolina. Hangar 13’s owner, Ray Moore, is rebuilding his own B-17 (B-17F 42-3455 Lucky Thirteen) and has collaborated with a number of other B-17 owners in the rebuilds of their aircraft.

While much work remains to be done before Liberty Belle is ready to fly, Vintage Aviation News’ Moreno Aguiari recently interviewed Don Brooks to learn more about the long journey to revive his pride and joy for a second time.​

Liberty Belle’s forward fuselage is nearing completion. (image by Jason Fuller)

MA: “So we were just saying that after the accident, the airplane came back to Douglas and he had to face a tough decision, rebuild the airplane or not. So why don’t you take us back to those days and then I’ll ask you questions along the way.”

DB: “Yeah… after we had our fire, the plane had departed Aurora in Chicago, headed to Indianapolis. And shortly out of Aurora, while they were still in touch with departure, they had a fire start in the left wing. Of course, our crew did a great job getting the gear down, landing the plane off field, but the fire trucks couldn’t get to it and the plane burned. So severe damage, it was not destroyed, but it was severely damaged. And we eventually were able to truck the parts back to Douglas, Georgia and we didn’t do anything for several months. And then we made the decision that we wanted to rebuild the airplane and continue to fly and let people enjoy it all over the U.S. So, we disassembled it completely, made notes of the parts that were fire damaged, the ones that were not, and then we slowly started to rebuild on it.

We had other projects in process at the time, so it was a number of years before we really started in earnest focusing on the Liberty Belle. But we’ve made good progress. It takes a lot of work to get the big parts rebuilt. So, you build a piece and you put it aside until you’re going to need it. And finally, when you get enough of the parts and you assemble some major assembly to the airplane, it looks like you’ve been doing something, and you show progress. But to date, we’ve rebuilt the outer wing panels from the original Liberty Belle. Those are completely redone and ready to go back on the airplane.”​

“The inner wing panels were of course, the most badly damaged part of the airplane, that and the center section of the fuselage. But the inner wing panels, we decided rather than rebuild the originals, that we would use the other wing inner panels. And we have two of those in 19… 2004, I recovered a B-17 out of Dyke Lake in Labrador and we used a left inner wing panel from that Dyke Lake B-17 and completely took it apart. It had been under freshwater for 50 years and we completely disassembled it. Every rivet came out. We dropped down to the basic spar tubes. The spar tubes were inspected, and they were in very good shape. They had no cracks, no bad corrosion. And we started building that wing back up and it’s ready now to install on the aircraft.”​

“The right-wing panel is one that I obtained that at one time, was on Shoo Shoo Baby, the B-17 that’s at the Air Force Museum in Dayton. And when that aircraft was rebuilt, they elected to put new wings on it. So, they were disposing of the old parts. This was many, many years ago, way before we were rebuilding the Liberty Belle, it was obtained by somebody else. Anyway, I bought the right inner wing panel and then we disassembled it and again, checked for corrosion, and any cracks. Again, thankfully the spars were good, no cracks. But that right inner wing panel now has been completely rebuilt and it’s ready to install on the aircraft.

The Flat bays, which are a trailing edge of the inner wing panels have been rebuilt. The ones of the Liberty Belle were used and they’ve been totally rebuilt now, and they’re ready to be installed on the inner wing panels as soon as we have the inner wing panels permanently attached to the center fuselage. So those are some big parts. For all of the inner wings, flat bays, and outer wing panels, we’re using our original wing tips. So, all of that is complete and ready to go on the airplane.

In the fuselage, we used parts that we could obtain. We had several other donor aircraft, but we have now completely rebuilt the forward fuselage with the exception of the top of the cockpit. And it goes back over the bomb bay and all the radio rooms. We’re in the process of fabricating all of the top of the cockpit area in the top section of the fuselage and then beginning to install those on the forward fuselage. So, the forward fuselage, it’s probably 90% ready and that includes, of course, the bomb racks, which are structural and everything inside of the fuselage.

We’re also now working on the tail section. The natural brake on the B-17 fuselage is right behind the radio room where it bolts together. So, Ray Moore in Asheville, North Carolina did most of the work on our tail section and we received it last year and we have to finish it up. It was not 100%, but we had several donor aircraft tail sections. So, most of the heavy parts in the tail section are all original, but of course, they too had to come apart and be cleaned and sandblasted or glass blown and shelled and reprimed, and mostly new skin on the tail although some of the rear section of Liberty Belle was good enough that it didn’t have heat damage and we were able to use most everything after the crew doors. We also used the original Cheyenne tail turret of the Liberty Belle.

So, most of that’s going back together now, and hopefully, within the next six months, our goal is to have the forward fuselage and the rear fuselage bolted together. And we hope to have the inner wing panels set and permanently attached by mid or late this year as well. So, our progress is really coming along very well. Tom Riley is overseeing the project. Tom says that it’ll take about a year once the plane is basically together, it’ll take about a year to do systems on the aircraft. All four of these engines will need to be overhauled. They were low-time engines; they did not have any sudden stoppage. So it may be that we can IRAN the engines rather than do a complete overhaul because they were low-time and in excellent condition and they didn’t have any sudden stoppage.”​

“So anyway, we will start working on the firewall forward for the engines before long, we’ll build them up and have them ready when we get the plane together. But a lot of the other smaller sub-assemblies are done, the four original engine nacelles have been totally rebuilt, and particularly the inboards had quite a bit of damage from fire and we had to replace a lot of those heavy parts. But the four engine nacelles are ready now to go in the aircraft. We don’t want to install those back on the wings until the center section, the inner wing panels are permanently attached.”​

“All three landing gear have been completely apart and rebuilt. They’re ready to go on. We’re getting to the point now for another six months, we’ll still be fabricating some parts, but probably the last half of this year, it’ll be mostly putting the big parts together and it’ll shape up in a hurry at that time. Before the end of 2024, we expect to have the inner wing panels on the complete fuselage and put the landing gear under it so we can have the aircraft back on its gear before the end of this year.”

MA: Fantastic!

DB: “And we have the horizontals from Liberty Belle. One of those has been repaired, and the other one is in process now. So, we’ll use the original horizontals. All of the control surfaces, the ailerons, elevators, and rudders from the Liberty Belle have all been repaired and are now recovered through silver. So, the controlled surfaces are ready to go back home when we need them. Anyway, we’ve done a lot of work that doesn’t really show, and if anybody’s ever down in the Douglas, Georgia area, I’d be glad to show you through the airplane. Our guys are usually there every weekday, and Douglas is home to the World War II Flight Training Museum, which is open on the weekends, and they have access to our hangars. So, if anybody likes, they can come down and go to the World War II Flight Training Museum and they’ll take them over to our shops and show them our projects and the B-17.

And it’d be good if anybody would like to see that website, it’s World War II Flight Training Museum (wwiiflighttraining.org). So about 10,000 Army Air Corps pilots were trained here during World War II and our museum tells the story of our Douglas Air Base during World War II. And of course, a lot of people are excited about the new “Masters of the Air” miniseries that came out early this month. The central character in that series is Robert Rosie Rosenthal with the 100th Bomb Group. And of course, Robert Rosie Rosenthal learned to fly here in Douglas. That’s where he did his primary flight training.

So… we’re excited about that and look forward to seeing it.”​

Don Brooks smiling beside Liberty Belle in happier times.

MA: “Just one more question that I want to put on the record, because I think it’s very important to you since there is a specific reason why you’ve been flying, restoring, and supporting the B-17 mission… it’s because your father was a B-17 crew member in World War II, correct?”

DB: “That’s correct. My father was a tail gunner on the original Liberty Belle that flew in the 390th Bomb Group out of Framingham, England. He flew 35 missions and made it home safely. Three of his crew members were killed and didn’t make it back. And so, I grew up hearing some of the stories. He never liked to talk about the things that he said he spent the last 30 years of his life trying to forget. But as I got older, he would tell me some of those stories because he knew I was interested. But I think the more that anybody learns about what those veterans did for us during World War II, the dedication and sacrifice, the more that we all realize that we need to keep the memories alive. And rebuilding this airplane, flying it all over the U.S. and we have taken it to the UK and Canada, people still remember our airmen and they remember them giving their lives for the freedom really, of the world, not just the United States.”

MA: “100%.”

DB: “…When you watch ‘Masters of the Air’, you’ll see. It’ll help people to realize how great these guys were and the tremendous sacrifice that they made for our freedom. So I was fortunate to have a father who was also a hero, so at least he was my hero.”

To support The Liberty Foundation’s efforts to return the Liberty Belle to the air, visit, The Liberty Foundation Inc – Liberty Foundation​

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