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YOUR NAME ON A RED ARROWS JET CLOSING DATE FRIDAY

2 DECEMBER 2016

More than a Century of History in the Air

www.aeroplanemonthly.com

Messerschmitt
Museum FIRST REPORT

ANOTHER
EXCLUSIVE REPORT MOSQUITO
Inside a unique collection AIRBORNE

Plus…
• CONVAIR
‘POGO’ PILOT
IN THE NEWS

• DONALD TRUMP’S COMBAT VETERAN

FAILED AIRLINE
‘SPIT’ FLIES AGAIN
• ED MALONEY
TRIBUTE

INTERVIEW

DATABASE RESTORING
NOVEMBER 2016 £4.40
11

HAWKER CLASSICS
POLIKARPOV Po-2 9 770143 724101 Aeropla
a ne meets Guy Blacck
Contents 24
November 2016
Vol 44, no 11 • Issue no 523

50 36
68

46 92
NEWS AND FEATURES 68 FLYING BULLS SYCAMORE
The return to flight of a very historic
COMMENT 16 ED MALONEY British helicopter
Frank B. Mormillo pays a special
4 FROM THE EDITOR
tribute to this great pioneer of the
75 DATABASE:
6 NEWS warbird preservation movement
POLIKARPOV
• FHC Mosquito maiden flight 24 B-23 DRAGON U-2/Po-2
• Norwegian Starfighter airborne The last flying example of the Polikarpov
• Scottish DH Dragon flies again Douglas bomber-turned-executive expert Mikhail
• Early Spitfire IX takes to the air transport Maslov provides
… and the month’s other top aircraft an in-depth
preservation news 30 ANSON ACCIDENT study of the
Remembering one of World War training biplane
13 HANGAR TALK
Steve Slater’s monthly comment
Two’s many long-forgotten training
tragedies
that went to war 17
IN-DEPTH
PAGES
column on the historic aircraft world
36 FLUGMUSEUM MESSERSCHMITT 100 TRUMP SHUTTLE
REGULARS The unique Bavarian ‘flying museum’
devoted to Willy Messerschmitt’s
When Donald Trump tried to take on
the major US airlines
21 SKYWRITERS heritage
46 MONACO SEAPLANE CONTEST YOUR NAME ON A
WIN!
22 Q&A
Your questions asked and answered Rare images of this 1912 event in RED ARROWS JET
the principality See page 105
66 AIRCREW
Piloting Convair’s tricky XFY-1 50 YAK-3
COVER IMAGE: Me 262A/B-1c D-IMTT of the
tail-sitting vertical take-off fighter, the Will Greenwood on owning, flying Flugmuseum Messerschmitt. MARKUS ZINNER/BMLVS
infamous ‘Pogo’ and operating the potent Soviet
fighter
92 EVENTS 58 AEROPLANE MEETS…
Reports from Hahnweide, Duxford GUY BLACK
and Zeltweg ESTABLISHED 1911
Recoveries of rare aircraft from
Aeroplane traces its lineage back
99 BOOKS around the world have filled the to the weekly The Aeroplane,
aviation career of this engineering founded by C. G. Grey in 1911
and published until 1968. It was
106 NEXT MONTH perfectionist re-launched as a monthly in 1973
by Richard T. Riding, editor for 25
See page 14 for a great subscription offer years until 1998.

AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016 www.aeroplanemonthly.com 3

 From the
E D I TO R
I
wonder when the term ‘warbird’ was first
heard in the UK to describe a preserved,
airworthy historic aircraft? Certainly, it has
its roots in the United States, where the
1940s and ’50s witnessed the first flowerings of the warbird
movement as we now know it. Many individuals were
involved, purchasing — for sums that seem tiny today —
surplus ex-military aeroplanes, engines, spare parts and
everything else necessary for their operation, and getting
P-40s, P-51s, Corsairs and many other famous types back
into the air.
One of the key figures in all this was, of course, Edward
T. Maloney. The founder of what is now the Planes of
Fame Air Museum can rightfully be described as a pioneer.
He was, in many ways, the American equivalent of Richard
Shuttleworth — a far-sighted visionary who recognised
early on the importance of keeping historic aircraft flying,
and took steps to ensure just that. The scope of Planes of
Fame’s own fleet, based at Chino, tells its own story. So too
do airframes once in the hands of Ed and Planes of Fame
but which were traded to other owners. Many of them
would not otherwise have survived for future generations
of enthusiasts to see.
The recent passing of Ed Maloney marked, to use a
well-worn cliché, the end of an era in aircraft preservation.
He was one of the few remaining links to those post-war
days — days so vital to the development of the burgeoning
warbird scene we enjoy around the world. All the while he
remained hugely interested and engaged, a key figure at
Planes of Fame, and an inspiration to many.
To mark Ed’s loss, we enlisted his old friend Frank B.
Mormillo to write a tribute for this issue of Aeroplane —
when the copy and photos arrived, we simply had to make
more space. I hope you’ll agree that Frank has done Ed and
his legacy proud.
Elsewhere, there is more evidence that the movement
spearheaded by the likes of Ed Maloney is in fine health.
We report this month on a remarkable series of maiden
post-restoration flights: another Mosquito, Europe’s only
airworthy F-104 Starfighter, and a very interesting combat
veteran Spitfire IX. But the efforts of those engaged in
preserving civil historic aircraft must also be applauded,
and in that context the beautiful de Havilland Dragon
newly completed by Mike Souch and his team at MK
Aviation/Aero Antiques, and just delivered to its owner in
Scotland, stands out. What a marvellous example of the
restorer’s art.
Ben Dunnell

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CONTRIBUTORS THIS MONTH

Mikhail F ra n k B . Ro b e r t M . Dr Andreas
M A S LOV M O R M I L LO ST I T T ZEITLER

Mikhail was born in Mary — then part
of the USSR, now in Turkmenistan — in
1954. He graduated from the Moscow
Aviation Institute with a degree in
mechanical engineering, and worked as
a structural design engineer for Tupolev
from 1982-86 before transferring to
TsAGI’s engineering information
department. From the late 1990s he
became actively involved in the
restoration of historic aircraft, including
airworthy examples of the Po-2,
I-15bis, I-153, I-16, DIT and MiG-3.
Mikhail is also a leading author and
authority on Soviet aviation history.
Frank B. Mormillo (he uses the
middle initial because there are three
other Frank Mormillos in his family)
can’t remember a time when he was
not fascinated by aircraft. He still
recalls the memory of fighters roaring
overhead during post-WW2 Veterans
Day parades, and while in high school
he became involved with the Planes
of Fame Air Museum. Mormillo
began his career as a photojournalist
during his college days, and has
specialised in photographing aircraft,
motor racing and military subjects
ever since.
Following technical training with
Hawker Siddeley, Robert worked for
five years in the South-west Pacific,
developing a keen interest in aviation
archaeology. Having moved to Canada,
he joined the aerial firefighting industry,
where he documented the ‘retired’
types employed. Other in-depth works
followed, including a book on the B-17
with RAF Coastal Command. He is now
writing the history of Canadian aerial
survey pioneer Spartan Air Services.
Robert is an active pilot and is restoring
one of the Fleet Canucks on which he
learned to fly.
Says Andreas, “I have had the honour
and pleasure to accompany the
amazing collection of Messerschmitt
aircraft at Manching for several years
now. With strong support from the
team, many photo opportunities have
arisen during that time. Gaining an
insight into the Flugmuseum
Messerschmitt’s operations made me
realise just how demanding a job it is
to keep these precious pieces of
aviation history airworthy. My article
in Aeroplane this month is dedicated
to their daily work on those amazing
aircraft.”

4 www.aeroplanemonthly.com AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016

News
FHC Mosquito airborne
Dave Phillips brings Mosquito TIII TV959/ZK-FHC in to land after its maiden flight at Ardmore on 26 September. TONY SMITH
The Flying Heritage
Collection’s de Havilland
Mosquito TIII TV959/ZK-FHC
made its first post-restoration
flight on 26 September at
Ardmore, New Zealand, five
years after the aircraft had
arrived in the Avspecs hangar
for a rebuild to fly. The
former RAF trainer is
The No 75 Squadron, RNZAF markings are temporary, and will be
replaced after the Mosquito arrives in Seattle. GAVIN CONROY
6 www.aeroplanemonthly.com
NEWS EDITOR: TONY HARMSWORTH
E-MAIL TO: tony.harmsworth@keypublishing.com
TELEPHONE: +44 (0)7791 808044
WRITE TO: Aeroplane, Key Publishing Ltd, PO Box 100, Stamford,
Lincolnshire PE9 1XQ, UK
temporarily painted in the FHC’s base at Paine Field,
markings of a No 75 Squadron, Seattle.
Royal New Zealand Air Force On 29 September, Avspecs
Mosquito FBVI, NZ2337/YC-F, boss Warren Denholm said:
which was destroyed in a “We have only flown once so
hangar fire at Ohakea in June far, as the Auckland weather
1950. The aircraft will be has not been co-operating, and
repainted in an as yet I won’t be at all surprised if this
undisclosed RAF scheme after past month is the wettest
it has been transported to the September on record. The
current plan is to complete
phase one of the test flying
here at Ardmore over the
coming days, and then she will
be dismantled and packed for
shipment to Seattle.”
The crew for the first flight
comprised former RNZAF
Douglas A-4 Skyhawk pilot
Dave Phillips in the left-hand
seat, and world-renowned
display pilot Keith Skilling in
the right. They will alternate
positions as the test flights
progress. The same crew was
on board the first Avspecs
Mosquito restoration, FB26
KA114/N114KA, for its maiden
flight on 29 September 2012.
That aeroplane is now
operated by the Military
Aviation Museum at Virginia
Beach, Virginia.
The two 1,460hp Rolls-
Royce Merlin engines
installed in TV959 were
rebuilt by Vintage V12s at
Tehachapi, California, the
propellers by Westpac Props
in Colorado Springs, and the
radiators and oil coolers by
Replicore in Whangarei, New
Zealand.
Warren Denholm
continues: “We are very
proud that it has been less
than four years since we flew
the first example, and we
should easily surpass that
feat with the next one, which
is due to fly in 2018. Also, we
have yet another example
under way in the woodwork
shop now. This fourth
aircraft is available for
purchase. Wouldn’t it be
great if one of your UK
readers were to buy it!”
AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016
 CF-104D Starfighter serial 637 blasts out of Bodø
on 28 September. SINDRE A. H. NEDREVÅG
Norwegian Starfighter flies
Canadair-built CF-104D
Starfighter serial 637/LN-STF,
owned by the Friends of the
Starfighter organisation, made
its maiden post-restoration
flight at Bodø, Norway, during
the early evening of 28
September. Royal Norwegian
Air Force test pilot Eskil Amdal,
who also flies the ‘Shark’ P-51D
Mustang and Spitfires for the
Boultbee Flight Academy, was
at the controls.
Accompanied by a two-seat
Royal Norwegian Air Force
Eskil Amdal makes a flypast in the Starfighter with wheels up. TROND HØYVIK/LUFTFORSVARET
Voodoo victorious at Reno
Flying P-51D Mustang
N551VC Voodoo, Steve Hinton
Jr won the Unlimited Gold
race for the seventh time at
Reno, Nevada on 18
September. Hinton averaged
460.306mph during the
championship race, beating
AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016
F-16 Fighting Falcon as chase
aircraft, the Starfighter’s first
flight was a successful affair of
circa 12 minutes’ duration,
including numerous missed
approaches. A full flight test
programme will now be
conducted.
Delivered during May 1962
with serial 104637, the two-
seat CF-104 served with the
Royal Canadian Air Force/
Canadian Armed Forces until
May 1973, when it passed to
the Royal Norwegian Air Force.
rookie racer James Consalvi
from Midland, Texas, flying
Yak-11 N5934 Czech Mate, who
averaged 450.582mph. The
highly-modified Yak had
previously been raced at Reno
by Sherman Smoot. In third
place was Brian Sanders in his
Its subsequent service was
with 334 Skvadron at Bodø.
Retired on 1 April 1983, the
Starfighter was stored at Sola,
Stavanger, before being taken
back to Bodø for use as an
aircraft towing procedures
trainer.
In the 1990s, 637 was put on
display at Bodø in the Norsk
Luftfartsmuseum (Norwegian
Aviation Museum). It was then
that interest arose in getting it
flying again, due to the
airframe’s especially good
Pratt & Whitney R-4360-
powered Sea Fury T20 NX20SF
Dreadnought.
RIGHT: Steve Hinton Jr flying
P-51D Voodoo to Unlimited-class
victory at Reno.
FRANK B. MORMILLO
condition. Still owned by the
Norwegian military, the
aircraft was removed from the
museum and given to Bodø-
based F-16 unit 331 Skvadron
to look after.
The Friends of the
Starfighter group, involving
many former Norwegian F-104
personnel, was established in
January 2003 and embarked
on 637’s restoration, aided by
spare parts provided by the
Italian Air Force after its
retirement of the Starfighter. A
first engine run took place
during September 2007, and
initial taxi trials the following
year. Ownership was officially
transferred to Friends of the
Starfighter in November 2010,
allowing the civil registration
LN-STF to be allotted during
2011.
The CF-104D thus becomes
the only airworthy Starfighter
in Europe. Its flight at Bodø
was the first time an example
of the type had been airborne
in European skies since the
Italian Air Force flight test
centre, the Reparto
Sperimentale Volo, retired its
final F-104S ASA-M on 27 July
2005. Ben Dunnell
www.aeroplanemonthly.com 7
News
Scottish Dragon makes maiden flight
The Scottish Motor Traction colour scheme glinting in the sunlight, DH84 Dragon G-ACET arrives at Manchester City Airport — better
known as Barton — on 18 September, en route to its new home in Scotland. NICK DURIEZ
Following a long-term
rebuild by Mike Souch and a
team at MK Aviation/Aero
Antiques, de Havilland DH84
Dragon G-ACET made its first
flight in 75 years at
Malshanger near
Basingstoke on 26 August
with Dan Griffith at the
controls. On 18 September
the machine was flown to
Cumbernauld Airport, 18
miles north of Glasgow,
where it will be based with
owner George Cormack. The
Dragon is resplendent in the
colours in which it was
delivered to its original
operator, Scottish Motor
‘R-Robert’ moved at Brooklands
Wellington Ia N2980 in the temporary ‘Wellington Pavilion’ at
Brooklands. KATHARINE ALLEN
8 www.aeroplanemonthly.com
Traction, at Edinburgh’s
Turnhouse airport in June
1933.
Mike began work on the
Dragon, c/n 6021, 15 years
ago. The two 130hp Gipsy
Major engines were rebuilt by
Vintech at Little Gransden,
and the propellers came from
the Croydon Aircraft Company
in Mandeville, New Zealand.
This DH84 spent the first
three-and-a-half years of its
life north of the border, going
to Midland and Scottish Air
Ferries in February 1934, and
in September of that year to
Highland Airways at Inverness,
where it was named Kirkwall.
During October 1937 it was
registered to Eric Noddings of
Commercial Air Hire at
Croydon, the co-managing
director of this charter and air
taxi company being The Hon
Mrs Victor Bruce, the record-
breaking pilot and racing
driver. Its final civil operator
was another Noddings/Victor
Bruce company, Air Dispatch,
latterly based at Cardiff.
Impressed into RAF service
as AW171 in July 1940, the
Dragon went to the Station
Flight at Ringway, Manchester,
home of No 6 Anti-Aircraft
Co-operation Unit, but after
being returned to de
The world’s only surviving
combat-veteran Vickers
Wellington, N2980 ‘R-Robert’,
was moved from its home of the
past 31 years to a temporary
building at the Brooklands
Museum on 15 September as the
£8.1-million Heritage Lottery
Fund-supported Brooklands
Aircraft Factory and Race Track
Revival Project forged ahead.
The 1940-built Bellman hangar
that housed N2980 has now
been dismantled and is being
restored off-site. When it returns
in January 2017, the hangar will
be relocated to a new position
on the museum site, and the
Wellington will move back in to
form part of the story of aircraft
production at Brooklands,
Havilland for inspection in
September 1941 it was struck
off charge the following
month and donated to No
328 Squadron, Air Training
Corps, at Kingston-upon-
Thames, and allotted the
maintenance serial 2779M. It
was restored to the register
by the late Duxford-based
Dragon Rapide operator Mike
Russell for his Russavia
Collection in January 1989.
This story of this historic
machine has now gone
full-circle, the recent return
to Scotland being the first
time it had been north of the
border for nearly 80 years.
covering an 80-year period
which began in 1908.
The development will see the
original Brooklands motor
circuit finishing straight — upon
which the hangar was built
— being rejoined with the
banked section of the track and
creating a continuous loop with
the bottom of the famous Test
Hill. For the first time since the
track closed to the public in
1939, visitors to the site will see
the same views from north to
south as would have appeared
in period. The newly restored
finishing straight is due to open
on 17 June 2017, exactly 110
years to the day after the
Brooklands race track first
opened as a venue.
AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016
Early Spitfire IX returns to the air
Spitfire IX BR601, thought to be the sixth MkIX built, over Kent in early September. COLLINGS FOUNDATION
The world’s oldest surviving
Spitfire IX, BR601/G-CIYF,
flew for the first time in 64
years on 31 August
following two years of
restoration work with The
Rimowa Junkers F 13 replica airborne
On 15 September, Junkers
F 13 replica HB-RIM made its
first official flight in front of
an invited audience at
Dübendorf, Switzerland.
Flying the F 13 were test pilot
Oliver Bachmann and Dieter
Morszeck, the aviation-
minded CEO of German
suitcase manufacturer
Rimowa, who has sponsored
the project.
The new F 13 was built at
Oberndorf by Kaelin Aero
Technologies of Filderstadt in
south-west Germany. The
team was led by Dominik
Kaelin, construction taking a
AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016
Spitfire Company at Biggin Hill.
The fighter — which is owned by
the Stow, Massachusetts-based
Collings Foundation — was one
of the first few MkIXs to enter
service with the unit that
total of 10,000 hours. The
aircraft was freighted across
the Atlantic in July 2015, being
displayed statically at the EAA’s
AirVenture show at Oshkosh,
Wisconsin.
Powered by a 450hp Pratt &
Whitney R-985 engine, HB-RIM
will now undergo a
certification programme.
Future operations will be
undertaken by Dübendorf-
based Ju-Air, which famously
operates a trio of ex-Swiss Air
Force Junkers Ju 52/3ms on
pleasure flights. More in next
month’s issue.
Jan Forsgren
introduced this variant, being
delivered to No 64 Squadron at
Hornchurch on 11 July 1942.
The squadron flew the first
operational sortie with the
MkIX on 28 July 1942. BR601
The Junkers F 13 replica making its public debut at Dübendorf,
Switzerland on 15 September. STEFAN SCHMOLL
ABOVE: The same aeroplane
at the Christie’s auction on 31
October 1986.
was damaged on 21 October
that year when the
undercarriage collapsed after
a tyre burst on landing at Bolt
Head, Devon. Following
repair it went on to fly with
several now legendary units,
including Nos 129 (Mysore),
316 (City of Warsaw) and 165
(Ceylon) Squadrons.
Post-war the Spitfire joined
the South African Air Force,
being relegated to ground
instructional duties when
damage was sustained
during an undershoot at
Ysterplaat, Cape Town on 6
May 1952. It ended up going
on display in a scrapyard at
Salt River.
The aircraft finally arrived
back in the UK during 1986,
being acquired by collector
Doug Arnold at a Christie’s
auction in London that
October. It passed through
the hands of several owners
before going in early 2008 to
Ardmore, New Zealand,
where BR601’s restoration to
fly got under way with
Avspecs. This highly prized
MkIX moved back to the UK
during May 2014 for
completion at Biggin Hill.
www.aeroplanemonthly.com 9
News
Fox wins Freddie March trophy
The 10th Freddie March Spirit of
Aviation Concours d’Elegance
was held at Goodwood during
the Revival meeting on 9-11
September, the judges singling
out New Zealander Bruce
Broady’s de Havilland DH83 Fox
Moth, G-CIPJ/ZK-AGM, for the
top award. The aircraft was
restored by Martin
Honeychurch at the Newbury
BELOW: The top three in the Freddie March Trophy: Bruce Broady’s Fox Moth flanked by the Australian Ryan SCW (left) and Peter
Bishop’s Miles Whitney Straight.
Major progress on RAFM Hampden
Twenty-five years after Handley
Page Hampden TBI P1344 was
recovered from a crash site on
the Kola Peninsula in northern
Russia, the unmistakable,
slim-line forward fuselage of this
previously extinct type is now
coming together rapidly at the
RAF Museum Cosford.
Restoration of the badly
damaged bomber — dubbed the
‘flying suitcase’ by Hampden
crews — had been a slow labour
of love for the team at Cosford
until the spring of 2015, when
full-time aircraft technician
Dave Carr took on the project.
Dave Carr with some original skin from Hampden P1344 and the 75
per cent-completed nose section in the background. RAF MUSEUM
10 www.aeroplanemonthly.com
Aeroplane Company, making its
first flight in August 2015.
Second place went to Ryan
SCW (Sports Coupe) VH-SCW,
shipped over from Buninyong,
Victoria by its Australian owners
Stephen and Veronica Carter.
The aircraft was making the first
ever appearance in Britain of
this rare, all-metal, 145hp
Warner Super Scarab-powered
Since then, Dave has focused his
efforts on the forward fuselage
and cockpit section of the
machine, which is now nearly 75
per cent complete and should be
finished by the spring of 2017.
The new section has been
assembled using original Handley
Page pre-production drawings
from the late 1930s. Where
possible, measurements have
been taken from the partial
wreckage remaining from the
original aircraft.
Work on the nose began by
creating formers and building the
entire framework from scratch.
cabin monoplane. The prototype
first flew during 1937, only 12
production examples being built.
Third place went to a British
contemporary of the Ryan, Miles
Whitney Straight G-AERV, now
owned by Peter Bishop.
The event attracted 29 historic
aircraft to the immaculate
Goodwood turf. Co-organiser
Jeremy Warren says, “We thought
Some components, including
instrument panels, seat
mountings and windscreen
frames, have also been produced
and installed. Castings and a few
components from P1344 have
been restored and fitted to the
newly-built forward fuselage.
Work is now under way on
skinning the section. Efforts are
meanwhile continuing to repair
damage on the rear fuselage
caused during the Hampden’s
crash-landing on the night of 4-5
September 1942, while on a ferry
flight from Sumburgh to a new
base in the Kola Peninsula.
Visitors to Cosford will be able
to view P1344 during the Michael
Beetham Conservation Centre
open week from 14-19
November. The centre will open
between 10.15 and 13.00hrs each
Seagull V A2-4 being dismantled in the Battle of Britain Hall on 4
September. It looks destined to go into storage. GARY R. BROWN
it was a very successful Freddie
March this year, with a truly
international and broad mix of
period aircraft. We were
happy with the ratio of civil to
military aircraft, and try to
keep the balance at about 20
per cent military/80 per cent
civil, although that will vary
depending on the theme
chosen for the event.”
day, and admission is £5.00 per
person (children under 16 are
free but must be accompanied
by an adult).
Due to arrive at Cosford from
the Battle of Britain Hall at
Hendon before the end of the
year are Junkers Ju 88R-1
Werknummer 360043 and
Boulton Paul Defiant I N1671.
The Battle of Britain Hall was set
to close for good on 3 October.
Other aircraft formerly on show
there will be moving into the
main building, which will see
some reshuffling of exhibits to
other parts of the Hendon site:
aircraft scheduled to move
include Spitfire F24 PK724, Airco
DH9A F1010 and Spitfire Vb
BL614. Current plans will see
Supermarine Seagull V A2-4/
VH-ALB going into storage.
AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016
Boultbee gets combat vet Spitfire
Spitfire IX MJ271 was registered
as G-IRTY by the Goodwood-
based Boultbee Flight Academy
on 26 September, a decade after
it arrived at Duxford from the
Netherlands for Historic Flying
Ltd. The aircraft had previously
been on show at the National
Luchtvaart Museum Aviodome
at Schiphol, Amsterdam, but
following the relocation of that
collection to Lelystad during
2003 MJ271 was declared
surplus and eventually acquired
by Historic Flying in an exchange
deal that saw Fairey Firefly I
PP469/SE-CAU moving from
Duxford to Holland.
The Spitfire has an extensive
combat history. Following
delivery to No 411 Aircraft
Repair Flight on 17 November
1943, MJ271 was operated from
Heston and Coolham Advanced
Landing Ground in Sussex in
support of the 2nd Tactical Air
Force. During February 1944 it
went to Detling, Kent with No
118 Squadron, with whom it flew
16 combat sorties. On 26 March,
the fighter moved to No 132
Squadron, also at Detling, its
next five missions being flown as
close escort to B-26 Marauders,
Norwegian Blériot
replica takes to air
Øyvind Munch Ellingsen serenely flying his Blériot XI-2 replica on a
three-minute flight at Jarlsberg on 19 September. WARBIRDS OF NORWAY
On 19 September, a
reproduction Blériot XI-2
made a three-minute maiden
flight from Jarlsberg airfield
south of Oslo, Norway, with its
owner Øyvind Munch Ellingsen
at the controls. The machine
was built by Koloman
Mayrhofer and his staff at
CraftLab near Vienna, Austria,
between 2006 and 2009, but it
took another four years to
source a 110hp Le Rhône
engine and complete the
project. The aircraft represents
AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016
Still wearing the Dutch markings applied during restoration in the early 1980s, Spitfire IX MJ271 is seen
in the north side of Hangar 2 at Duxford. DAVID WHITWORTH
B-25 Mitchells and A-20 Bostons.
On 29 April, with Flt Sgt J. E. Ford
at the helm, MJ271 shot down a
Junkers W 34 transport at Bad
Münstereifel south of Cologne,
the kill being shared with two
other No 132 Squadron pilots. A
Norwegian pilot neglected to
lower the wheels during a night
landing on 9 May, and once
repaired the aircraft was
the Blériot that Tryggve Gran
flew across the North Sea, from
Cruden Bay in Scotland to
Jæren near Stavanger, Norway,
on 30 July 1914. Gran
accomplished the 320-mile
journey in four hours 10
minutes. Tryggve Gran’s
youngest child, Hermann Gran,
has shown great interest in this
project and was the guest of
honour at the first flight of the
reproduction. The Blériot is
operated by Warbirds of
Norway.
allocated to No 401 Squadron,
Royal Canadian Air Force, on 23
November 1944. Based at Volkel,
the Netherlands, it flew 10 more
sorties before being damaged in
combat on 14 December.
During 1946 MJ271 was sold
to the Royal Netherlands Air
Force, and operated from
Twenthe and Soesterberg until
retirement in September 1953.
New Duxford hangar for ARC
On 16 September, John Romain
and the Aircraft Restoration
Company held an event at IWM
Duxford to celebrate the
opening of the new Stephenson
Hangar. The building, in the
corner of the airfield between
the M11 and the A505, has
become necessary as the result
of ARC’s buoyant business
providing aviation services and,
in particular, by the need to
accommodate an aircraft the size
of a Lancaster. ARC has secured a
contract to provide major
servicing for the RAF Battle of
Britain Memorial Flight’s
example, with Lancaster I PA474
scheduled to arrive from
Coningsby for maintenance in
early October.
BELOW: Pictured on 21 September, the new ARC hangar is big
enough to house the BBMF Lancaster. Outside here is BBMF
Chipmunk WK518, which had just undergone a minor overhaul
and repaint in silver and dayglo.
After use as a decoy at Volkel it
went to the War Museum at
Delfzijl, and in January 1976
was transferred to the
Aviodome. It was then
restored to represent one of
the Spitfires operated by No
322 Squadron in Indonesia
and painted as MH424/H-53,
the markings it still wears to
this day.
ARC and its associated
company Historic Flying have a
long list of warbird rebuilds,
restorations and major overhauls
to their credit. One of HFL’s
recent projects was Spitfire Ia
N3200, now the property of the
IWM, which was also on show.
N3200 was the aircraft of
Geoffrey Dalton Stephenson,
then a squadron leader and ‘boss’
of No 19 Squadron at Duxford
when he was shot down over the
beaches of Dunkirk on 26 May
1940. It is in honour of Air Cdre
Stephenson, as he later became,
that the new ARC hangar has
been named, providing a highly
appropriate link between
Duxford’s past and its present.
Denis J. Calvert
www.aeroplanemonthly.com 11
News
Original F2B for new
Bristol museum at Filton
The restored fuselage frame of the Bristol F2B recently acquired by Aerospace Bristol. AEROSPACE BRISTOL
FHC gets an F-105
The Flying Heritage Collection
unveiled newly-restored
Vietnam War combat veteran
Republic F-105G Thunderchief
63-8336 Patience at Paine
Field, Seattle, on 10 September.
Along with the FHC’s Bell
UH-1B Iroquois helicopter and
Paccar M55 self-propelled
howitzer, this impressive new
exhibit will form a cornerstone
of the institution’s growing
Vietnam-era artefact
collection.
This ‘Thud’ was built in 1964
as an F-105F. In March 1968 it
went to Korat, Thailand with
the 388th Tactical Fighter
Wing, flying numerous combat
sorties until being badly
damaged by enemy fire during
Former ‘Wild Weasel’ F-105G 63-8336 Patience at Paine Field, Seattle
on 10 September. FHC
12 www.aeroplanemonthly.com
a dive-bombing mission that
October. During 1971, ’8336
was heavily modified as an
F-105G ‘Wild Weasel’, and after
returning to Korat in mid-1972
was used to suppress, attack
and destroy enemy surface-to-
air missile batteries during the
‘Linebacker’ I and II bombing
campaigns. It is thought that
’8336 was the last ‘Wild Weasel’
to leave North Vietnamese
airspace on the final night of
bombing. Upon returning to
the USA it served with various
USAF and Air National Guard
units through to the early
1980s. It is on loan to the FHC
from the National Museum of
the United States Air Force in
Dayton, Ohio.
The XB-47A’s fuselage on arrival at Edwards AFB from Illinois.
WORLDWIDE AIRCRAFT RECOVERY
XB-47A arrives at
Edwards museum
After spending six decades
on display at Chanute Air
Force Base, Illinois, the
second prototype Boeing
XB-47A Stratojet, serial
46-066, arrived at the US Air
Force Flight Test Museum
(AFFTM) at Edwards Air Force
Base, California aboard
several flatbed trucks on the
morning of 19 September,
the move being made
courtesy of Bellevue,
Nebraska-based Worldwide
Aircraft Recovery. Delivered
to the USAF in December
The centenary of the first
flight of the prototype
Bristol F2A Fighter was
celebrated on 9 September
with the announcement of
plans to bring a genuine F2B
version of the ‘Brisfit’ back
from the USA for display at
Aerospace Bristol, which is
due to open at the former
Bristol factory airfield at
Filton during the summer of
2017.
The ‘Brisfit’ is currently
under restoration in Andy
Crumpholt’s workshop near
Boston, Massachusetts. It is
based on one of six F2B
fuselage frames that were
used as roof trusses for a
barn in the village of
Weston-on the Green,
Oxfordshire, and which
were recovered during 1965
by the Northern Aircraft
Preservation Society. It was
then sold to Ed Brennan in
Ontario, Canada. The
fuselage was originally built
by Marshall and Sons of
Gainsborough in 1918. Andy
Crumpholt is also building a
new set of wings for the
aircraft.
1948, 46-066 was operated as
an experimental test airframe
from Edwards until 1954,
logging a total of 337 flying
hours before being delivered
to Illinois, where it was on
show at the Octave Chanute
Air Museum until its closure
on 30 December 2015. The
move was made possible
thanks to a generous grant
from Boeing. George Welsh,
the AFFTM director, says:
“The assembly and external
restoration of the XB-47A
should take about a year.”
AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016
 Hangar Talk
STEVE SLATER
O
Our monthly comment
ccolumn on the historic
a
aircraft scene

Ex-Luftwaffe I’m not normally one for

making pilgrimages to war
RAF Llandow in Wales. In
August 1941 he was tasked with
sortie from RAF Cranwell.
Magee’s aircraft struck the ill-

Harvard graves, but in a month or so I

may make an exception. The
a high-altitude patrol flight
lasting almost two hours.
fated twin-engined trainer.
Both he and the Oxford pilot,

flies in UK
At Cotswold Airport,
Gloucestershire, ex-Luftwaffe
Canadian Car and Foundry-built
Harvard IV 52-8610/G-CHYN
made its first post-restoration
flight in the hands of former RAF
Jaguar pilot Brian Cornes on 7
September. The machine is
owned by Bob Warner, Mike
Edwards and Alex Woodeson. It
has been painted with the codes
BF+070 that it wore while flying
as a trainer with the Luftwaffe
between 1952-64. It was
subsequently operated by the
Portuguese Air Force, being
retired in March 1978. The
Harvard was imported to Britain
during 2004.
Harvard IV 52-8610/G-CHYN on
its second post-restoration
flight from Cotswold Airport on
15 September. IAN FRIMSTON
trip isn’t to anywhere
glamorous. It will be to a
small, quiet cemetery at
Scopwick in Lincolnshire.
There are buried a number of
Canadian airmen who died
during the Second World War
while serving at nearby RAF
Digby.
Each man’s sacrifice is
marked by one of the uniform
white Portland Stone grave
markers erected by the
Commonwealth War Graves
Commission, but one is a little
different. It contains the
words, “Oh, I have slipped the
surly bonds of Earth” and “Put
out my hand. And touched
the face of God.”
They are, of course, two
lines from the poem ‘High
Flight’, penned by a 19-year-
old RCAF pilot, John Gillespie
Magee Jr. This year marks
both 75 years since Magee
wrote them and sadly, since
his passing and subsequent
interment at Scopwick. His
words, however live on,
regarded by many as the
greatest example of the
poetry of flight.
Magee was born in
Shanghai in 1922, the son of
It is said that, some time
during that flight, the phrase “to
put out my hand and touch the
face of God” set his mind racing.
After he had landed and
debriefed, he started writing.
On a flimsy piece of official
notepaper, on the back of a
letter to his parents, he began
with the immortal words: “Oh! I
have slipped the surly bonds of
Earth. And danced the skies on
laughter-silvered wings”. Then,
‘At Rugby School, Magee both had
a bound volume of poetry
published and was birched for
climbing the school clock tower’
written at a single sitting in a
neat copperplate pen-and-ink
script, there came to life the
legendary ‘High Flight’.
Magee joined No 412
Squadron at Digby on 23
September 1941 and was
working up to full operational
status when, on 11 December,
he was part of a formation of
three Spitfires diving at high
speed through a break in the
clouds. Tragically, just below the
cloudbase was an Airspeed
Leading Aircraftman Ernest
Aubrey Griffin, fell to their
deaths.
The poem came to the
attention of Archibald
McLeish, Librarian of
Congress, who included it in
an exhibition at the library in
February 1942. The original
manuscript written in the
mess at Llandow survives and,
having been donated by
Magee’s parents “to the
people of America”, remains
at the Library of Congress in
Washington.
Meanwhile, if you are
interested in more aviation-
inspired verse, the Vintage
Aircraft Club and West
London Aero Club are
planning another aviation
poetry evening in the former
Air Transport Auxiliary mess
building at White Waltham in
Berkshire. The date for your
diaries is Thursday 3

‘Dak’ barged an American missionary

father and an English mother
Oxford on a solo navigation November. See you there!

to Lelystad
On 27 September, former DDA
Classic Airlines Douglas DC-3
PH-DDZ was moved from
KLM’s Hangar 10 at Amsterdam
Schiphol Airport to the nearby
Ringvaart Canal and placed on
a barge for transportation to
Lelystad Airport, where it will
go on display at the
Aviodrome.
The machine has been sold
to the Aviodrome following
KLM’s recent decision to
withdraw its support for the
DDA, which included the use of
Hangar 10 for maintenance,
offices and storage. DDA
Classic Airlines will continue
flying its flagship DC-3,
PH-PBA, which has also now
been relocated to Lelystad.
DC-3 PH-DDZ being loaded onto
a barge on the Ringvaart Canal
during the evening of 27
September. MICHAEL PROPHET
who was also a missionary in
China. He was both a talented
and adventurous soul. During
his education at Rugby School
he distinguished himself by
both having a bound volume
of poetry published and for
being birched for climbing
the school’s clock tower.
1939 saw Magee in the
USA, where he was set to
begin his studies at Yale
University, but with the
outbreak of war he promptly
deferred his place because
according to his diaries, he
“had to get into it”, meaning
the war. He took a train to
Montréal to join the Royal
Canadian Air Force.
Magee’s flying training took
him to RCAF Station Uplands
in Ottawa, where — after
wrestling with the Harvard —
he gained his wings in June
1941, just a week after his
19th birthday. He then sailed
for England to fulfil his dream
of flying a Spitfire.
The poem was inspired by
his seventh flight on type,
with No 53 Operational ABOVE: John Gillespie Magee Jr being awarded his pilot’s wings
Training Unit in a no doubt upon graduation from No 2 Service Flying Training School at
battle-scarred Spitfire I from Uplands, Ontario, in June 1941. RCAF

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E D MALO N EY
 ED MALONEY
1928-2016
Paying tribute to one of the greatest — and most pioneering — figures
in the world’s warbird preservation movement
WORDS: FRANK B. MORMILLO

O
ne of the outstanding father as an unlimited air racer. When when the lead character, a World War OPPOSITE:
pioneers in today’s he’s not working on or flying air racers, Two Army Air Forces combat veteran, Edward T. Maloney
worldwide effort to preserve Steven helps maintain and flies many of climbs into a Boeing B-17 Flying in the Planes of
Fame Air Museum
the aircraft, artefacts and the warbirds rescued from oblivion and Fortress to recall his wartime service. during 2007.
history of aviation, Edward T. Maloney, restored by his father and grandfather. That scene was filmed at Cal Aero at FRANK B. MORMILLO
passed away on 19 August 2016 at the Sadly, Louise Maloney passed away in Chino.
age of 88. 2003. Ed soon realised that it was possible BELOW: The Air
Born in Pomona, California on 21 With the war over, Ed was distressed to acquire some of those aircraft with Museum had
May 1928, like so many young boys to see how many warbirds were being relatively little financial outlay (at least, two Mitsubishi
of that era Ed started building model cast aside like worthless junk and back then), though a lot of hard work A6M5 Zero-sens
aircraft at an early age and joined the chopped into bits for the value of scrap was usually involved in disassembling on display at
Civil Air Patrol while in high school metal. He often went down to the the airframes, gathering up the its Claremont,
during World War Two. Though he nearby Cal Aero Field — now known loose pieces and transporting them California location.
started flight training with the CAP in as Chino Airport — to photograph the somewhere away from the scrappers’ The one in the
foreground flies
the hope of eventually joining the war aircraft before they met their doom, cutting torches. In Ed’s case, it was with Planes of Fame
effort, hostilities ended before Ed could and even managed to save a few items usually a matter of ‘learning by doing’ to this day, while
complete the process, and he never did (including maintenance manuals) that and using extreme improvisation. He the Zero leaning up
get a pilot’s licence. Later he said that the workers allowed him to gather up. would often travel across the state, against the building
there were always enough pilots, so Back in those days — in fact, even and even across the country, towing in the background
he’d take care of the aeroplanes instead. into the 1960s — it was possible to a trailer modified to suit the physical is under restoration
Consequently, Ed ended up preserving walk or drive onto Chino Airport requirements of the particular machine with the Flying
everything related to aviation history without prior clearances. Since there he was trying to save. Ed spent countless Heritage Collection
of Seattle.
that he could get his hands on. was no functioning control tower, hours, often by himself, dismantling the PLANES OF FAME ARCHIVE
At high school Ed also met the other you could walk out to and cross the aircraft and manhandling them onto his
passion in his life, Louise Bromley, and runways at will. Some idea of what it trailer for the return trip.
married her in 1949. He graduated was like at that time can be gathered Louise’s support and patience
from college in 1952, worked in his by reviewing one of the final scenes in became readily apparent when Ed
dad’s auto body shop and, together the movie ‘The Best Days of Our Lives’ came home to Claremont, California
with Louise, raised four children —
daughters Ann and Karen, and sons Jim
and John. Eventually they had eight
grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
Of everything that Ed found in life,
certainly the best was Louise. Though
she could never be as passionate about
aviation as Ed — nor, for that matter,
is it likely that anyone else could share
that much devotion for Ed’s lifelong
quest — Louise never faltered in her
support for his work.
Ed’s kids helped his efforts, too.
Though eldest son Jim was killed in
an air crash in 1983, and Ann died
in 1999, John is a highly skilled
warbird pilot, aircraft technician and
vice-president of the Planes of Fame
Air Museum that houses the aviation
artefacts saved for posterity by his dad.
Karen is the museum’s development
director, and her husband Steve
Hinton — world-renowned warbird
pilot, unlimited air racer and warbird
restoration expert — its president.
Steve and Karen’s son, Steven Hinton,
has followed in his dad’s footsteps and
enjoyed even more success than his
ð

AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016 www.aeroplanemonthly.com 17

 E D MALO N EY
BELOW: with his treasures. The back yard of
Disassembled the Maloneys’ typical middle-class
P-40N Warhawk, house did not feature a manicured
P-51A Mustang and lawn; instead, the yard was filled with
P-47G Thunderbolt disassembled warbirds, and rather than
fighters in the
back yard of the housing the family car the garage was
Maloney family stacked from wall to wall and floor
home in Claremont, to ceiling with books, model aircraft
California. All three and assorted aviation memorabilia.
of these warbirds Naturally, that sort of situation could
are currently flying. not go on forever. Since Ed wanted to
PLANES OF FAME ARCHIVE share these pieces of aviation history
with the world, the next logical step
BOTTOM: was to create an air museum.
Ed alongside an
F8F-2 Bearcat at With limited financial resources,
The Air Museum in Ed was eventually able to secure
Ontario, California the use of an old industrial lot on
in 1963. historic Highway 66 (then the major
FRANK B. MORMILLO road from the east coast of the US to
California, long before freeways made
long-distance travel by car easier) in
Claremont, just a few blocks from the
Maloney home. That initial museum
site was essentially a rock-strewn
dirt lot with a concrete slab that had
corrugated metal sides half-way up
to a metal roof, with netting filling
in the space between the metal sides
and the roof. The displays included
about 10 warbirds, 300 model aircraft
and assorted memorabilia, with the
more fragile aircraft and items being
kept under cover, and the rest on view
outside. The entrance to the facility was
through the nose section of a Boeing
B-29 Superfortress, and the admissions
fee collector — it cost a dollar to see the
collection in those days — was usually
Ed himself sitting in the pilot’s seat.
As crude as the museum was, it did
attract a bit of attention. People began
to volunteer their efforts and support to
the operation. Since there was no other
permanent aviation museum in the
American West at that time, Ed simply
called his operation The Air Museum
(TAM).
By 1962, TAM had progressed to
the point where the collection could
be moved to a much better site on the
nearby Ontario International Airport,
complete with a large double hangar
and a very big, fenced-in asphalt ramp.
The museum rapidly expanded in size
and reputation, and TAM was even able
to stage a few airshows at the airport.
Since Ed had always intended to restore
as many of the aircraft as possible to
flying condition, that was a big plus for
TAM. When the museum was located
at Claremont, the airworthy machines
had to operate from either nearby Cable
Airport, or from Chino Airport, several
miles south of Ontario International.
Unfortunately, after a few years,
development plans for the airport left
no room, and TAM’s team had to seek
a new location. In order to capitalise
on Orange County’s tourism boom,
Ed was convinced to set up a new
museum at Buena Park in conjunction
with an automobile collection. Known
as Planes of Fame and Cars of the
Stars, the facility was basically two
museums sharing a common entrance,
with visitors having the option for
single tickets to either collection, or a
combination ticket for both. Since its
location was not close to an airport,
the flyable TAM warbirds wound up
being based at Chino, and the aircraft
that could not fit into the building at
Buena Park were stored in a fenced lot
in Ontario or disposed of.
It was evident by 1973 that the Buena
Park facility was not working out.
TAM relocated once again, with the
display aircraft joining the flyable ones
at Chino. Of course, every move set
back progress a bit, and some assets had
to be sold or traded to keep the overall
operation viable.
ABOVE: Ed and his grandson Steven Hinton admiring a scale model of an SBD-5 Dauntless in the Chino museum
during 1995. ‘Steve-O’ has grown up to become an accomplished aircraft technician, warbird pilot and seven-time
winner of the Reno Unlimited National Championship Air Races. FRANK B. MORMILLO
TAM started out at its new Chino
home with a small WW2 Cal Aero
engine shop serving as a combined
display building and restoration
workshop. The museum’s office and gift
shop were in an old caravan, and most
of the aircraft were displayed outside.
However, with a lot of determination
and effort — sometimes financed
by the reluctant sale or trade of a
precious warbird — Ed and his team
of volunteers and supporters eventually
turned it into a world-class facility.
Since then, the old engine shop has
expanded to become the home of the
Fighter Rebuilders restoration business,
and a modern gift shop and a library
complement six purpose-built display
hangars and a restoration hangar. The
museum was initially known at Chino
as The Air Museum ‘Planes of Fame’,
but the formal title eventually became
the Planes of Fame Air Museum.
During the 1980s, Ed and his board
of advisors were also convinced to
found a separate, dedicated air racing
museum near Reno, Nevada, home of
the National Championship Air Races.
Located in Sparks, the National Air
Race Museum featured a good selection
of racing aircraft and memorabilia, but
the location was not really ideal, and
the venture eventually faded away. On
the other hand, in 1995 Planes of Fame
opened an auxiliary museum at Valle
Airport near Williams, Arizona, known
as the Planes of Fame Air Museum
Grand Canyon. It is home to about
30 aircraft and associated artefacts, all
displayed in a very nice building, and
the high desert location is ideal for the
outdoor storage of airframes that can’t
be housed at Chino.
Apparently much to his surprise,
Ed was able to begin his warbird
collection as a very young man with a
rare Japanese Mitsubishi J8M Shūsui
rocket-powered interceptor. From
that point on, there was no stopping
him. While Ed seemed to have a
particular fascination with WW2
AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016
Japanese combat aircraft, he really
treasured all types from every era. His
favourite was reportedly the Boeing
P-12 biplane fighter of the 1930s, one
of which is currently in the Planes of
Fame collection, now painted up as an
essentially identical US Navy F4B-3.
‘Ed’s lifetime efforts saved in excess of
200 aircraft, some being sole survivors’
Ed was initially inspired by Army
Air Forces Gen ‘Hap’ Arnold, who
said that one of every type of aircraft
should be saved and displayed for
posterity. While Ed could not save one
of everything, it was not for lack of
trying. Between the Chino and Valle
facilities, the Planes of Fame collection
now includes more than 150 aircraft,
about 50 of which are flyable. However,
Ed’s lifetime efforts actually saved in
excess of 200 aircraft, some of which
were the very last surviving examples
of their particular breeds. Many found
new homes with other enthusiasts and
collections around the world.
Respected internationally, Ed was
inducted into the Experimental Aircraft
Association’s Hall of Fame in 2001, and
he was presented with the Society of
Air Racing Historians’ Cliff Henderson
Award in 2006. But, aside from
simply preserving aviation artefacts
and relating their histories, Ed’s efforts
highlighted the people associated with
them. Throughout his life, he walked
with many of aviation’s legends, and
often made it possible for them to
relate their experiences first-hand to
Planes of Fame visitors.
Just a few days before he entered
hospital for the last time, Ed was at
the museum in Chino, meeting with
a Marine Corps veteran who actually
piloted the museum’s Vought F4U-1
Corsair in combat during WW2, as
well as the son and daughter of another
deceased Marine Corps pilot who flew
ABOVE: Standing
proudly in Planes
of Fame’s Edward
T. Maloney Display
Hangar in 2007,
the same machine in wartime. Together, next to a Hanriot
they were able to see that very Corsair HD1 that French
flying again over Chino. WW1 ace Charles
Ed was born on the first anniversary Nungesser brought
of Charles Lindbergh’s first solo flight to the US
across the Atlantic Ocean, and he died for movie work.
on 19 August 2016, a date recognised FRANK B. MORMILLO
as National Aviation Day in the
United States — truly an appropriate
coincidence for this remarkably
determined and talented museum
curator, historian and all-round
great guy.
A FINAL SALUTE
Ed Maloney’s remains were interred in the Pomona Valley
Memorial Park Mausoleum in Pomona, California on the
morning of 31 August 2016, and a celebration of life was
conducted in his memory at the Planes of Fame Air Museum
at Chino on the evening of 3 September 2016. The event
concluded with an overhead ‘missing man’ formation, in
which John Maloney flew the museum’s Boeing P-26A up and
away from the Mitsubishi A6M5 Zero-sen with Steve Hinton
at the controls, the Republic P-47G Thunderbolt piloted
by Steven Hinton, the Vought F4U-1 Corsair flown by John
Hinton (Steve’s brother), and North American P-51D Mustang
Spam Can in the hands of Rob Patterson.
ABOVE: The P-26 pulls up to salute the ‘missing man’.
FRANK B. MORMILLO
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Skywriters WRITE TO: Aeroplane, Key Publishing Ltd, PO
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E-MAIL TO: aeroplane@keypublishing.com,
putting ‘Skywriters’ in the header

Letter of the Month

in association with

In every issue, the writer of our Letter of the Month wins a £25 book voucher to spend
with leading military and transport publisher Crécy.

Seeing red
Your superb article on Spencer Flack’s ‘Elstree Air Force’ in July’s
Aeroplane brought back fond memories of Spitfire XIV G-FIRE’s
visit to my local airfield, Ards Airport in Newtownards, County
Down, some time in the 1980s.
I was a frequent visitor to the airfield, especially on the Friday
before the Saturday airshow. It was always a day of anticipation,
not knowing what might zoom in to position for the next day’s
flying feast. I was ecstatic when I heard that my favourite mark of
Spitfire would be landing very shortly. Being a stickler for detail
and authenticity, I was unsure how I would respond to seeing this
ABOVE: G-FFIRE at Newtownard ds, County Down, wiith
h th
he
iconic beast in red! However, when she appeared and flew very,
famous Scrabo Tower in the background.
very low and very, very fast over the field, I was converted. To the
best of my knowledge this was the first Spitfire to touch down at without getting into his dinghy. Unfortunately he had not been
Ards since the Second World War. wearing an immersion suit. Allan and I had worked on the
A few hours after G-FIRE had landed, my good friend Allan advertising material for a number of the airshows — he supplied
Deacon, chief test pilot for Shorts, was given the privilege of flying the advertising and I designed the posters, programme and adverts.
this beautiful warbird. He sat in the cockpit for approximately an We were later told that he beat up the field at the Shorts factory
hour reading the notes; then, after further checks, he started the at Sydenham — which is now George Best Belfast City Airport — in
mighty engine, and off he roared with the tail lifting quite early. We the Spitfire, thrilling the crowds of staff and workers. He returned
were later to learn that while doing so he clipped approx 3in off and, after taxiing to a halt, climbed out with a wide grin. That was
the prop. Allan took G-FIRE up over the North Channel, off Ratlin when we all realised that the prop was now a little bit shorter.
Island, to get acquainted with the machine. The next day, G-FIRE and her pilot (unfortunately I do not
Ironically, Allan was killed over the same stretch of water when remember his name) gave a spectacular display. For me she was
he ejected from a Shorts Tucano, ZH203, on 22 February 1990. He the highlight of a very good show.
sustained only minor injuries but drowned in the rough seas Harry Bell, Gualdo Cattaneo, Italy

Biggin attraction
I thoroughly enjoyed the ‘Elstree Air Force’ article about Spencer Flack in your July issue. I
didn’t know when I took the accompanying photo of G-FIRE at the Biggin Hill Air Fair on 16
May 1981 that it was its first air display and in the hands of Ray Hanna. Aeroplane once
published the image during one of your photo contests with an honourable mention.
Bob Jesko, Chicago, USA

Do the rustle in a second or two by the rustling sound, as

Your article on the 1946 SBAC show at Radlett
(Aeroplane August 2016) brought back a few
memories. I was there, and had a thoroughly
enjoyable day. The old wartime air raid
shelters, with their curved roofs covered with
turf, were still there around the periphery, and
offered a good vantage point from which to
watch the flying. Near us was a man who laid
his mac on the grass to sit and eat his
sandwiches.
At some point in the display Geoffrey de
Havilland took off in the DH108, and everyone
stood to get the best view. At the end of his
stint he completed a very fast, low and tight
circuit inside the boundary of the airfield.
Those were the days of the ‘silver paper’
phenomenon, where a low pass from a fast
aeroplane would, a few seconds after its
passage, result in a rustling noise. The
correspondence filled the letters pages of the
aviation magazines at the time: I always put it
down to the noise generated by the wingtip
vortex as it reached the ground. The 108
screamed over us in a vertical bank, at
somewhere close to 100ft, and it was followed
loud as I ever heard it.
The owner of the mac had moved forward a
bit, and it took off, rotating at about 3rpm and
reaching some 15ft. Its owner was
concentrating on the flying, and was very
surprised when his coat appeared over his
head. His jumping efforts to retrieve it were to
no avail at first, but eventually he was able to
grab a dangling sleeve and pull it down, to a
round of applause from the onlookers.
Such sights — and sounds — are sadly
lacking in today’s sanitised displays, but from
the safety aspect that’s no bad thing.
Don Minterne
The missing MONAB
I recently obtained the February edition of
your magazine and read with interest the Fleet
Air Arm items, particularly about the MONABs
established in Australia with the arrival of the
British Pacific Fleet in the latter stages of World
War Two.
Perusing the list of MONABs shown, I
realised one was missing — HMS Nabstock in
Maryborough, Queensland. Our family home
was adjacent to Maryborough airport, where
an RAAF station was established in the early
war years for training wireless air gunners and
later as a radar training facility.
In 1945 the town saw an influx of naval
personnel, who we learned were from the
Royal Navy. We found out that the RAAF
establishment had now become HMS
Nabstock, commissioned on 1 June 1945,
under the command of a Capt McClintock RN.
Aircraft started arriving, mainly Corsairs.
VJ Day saw great celebrations with the city
full of naval ratings. One gave my older
brother a peaked cap, which he passed to me;
I subsequently wore it for many years after I
joined the Royal Australian Navy in 1951.
HMS Nabstock decommissioned on 15
November 1945, and with that our city
returned to normal.
Bruce Campbell, Carseldine, Australia
The editor reserves the right to edit all letters.
Please include your full name and address in
correspondence.

AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016 www.aeroplanemonthly.com 21

Q&A
THIS MONTH’S
ANSWERS
Kenley dump ‘Spit’
Q question
In the October issue, a
was asked about a
Spitfire on the dump at Kenley in
1963.
A Peter Arnold recalls that, in
October 1958, MkXVI TB885
was present together with the
fuselage of Mk22 PK665, but he is
doubtful that the latter —
photographed there circa 1957 by
Marten Brunning, who also wrote in
— survived there for another five
years until our correspondent saw
it. TB885, meanwhile, was cut up
and buried at Kenley and recovered
in 1982. It is currently under
restoration to flight at the Biggin Hill
Heritage Hangar for a client.
Anson W1731
Q Bill Matt, at the age of 89, has
begun assembly of a 1/48-scale
kit of an Anson I and recalls many
happy hours with W1731 at Kenley,
giving rides to Air Cadets. He
wonders what happened to it?
A Disposed of in late 1949, it
became G-ALXH and was
rebuilt in 1955 to Anson XIX
standard using the fuselage of
PH808. It crashed near Guiseley,
Yorkshire, on 9 April 1963 following
engine failure. Has anyone a photo
of it as W1731 or G-ALXH?
Chipmunk WP790
Q There
was a question in the
October issue about a
Chipmunk wing found in an
antiques shop in Plymouth.
A Philip Birtles (e-mail
philipbirtles@gmail.com)
writes that he has often wondered
what had happened to the wings of
this Chipmunk, which is at the de
Havilland Aircraft Museum at
Salisbury Hall. It served with a
22 www.aeroplanemonthly.com
COMPILER: MIKE HOOKS
Are you seeking the answer to a thorny aviation question?
Our ‘questions and answers’ page might help
WRITE TO: Aeroplane, Key Publishing Ltd, PO Box 100, Stamford,
Lincolnshire PE9 1XQ, UK
E-MAIL TO: aeroplane@keypublishing.com, putting ‘Q&A’ in the header
number of units: at Hornchurch in
June 1952, the Leeds UAS and the
RAF College Cranwell, before
going to No 1 FTS at South Cerney
in July 1965. This unit moved to
Church Fenton in January 1967,
becoming the Primary Flying
School. The final move came in
October 1969 to the Birmingham
UAS where it stayed until, with total
flying hours of 5,115, it was
delivered to No 5 MU at Kemble
that September for disposal. WP790
became G-BBNC for a delivery
flight to Rush Green, where it was
dismantled for spares.
The stripped-down fuselage shell
from the engine firewall to the rear
fuselage — including the fin — was
donated to the Salisbury Hall
museum, where it was received in
December 1974. The wings from
WB670 were provided by an Air
Training Corps unit in Welwyn
Garden City; other parts came from
the RAF Gliding and Soaring
Association. The Chipmunk became
the first aircraft restored by the
museum volunteers and went on
display in 1978.
Philip asks if anyone can help the
museum create the Birmingham
UAS badge on the fin and the
rampant lion on the fuselage
shield. He would also like to know
the cost of the wing in the antiques
shop.
Veteran Lancaster
Q Andy Thomas asked in the last
issue about the identity of a
Lancaster, carrying many mission
marks, being used for fire
extinguisher tests.
A Richard Paul writes to say that
the serial number is EE134. This
was a No 49 Squadron machine until
May 1943, when it went to No 619
Squadron until September 1943.
Then the aircraft moved to No 5
Lancaster Finishing School at
Syerston until November 1944. It
was struck off charge on 31 March
1945.
THIS MONTH’S
QUESTIONS
Bassingbourn B-17
Q Richard Emerson (e-mail
rwemmerson@icloud.com), a
volunteer for the National Trust at
Wimpole Hall, adjacent to
Bassingbourn airfield, has recently
found a photograph of a 91st
Bomb Group B-17 being christened
as Lady Helen of Wimpole. The
aircraft was named — with a bottle
of champagne on the propeller —
TOP: Spitfire
TB885 on the
by Lt Helen Pierson, a nurse at
Wimpole Hospital who later
Kenley dump… married Maj John D. Davis, CO of
one of the bomb squadrons at
PETER R. ARNOLD
Bassingbourn. Does anyone know
ABOVE: …and,
the history of this aircraft, its fate,
likewise, PK665.
and what became of Helen and
MARTEN BRUNNING
John?
CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS
Our regular item in which we set the record straight on errors in recent
issues. Do send notice of mistakes you may spot to the editorial addresses.
• Ralph Pegram says that, in his ‘Database’ article on Felixstowe
flying boats, Pete London attributes a critical comment regarding
John Porte’s hull designs to Capt David Nicholson (sic) of
boat-builders Camper and Nicholson. In so doing he inadvertently
conflated two eminent marine architects, namely Charles
Nicholson, of Camper and Nicholson and the Gosport Aircraft
Company, and Capt David Nicolson (without an ‘h’), an RNAS
officer assigned to oversee production and inspection of flying
boats. The quote is from a paper by the latter presented to the
Institute of Engineers and Shipbuilders in July 1919.
• Richard Ainsworth follows up our BEA Highlands and Islands
feature in the August issue by saying how, when Heron 1B G-AOFY
crashed on Islay, it was not replaced. Instead, G-ANXA was
renamed from John Hunter to Sister Jean Kennedy in memory of
the nurse who died in the crash.
AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016
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820 Flying Leg Calendar fp.indd 56 24/08/2016 10:13

 B-23 D RAG ON
As rare as
Dragon’s
S
ome of the greatest aviation
treasures are found in the
most unlikely places. Such
is the case at Grant County
International Airport in Moses Lake,
Washington. Looking across the airfield
through the shimmering heat haze, a
distinctive shape is to be seen in front of
the Columbia Pacific Aviation hangar:
the world’s only airworthy Douglas
B-23 Dragon.
This is an aircraft with an interesting
lineage. In 1934 Douglas began
developing the B-18 Bolo bomber,
basically a military adaptation of the
DC-2. The first B-18 flew in 1935,
but as World War Two approached its
obsolescence was all too apparent, and
24 www.aeroplanemonthly.com
teeth
Douglas offered a major redesign of
the B-18 airframe. The initial proposal
was designated as the XB-22, but it
fell short of requirements, the project
being abandoned before anything
could be built.
Douglas then proposed an upgraded
model, which incorporated the stronger
wings of the DC-3 together with a
completely new, more streamlined
fuselage and a substantially larger
fin and rudder. A pair of Wright
R-2600 radials offered a considerable
improvement in performance. The
US Army Air Corps was sufficiently
impressed that, in 1938, it ordered that
the final 38 examples of the B-18A on
order should be converted to B-23s.
The B-23 differed considerably from
its predecessor. Jeff Akridge, president
of Columbia Pacific Aviation, tells
Aeroplane: “The fuselage of the B-23
was much less deep than that of the
B-18A, and the vertical tail and rudder
were much larger in area. This first
aircraft had an unglazed nose, whereas
later production aircraft were built with
a glazed nose housing the bombardier’s
position plus a flexible 0.30in machine
gun carried on a ball-and-socket mount.
It was assumed that the higher top
speed of the B-23 would make frontal
attacks less likely, so a front turret was
thought not to be necessary. Perhaps
the most noticeable feature was the
glazed tail gunner’s position. The crew
AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016
Never used operationally
as a bomber, but given new
purpose as an executive
aircraft, the Douglas B-23
Dragon is something of an
enigma. Now, one
example is flying again
WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHY: JAY SELMAN
was six: pilot, bombardier, navigator,
radio operator, camera operator and tail
gunner”. Akridge points out that the aft
fuselage is so narrow that the tailwheel
was offset to the right to allow the
tail gunner enough room to access his
station.
He continues, “Although the B-23 was
66mph faster than its B-18A predecessor
and had a much better range, it was still
clearly inferior to the Boeing B-17E,
arguably the first truly combat-capable
version of the Fortress. The B-23 was
slower than the North American
B-25 Mitchell and Martin B-26
Marauder and was less heavily armed.
Consequently, the B-23 was never used
in its intended bombardment role and
AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016
never saw any combat overseas — with
the possible exception of this one.
“The grand old bird sitting just
outside Columbia Pacific Aviation,
Douglas serial number 2749, was
delivered to the Army Air Corps in
1939 as 39-0063. She was the second-
to-last B-23 built. Even though the
B-23 Dragon never became the bomber
the Army Air Corps was looking for in
1939, it has proven without question
that it is still one sweet ride. There are
10 known survivors, of which at least
seven are in museums. She’s the only
flying B-23 in the world at this time.
There’s maybe one other one that might
eventually be flyable. The rest of them
are rotted or gone.”
Akridge says that c/n 2749 appears to ABOVE: B-23
have been the only Dragon permanently — or, perhaps
stationed outside the US during World more correctly,
War Two. “We know that she spent most UC-67 — Dragon
of the war stationed in the Caribbean. N777LW airborne
off the coast of
While we don’t know for sure if she ever Washington State
saw enemy action, I can tell you that in July this year.
after a particularly bumpy flight last year
we discovered a .50-calibre shell lying in
the tail. I don’t know where it was, but
it shook all around and finally vibrated
loose. I thought it was kind of neat that
something stayed in that airplane for
the last 70 years. It finally rattled its way
out. It had never been discovered up to
this point. We cleaned the shell up and
discovered it was produced in 1943 at
the Utah armoury.”
ð
www.aeroplanemonthly.com 25
 B-23 D RAG ON
ABOVE: Jeff While in military service, 39-0063
Akridge, president was converted into a UC-67 transport
of Columbia Pacific in Lima, Peru. The bomb bay was
Aviation. sealed, the three .30-calibre side guns
ABOVE RIGHT: B-23 removed and the area sealed. The same
owner Vic Jansen went for the .50-calibre tail gun.
and his wife. According to Akridge, some 11
B-23s were sold to private owners after
BELOW: the war. In 1947, this one went to
On the ramp at the Standard Oil Company for use as
Grant County an executive transport. Of the B-23s
International
Airport. that ended up in civilian hands, the
majority were so utilised. Its first civil
registration was NR47994. The Dragon
24 www.aeroplanemonthly.com
was sold to Esso Shipping in 1954, and
re-registered as N47994. It underwent
demilitarisation the following year,
the most significant aspect of which
involved converting the flight deck
to take dual controls. The nine-seat
passenger cabin was outfitted in more
luxurious fashion.
“This [aircraft] has logged some
10,000 hours. While approximately
8,000 of these hours were while flown
by the Army Air Corps, the B-23/
UC-67’s greater place in history was
written after the war, while operating
as executive transports. Most of the big
oil companies owned one of these —
[…] a lot of heavy-hitters were flying
corporate airplanes for the first time
ever. You can imagine the big-shots,
with glasses of Scotch and cigars, flying
around making business deals in the
cabin of the UC-67.”
Dragon c/n 2749 was sold to the
LeTourneau-Westinghouse Company
during 1959 and acquired its current
registration, N777LW. This turned
out to be its last stint as an executive
transport. The aeroplane changed
AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016
hands several times among private
owners between 1964 and 1977, when
it was bought by Robert P. Schlaefli, a
career pilot who made a name in the
firefighting business. He pioneered the
process of scooping water with PBY
Catalinas and his SLAFCO tankers
were well known by smoke-jumpers,
air attack bosses and lead-plane pilots,
especially in Alaska. Schlaefli purchased
N777LW for use as a smoke-jumper
aircraft. He used it in Alaska… for one
month. It’s a good bet that the narrow
fuselage might not have been ideal for
smoke-jumpers and all their gear. For
whatever reason, Schlaefli ferried the
UC-67 to Bremerton, Washington, and
later moved it to Moses Lake for storage.
Schlaefli passed away in 2003,
and several of his aircraft, including
N777LW, were put up for auction.
The Dragon was purchased by local
businessman and aviation enthusiast
Vic Jansen, who was friends with Jeff
Akridge. Jansen tells Aeroplane, “I started
flying 49 years ago while still in high
school. I never became a commercial
pilot, but I’ve been fortunate to fly for
fun… Probably my favourite [aircraft] is
my daily steed, a 1948 Stinson 108-3.”
Jansen notes proudly, “One of my
earlier instructors was Charlie McAlister
who, along with his brothers, started
McAlister School of Flight in Yakima,
AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016
Washington, in 1923. His pilot’s licence
was signed by Orville Wright. Charlie
taught me to fly taildraggers in a 65hp
Champ that he started by hand. Our
radio was the old coffee-grinder type,
so we were often cleared to take off and
land using the lights.”
Akridge, whose parents lived in Moses
Lake, has been in the aviation industry
‘You can imagine the big-shots making
business deals in the cabin of the Dragon’
his entire adult life. “After college, I got
my commercial ratings at Flight Safety
in Vero Beach. I also learned to turn
a wrench, which led to a summer job
hauling fish in Alaska on a C-97 owned
by Terry Elder. My feeling is that once
you’ve worked on ‘big round engines’,
you’ve begun a life-long love affair
with them”. When he wasn’t pushing
heavy metal around in Alaska, Akridge
continued building on his maintenance
skills with Boeing in the Seattle area.
But, in the back of his mind, he was
determined to start his own aircraft
maintenance company.
He got that chance in 1993. Akridge
found a vacant facility at Grant County
and established Columbia Pacific
Aviation. “I’d always had it in my mind
that I wanted to return to Moses Lake,
where I still had a lot of ties. There was
a lot of interesting aviation activity at
Grant County International, with even
more potential. Moses Lake is sort of
out in the middle of nowhere, so I
obtained a Part 135 certificate and ran a
charter operation, using King Airs and
some single-engine aircraft.”
When he opened up a maintenance
facility, his first customer was none
other than Terry Elder with his C-97.
“Terry had been flying the bird back
to his home in Corpus Christi, Texas
in the winter, so we were able to cut
about half the distance off his seasonal
migration. The Part 135 operation
gave way to aircraft management for
Part 91 operators. We also offer flight
instructing and aircraft rental, as well as
maintenance. There is another fixed-base
operator on the field that offers fuelling
services, but we are the only full-service
FBO at [Grant County].”
When Jansen purchased N777LW
in 2003, it was with the understanding
that Columbia Pacific would be
working with him to restore it to flying
LEFT: Executive
opulence, early
post-war style.
BELOW: The
Dragon’s cockpit
shows few signs of
modernity.
www.aeroplanemonthly.com 25
 B-23 D RAG ON
ABOVE: Future condition. Akridge notes, “Fortunately,
plans for the B-23 the airplane was in near-pristine
may include an condition when Vic picked her up,
Oshkosh visit and considering it had been some 27 years
more local airshow since she’d last flown. Fortunately, along
appearances.
with the airplane Schlaefli had amassed
a lot of spare parts, which Vic purchased
at the auction.
“Also, some components are
compatible with the DC-3, which
means that so far we have not run
into any major problems in sourcing
replacement parts for the UC-67. She
has a basic DC-3 wing, but it is a double
spar which is considerably stronger,
and the attach points are double-
bolted. Those are the original Wright
R-2600 engines hanging on her wings.
Amazingly, the logbook shows that they
were last overhauled in 1955. She is
certified to 27,000lb, 2,000 more than
a standard DC-3, but with 1,600hp per
side she is significantly overpowered.
She’ll cruise right along at 200mph.”
All the fabric surfaces needed to be re-
covered, and hydraulic lines, fuel cells,
pumps, actuators and valves were either
replaced or overhauled. The aircraft
came with a full set of maintenance
manuals, both military and civilian, as
well as a complete logbook. The interior
is the same as was installed in 1956,
and the seats feel luxurious compared to
‘The vent duct tubes were clogged with
volcanic ash from Mount St Helens’
the thin, un-cushioned affairs typically
installed on today’s airliners.
Akridge says, “While the aircraft
didn’t need anything terribly major,
there were a million smaller items
that required our attention, and the
restoration was not at the top of our
priority list. Altogether it took some
12 years to restore her to flying
condition. I like to think that, among
many other things, she provides a
flying showcase of Columbia Pacific
Aviation’s capabilities”. Finally, in the
summer of 2015, the Dragon was ready
for its first flight in nearly 40 years.
28 www.aeroplanemonthly.com
Getting N777LW back into flying
condition was one thing, but how to
obtain a type rating in a unique aircraft?
Akridge smiled, “Now that turned
into an interesting story! We know a
gentleman, Brent Conner, who flies air
tankers for Erickson. He has a closet full
of type ratings, including B-17, DC-3,
and a bunch of other airplanes that have
big round engines. [We] asked him if he
would be interested in helping us. Of
course, he jumped at the opportunity.
“We went to the FAA and were able
to get a letter of approval for him to
fly it along with ourselves to the point
where we all felt comfortable and
[could] eventually get a type rating,
although the FAA folks themselves still
weren’t sure quite how they were going
to do that. They didn’t have anyone
who was qualified.
“We were headed down the road
where they were going to let us qualify
ourselves and then take a type ride with
[an] NDPER [national designated pilot
examiner]. The guys who instructed
and checked us out in the B-23 —
aviators like Ronnie Gardner, Brent
Conner and Stew Dawson — are real
pros. All are great guys, and wonderful
teachers who live to fly.
“Then, out of the blue, the FAA
found someone, about 75 years old,
who was actually type-rated in the
B-23 and still on the books as a CFI
[certified flight instructor]. He came on
up and gave Brent a recommendation
ride to take his type ride with Dawson.
Brent was able to train and sign Vic and
myself; then we took type rides with
[an] NDPER. It was a challenge, to say
the least, but we finally got it done. I
guess that makes me one of four known
current pilots in the US typed on the
B-23.”
The first flight, which occurred on
14 June 2015, was an 80-minute hop
to check out all of the aircraft systems.
Brent was the pilot in command, with
Jeff sitting in the right-hand seat.
Akridge says, “The B-23 is [an aircraft]
that wants to fly. She came right off
the ground in under 2,000ft. We did
a systems check and everything ran
perfectly. It was a squawk-free flight.”
While the B-23 proved to be docile
in terms of handling, it did produce one
big surprise on its first flight. Akridge
reflects, “Remember, she’d been sitting
outside since 1977. In 1980, Mount
St Helens blew its top and Moses Lake
was covered in ash. So we’d spent a
dozen years getting N777LW ready
to go, and had her all cleaned up for
her first flight. We were rolling down
the runway and lifted off smoothly. As
soon as I pulled the landing gear up,
the cockpit filled with what we thought
was smoke. It was truly a ‘holy crap’
moment. It didn’t smell like smoke,
so we thought it might be hydraulic
mist from a leak somewhere. Then the
smoke started raining down on us and,
as it turned out, it was volcanic ash.
The vent duct tubes in the nose that we
never got around to cleaning out had
been clogged with ash, and this was the
first time in nearly 40 years that she had
90kt air coming through the vent! All’s
well that ends well, but it was quite an
adventure.”
What does Jansen have in mind now
that the B-23 is fully airworthy and he
has his type rating? He grins wryly, “I
really don’t know yet. When I bought
her, I wanted to be able to own and
restore a piece of history. For the next
dozen years, our focus has been on
restoring her to flying status. Only now
that she’s flying again can I really think
about what I want to do next.
“At this time, I have no plans for
the Dragon other than to fly and enjoy
her. We’ll probably take her to some
local airshows for the time being, and
I won’t rule out Oshkosh in the future.
I do want people to come and look at
her, maybe gawk over her a bit, and
appreciate the fact that she’s a rare
bird indeed. But, mostly, I hope to
continue to fly her for years
to come.”
AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016
 NORMAN CONQUEST A SPECIAL
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The reign of Edward the Confessor and
the rival factions for the English throne. Conquest
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 A NS O N ACCI DE
ENT

A FE
EW of the
M ANY
Large nummbers of
prospectivee aircrew
were lost in training
during World War
Two, their passing often little remembered in comparison
with their operational brethren. In Canada, though, the
tragedy that befell the occupants of an RAF Avro Anson has
recently been given due commemoration
WORDS: ROBERT M. STITT

A
round 150 Allied airmen
were killed on and around
Vancouver Island on
Canada’s Pacific coast
during the Second World War. Many
of them were lost during the course
of training flights, some never to be
found. Yet their sacrifice was as great as
those who gave their lives while flying
on operations.
On 30 October 1942, five Avro
Anson I navigation trainers from No
32 Operational Training Unit left
RCAF Station Patricia Bay on southern
Vancouver Island on a routine three-
hour, 300nm navigation exercise. The
turning waypoints included Port San
Juan (now known as Port Renfrew),
a point 115 miles out in the Pacific
Ocean, and Pachena Point, with a final
leg back to Patricia Bay. Anson L7056
took off at 09.09hrs. A minute later
flying control received a ‘go’ in Morse
code from 25-year-old Canadian

30 www.aeroplanemonthly.com AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016

 Anson I L7056
No 32 OTU, RAF, RCAF Station Patricia Bay
JUANITA FRANZI/AERO ILLUSTRATIONS

trainee wireless operator Sgt William
‘Bill’ Baird confirming that they were
airborne and proceeding with the
exercise.
The other three crew mem mbers
were Briitiish
h aiirmen from th
he Royall
Air Force Volunteer Reserve.. Pilot
Sgt Robert Ernest ‘Bob’ Luckkock, 21,
had been on staff with No 322 OTU
for a month and had flown the same
exercise eight times. He was regarded
as “a very steady and reliable pilot”. Plt
Off Charles ‘George’ Fox, aged 31 and
married with two young sons, and Plt
Off Antony William ‘Tony’ Lawrence,
21, were the two trainee observers.
Lawrence occupied the co-pilot’s seat
next to Luckock while Foox sat behind
Luckock at the navigatorr’s table.
Weather conditions prroved much
worse than forecast, and at about
11.330hrs fl
flyiing controll recallled
d th
he
Ansons, calculating that the weather
was good enough for all aircraft
to regain Pat Bay. Four did so, but
nothing more had been heard from
L7056 since the exercise started.
No 32 OTU’s chief instructor,
Wg Cdr Edgar Wurtele, initiated an
extensive search one hour after L7056
was expected to return. Sighting
reports began to trickle in. A civilian
reported a ‘yellow-and-black aircraft’
that approached Portt San Juan from
the east, circled and turned back inland
at approximately 10.000, while a naval
report indicated that an aeroplane had
been spotted d fl
flyiing eaast off th
he intend
ded
d
flight path at 10.20.
In the meantime an n oil patch had
been sighted around two-thirds of the
way along the first legg of the route,
focusing an intensive search over the
waters along the Pacific coast with oil
samples taken by an RCAF high-speed
rescue launch. Aircraft from Pat Bay
flew more than 40 hours searching
the coastal waters and densely forested

LEFT: Careful
scrutiny of the
underside of
the port wing
reveals this to be
Anson I L7056,
photographed
at Patricia Bay on
15 January 1942.
The propeller blade
in the foreground,
incidentally, is that
of a Curtiss P-40.
VIA BC AVIATION MUSEUM

AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016 www.aeroplanemonthly.com 31

 A NSON ACCIDENT

ABOVE: Trainee coastal margins, but no trace of Anson during the period. However, it turned 3rd of November, covering as many of
navigator Plt Off L7056 or its crew was found. out that the front was considerably his possible routes out to sea.”
Antony William The subsequent court of inquiry closer to the coast than expected and The cause of the loss was listed
Lawrence, age 21. noted: “Several attempts were made to instead of the expected clearing during as “Unknown”, while the inquiry
VIA PAUL LAWRENCE
contact Anson 7056 [sic] by means of the afternoon, the weather turned conclusion stated: “It is considered
SECOND LEFT: the usual W/T procedures but without considerably worse.” that [the] aircraft [was] lost at sea
Trainee navigator success. Another aircraft taking off or damaged and the occupants may
Plt Off Charles
George Fox, age 31.
about 20 minutes after 7056 on the
same exercise ran into bad weather
❖ reasonably be presumed to have
perished”. The report cover was more
VIA PETER AND CHRIS FOX about 1050 hours but did not enter the Regarding the search, Wurtele emphatic, stating: “Accident to above
bad weather area but flew up and down stated: “At approximately 1310 hours at sea on 30-10-42”. The four airmen
THIRD LEFT: No the front for about one hour and fifty 30/10/42, I organized a search with were documented as ‘presumed dead’
32 OTU staff pilot minutes, when [the] recall message was five Ansons, one of which was unable and later commemorated on the
Sgt Robert Ernest
Luckock, age 21. received from base. to take off. The remaining four Ottawa Memorial.
VIA DAVID LUCKOCK “During the briefing the crews were returned to base, one never reaching Seventy-one years later, on 24
warned about a front which was off the coast due to carburettor icing. Two October 2013, three Cowichan Valley
FAR RIGHT: the coast but at the time was thought continued for [two-and-a-half ] hours forestry engineers from the wood
Wireless operator to be far enough off that it would and the fourth completed the 3 hour products company Teal Jones Group
Sgt William Baird, not affect the weather over the region search. Searches were sent up until the — Dennis Cronin, Walter Van Hell
RCAF, age 25.
VIA SANDRA OVERTON

RIGHT: RCAF
Station Patricia
Bay was one of six
wartime land and
sea air stations on
Vancouver Island.
Its function was
coastal defence and
aircrew training,
with up to 3,500
students being
trained at a time
and 10,000 new
airmen eventually
passing through the
station. It is now
the site of Victoria
International
Airport.
VIA BC AVIATION MUSEUM

32 www.aeroplanemonthly.com AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016

and Tom Weston — were surveying
potential timber cut blocks north-west
of Port Renfrew. Cronin clambered
down a steep, rocky slope to examine
a first-growth timber stand, and from
previous visits to wartime crash sites
knew immediately what he had found:
the trail of aluminium, fabric and
wooden fragments represented the final
moments of a downed aircraft.
The company referred the discovery
to the Royal Canadian Mounted
Police, who in turn informed the
Department of National Defence
(DND). Responsibility for confirming
the identity of the aircraft and
initiating recovery of any remains
then fell to Laurel Clegg, casualty
identification co-ordinator with the
Directorate of History and Heritage
based in Ottawa. Clegg arranged an
initial site visit in November 2013,
attended by representatives from the
British Columbia Coroners Service, the
DND and a member of the Explosive
Ordnance Department from RCN
Naden near Victoria.
Conditions at the site proved to
be poor, with low visibility in snow
flurries, so no recovery work was
possible. With the exception of the
cockpit section, which was pinned
under two fallen trees, little of the
Anson’s structure and none of the
‘The inquiry said that the aircraft was lost
at sea or damaged and that the occupants
were presumed to have perished’
original fabric or any markings were
readily visible. However, the dataplate
from the port Cheetah engine
was retrieved, the serial number
confirming that Anson L7056 had
been found.
The process of locating relatives of
the airmen now began. The family of
Sgt Bill Baird was quickly located in
Alberta, where his brother was living
in a seniors’ residence. Believing him
lost at sea, he was understandably
overwhelmed to learn that Bill had
been found.
With three of the lost airmen
originating from Britain, Clegg
established contact with her UK
counterpart, Sue Raftree of the Joint
Casualty and Compassionate Centre at
RAF Innsworth, Gloucestershire. Letters
were sent to last known addresses and
articles about the discovery placed in
local media. It took just days to find the
brother of pilot Sgt Bob Luckock, as
he and his wife were living in the house
next to the family’s wartime home.
It was early May 2014 before
conditions improved sufficiently for
the recovery team to revisit the site.
Fifteen personnel from the DND and
the Coroners Service set up a temporary

THE LOST ANSON

L7056 was one of 1,528 Anson Is despatched to Canada under
the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. The Anson — shown
in the artwork below during its earlier period of service with No
6 Flying Training School at RAF Little Rissington — was shipped
across the Atlantic to Halifax, Nova Scotia, and by rail car across
Canada to Edmonton, Alberta, where it was officially taken on
strength by the RCAF on 25 June 1941. L7056 was then overhauled
by Aircraft Repair Ltd, the work including replacement of the
extensive cabin glazing with plywood and four round windows
per side to eliminate draughts and leaks in the Canadian climate.
At some point its original sloping windscreen was replaced with
the later, more upright design, but with the overhead windows
retained — this is believed to have been undertaken at Edmonton
using parts from a salvaged aircraft.
The Anson was completely re-covered and painted in training
yellow with its original RAF serial L7056 applied on the rear
fuselage and under the wings. L7056 was among around 450
former RAF Anson Is that retained their original Air Ministry
serials. Another such machine carried the RCAF serial 7056.
The aircraft was taken on strength by Western Air Command
and allocated to No 32 Operational Training Unit at Patricia Bay,
British Columbia, on 5 November 1941. This was an RAF unit
charged with preparing crews for torpedo bomber operations.
Upon the entry of Japan into the war in December 1941, a
number of RCAF aircraft on the Pacific coast were over-painted
with camouflage for maritime patrol operations, Anson L7056
among them. On-site examinations of fabric scraps and metal
parts in the spring and summer of 2014 indicated a crudely
painted dark green and dark grey upper camouflage with the red,
white and blue upper wingtip roundels replaced by so-called Type
B blue and red roundels applied further inboard. Once the risk of
an attack on the Pacific coast had subsided, glossy yellow search
panels were applied mid-wing, on the rear fuselage upper decking
and the top surfaces of the horizontal stabiliser.
No 32 OTU Ansons are known to have carried the unit code
‘RD’ in mid-January 1941, replaced by ‘OP’ later that year, plus
individual aircraft numbers. The only known image of L7056
suggests that it was assigned the individual aircraft code number
‘2’ or ‘3’. The code ‘OP-2’ in light grey was selected for the project
artwork.
With so much of its fabric gone and after seven decades
of weathering in a forest environment, depicting the Anson’s
exact appearance at the time of its loss is — at best — informed
guesswork. That said, the artwork at the start of this feature is
believed to closely represent how Anson L7056 looked when it
disappeared on 30 October 1942.

Anson I L7056
No 6 Flying Training School, RAF Little Rissington
JUANITA FRANZI/AERO ILLUSTRATIONS

AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016 www.aeroplanemonthly.com 33

 A NSON ACCIDENT

RIGHT: Members of
the Department of
National Defence
and the British
Columbia Coroners
Service comb the
site for remains and
personal artefacts.
DND

FAR TOP RIGHT:

L7056’s port
Armstrong Siddeley
Cheetah IX engine.
The folded-back
position of the
propeller blades
suggests that the
engine was not
generating power
when the Anson
struck the treetops.
LORRAINE CRONIN

FAR RIGHT: The

lower surface of the
port aileron, showing
the yellow finish day camp and meticulously combed Canadian Forces Base Trenton. Most families and representatives of the
applied at Edmonton.
LORRAINE CRONIN
through seven decades’ worth of fallen importantly, the remains of the four Luckocks gathered near Victoria on 10
trees, branches and needles, focusing airmen were found together in the November 2014 for the interment of
BELOW RIGHT: The on the inverted cockpit section. cockpit section. four airmen who, for seven decades,
interment ceremony Special care was taken regarding Meanwhile, the effort to locate the were believed to have been lost at sea.
at Royal Oak Burial explosives after the tail fins from other two UK families had continued. According to tradition, having flown
Park, north of a number of practice bombs were On 28 May the nephew of Plt Off and died together, they were buried in
Victoria and close
to Patricia Bay. The found, while readings indicated that Tony Lawrence began scanning a UK a single coffin at Royal Oak Burial Park
remains of the four the instrument panel was radioactive Ministry of Defence-sponsored story in close to Patricia Bay.
airmen were buried from paint applied to the instruments. his local paper, the Croydon Guardian. Film-maker Nick Versteeg contacted
together in one The forward cockpit section was later Momentarily stunned by what he was the author in early 2014 with a
coffin. ROBERT M. STITT removed for disposal. seeing, his wife finished reading the proposal to co-produce a documentary
about the loss and discovery of Anson
‘Many items of clothing were uncovered L7056. There was no hesitation.
Thanks to the goodwill of Laurel
including boots and flying helmets’ Clegg from Canada’s DND and
Sue Raftree from the British MoD,
Versteeg and I were given access to the
BELOW: A boarding Remarkably, many items of clothing piece describing the Anson’s discovery. recovery and connected with the four
re-enactment were uncovered including boots, jacket Finally, in late July, one of the two sons families. We had the profound pleasure
filmed inside the BC fragments and flying helmets. Of great of Plt Off George Fox received a call of meeting them all and attending the
Aviation Museum value in the identification process, from a colleague urging him to read an interment ceremony near Patricia Bay.
using its Anson II, there were also engraved watches, article in the Manchester Evening News. The documentary premiered in
FP846. This is how
L7056 appeared bracelets and a cigarette lighter. These He then ’phoned his brother to let him Victoria the following evening.
when delivered to items were removed from the site for know that their father had at last been
Patricia Bay rather future reunification with the airmens’ found. This article is dedicated by the author to
than at the time of families, while significant pieces of A little over a year after the Anson Dennis Cronin, who passed away on 12
the loss. ALLAN SCOTT wreckage were crated and shipped to was located, the Fox and Baird April 2016.

FURTHER INFORMATION
‘Seventy-One Years — the Loss and Discovery of Avro
Anson L7056’ is available as a download from vimeo.com/
ondemand/71years or in DVD format from dvmedia.ca/dvds

34 www.aeroplanemonthly.com AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016

 SPECIAL ANNIVERSARY ISSUE
ISSUE 27
Aeroplane Collectors’ Archive is a
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legendary aircraft of yesteryear.

Issue 27 – HE AT HROW –
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The Heathrow experience 70 years ago was
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A STAR IS BORN
Lockheed’s graceful Constellation, a
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PROPLINER PARADE
Some of the world’s most charismatic and
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JUS9T5
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MAINTAINING THE FLEET
As the rapid post-war expansion of
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BLAZING THE TRAIL

On 2 May 1952, de Havilland, BOAC and
Heathrow triumphantly changed the world
of aviation overnight
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789/16

789 Av Arch latest fp.indd 87 16/08/2016 11:28

 F L UGM USE U M ME SS ER SCH MI TT
PRESERVING the
MES
SSER
RSCH
HMI
At the Airbus Defence and Space facility at
Manching, southern Bavaria, the Flugmuseum
Messerschmitt houses an outstanding collection
of aircraft relating to Willy Messerschmitt’s
achievements as an aeronautical engineer
WORDS: DR ANDREAS ZEITLER
S
ide-by-side, classic
fighter designs such
as the Messerschmitt
Bf 109 and Me 262
co-exist at Manching with Tornados
and Eurofighters. There could be no
better visual representation of the
technological heritage of the company
that has, in the meantime, become
part of the Airbus Group.
The intention of the Flugmuseum
Messerschmitt is to remember one of
Germany’s most outstanding aviation
engineers, Willy Messerschmitt.
Its location at Airbus Defence
and Space’s Manching factory
airfield — just a stone’s throw
from the final assembly line for the
Luftwaffe’s Eurofighter EF2000s
— is no coincidence. The modern
combat jets are built by the military
branch of the Airbus Group, which
continues the heritage of the post-war
aircraft manufacturing and design
company Messerschmitt-Bölkow-
Blohm (MBB). The Flugmuseum,
however, is not only an Airbus
activity. It is a collaborative venture
between Germany’s biggest aircraft
manufacturer and the Messerschmitt
Stiftung (Messerschmitt Foundation).
The roots of the foundation,
ABOVE: The which became Germany’s largest
superb lines of private monument conservation
the new-build trust, were planted in 1969 by
Me 262A/B-1c, Willy Messerschmitt himself. A
captured air-to- decade later, his personal shares
air en route to the
AirPower show in MBB went towards it. The
in Austria. organisation’s intention is to preserve
MARKUS ZINNER/BMLVS Messerschmitt’s own ‘technical works’,
but it also helps care for and maintain
German art and cultural monuments,
36 www.aeroplanemonthly.com
both in Germany and abroad. It
also supports young aeronautical
engineering students.
From the outset, the Stiftung has
made possible the restoration of many
superb monuments. The most famous
is probably Schloss Meseburg, a very
fine Baroque castle in the state of
Brandenburg, north of Berlin. Leased
to the German government for the
symbolic sum of €1 after renovation
was completed, it has served since
2007 as the Federal Chancellor’s
country retreat. Another well-known
beneficiary is the Belvedere auf dem
Kll
Klausberg, a delightful building near
the Sanssouci Palace in Potsdam, but
there are also dozens of locations in
the Tyrol, and even further away —
for instance, in Sofia or St Petersburg
— which have profited from the
foundation’s grants.
That role might surprise, as Willy
Messerschmitt’s name is, naturally,
more closely linked to legendary
aircraft designs and his role as an
aviation pioneer. However, apart
from his technical background, an
interest in fine arts played a major
part in his life. Looking closely
at his aircraft designs, one might
even have the impression that this
interest contributed directly to the
classic lines and artistic forms of
many of his creations. In a time
long before computational fluid
dynamics and computer-based
optimisation algorithms became part
of an aeronautical engineer’s daily
life, a thorough understanding of
basic aerodynamic and construction
principles did the job.
AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016
MITT
TT
T memory

AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016 www.aeroplanemonthly.com 37

 F L UGMUSEUM MESSER SCH MITT
ABOVE: During 1998 a particular focus
Maintenance going was placed on the aviation heritage
on in the museum, of Willy Messerschmitt. To celebrate
focusing here on his lifetime of achievements, the
the Daimler-Benz
DB605 engines of Flugmuseum Messerschmitt was
the Bf 109s. inaugurated on what would have
DR ANDREAS ZEITLER been his 100th birthday, 26 June
1998. One goal was to preserve some
of his most important designs in
airworthy condition. As a partner
for this venture was selected Dasa,
MBB’s successor company, and
part of the Daimler-Benz — later
DaimlerChrysler — group.
‘The museum’s aircraft are not used
commercially, but to serve Airbus and the
Messerschmitt Foundation’s interests’
Given the museum’s aeronautical
theme, the tie-up with Dasa was
ideal. In the 1990s, not only was
the company the direct heir to
Messerschmitt’s history, but more
significantly it could provide technical
assistance and support to the historic
aircraft that were to be based at
Manching. It also contributed to the
38 www.aeroplanemonthly.com
1998 foundation of DaimlerChrysler
through the divestment of its MBB
shares. Having the know-how of the
engineers and technicians on hand, as
well as the ability to use the airfield’s
infrastructure, made the huge test and
trials site in Bavaria the perfect base
for this co-operative venture.
Dasa was merged into EADS
during 2000. Since 2014, meanwhile,
EADS has been known as the Airbus
Group. It should be noted that the
Flugmuseum forms only one part
of the firm’s efforts to highlight and
perpetuate the history of its ancestor
companies. This involves a wide
range of corporate heritage activities,
backing being provided to several
other aircraft and projects with Airbus
connections.
With a few exceptions the aircraft
in the Flugmuseum belong to the
Messerschmitt Stiftung, as does the
museum’s hangar. Airbus at Manching
is responsible for restoring and
maintaining them, as well as taking
care of flight operations. One aircraft,
the last surviving Helwan HA-300
delta fighter developed for — but
never operated by — the Egyptian
Air Force, another Messerschmitt
design, is a static exhibit only,
having moved in from the Deutsches
Museum’s Flugwerft Schleissheim at
Oberschleissheim.
The common goal of the
Messerschmitt Stiftung and Airbus
is to operate the airworthy heritage
aircraft as safely and for as long as
possible, but still to present them in
front of the widest audience. This
and the way in which the fleet is not
operated commercially, but instead
used to serve the company’s and
the foundation’s interests, explains
most of its airshow appearances. The
aircraft are displayed at big shows
around Europe to entertain large
crowds and to support company
business. But, every once in a while,
the Bf 108, Bf 109 or Me 262 have
been seen dazzling a small event at a
rural airfield in Bavaria, most often
linked to Willy Messerschmitt’s
former places of activity.
AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016
 Though the museum itself remains
in the same Manching hangar nearly
20 years after its establishment, the
collection has grown. Entering the
building, an impressive sight greets
the eyes. Three Messerschmitt Bf 109s
of different variants, a Bf 108 Taifun,
the M17 reproduction, the Me 163
glider replica, a new-build Me 262
and a Spanish-built Hispano Aviación
HA-200 Saeta completely fill the
place.
Calling it an exhibition hall
would be far from accurate, as can
be seen from the drip trays placed
underneath the aircraft and the
technicians working around them.
The Flugmuseum Messerschmitt is
extremely proud that it can present
most of its exhibits in flight, but
keeping the collection in airworthy
AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016
condition is, it could go without
saying, a huge undertaking. The
fleet is large, and the aircraft highly
diverse, from a wooden light
aeroplane to early jets.
Combine this with the historic
nature of the airframes, the fact
that they are not built to common
standards, and spare parts that aren’t
exactly abundant, and you get the
idea. This level of diversity and
the fairly small size of the team of
specialists make caring for the fleet a
difficult task. As such, it is rare for all
of the aeroplanes to be in airworthy
condition, and some have not flown
for quite a few years. Increasing the
efficiency and safety of the aircraft is
always a significant topic, all the while
considering the need to remain true
to the originals while employing more
modern standards when practical. ABOVE: One of the
This is the driver behind activities in fleet’s founding
numerous areas, such as the cockpit aircraft, Bf 109G-6
layouts of the three different versions D-FMBB, goes
of the Bf 109. through its paces
Due to the nature of the museum’s at the ILA Berlin
aircraft, pilots are specially selected Air Show. It has not
based on their experience. Some flown since 2007.
DR ANDREAS ZEITLER
have thousands of flight hours
in the logbook and a graduation ABOVE LEFT: The
certificate from a world-renowned original Bristol
test pilot school on the office wall, Cherub engine on
but a test pilot qualification is not an the M17 replica.
DR ANDREAS ZEITLER
essential requirement, although the
Flugmuseum is naturally happy that BELOW: The Me 262
many Manching-based Airbus test on the ramp
pilots — right up to chief test pilot outside the Willy
level — fly its aeroplanes. Messerschmitt Halle
For the propeller-driven machines, at Manching.
extensive taildragger experience DR ANDREAS ZEITLER
is a must, as is the ability to stay
www.aeroplanemonthly.com 39
 F L UGM USE U M ME SS ER SCH MI TT

ABOVE: Bf 109G-10 proficient using other, similar types. number of hours per pilot each year. require long ferry flights. While it
D-FDME made few The collection’s policy of keeping its On the other, available flight hours on would be nice for the team to be able
flights as ‘Yellow 3’ fleet airworthy inevitably means a the airframes are limited. to display at more locations further
during 2011 before compromise between preservation The self-imposed maximum of afield, the transfer flights add to
suffering engine
trouble. Thankfully, and flying hours. On the one hand, roughly 20 to 30 hours per year general wear and tear but offer little
Klaus Plasa was operating these aircraft requires restricts public appearances by the value in pilot proficiency.
able to make a proficiency that can only be obtained aircraft to a minimum, especially The importance placed on
successful deadstick by flying them for a reasonable when it comes to airshows that preserving the aircraft is further
landing. apparent from the nature of their
DR ANDREAS ZEITLER flying demonstrations. The routines
RIGHT: The view are fairly gentle, remaining well
from the back seat within each airframe’s g limits and
of the HA-200. keeping engine power settings down
DR ANDREAS ZEITLER to a reasonable figure of about 70 per
cent during display flying.
BELOW: This careful approach can be
Messerschmitt
designed the observed every time an aircraft is
HA-200 Saeta for moved out of the hangar at Manching
Hispano Aviación. and readied to fly. After meticulous
Here, Wolfgang ground checks the previous day,
Schirdewahn is each flight is planned to the very last
flying D-IWMS, detail. The pilots don’t just jump in
with Prof Gero and fly: they usually prefer to sit in
Madelung in the the cockpit and get acquainted and
back seat.
DR ANDREAS ZEITLER
re-familiarised with the layout for
a while, before the actual start-up
procedure begins.

❖
It cannot be denied that the
museum has had some setbacks
of late, especially regarding flight
ABOVE: Caption operations with its Bf 109s. Though
CREDIT it has long held the ambition to be
able to fly a formation of two of
the Daimler-Benz DB605-powered
Bf 109s — all converted from
Hispano-built, Rolls-Royce Merlin-
engined HA-1112-M1L Buchóns —
very seldom have two been airworthy
at the same time.
The most popular of the trio is
Bf 109G-4 D-FWME, coded ‘Red 7’.
It has been seen frequently at airshows

40 www.aeroplanemonthly.com AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016

around Europe, and made the trip LEFT: Airbus
across the Channel in 2015 to visit Helicopters chief
the Biggin Hill Festival of Flight, test pilot Volker
Flying Legends at Duxford and Bau talks to the
the Royal International Air Tattoo groundcrew
after one of his
at Fairford (see Aeroplane October first flights in the
2015). Unfortunately, though, it is Bf 109G-4.
also the aircraft most often hit by DR ANDREAS ZEITLER
bad luck. The airframe has had quite
a record of mishaps in the past few
years, fortunately only resulting in
distorted skins, broken components
or, in the worst case, a shock-loaded
DB605. The most recent was a
take-off incident on 28 August this
year. Sometimes, the Bf 109’s tricky
handling characteristics cannot be
compensated for by even the best,
most experienced test pilots.
‘Red 7’ does not belong to the
Messerschmitt Stiftung, but was — went into a period of major engine this ‘Gustav’ as well, when its landing
bought by the then EADS company maintenance after its participation gear collapsed on touchdown after
in 2006 from its former private in the filming of the movie ‘Valkyrie’ a flight demonstration during
owners. The aircraft suffered a landing near Berlin, starring Tom Cruise. ILA 2008 at Berlin Schönefeld. A
accident in 2005, and the owners
were unable to rebuild it with their
own resources and donations. The
‘Keeping the fleet airworthy inevitably
‘Gustav’ was considered to be an
especially splendid specimen, in means a compromise between
particular its DB605 engine.
In order to keep the Bf 109G-4 in
Germany, it was taken to Manching
preservation and flying hours’
on condition that it be made The third example in the fleet, full refurbishment was performed
airworthy again. This happened at the Bf 109G-10 D-FDME, was airworthy thereafter, including a repaint that BELOW: The
delightful M17 in
end of 2007, around the time when at that time. It is considered to be transformed the former ‘Black 2’ into flight over Bavaria’s
Bf 109G-6 D-FMBB — nicknamed the easiest of the 109s to fly due ‘Yellow 3’. The G-10 was airborne countryside.
‘die Beule’ (the bump) due to the to its higher tailwheel, and was again in 2011, but unfortunately DR ANDREAS ZEITLER
rather ungainly fairings for the the one selected for pilot training. an engine failure in mid-year forced
machine gun in front of the cockpit However, a year later ill luck struck pilot Klaus Plasa to make a deadstick

AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016 www.aeroplanemonthly.com 41

 F L UGM USE U M ME SS ER SCH MI TT

ABOVE: landing at Manching, and it has not However, advances are being made, The roots of Germany’s best-known
Marc Frattini gets flown since. though they may not always be visible fighter can, of course, be found in the
airborne in the With the small team of specialists to the outside observer visiting the Bf 108. Powered by an original Argus
HA-200 during focusing on ‘Red 7’, progress on the Manching hangar. Cabling inside the As 10C, the Messerschmitt Stiftung’s
ILA 2014 at Berlin other two Bf 109s has understandably airframes is being completely renewed Taifun is an original Bf 108B-1
Brandenburg
Airport. slowed in recent years. Even keeping and brought up to modern standards, whose history can be traced back
BEN DUNNELL one aircraft airworthy is so time- while the wings have been totally to 1938 (see Aeroplane May 2016).
consuming that few resources are reworked using jigs from an external It was bought from a private Swiss
left to work on the other machines. company. owner in the 1990s. The fuselage

LEFT: The striking shape of the Me 163 glider replica in free flight is
currently denied following structural inspections. DR ANDREAS ZEITLER

BELOW: Wolfgang Schirdewahn is among the Flugmuseum’s pilots. He is an

Empire Test Pilots’ School graduate who flies for Airbus Defence and Space.
MESSE BERLIN

42 www.aeroplanemonthly.com AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016

is now undergoing an extensive
restoration, and in the cockpit it is
being given modern navigation and
communication equipment, while
preserving the original appearance.
Stepping even further back in
time to 1924-25, the M17 was
Messerschmitt’s first powered aircraft
design. According to his ethos it was
light, safe and economical. Its low
empty weight of 198kg is especially
remarkable when considering the
possible equal mass of the pilot and
the passenger who can fly in it. The
type’s most famous feat occurred in
1926: the first crossing of the central
Alps by a light aeroplane. That flight
from Bamberg to Rome (undertaken
in several stages) took 14 hours and
attained a maximum altitude of
4,500m (14,765ft). Just one original
M17 remains, a static exhibit with
the Deutsches Museum in Munich.
The aircraft at Manching is the sole
airworthy replica, newly built by Bitz
Flugzeugbau in 2004. However, its
engine is an original Bristol Cherub.
ABOVE: Bf 108B-1
❖ Flugmuseum Messerschmitt fleet D-ESBH sports a
generic wartime
Another replica is the eyecatching Aircraft Registration Owner Notes Luftwaffe scheme.
DR ANDREAS ZEITLER
Me 163 Komet. This differs from Bf 108B-1 D-ESBH Messerschmitt Stiftung
the other aircraft in the collection, Bf 109G-4 D-FWME Airbus Defence and Converted from HA-1112-M1L
given that the concept for this Space Buchón C.4K-75
rocket-propelled interceptor was Bf 109G-6 D-FMBB Messerschmitt Stiftung Converted from HA-1112-M1L
not originally designed by Willy Buchón C.4K-87
BELOW: The
Messerschmitt but, rather, Bf 109G-10 D-FDME Airbus Defence and Space/ Converted from HA-1112-M1L General Electric
aerodynamicist Alexander Lippisch. Messerschmitt Stiftung Buchón C.4K-141/D-FEHD CJ610 engines of
The stunning red Komet hanging HA-200 Saeta D-IWMS Messerschmitt Stiftung the reproduction
from the roof is an unpowered glider. M17 replica D-ERTA Messerschmitt Stiftung
Me 262 have
It demonstrated its impressive flying provided
characteristics at several airshows, Me 163B glider D-1636 Airbus Defence and Space good, reliable
reproduction performance.
being released from a Dornier
Do 27 tug aircraft. However, it is Me 262A/B-1c D-IMTT Messerschmitt Stiftung DR ANDREAS ZEITLER
reproduction
not at present considered airworthy

ð
 F L UGMUSEUM MESSER SCH MITT

the effort by first Classic Fighter

Industries in collaboration with Herb
Tischler’s Texas Airplane Factory,
and then Bob Hammer and his
Legend Flyers team at Paine Field in
Everett, Washington, to reproduce
the world’s first operational jet. The
small production run was permitted
to use Werknummern (construction
numbers) following on directly from
the originals.
Following the maiden flight of
the initial new Me 262 in December
2002, the Manching-based example
D-IMTT — ‘MTT’ standing for
Messerschmitt — took to the air
during 2005 and was air-freighted
across the Atlantic the following
spring, becoming the sole airworthy
262 in Europe. As things stand, it is
displayed as a single-seat A-1 version,
but provision was made to reconfigure
it as a two-seat B-1 as well.
For the pilots chosen to fly
these Messerschmitt designs, every
opportunity to take to the air in them
ABOVE: The ILA as a result of the findings from an new-build Me 262 project. Given is an outstanding experience, affording
Berlin Air Show inspection of its wooden structure. that the jet fighter was considered the chance to appreciate in a hands-on
is always a major Perhaps the Messerschmitt by Messerschmitt himself to be his way the progress aviation has achieved
showcase for the Stiftung’s greatest feat in the aviation most important design, no wonder in the past 90 years. But watching
Flugmuseum’s fleet, world was its involvement in the the foundation supported so strongly from the ground is itself a pleasure, for
as here in 2010
when both the it is a rare treat to see and hear these
Bf 109G-4 and aircraft in action, preserving the
Me 262 appeared.
BEN DUNNELL
VISITING THE MUSEUM Messerschmitt legacy.
The Flugmuseum Messerschmitt is located inside the secure area on
the Airbus Defence and Space site at Manching near Munich. Access BELOW: It was good to see the
is thus limited, and visits are only possible on one Friday afternoon Bf 109G-4 ‘Red 7’ in Britain for a
per month. They require prior reservation, which is preferably done short tour in 2015. Such visits are
rare due to the need to preserve
via www.flugmuseum-messerschmitt.de. precious flying hours.
RICHARD PAVER

44 www.aeroplanemonthly.com AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016

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971 Aeroplane digi fp.indd 45 29/09/2016 11:53

MONACO SEA PLA NE CO NTEST

MONACO’S
first Grand Prix
Think of sporting contests in Monaco, and four-wheeled motorsport
springs most readily to mind. But, in the early years of aviation, the
principality was the scene of a pioneering seaplane competition,
here illustrated by some rare archive images
WORDS: LUIGINO CALIARO
 W
hat could be considered The contest — in reality a series ABOVE: The old-
the first seaplane of tests and flight trials — was held time splendour of
competition in aviation between 24 and 31 March 1912 Monte Carlo — now
history, far pre-dating the along the stretch of sea situated off long gone at the
hands of developers
Schneider Trophy, was organised by the coastline between Monaco and — is evident in this
Camille Blanc of the International the Italian city of San Remo. Some 10 image of Louis
Sporting Club of Monaco, assisted entrants signed up, but only eight of Paulhan on the
by Georges Prade, a journalist and them would vie for the main prizes: water in his Curtiss
the editor of the magazine L’Auto. 8,000 francs for first place, 4,000 for Triad.
It was staged under the supervision second and 3,000 for third. The other
of the Fédération Aéronautique participants would receive an equal OPPOSITE: Curtiss
Internationale, created officially on 14 share of the remaining 2,000-franc engineer Hugh
October 1905. prize money available. Robinson’s A-1,
or Triad, sits on
the beach as René
ENTRANTS Caudron’s self-built
machine with Fabre
Number Pilot Aircraft Engine floats taxies out of
the water.
1 Louis Paulhan (France) Curtiss A-1 75hp Curtiss ALL PHOTOS VIA
2 Hugh Robinson (USA) Curtiss A-1 50hp Curtiss LUIGINO CALIARO
3 Maurice Colliex (France) Voisin Canard 110hp Salmson
4 Paul Rugère (France) Voisin Canard 60hp Anzani
5 Eugène Renaux (France) Maurice Farman 70hp Renault
6 Jean Benoît (France) Sanchez-Besa 110hp Salmson
7 René Caudron (France) Caudron-Fabre 60hp Anzani
8 Jules Fischer (Belgium) Henry Farman 70hp Gnome
9 Émile Taddéoli (Switzerland) La Mouette Withdrawn
10 Louis Baillod (France) Baillod Withdrawn

LEFT: Paulhan in
conversation from
the pilot’s seat of
his Curtiss. He had
more seaplane — in
French, hydravion
— experience than
most by the time
of the Monaco
contest, having
flown Henri Fabre’s
pioneering machine
as early as 1910.

www.aeroplanemonthly.com 47
 MONACO SEA PLA NE CO NTEST

The flight trials, for which points

were to be awarded, were divided
between the following categories:

• Take-off in calm sea from the port of

Monaco — one point
• Landing on a calm sea after at least one
turn around the buoys — one point
• Take-off from a choppy sea — three
points
• Landing on a choppy sea — two
points
• Take-off, complete circuit of the
course, and landing, after which the
aircraft would be beached to allow the
pilot to exit while keeping his feet dry
— four points
• Take-off direct from the beach
without the pilot climbing on board
the aircraft while in the water, keeping
his feet dry, followed by completion
of a circuit and landing in the port of
Monaco — four points

If the pilot was able to carry a

passenger, extra points were awarded.
The winner would, obviously, be the
aviator who had accrued the greatest
points score by the end of the week.
ABOVE: From his The spectacle drew a large audience,
Henry Farman, while numerous military observers
Belgium’s Jules arrived from Italy, Russia, Germany,
Fischer watches Britain, Switzerland and even Japan.
the ill-fated Voisin There was an equally major presence on
Canard of Maurice
Colliex being the part of the international press, over
launched. 100 correspondents being accredited.
The first day was dominated by
Jules Fischer, but also saw the accident
that eliminated the Voisin Canard
of Colliex. It was caught by a gust of
RIGHT: Robinson, wind, resulting in a loss of control,
inventor during and crashed into the sea, fortunately
1911 of the aircraft without injury to the pilot. Fischer,
arrester hook,
getting under way. amongst others, was awarded bonus
points for having carried passengers
in the course of several flights, as was
Renaux, although he did not manage
to complete all the required trials.
Thanks in part to the excellent
weather and favourable sea state, the
pilots conducted ever more sorties
over the days that followed, flying
with increasing numbers of passengers.
Renaux took three and later four
passengers for the first time on 27
March, while Fischer, who did not
have an aircraft with a central nacelle,
had to be content with carrying only
three people, one behind his seat and
two standing, clinging onto the float
mountings. Things did not go well for
Rugère, however. Having taken his
mechanic on board, his Voisin Canard
lost power and ended up ditching.
The airframe was wrecked but both
occupants escaped unscathed.

LEFT: Eugène Renaux’s Maurice

Farman climbs out. Renaux had only
taken up aviation in 1910, and won
the 1911 Prix Michelin by flying
with a passenger from Paris to the
summit of the Puy de Dôme — via
a circuit of Clermont-Ferrand’s
cathedral — in less than six hours.
He and Albert Senouque won the
100,000-franc prize.

48 www.aeroplanemonthly.com AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016

 LEFT: The Maurice
Farman of Renaux
was fitted with
float-mounted
wheels to provide
an amphibious
capability.

BELOW: Rugère
aboard his Voisin
Canard prior to its
unfortunate — but
thankfully non-
fatal — mishap.

On 30 March Renaux even managed aloft. Robinson and Fischer each

the feat of taking off with six people
on board, while Fischer was joined by
four passengers standing on the floats
of his seaplane. That same day, Benoît,
at the controls of the Sanchez-Besa,
struck a branch while taxiing on the
water and irreparably damaged a float.
Louis Blériot flew in Fischer’s aircraft
during the final day, as did author
and politician Paul Déroulède, while
Paulhan took marine engineer Barbec
undertook another flight carrying two THE RESULTS
of the competition judges, respectively
André Fournier and Jacques Schneider. Position Pilot Points total
At the conclusion of proceedings, 1 Jules Fischer 112.10
winning pilot Jules Fischer amassed 2 Eugène Renaux 100.80
112 points, followed by Eugène 3 Henri Paulhan 86.30
Renaux with 100. But perhaps the 4 Hugh Robinson 71.90
biggest winner was the seaplane, for 5 René Caudron 65
the Monaco contest had demonstrated 6 Jean Benoît 50.30
that such aircraft had a future as a 7 Paul Rugère and Maurice Colliex 41.75
practical form of flying machine.
 YA K- 3

EASTERN PROM
The new-build, Allison-engined Yak-3 has become
a deservedly popular warbird, as British
owner-pilot Will Greenwood has discovered
WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHY: RICHARD PAVER

50 www.aeroplanemonthly.com AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016

OMISEE
the aircraft into the UK, it is now to
be seen regularly at air events. Will
has built good experience on this fast,
nimble and much under-rated Soviet
fighter, and has come to enjoy it
immensely.
“I started flying in 1986”, he says,
“and first went solo aged 17. I have now
built up over 2,000 hours, primarily on
taildraggers and other vintage types. I
Air Displays in order to display it and
other vintage types. My first display in
the Bestmann was at the Abingdon Air
and Country Show, with many thanks
to [organiser] Neil Porter and his team.
Since then I have flown and displayed
at many events across both the UK
and continental Europe. I am also the
national coach for the Light Aircraft
Association and help instruct other BELOW:

“T
he Yak-3 really appealed
to me because it is
a high-performance
warbird that gives
plenty of bang for the buck”. So says
Will Greenwood, the owner-pilot of
Yak-3UA G-OLEG. Having imported
got into display flying approximately
eight years ago and have been a regular
member of the Great War Display
Team, flying a Junkers CL.I replica.
Then I acquired my Bücker Bestmann
[actually an Egyptian-built Heliopolis
Gomhouria], G-TPWX WX,X forming Axis
Axx
pilots when time allows. Will Greenwood
“After acquiring the Bestmann I flying his very fine
was very much on the lookout for a Yak-3UA G-OLEG
near the south coast
more powerful warbird. In 2014 I in the summer of
was invited to fly in a photo-shoot at 2016.
Bremgarten in southern Germany, and
during this visit I was made aware that

AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016 www.aeroplanemonthly.com 51

 YA K- 3
ABOVE: Following MaxAlpha Aviation had up for sale
experience on their Yak-3UA D-FLAK, which was
the Bestmann sitting there in the hangar. I later made
and other historic separate arrangements to return to have
taildraggers, Will
Greenwood has a closer look at the aircraft, this time
moved on to the accompanied by Richard Grace of Air
potent Yak-3 with Leasing. Richard is certainly one of the
confidence. foremost authorities on Yak fighters
— he had built up much experience
with the type as he looks after Yak-3
‘White 100’ [G-CGXG] and had
previously put that particular Yak onto
the UK register. We were pleasantly
surprised with what we found.
D-FLAK was in lovely condition, was
regularly hangared and maintained
by MeierMotors, and had only flown
approximately 80 hours from new. This
looked like a great possibility.
“This particular aircraft has two seats,
adding further to its attractiveness.
There is a full set of controls in the
back — with the exception of brakes —
‘I practised stall recoveries in order to
understand how the small wing behaved’
and so you can share the enjoyment of
high-performance warbird flying with
another pilot.
“I purchased the aircraft in 2014 and
soon set about planning the ferry flight
back to the UK from Bremgarten. In
preparing to fly it I spoke with several
of the country’s top Yak pilots. I took
the opportunity to visit MeierMotors
52 www.aeroplanemonthly.com
while the aircraft was undergoing its
annual check so I could study all of
its unusual systems in detail while it
was up on jacks. The time spent on
this before I flew it proved invaluable.
I learned a great deal about the
management of the aircraft and some
of its peculiarities such as the loud
‘thud… thud’ as the tailwheel retracts,
which I could then expect when it
came to actually flying it.
“Prior to flying the Yak-3, I had built
up good experience flying complex
single-engine aircraft such as the
Harvard and Yak-52. The first leg of the
ferry flight back to the UK was to be
my first flight in the Yak-3. The flight
was from Bremgarten to Albert-Bray
airfield in France, which gave me an
hour or so to prepare for the landing.
The Yak needs between 800 and 900m
of landing run and Albert-Bray has a
long, hard runway of over 2,200m.
I chose this deliberately for my first
landing to give me plenty of room.
“The Yak is a very nimble, highly
manoeuvrable, very responsive low-level
dogfighter but it is not a short-field
machine. With gear and flaps down
it stalls at 80kt, and so you need at
least 95kt over the hedge for landing,
which certainly grabs your attention.
The aircraft has a tendency to drop a
wing at the stall, so I always try and do
a tail-low wheeler landing as opposed
to a more conventional ‘three-pointer’
that you might expect in some other
taildraggers. In my early days of flying
the Yak I took the time out to carry
out a lot of slow-speed handling
practice safely at height. I practised stall
recoveries, both with power on and
power off, in order to really understand
how the small wing behaved and to
build my confidence.
“The Yak-3 is a fast-cruising machine.
At approximately 60 per cent power
— 2,200rpm and 32in of manifold
pressure — it will race along at 230kt.
By comparison the Spitfire will cruise at
about 180kt at a similar power setting.
Being a Russian aircraft many of the
instruments use metric units, unlike
the other Allied aircraft of the period.
It has a fuel capacity of 520 litres, of
which only 420 litres is usable in flight.
It burns around 225 litres per hour in
the cruise, so I aim to land after one
hour 15 minutes, and I make it a rule
to always be on the ground before an
hour-and-a-half.
“The Allison engine fitted to
this aircraft is a liquid-cooled V12
producing 1,350hp. This particular
aircraft has super-wide prop blades
fitted, which give it a better climb rate
and overall improved performance.
Starting the engine is relatively
Continued on page 57
AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016
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842 RAF Squadrons av now fp.indd 67 31/08/2016 14:26

Yakovlev Yak-3UA G-OLEG
Will Greenwood
RICHARD PAVER
Untitled-2 56 29/09/2016 10:04
 YA K-3
Continued from page 52
straightforward, but once running
the pressure is on to get going before
the coolant overheats. The aircraft has
a relatively sophisticated electrically
controlled thermostat to help regulate
the coolant temperature once airborne.
But for running on the ground the
radiator door should be manually fully
opened to ensure it doesn’t overheat.
“Like most Yak aircraft, the Yak-3
uses compressed air to operate all of the
vital systems — the undercarriage, flaps
and brakes. When flying the aircraft
the management of this pneumatic
system becomes one’s prime concern.
Without sufficient air pressure you may
find yourself with enough air to lower
the wheels but might not have enough
left to stop!
“Air pressure is supplied from an
engine-driven pump with an electrical
back-up on a constantly depleting
system. The system runs at an
unusually high 150 bar — 2,200psi
— and neither pump is capable of
maintaining full operating pressure.
So, on the ground this needs to be
replenished depending on how much
had been consumed in flight. The full
150 bar will last for approximately four
normal flights, and I carry a small top-
up bottle when I take the aircraft away.
“After I had ferried it to the UK
I asked Air Leasing to do the work
required to get it transferred onto the
UK register. Fortunately, the way for
this had to a certain extent been paved
by the owner of G-CDBJ, who had
previously succeeded in getting his
example onto the UK register, so when
it came to my aircraft the type was not
AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016
unknown to the CAA AA.
A That particular
aircraft is actually a sister ship to my
own — both are Strela Orenburg-built
examples.
“Air Leasing did a great job and the
aircraft is now registered G-OLEG.
As part of the process of transferring
it to the ‘G-reg’ I had to obtain the
permission of the UK’s Russian air
attaché for the aircraft to fly in its
‘The Yak-3 has a great presence —
it sounds like a V12 fighter should’
current markings. Coincidentally, the
Russian Embassy official who granted
this permission was one Capt Oleg
Kornienko.
“While the Yak-3 is perhaps not as
well-known to the public as the more
famous fighters of the time, it has a
remarkable history. It served with great
distinction for the Soviet Air Force,
having a vital role in the Allied victory
on the Eastern Front. For its size it was
a formidable opponent and German
fighter pilots were advised not to
engage the Yaks at low level, such was
their fierce reputation. As an airshow
performer the Yak-3 has a great presence
— it’s fast, manoeuvrable, and sounds
like a V12 fighter should.”
Along with a number of other Yak-3s,
G-OLEG was built in about 2001
by Strela at Orenburg, approximately
700 miles south-east of Moscow. The
design was based very closely on the
wartime Yak-3 but used an all-metal
structure with an Allison V-1710 engine
as no original Klimov
Kll VK-107s were
available. The Strela plant was created
from the former Zavod Factory 47 in
Leningrad, hence the 47 in the aircraft’s
constructor’s number, 0470202.
Will’s machine is finished in the
markings of a Normandie-Niemen
Regiment aircraft as flown on the
Eastern Front. Specifically, it depicts
the example piloted by Louis Delfino,
commanding officer of the famous Free
French-manned unit, in October 1944.
G-OLEG was initially based at
Dunsfold and spent time at Syw ywell
w
when being maintained by Air Leasing.
For the 2016 season, Will moved the
aircraft to Goodwood to be closer to
his home. It has now made a number
of UK airshow appearances, which
included prestigious performances
at Farnborough 2016. Will has also
flown the Yak to a number of displays
in continental Europe during 2016,
including trips to both Leszno in Poland
and Pardubice in the Czech Republic in
formation with Stephen Stead’s Spitfire
TE184 and the Flying Bulls’ beautiful
B-25 Mitchell.
Given the proximity of the Boultbee
Flight Academy at Goodwood, Will
explained that he is currently working BELOW:
with them to assess the possibility The Régiment
of obtaining CAAAAA approval to offer de Chasse 3
passenger rides in G-OLEG as part of ‘Normandie-
Niemen’ markings
Boultbee’s customer flight experience on the Yak-3
programme in 2017. So, watch this are instantly
space — there may be an opportunity recognisable.
to experience the thrill of flying
in the Yak first-hand.
www.aeroplanemonthly.com 57
 meets
GUY
B L AC K
A perfectionist when it comes to
engineering, this leading figure on the
historic aircraft scene has been key to the
restoration of some unique survivors
A
formation of silver-winged
Hawker biplane fighters
— Fury, Nimrod, Demon
— growls through the
English summer skies, highly redolent
of the inter-war years. Once an almost
impossible dream, it finally happened
at Duxford this year, and in this
spectacle Guy Black was instrumental.
Were it not for him, none of these
beautiful aeroplanes may even have
survived, let alone flown again.
Of all the factors that go into
restoring an historic aircraft to the
highest possible standard, engineering
expertise is the most vital. An engineer
by training, Guy is truly passionate
about this aspect of the restoration
business, constantly striving for the
highest of standards. The projects in
which he has been instrumental bear
witness to this. More than 30 years ago,
with the desire for meticulous work in
mind, he founded Aero Vintage. Today
the engineering arm of the business is
Retrotec, primarily restoring aircraft
for operation by the Historic Aircraft
Collection. Guy runs HAC with
two co-directors, his wife Janice and
accountant and family friend Angus
Spencer-Nairn.
A hive of activity, the Retrotec
workshops are to be found at a small
industrial unit in Westfield near
Rye. This part of rural East Sussex is
where Guy grew up, and a short drive
through the countryside takes us to
lunch at the delightful Red Lion at the
top of Brede Hill.
WORDS: BEN DUNNELL
58 www.aeroplanemonthly.com
Guy’s father had trained in the
medical trade, and resumed that career
after his wartime RAF service. “He flew
Liberators and Beaufighters in India”,
says Guy. “When I was about six, we
were on a camping holiday at Arundel,
and he said, ‘There’s a flight of Spitfires
going overhead — come out of the tent
and see’. They flew over with a great
roar. He told me to look, listen and
remember, because I would never see
it again.
“He loved fast cars and used to
have them tuned by a patient of his,
who ran a company called Weslake
& Co, engine researchers mainly
for the competition market but also
consultants to industry, famously
designing the ejector exhaust for the
Rolls-Royce Merlin. Through that
connection I had a Saturday job when
I was 15, working in the machine
shop. An apprenticeship with Weslake
followed, and they allowed me to study
the academic side of engineering at a
local college. Design of engines was
my thing — I really loved doing the
drawing and the design work. It was a
dream job.”
Harry Weslake’s firm in Rye became
best-known for its association with the
great American driver Dan Gurney and
his Eagle team. In 1967, the Weslake
V12 Formula One engine powered
Gurney to victory in the Belgian Grand
Prix, making him only the second
driver in history (after Jack Brabham)
to win an F1 race in a car of his own
construction. “I was around when
AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016
 ABOVE: Guy Black addressing an audience at Duxford. PETER R. MARCH ð

AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016 www.aeroplanemonthly.com 59

 meets G UY BLACK
Dan and his team were there”, Guy
recalls. “Once he bought new Honda
motorcycles for all his American team
members. This was the first time any
of us had seen a Honda motorcycle.
Having experienced the primitive,
almost pre-war engineering of British
motorcycles, it was a real eye-opener,
and an inspiration to me.
“I became very involved with racing
motorcycles then, and had a go at
racing myself. Piston engines were
really in the blood, but my father did
all he could to stop me. He bought
me a car, a locally made Elva Courier
for me to use in hillclimbs and sprints.
But I had a yearning to start my own
business. I had an interest in vintage
cars, and so I started restoring them.
That grew into quite a large business,
Lynx Cars, latterly specialising in
competition Jaguars — the C, D and
lightweight E-Type. We also did a lot
of conversions and development work”.
Probably the firm’s most prestigious
product was the Lynx Eventer, an estate
conversion of the Jaguar XJS. Guy
retains one to this day.
During this time, aviation re-entered
Guy’s life. “At Lynx we decided to
buy an aeroplane to commute about
the country. In 1980 we bought a
Cessna 172, G-AWUX, in which I
gained my PPL”. But the appeal of
running the car business was on the
wane. “I had to start wearing a tie, I
had business partners, and we took on
another person who wanted to finance
a massive expansion, who it turned out
did not have the promised money. It
was all becoming too stressful for me.
One day in 1989, I just walked out of
it and never returned. I sold my cars,
severed all ties with the car engineering
world and became more involved in
old aeroplanes.”
Aero Vintage was founded in 1982,
but the first seed of the new venture
had been sown in Guy’s mind a few
years earlier. “I decided to build a
Sopwith Pup replica. An original rotary
was essential, and so I went to America
and managed to get about half a dozen
Le Rhône engines, because there were
plenty of them around then. Another
friend came along wanting a Pup, so we
built two.
‘All out-of-control collectors need more
stuff all the time. You stretch your
budget, you stretch your garden shed’
“At Lynx we made the fuel and oil
tanks, undertook the engine rebuild
and some of the trickier metal work,
but I met Tim Moore and his then
partner Cathy O’Brien, and they set up
a business” — Skysport Engineering
— “just to do this aircraft work for
me. That went very well, and they
did a lovely job. I wanted to set a very
high standard for everything we did. It
60 www.aeroplanemonthly.com
had to be perfectly authentic in every
detail. They went along with this
enthusiastically.”
Guy saw many parallels between
his car and aeroplane interests. “My
particular fascination was with the
D-Type Jaguar. This was where the
synergy with aeroplanes really started,
because it occurred to me that the
D-Type and the Spitfire had a lot in
common.
“The D was the first British
production monocoque sports racing
car to be built, and the bodywork
was styled by Malcolm Sayer, an
aeronautical aerodynamicist-turned-
car stylist — he worked for the Bristol
Aeroplane Company before turning
to cars, and was involved with the
Beaufighter — and the bodywork was
constructed by Abbey Panels, who were
an aircraft sheet metal company. The
Spitfire was the first British production
fighter with a monocoque. They both
had tubular front subframes, they both
had classic engines in them. They were
both designed to win — they both
won. And, most important of all, they
both look good. Incidentally, they also
both benefited from Harry Weslake’s
airflow genius. It cannot be much
better than that.
❖ rang up and said he’d decided to buy
“I was slightly encouraged by my
father, who said how nice it would
be to restore a Spitfire, an aircraft he
yearned to fly during the war but was
declared ‘temperamentally unsuited
for fighters’. That discussion was back
in the late 1970s, when there was
really very little restoration activity in
the ex-military aircraft world. Personal
Plane Services was about it. I decided
to look around and buy a Spitfire
project, and bought two MkIXs from
Robs Lamplough who had recovered
them from Israel. They were TE566
and MJ730.
“I had this great idea that if I
restored two, number two could help
pay for number one, because you
find a customer for it. I should have
learned my lesson from the car world.
Of course, we all know that doing
two Spitfires costs precisely twice the
cost of doing one. There are almost no
economies of scale.
“At that time, Angus Spencer-
Nairn, who had become good friends
through our shared interest in cars,
asked me if I wanted a partner in the
aviation side, because it was going to
be very expensive. I agreed”. Angus
remains a key member of the Retrotec
and HAC team to this day.
The replica Pups were ready in 1986,
but the project did not have a happy
ending. “Mine, unfortunately, crashed
on its maiden flight [at Old Warden].
The pilot did a tight turn far too slowly
while coming in to land and it spun
in. He was hurt, but not badly. If I
hadn’t been held back, he would have
been very badly hurt…” After years of
work, G-BIAT was wrecked. The owner
of the other one, G-BIAU, decided
not to fly it. He sold the aircraft to
Paul Raymond’s short-lived Whitehall
Theatre of War, from where it went to
the Fleet Air Arm Museum. Guy thinks
G-BIAT left for New Zealand, where it
too became a static museum-piece.
He was not to be put off. “Like all
out-of-control collectors, you need
more stuff all the time. You stretch
your budget, you stretch your garden
shed to accommodate more aeroplanes,
manuals and associated bits that may
come in handy one day.
“I really wanted an original First
World War aeroplane, and when the
Wings and Wheels collection came up
for sale in America I gave Tim [Moore]
a budget and told him to go and buy
me the best aeroplane he could with
the money, with an order of preference
— Sopwith Camel, SE5a or the Pfalz.
I was shocked and appalled when he
a very derelict Nieuport 28, but that
it was good news because I had lots of
money left. I asked him, ‘Why? I didn’t
want that’. He said, ‘Well, it’s going
to give me lots of work to rebuild’. I
suppose I would have done the same,
perhaps, in his shoes. Skysport rebuilt
it, and again they did a beautiful job.
The power-to-weight ratio was so
high it would almost climb vertically.
It was just a stupendous aeroplane. A
hopelessly impractical aeroplane [see
‘Aeroplane meets… Stu Goldspink’ in
the August 2016 issue], but one that
I had no interest in flying at my level
of skill.”
By now, in the early 1990s, the first
of the Spitfires was almost ready to fly.
This was HFIXe TE566, MJ730 having
been sold. “Having been through a
couple of bad experiences with self-
styled Spitfire rebuilders, along came
Tim Routsis with Clive Denney and
their company, Historic Flying Ltd.
I recognised straight away that here
was a company that had turned the
familiar shoe-string barn operation into
a professional engineering concern.
During the course of the rebuild of
TE566, HFL became involved in
the big exchange [of the RAF’s gate
guardians] for the fibreglass Spitfires.
They had this really nice MkV, BM597,
which attracted me immediately. The
agreed plan was to finish the MkIX,
fly it for a bit, sell it, and then have the
MkV. That’s what we did.”
As John Allison took TE566 for its
maiden flight out of Audley End on
2 July 1992, many of Guy’s diverse
projects were overlapping. Fieseler
Fi 156C-3 Storch G-FIST, an ex-Italian
AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016
ABOVE: Aero Vintage’s first project, Sopwith Pup replica ‘N6160’/G-BIAT, before its ill-fated maiden flight at Old Warden. VIA GUY BLACK
ABOVE RIGHT: Fi 156C-3 Storch G-FIST coming in to land at Duxford, in the hands of John Romain. BEN DUNNELL
BELOW: The two HAC Spitfires, the newly restored LFVb BM597 — which initially had clipped wings — and HFIXe TE566, flying together
during 1998. The latter aircraft went to South Africa soon after. RICHARD PAVER

RIGHT: Guy just after his first Spitfire flight, in the Historic Aircraft Collection’s LFVb
BM597. RICHARD PAVER
BELOW RIGHT: A happy team at RAF Henlow after the first post-restoration flight of
Nimrod I S1581. Initially operated by HAC, it is now with The Fighter Collection. VIA GUY BLACK
BELOW: In the palace at Bikaner in late 1999, having made the incredible discovery of the
two stored DH9s. VIA GUY BLACK

AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016 www.aeroplanemonthly.com 61

 meets G UY BLACK

ABOVE: Dave Evans at

the controls of HAC’s
Nimrod II K3661.
RICHARD PAVER

ABOVE RIGHT: The

IWM’s DH9, D5649,
following its roll-out
ceremony at Duxford
during 2007.
PETER R. MARCH

RIGHT: Guy in the

gunner’s position of
Bristol F2B D7889
as it arrives over
Old Warden in July
2006 for one of its
two post-restoration
flying appearances.
Stu Goldspink was
piloting. RICHARD PAVER
BELOW: A 2010 shot
of Charlie Brown
and Dave Harvey in
HAC’s busiest aircraft,
Spitfire BM597 and
Hurricane ‘Z5140’
(since changed to
‘P3700’). RICHARD PAVER
BELOW RIGHT: Fury
I K5674 has been
displaying with HAC
since the start of the
2015 season. This is the
sole genuine surviving
example of the type
in the world, finished
in its original No 43
Squadron markings.
RICHARD PAVER

62 www.aeroplanemonthly.com AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016

Air Force example, was among them.
Unfortunately, the restoration ended
up costing vastly more than anticipated
and the aircraft had to be sold. After
just one display appearance, at Duxford
during October 1994, it went to the
Italian Air Force Museum, sadly never
to fly again.
“I think a lot of people believe we
have an unlimited budget, but that
was never the case. Things have to be
sold or money earned to finance other
acquisitions. The amount of money
we could otherwise spend would be
limitless. We decided very early on that
if we had a compromised budget to
maintain the flying aeroplanes, it would
be time to stop or reduce the number.
The day also is fast approaching when
we will simply be too old to continue
and a new generation of owners will
have to be sought.”
Then there was Bristol F2B D7889,
acquired in 1987. “That was a rather
odd, fortuitous occurrence. The
Shuttleworth Collection were desperate
for a Spitfire V radiator, theirs having
been over-pressurised and burst during
routine testing. I advised them that I
had a serviceable one and that I’d swap
it for a derelict Bristol Fighter fuselage
that, I had spotted in an Aeroplane
article, was stored in their barn off-site.
So a deal was agreed.
“I went there with my car trailer
to load it up. They wouldn’t let me
in the barn, because it was ‘secret’
and we did not know each other very
well then, so I waited there and they
brought out this fuselage. I started
tying it on, but they said, ‘Hang on,
you can’t tie it on yet. There’s still the
wings and everything else to come’.
I wasn’t expecting that. They loaded
on a complete set of good wings,
still with fabric; tail surfaces, struts,
undercarriage — loads of parts big and
small. It was hard not to jump up and
down with joy.
“A Bristol Fighter project was an
exciting development: a sensible
aeroplane, a two-seater, and an original
First World War aircraft at that. The
only problem was that there wasn’t an
engine with it. I searched around the
world and there seemed to be about
six surviving Falcon engines, all in
situations that I’d never extract them
from. I needed to find a seventh one.
“At that time I had developed a quite
a good relationship with the Brussels
Air Museum, where they had this
amazing cellar stuffed full of materiel
from the First World War. They pulled
out this engine, which turned out to be
a Falcon, though it had been damaged
in a crash. They agreed to exchange it
for a Rolls-Royce Kestrel engine, which
at the time I had no use for, and a
Gnome rotary engine I also had.”
Aero Vintage was now doing much
more of the restorations itself. When
Guy started acquiring his outstanding
Hawker collection, work stepped up a
gear. “I thought they were some of the
most beautiful biplanes ever built, but
AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016
there weren’t any in private ownership.
I heard of an Audax on a mountain in
Scotland, which I laboriously trekked
up to see. What a walk that was. There
wasn’t much left of it, and the owners
of the estate wouldn’t let us take it
away. I then found another Audax in a
scrapyard in Cheshire.
“I had a trawl through the RAF
Museum stores, and they said they had
surplus to requirements a rear fuselage
and tail section of a Hawker biplane
that had been turned into something
called the ‘Foo’, a ground-running
contraption resembling an aeroplane of
sorts on which RAF students learned
the art of taxiing, with a car engine
connected to a crude propeller. On
the back end was faintly stencilled the
serial number of the donor aeroplane.
We were able to trace it back to
being a Hawker Demon, K8203,
and so a trade was agreed. I started
accumulating many more bits together,
such as the remains of a Hector and
some wing panels.
“About this time I had a call from
a chap in South Africa asking if I was
interested in a Fury… he sent me a
tantalising photograph of this fuselage
covered in brambles. I shot out there,
but we had fruitless journeys looking
for it. I even hired an aeroplane
and flew it around, roughly where
he thought it was. He’d produced a
whole lot of Hawker biplane bits and
pieces he’d found on this farm, but
he couldn’t remember where it was. I
began to suspect that there was more to
this story than met the eye.
❖ Austin Seven. He also had a spare and
“I had to go back several times to
South Africa to try and find it, and
eventually I did without his help, on a
farm. It was an estate sale, so I had to
buy all the scrap from the farm. There
were a number of derelict aeroplanes,
some rare and some not so rare. I made
sure the Fury remains were loaded up,
but then I had to abandon it because
we had to catch an aeroplane home”.
Guy had hired some locals, but things
didn’t go entirely to plan. “I said,
‘There’s a mineshaft. Everything with
a circle sprayed on it goes down there.
‘I had to go back several times to South
Africa to find the Fury. Eventually I did,
on a farm. I had to buy all the scrap’
Everything with a square on it goes
in the container’. Unfortunately, they
got in a muddle. They threw down the
mineshaft the rare stuff, and I ended
up with a lot of scrap as well as the
Fury remains…
“It was on that trip that I acquired
the Hawker tube squaring rolls, from
a wonderful scrapyard run by a Jewish
rabbi. It was filled with the most
fabulous bits of antique machinery.
In the accompanying shop were racks
and racks of military stores going right
back to the Boer War. In the window
were these weight training barbells,
and on the end of them were little discs
of grooved steel. I said to my wife,
‘These look remarkably like Hawker
tube squaring rolls, but I can’t believe
they are’. I looked at the end of one
of these rolls, and there was a Hawker
inspection stamp with a Hawker part
number. He had many more of these in
a back room, almost two complete sets.
From a photograph of the original one
we constructed our own machine.”
That chance discovery proved crucial
to all the Hawker biplane airframe work
by Aero Vintage and Retrotec that has
followed. Without it, the projects may
have been impossible.
“The Fury sparked a contact with
George Neal in Canada. He wrote to us
out of the blue saying he needed some
Fairey fasteners, because he was building
a Fury. I asked whether he had a basis
for it, and he told me he had a Hind.
I’d been looking for this ‘missing’ Hind
for the last 20 years. It was one of the
two that Canada had apparently been
gifted from Afghanistan — they had
last choice, so they were allowed to pick
two aeroplanes. A simple solution to a
mystery. George restored the first one,
and in exchange they let him keep the
second aeroplane. Now, the only thing
a Hind and a Fury have in common
is that they were both powered by a
Rolls-Royce Kestrel and were made
by Hawkers. Otherwise, it’s a bit like
converting a Rolls-Royce hearse into an
superb Kestrel IIS, and a complicated
deal was done whereby we supplied him
with a basic ‘kit’ for a replica but totally
authentic Fury in exchange for the
Hind project and engine.
“I learned that Mike Cookman was
trying to build a Hawker Typhoon, and
he had found a Hawker biplane fuselage
which he was going to use as a source
of small parts for his project. It was a
Nimrod II fuselage, which he’d bought
from the RAF Museum when they
cleared out their RAF Henlow store. I
bought it from him, for not very much
money. It had no identity at that stage.”
On the hunt for more Nimrod
or Fury parts, Guy went to see Viv
Bellamy, having heard that he had some
parts from a Nimrod as well. “Indeed
he had. In fact, he had at one time the
remains of a whole aeroplane, which
he had acquired from Coley’s famous
scrapyard in Hounslow, but now he
had just the remains of the fuselage and
tail unit. The rest he had given to the
ð
www.aeroplanemonthly.com 63
 meets G UY BLACK
RAF Museum. That was a Nimrod I,
not a Nimrod II, but it came with the
oil tank, which had ‘S81’ on it. Viv
told me that in the Fleet Air Arm they
would paint on the larger components
which aircraft it came from — crudely,
with a 1in brush. In this case it was
‘S81’, meaning that it must be Nimrod
S1581 as no other Nimrod had this
series of numbers. Shortly after this
we found amongst the debris the brass
Hawker ID plate of the aircraft, which
confirmed the identity.
“Things became even more
interesting, because I was trawling
through another store at the RAF
Museum and I found the wings from
this aircraft and some other tail parts,
as well as a pair of upper wings from
a Nimrod II. Suddenly a more or less
complete Nimrod project existed —
another trade was agreed.
“About this time, I learned from an
Aeroplane article of a display case at
the Hawkinge museum that had an
instrument panel from a Nimrod with
its data plate still attached, the control
column and a load of other stuff. I
went to see — the now late — Mike
Llewellyn, who ran the museum, and
asked where it all came from. He said
they had recovered the whole aeroplane
once, but had passed the larger bits
to the RAF Museum. The complete
aircraft had been dumped near a river
north of Ashford, just next to an Air
Training Corps unit, who had it as an
instructional airframe. I acquired the
whole lot from him, as he still had a
shed full of smaller parts. Now two fully
identifiable Hawker Nimrod projects
had been brought back together.
“Having also a very good Hind
project, we really had a surfeit of
Hawker biplanes, and so I found
a buyer for the Demon: a retired
RAF pilot, Howell Davis. He then
commissioned a rebuild”. That was
eventually undertaken by Skysport,
though, as Guy says, “I helped
them with spars, and other Hawker
technology that we’d re-invented.”
Spitfire LFVb BM597 took to the
air in July 1997. The following year,
Guy — who had plenty of Chipmunk
experience, as well as time in a Harvard
and a Yak-11 — made his first ‘Spit’
‘I’m ruthlessly fastidious about
authenticity. It has to be right; that’s the
theme that runs through all our work’
flight in it. “My first impression was
how noisy and how powerful the thing
was. It took off easily enough, and
by the time I the undercarriage was
raised it felt like I was half-way to the
moon. I couldn’t keep up with it, it
was so quick. It was one of the most
exhilarating experiences of my life. I
went to the back of Duxford, having a
lot of fun with it. But then that awful
64 www.aeroplanemonthly.com
moment came when you think, ‘I’ve got on the fabric on the two rudders, were
to land this thing next… or crash. There D5649 and E8894. The extremely rare
is no alternative. Siddeley Puma engines had, however,
“I slightly messed up the landing, vanished.
because [HAC chief pilot] Charlie Sadly, the termites had first pickings.
Brown said I should turn finals when I “One wing had its original fabric, and
was abreast the runway, so by the time almost looked as if it was ready to go
I straightened out it was time to flare. again. I lifted it up, there was a rustling
Well, of course, I turned on the wrong sound and it ended up as a pile of dust
runway. I was about 200m too far in a fabric sack, rather like a bean-bag.
downwind, so by the time I came to the We arrived almost too late. Another
grass runway I couldn’t see the ground five years and there would have been
and didn’t know how high I was. I nothing left.
probably flared with the wheels 6in or so “The widow of the maharaja was in
above the ground, which doesn’t sound residence, a pleasant and cultured lady.
much, but is enough to make it bounce She offered us tea and Dundee cake
rather alarmingly. It lurched from one and assessed whether we passed muster.
wheel to the other and I thought I was After lengthy deliberations the family
going to crash. But I managed to keep agreed to sell the remains, but for an
it straight, and, as they say, it’s a good outrageous amount of money, having
landing if you walk away from it.” admitted that the remains were about
His trip in BM597 proved timely. to be burned anyway.”
“Already at that stage I had a creeping Despite the type’s historical
bone infection in my leg, and that pretty significance, no DH9s had survived
much put an end to my flying career in Britain. Now two would be
in marginal aviation”. But it barely returning to these shores. “I was quite
slowed Guy down. As planned, TE566 ill then”, says Guy. “I fell off a ladder
was sold, going to South Africa during and wrecked my leg, which became
1998 and sadly being lost in an accident infected, so Andy Saunders [aviation
there four years later. The first of the archaeologist and now editor of our
Hawker biplanes to fly was Nimrod I sister publication Britain at War] very
S1581 in July 2000 — while it left the kindly volunteered to go out there
HAC fleet a little while afterwards, it with his wife Zoe and a good friend
didn’t go far, moving along the row of of mine, Mike Stallwood [a military
Duxford hangars to join The Fighter vehicle dealer], to recover it. That was
Collection in exchange for Hurricane a huge adventure”. Andy and Guy’s
XIIa G-HURI. forthcoming book will tell the whole
story.
❖ It was decided that Retrotec would
embark on two DH9 restorations,
All the while, Guy remained on one to flying condition, the other
the lookout for further rare historic static. Given that DH9s were based
aeroplanes in far-flung locations. The at RAF Duxford, the Imperial War
discovery in India of two Airco DH9s Museum’s collection seemed an obvious
stands as a crowning achievement. “A destination for the static airframe.
backpacker wandered into Historic “After five years of bullying by me”,
Flying with a map and said, ‘Just there Guy recalls, “they came and inspected
are the remains of some First World the remains, agreed to buy the project
War aircraft’. He didn’t know what they and commission the rebuild. Part
were, or anything about them. Historic of the deal involved us receiving the
Flying said they weren’t interested, but IWM’s Me 163 Komet, which was
I managed to establish that there was sold to Paul Allen’s Flying Heritage
actually some truth to this report. My Collection. A further sum was raised
wife Janice and I went out there on an from the Sir James Knott Trust, created
extended holiday.” to commemorate two sons killed in the
Eventually they reached their trenches in World War One.
objective: the city of Bikaner, in “A lot of the original wood was
unusable for the flying aircraft, but
we were able to use a high percentage
in the non-flyer because we could fill
termite holes with epoxy resin, for
example. We were very aware that
this was a conservation exercise of the
highest order. The private sphere of
aircraft conservation at the present time
is some way ahead of the state one”. It
Rajasthan province. Specifically, the was a proud moment when D5649 was
aircraft — both Imperial Gift airframes rolled out into the sunshine at IWM
— were stored in Junagarh Fort, where Duxford in April 2007.
a third DH9 had been given a less- The airworthy DH9 project,
than-authentic restoration and put on meanwhile, remained in the early
display. “I couldn’t believe my eyes when stages. Finding a suitable Puma engine
I saw them. It was just unreal. There was a story in itself. This started when
was a great pile of stuff: about 10 wings, the Bristol Fighter, which flew briefly
and lots more, with two very distinct in 2006, had to be grounded soon
identities”. The serials, still to be seen afterwards due to the failure of the
AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016
chromed cylinder liner, subsequently
going to the Canada Aviation and
Space Museum in a trade. “The
Canadians had a 200hp engine,
which was used in equal numbers to
the Puma in DH9s and was almost
identical to the Puma. It became an
extremely rare find, the only other
one being in the Science Museum. I
had also a growing interest in German
aeroplanes, and I thought a Heinkel
He 162 would be an exciting thing to
see flying, so we agreed an exchange.
I received several other rare engines in
the deal.”
He 162A-2 Werknummer 120076
duly arrived at Retrotec’s premises.
Investigations showed that the project
was feasible, but Guy says, “I thought,
‘This isn’t going to end up as the
same aeroplane’. The Heinkel was so
perfectly preserved, even down to the
paper labels in the cockpit. Everything
was there, but it would have been
quite wrong to disturb this amazing
timewarp. So it was sold to fund the
rebuild of the DH9”. The He 162
is now displayed in the Deutsches
Technikmuseum Berlin.
Gradually, more of the Hawker
biplanes gained air under their
wheels — Nimrod II K3661 during
2006, Fury I K5674 six years later.
These, the Spitfire V and Hurricane
form HAC’s current Duxford-based
airworthy fleet, with DH9 E8894 set
to join them in 2017. The rebuild of
Roy Palmer’s Sopwith Pup N6161 is
nearing completion too, and it awaits
test-flying. Thus far unrestored Hind
L7181 is stored at Duxford, while
Audax K5600 and Yak-1 1342 — an
early 1990s recovery from Russia
— make gradual progress in Sussex,
where Retrotec is striving to re-convert
MS505 Criquet G-BPHZ back to
flying condition with a V8 Argus
as originally fitted when it was an
MS500.
And this is before we get on to
another mouth-watering prospect: a
1940 combat veteran Messerschmitt
Bf 109E-1/B, Werknummer
4034. Registered G-CDTI, this
project is well under way, but out
of the limelight. Serving with 8./
JG 53, the fighter force-landed
outside Canterbury on 2 November
1940. Later gifted to the Nizam of
Hyderabad in recognition of his
financial support for Nos 152 and 253
Squadrons during the Battle of Britain,
it wound up in a technical college in
Gulbarga, India, latterly being dumped
on the college rubbish tip where it was
spotted by an enthusiast. After passing
through several hands it was sold to
Rare Aero Ltd. They commissioned
Retrotec to start a ‘sympathetic’
restoration, but only after the question
of a restorable engine was resolved, as
parts are extremely scarce.
Having located an unused engine
that had been found buried under a
hangar floor in Germany — with bad
magnesium castings, but with all the
AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016
steel parts in perfect, as-new condition
— Retrotec has manufactured new
magnesium castings and is well on Aero Vintage Spares can offer tens of
the way to restoring the engine. Being thousands of original aircraft spare parts
able to use the original crankcase and and high-quality reproduction items — for
cylinder block set is perhaps a first for details, visit www.aerovintagespares.com.
a Bf 109E with the mainly original On the Historic Aircraft Collection’s Facebook
DB601A engine it was last flown with. page can be found information on the
They were made of aluminium and not monthly ‘At Home with HAC’ events held
magnesium, so they survived well. at Duxford, including pilot talks, close-up
Great expertise is required for the
aircraft access and more.
sort of projects Retrotec undertakes.
One of the perennial problems is
keeping hold of good people once
they’ve been trained. Given that, the
Lithuanian husband and wife pairing
of Arvydas and Alina, who joined the
company some years ago, have been
worth their weight in gold. Experts
in wood and fabric work, trained
in such skills under the Soviet Air
Force, people with their talents are
rare indeed. The rest of the team has
decades of experience in engineering,
some going back to the Lynx days.
Guy himself brings to this business
an outlook different to many. “Firstly, I
know I’m not cleverer than the original
designer and manufacturer. There’s
no point trying to be. If you have an
engineering problem, then deal with
it as a production manufacturing
exercise. It has to be made or repaired
as the original design, because no-one
can design today better than that for
that particular era of aeroplane. It’s just
the way it is: are we restoring original
aircraft as they were, or are we making
a replica to a modern and better
design standard? So we have the right
steel made if necessary, by the correct
process. For the Hawker polygonal
spars, the roll-form tools were designed
and made to produce hundreds of
yards of Hawker biplane spar material
the same way as Hawkers did.”
There’s a lot of side-work for other
companies, too. The latest challenge is
to restore a Tempest fuselage for Weald
Aviation, which has defeated several
restoration experts so far.
“My background is in design,
production and manufacturing”,
continues Guy, “and that really is
the key to how we have developed
Retrotec. The business is laid out like
a manufacturing factory rather than
a maintenance facility, and our CAA
approvals — A8-21 — reflect this.
Visitors often ask us why we are not at
an airfield; I point out that the need for
an airfield comes when our work ends. TOP: An image that sums up the diverse range of
Guy’s engineering interests. Next to him is one of
“I’m ruthlessly fastidious about the Lynx D-Type replicas, specifically an example
authenticity. It has to be right; that’s in which several speed records were set. It is now,
the main theme that runs through all appropriately enough, in the hands of a Spitfire
our aircraft restoration work. They owner. On the left can be seen Roy Palmer’s
have to be absolutely right as they Sopwith Pup, which has since been moved to
would have been, in every respect. Duxford for flight testing. VIA GUY BLACK
This obsession has become worse
over time, and has become quite an MIDDLE: Guy in the workshop at Retrotec’s
Westfield premises with one of the company’s
expensive obsession. I don’t know if employees, Simon Knight. BEN DUNNELL
many people really care — that’s an
interesting discussion — but certainly ABOVE: Work on Bf 109E-1/B Werknummer
I do. Whether it is an incurable illness 4034/G-CDTI has commenced recently. Behind the
or not, that’s all that matters to fuselage here can be seen that of Hawker Audax
me — utter perfection.” K5600/G-BVVI. BEN DUNNELL
www.aeroplanemonthly.com 65
 A I R CR E W: CON VA IR ‘PO G O’

CONVAIR
‘POGO’ PILOT
T
he sheer variety of
aerospace development in
the 1950s, spurred by the
Cold War and the
opening-up of the globe, was arguably
the greatest expansion of aviation in
history. Of course, many trials proved
to be dead ends, and among them was
the tail-sitter VTOL (vertical take-off
and landing) aircraft developed for the
American military. The Convair
XFY-1, nicknamed the ‘Pogo’, was
intended for the US Navy who wanted
a VTOL shipboard self-protection
aircraft.
The ‘Pogo’ was powered by an
Allison YT-40-A-14 turboprop engine
turning 16ft-diameter, three-blade,
Curtiss-Wright electrically controlled
counter-rotating propellers. Take-off
power was 7,100eshp, in excess of the
normal maximum of 5,500eshp.
It is an axiom that taking off and
flying are often easier than getting
back down safely, and the XFY-1
showed the truth of that. Take-off and
the transition to horizontal flight

RIGHT: The flight

capability of the
XFY-1 was limited,
but it proved
remarkably fast,
outpacing several
chase aircraft.

FAR RIGHT: The

remarkable sight of
the ‘Pogo’ in the
vertical hover.

66 www.aeroplanemonthly.com AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016


simply involved nosing over after a
prop-powered vertical ascent, though
there were some interesting mechanical
interconnections. Test pilot James F.
‘Skeets’ Coleman said: “I push the stick
forward, nosing the ‘Pogo’ over. At the
same time I ease the seat backwards so
I’ll be sitting comfortably instead of
leaning forward. The hatch closes
automatically.”
Landing, however, required two
major phases. Firstly, there was a zoom
climb from horizontal flight to vertical,
gaining unwanted height and time
before a careful, slow, reverse down to
the ground. This second phase meant
the pilot had to estimate both his
proximity to the ground and his rate of
descent — through his own turbulence
— while looking over his shoulder.
Initially there were no instruments or
altimeters that could indicate the
proximity or speed precisely enough,
though the Ryan Aeronautical
Company came up with one that was
later fitted to the ‘Pogo’.
‘Skeets’ — who was awarded the
Harmon Trophy in 1954 for
successfully manoeuvring the aircraft
from take-off, through horizontal
flight, to landing — developed a
AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016
process to slow down and transition at
low altitude: “I make a normal
approach until I’m down to about 50ft.
Then I start jockeying the throttle, at
the same time pulling the nose higher
and higher. Slowly I pull the ‘Pogo’ into
a nose-up attitude. I can stop anywhere
during this change.”
Initial flights were undertaken
tethered in the airship hangar at
Moffett Field, California, ‘Skeets’
simply calling “catch me” if things were
getting out of his control, whereupon
the winch operator triggered the brake
to stop him falling. What was
interesting was that his iterative
training programme wasn’t chosen for
Convair test pilot Johnny Knebel, who
only flew the very basic thrust balance
rig and took a briefing from Coleman.
This resulted in several “unplanned
manoeuvres”. The third pilot on type,
C. E. Myers, decided to undertake
landings by observing the horizon
rather than looking down. This method
proved effective for final descent.
But getting the ‘Pogo’ ready to
operate at sea, sometimes at night and
in inclement weather, was not going to
happen. It and its competitor, the
Lockheed XFV-1 (known as the
Aircrew
A
Aii rcrew
WORDS: JAMES KIGHTLY
ARTWORK: IAN BOTT
(www.ianbottillustration.co.uk)
View from the office…
The cockpit was conventional for the era, although the
controls for a turboprop were unusual. The main difference
was the larger-than-average canopy, which was locked aft
and open for take-off and landing, and the ejection seat,
which tilted to different angles on the ground and in the
air on the pilot’s command. The windscreen bow had two
large handles, vital for the pilot’s entry, and an attachment
on the right for an escape rope. No-one had confidence in
the ejection seat, so it was disarmed.
RIGHT: A conventional cockpit
for an unconventional aircraft.
BELOW: The awkward seat
position is evident here.
I was there…
Test pilot ‘Skeets’ Coleman
“No-one wanted to fly it; there were no volunteers. It was
a developmental powerplant, it was a developmental
airplane, a developmental concept. It’s pretty hard to tie all
of those together without having
a lot of risk.”
“As I climb in, I ease into the seat.
I lie down, much as you might in
a lounge chair. Actually, the back
is about 30 degrees above the
horizontal. Getting buckled in is
the toughest part of the flight. Try
putting on your suspenders while
lying on your back. I check the
controls, and ground workers roll
the ladder away.”
“Right now I’ve got my hands full
learning to fly a machine that’s ABOVE: James
ABOVE J FF. ‘Skeets’
‘Sk t ’
both the world’s slowest and Coleman, first of the
fastest propellered aeroplane.” ‘Pogo’s’ test pilots.
WANT TO KNOW MORE?
The sole ‘Pogo’ to have flown successfully is in store with the
Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum. There are
accounts online of the aircraft’s history, as well as several
films of the machine in action. The definitive work on the
aircraft is No 28 in Steve Ginter’s ‘Naval Fighters’ series.
‘Salmon’) — which never managed a
vertical take-off or landing — showed
that sometimes the technology
required, and the risks, were
just too much for the time.
www.aeroplanemonthly.com 67
 F LYI NG BU LLS SYCA MOR E

BRISTOL
The world again has
an airworthy Bristol
Sycamore helicopter,
courtesy of the

FASHION
Flying Bulls, and
what a marvellous
machine it is
WORDS: BEN DUNNELL

68 www.aeroplanemonthly.com AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016

 T
he cabin sways gently on
its wheels as the nine-
cylinder Alvis Leonides
powerplant comes to life.
It takes a while for the main and tail
rotors to get up to speed, by which
time the machine can be heard to
generate a distinctive engine note
AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016
not unlike, in the words of its pilot,
a Harley-Davidson. Final pre-flight
checks complete, and the world’s only
airworthy Bristol Sycamore is ready to
take to the skies once more.
This is a truly remarkable survivor,
a piece of British aviation heritage
cherished far from home. In the
Salzburg-based Flying Bulls, the ABOVE: Sycamore
Sycamore has found a custodian best HR52 OE-XSY of
able to cope with the considerable the Flying Bulls
demands of restoring and operating airborne near
Salzburg.
an early historic helicopter. Before HELGE KIRCHBERGER/
arriving in Austria, it spent its days in RED BULL CONTENT POOL
Switzerland, another country where
the type has no service background.
ð
www.aeroplanemonthly.com 69
 F LYI NG BU LLS SYCA MOR E
ABOVE: Siegfried How fortunate that enthusiasm for
‘Blacky’ Schwarz charismatic old aeroplanes transcends
with the Sycamore the boundaries of their original
outside Salzburg’s operation.
impressive
Hangar-7. As far as the Flying Bulls were
JÜRGEN SKARWAN/
concerned, it all started with a letter.
RED BULL CONTENT POOL The writer was Dieter Hasebrink,
a vastly experienced helicopter
technician who for many years had
looked after the Sycamore for its
previous owner, Swiss vineyard owner
and pilot Peter Schmid. Hasebrink’s
acquaintance with the machine began
during the early 1960s, when he was
starting his Luftwaffe career. The
recipient, meanwhile, was Siegfried
Schwarz. The Flying Bulls’ chief pilot
for helicopters, ‘Blacky’ is a notably
seasoned exponent of most things
rotary-wing. His entirely civilian
background takes in everything
from rescue work to award-winning
freestyle aerobatics in the Red Bull-
backed MBB Bo 105s.
‘We took two of the oldest rotor blades to
the Technical University of Graz, where
they tested them for two days. They were
actually in very good condition’
Even so, Schwarz was less than
enthusiastic back in 2007 when
he opened Hasebrink’s missive. It
informed him that the Sycamore was
available for purchase, and wondered
whether the Flying Bulls might like to
buy it. “I didn’t like the idea of flying
such an old helicopter”, ‘Blacky’ says.
“But one year later we met at the
big ILA airshow in Berlin, and we
70 www.aeroplanemonthly.com
talked about it for one or two hours.
The next year I was at the Aero show
at Friedrichshafen, and he was also
there with the Sycamore. He brought
it on a trailer as it wasn’t flying any
more. I had about two hours of
Sycamore exploration, sitting in it
and everything. When I got the full
story behind it, I started to like the
aircraft.”
❖
Schwarz was convinced. He now
asked his bosses at the Flying Bulls
whether they would be interested
in buying the historic Bristol. The
answer: yes. A deal was concluded
with Peter Schmid, and in November
2010 the Sycamore, still on the Swiss
register as HB-RXB, was moved by
road to Hangar-8 at Salzburg Airport,
the Flying Bulls’ maintenance base.
With the potential flyer came five
other airframes and “an incredible
amount of spare parts, like 80 rotor
blades and six or seven engines”.
Dieter Hasebrink was brought in to
head up the restoration effort.
Despite that, and the care and
attention lavished on the Sycamore
by Peter Schmid, getting the
1957-vintage aeroplane back into the
air would be no easy task. Crucial to
the whole effort was the condition of
the wooden rotor blades. “I was really
concerned about that”, says ‘Blacky’.
“We took two of the oldest rotor
blades to the Technical University of
Graz, where they have a moving test
stand and can do every kind of test.
They did it for two days — bending
the blades, making vibrations,
recording everything.”
Only when the blades broke was
this phase of the testing complete.
Thankfully the findings were good,
proving that the blades were able to
withstand loads three times those
expected. “They were actually in very
good condition”, Schwarz recalls. But
this was only the first step. “On all
the other blades we didn’t know if
the glue was still fixed, because you
can’t see inside them. So we bought a
sort of scanner”. With the necessary
parameters programmed into a
computer, it is possible to conduct
detailed internal surveys. Such is the
investment the Flying Bulls are able
to make.
With no other Sycamores flying,
nor pilots current on type, the
Austrian airworthiness authorities —
HB-RXB having been re-registered
AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016
as OE-XSY — had to be sure that
‘Blacky’ was suitably well-versed in
the aircraft’s intricacies prior to the
start of flight-testing. “I did talk to
a few old Sycamore pilots”, he says.
“One was a British pilot who had
flown Sycamores in Borneo. He obtained from Austro Control a ABOVE: The
was visiting Hangar-7 [the Flying test pilot’s licence, enabling him to test-flying
Bulls’ main public display facility at undertake the programme himself. programme
Salzburg Airport], and I got to meet The lack of Sycamore instructors and for the world’s
sole airworthy
him”. It was also possible to tap into examiners made this the only practical Sycamore was
Peter Schmid’s experience. Schwarz solution! understandably
extensive.
PATRICK SCHWIENBACHER/
RED BULL CONTENT POOL

LEFT: ‘Blacky’
Schwarz had to
familiarise himself
with the Sycamore
and its systems
before test-flying
began.
HELGE KIRCHBERGER/
RED BULL CONTENT POOL

71
 F LYI NG BU LLS SYCA MOR E

RIGHT: The
Sycamore on
display for the
first time at this
September’s
AirPower 16 show.
BEN DUNNELL

FAR RIGHT: A look

inside the engine
compartment at
the 550hp Alvis
Leonides. After a
few problems when
the overhauled
powerplant was
first delivered back
to the Flying Bulls,
it is now running
superbly.
HELGE KIRCHBERGER/
RED BULL CONTENT POOL

72 www.aeroplanemonthly.com AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016


Eventually, on 2 July 2013, all
was ready for the first — tentative
— take-off. “Of course it was quite
an exciting moment”, says ‘Blacky’.
“All the Sycamore pilots I met told
me that when you lift off you have to
keep the cyclic to the right. When I
made the first lift-off I put the cyclic
to the right, but I was too slow to get
it back [to the neutral position] again,
maybe three or four seconds. After
five seconds it was no problem to
keep it in the air.”
There followed an extensive
flight test effort, conforming to the
programme laid down with Austro
Control. “At first it was just five
hours of hovering, with a detailed
programme of increasing the speed
to 30kt, slowing down and so on.
After that we did about 10 hours
of normal flight testing —
AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016
LEFT: Hopefully this very fine
Bristol helicopter has a long flying
future ahead of it.
HELGE KIRCHBERGER/RED BULL CONTENT POOL
autorotations, emergency procedures
and everything else.”
The process concluded on 28
January this year, when the Sycamore
was given its full Austrian permit to
fly. The helicopter’s public debut
was saved until early September,
when it flew as one of the stars of the
huge AirPower 16 show at Zeltweg
(see page 96). Since then it has
attended a couple of other events in
Austria.
The Flying Bulls have re-applied
to OE-XSY the No 32 Squadron,
RAF scheme put on the aircraft
during Peter Schmid’s ownership,
with serial XG545. It used to wear
XG544, the identity of one of the last
two Sycamores retired by the RAF
in August 1972; the real XG545,
meanwhile, was lost in a non-fatal
ditching incident in the North Sea
off Happisburgh, Norfolk during July
1957.
❖ ended up being registered as D-HALD in 1972, and was
Siegfried Schwarz now has more
than 30 hours on the Sycamore. “It’s
very difficult to fly”, he comments,
“because you have a lot of forces on
the cyclic and collective. It’s nothing
like a modern helicopter. You have big
trim-wheels, and you have to transfer
fluid between the nose and the tail
to keep the centre of gravity within
limits. But I like it very much. I’ve
just flown it for a leg of two hours
17 minutes [in attending a show at
Hohenems in the far west of Austria]
without any problems. Everything
runs perfectly.
“Every 10 flight hours we take the
rotor blades off the helicopter and
our technicians scan every millimetre
of them, so we can be sure that the
insides are still OK. We don’t want to
place too much load on the blades, so
we are very careful.”
While it is highly appropriate for
the Sycamore to fly in Austria, given
the fact that its designer Raoul Hafner
was an Austrian émigré, it would of
course be a delight to see it in British
skies. ‘Blacky’ thinks so too, and is
currently examining the possibility of
bringing it over to some UK airshows
in the summer of 2017. Looking
further ahead, it may be possible
to re-fit a winch to add an extra
dimension to its displays.
Early helicopters can be complex
beasts, requiring much care, attention
and investment if they are to be
kept active. No wonder so few still
fly. For the Flying Bulls to have
rejuvenated this Sycamore is cause
for great celebration. It is, without
doubt, among the finest and most
charismatic historic aeroplanes
airworthy today.
A SURVIVOR’S
STORY
Of 178 civilian Bristol 171s and military Sycamores built,
69 were for export. By far the type’s biggest overseas
customer was West Germany. It took 50 Sycamore
Mk52s, mainly for the Luftwaffe though some also went
to the Marineflieger, the naval air arm.
Among them was c/n 13475, which emerged from
Bristol’s Banwell factory near Weston-super-Mare
in 1957 with temporary B Conditions registration
G-18-148. Its Luftwaffe service began as a VIP transport
with the Flugbereitschaft BMVg at Cologne-Wahn,
carrying serial CA+328. This changed several times as
it passed between different operators, among them
training unit Flugzeugführerschule ‘S’ at Memmingen
and Fassberg, and the 2. Luftrettungsstaffel (Air
Rescue Squadron) at Lechfeld. It spent a period on
Marineflieger strength with the Kiel-Holtenau-based
Marine- und Seenotgeschwader. Back with the Luftwaffe
and serialled 78+17, the airframe was struck off military
charge during 1969.
Some of the retired Sycamores found a ready market
in West Germany. A number were flown by the state
of Niedersachsen’s fire department air service, the
Feuerwehr-Flugdienst, while others went to Nord-
Helikopter at Peine-Eddesse and Luftrettungsdienst
(Air Rescue Service) Düsseldorf. Sycamore c/n 13475
acquired by Karl Müller of Mellinghausen. This farmer
and pilot established a firm called Hubschrauber-
Flugdienst to operate the Bristol helicopters in a variety
of roles. It gradually took on more of the German
civilian Sycamores, and built up quite a sizeable fleet.
Clearly, though, these veteran machines could not
carry on earning their keep forever. After a period of
storage, D-HALD — by now painted bright green — was
bought during 1988 by Swiss vineyard owner Peter
Schmid of Berneck. He also acquired a second example
for airworthy operation, red ex-fire brigade aircraft
D-HELM, together with further airframes for spares use.
D-HALD was flown to its new home at Altenrhein
on Lake Constance in August 1988. It was later re-
registered HB-RXB, and painted in RAF markings as
XG544. Sadly the former D-HELM, which became
HB-RXA, did not enjoy such a long flying career in
Schmid’s hands. During 1992 it suffered a roll-over
accident on landing, though it was repaired to become
a static exhibit. This left HB-RXB as the world’s final
airworthy Sycamore, operated for many years from the
Fliegermuseum Altenrhein as Peter Schmid’s pride
and joy.
When he decided to sell it, some predicted that a
Bristol 171 might never fly again. Thanks to the Flying
Bulls, they were wrong.
ABOVE: An early display for Sycamore D-HALD in
Peter Schmid’s ownership was at the 1989 La Ferté
Alais show. ANDREW MARCH
www.aeroplanemonthly.com 73
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DATABASE POLIKARPOV U-2/Po-2 WORDS: MIKHAIL MASLOV

| Development | In Service | Technical Details | Insights

ABOVE: A standard Polikarpov U-2VS, coded 20, in flight. 17

IN-DEPTH
Page 76 POLIKARPOV’S REMARKABLE CREATION PAGES

Page 82 FROM TRAINER TO WARTIME WORKHORSEE

Page 88 A RESTORER’S PERSPECTIVE
Page 90 FLYING THE SOVIET ‘SLOW-PACER’

AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016 www.aeroplanemonthly.com 75

 Developpment
How Nikolai
T
his aircraft, known as the general public and widely used. feverish war years functioning
the U-2 from 1927 Employment of the U-2 as a night without it.
and as the Po-2 after bomber throughout the Great More than 30,000 U-2s were
Polikarpov the death of designer
Nikolai Polikarpov in 1944, boasts
Patriotic War became the aircraft’s
most impressive role. In fact, this
manufactured in just over 20 years
from 1929. They underwent dozens

created one the most complete official history

of any Soviet type. A factor of no
small significance here is that the
unpretentious biplane turned
out to be such an indispensable
governmental asset that it is almost
of modifications, and left behind a
vast history of operations.
The appearance of a new Soviet
of the most U-2 never belonged to the ‘secret
list’. It was known extensively to
impossible to imagine the Soviet
military apparatus during the
biplane trainer was expected as early
as 1923-24. Initially the gap was

important
aircraft in
Soviet history

76 www.aeroplanemonthly.com AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016


filled by production of a copy of
the British Avro 504K, under the
designation U-1. This was brought
about by the successful purchase
of approximately 4,000 Le Rhône
rotary engines in France. The said
units had been stored since the First
World War in two depots in the
Paris suburbs, and their owner had
a great desire to sell them. Military
pilot Leonid Minov, sent to France
as an adviser on aviation materiel
orders in 1925, managed to buy the
Le Rhônes at a price almost equal
to that of scrap metal. As a result,
the stock of engines for the U-1s
became sufficient for years to come.
The manufacture of such aircraft
continued until the late 1920s.
At the same time, the air force
command recognised that the
BELOW: The first prototype U-2, with a rectangular wing utilising the Prandtl aerofoil, during testing in June 1927.
AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016
POLIKARPOV U-2/Po-2
U-1 was not quite up to the
requirements for the primary
training role. It was able to perform
all the required evolutions; however,
it demanded considerable attention
to control, and did not forgive
any piloting mistakes. The need to
design a dedicated platform only
heightened.
On 23 August 1924, the Air
Force Scientific Committee
approved a specification for a trainer
aircraft. It called for a biplane of
simple design, the structure of
which was not expected to contain
any difficult-to-obtain materials.
The aircraft was to have a 100hp
engine and be able to carry a pilot
and a trainee with a total weight of
160kg (353lb) and sufficient fuel
for two-and-a-half hours of flight.
DATABASE
Its highest speed in level flight was
not to exceed 120km/h (74.6mph),
the cruising speed 90km/h (56mph)
and the landing speed 60km/h
(37.3mph).
The process of creating such a
machine under the designation U-2
began as late as summer 1926. The
preliminary design was prepared
under the supervision of Nikolai
Polikarpov, and was approved at a
meeting of the AVIATREST (State
Aviation Industry Trust of the
Chief Administration of the Metal
Industry) Technical Council on 6
December 1926.
As the powerplant was chosen the
new 100hp M-11 engine, designed
by Arkady Shvetsov, which was put
into production at Factory No 29
in Zaporozhye during 1928. The
prototype aircraft, built according
| Development | In Service | Technical Details | Insights
to Polikarpov’s design, was fitted
with a pre-production M-11.
Test pilot Mikhail Gromov
made the type’s maiden flight on
24 June 1927. According to his
report, the U-2 fully corresponded
to its purpose, and he “was able to
do whatever could be done in that
aircraft.”
Factory tests were completed in
early September 1927. Then the
aircraft was handed over to the NII
VVS (Scientific Test Institute of the
Air Force), where it was tested until
20 October. Except for its rate of
climb, the machine fully complied
with the air force’s specification.
A decision was therefore made to
manufacture a prototype series of
the U-2 M-11.
www.aeroplanemonthly.com 77
DATABASE POLIKARPOV U-2/Po-2

ABOVE: Nikolai Polikarpov as a

young man. In 1927-28, by the
time the U-2 was created, the
35-year-old engineer already
had several developments of his
ABOVE: The second prototype U-2 with elliptical wingtips, pictured in February 1928. The aircraft own in his portfolio. The most
is equipped with a small headrest behind the co-pilot’s cockpit, a cowling fully covering the engine significant were the Il-400 (I-1),
crankcase, and skids taken from earlier Russian aircraft of the 1910s. 2I-N1 and I-3 fighters.
All of a sudden, Polikarpov low rate of climb was rectified; it aviation historians of the 1950s had found a phrase to the effect that
objected. It turned out that thus complied with the air force’s great difficulty in finding out the on Christmas Day [as observed in
from late July 1927 he had been requirement to climb to 2,000m date of the U-2’s maiden flight in Russia] God had sent him a joy,
designing the second U-2 prototype, (6,562ft) in 13 minutes. its final configuration, which was namely a successful flight of the new
using many successful elements of According to the available then put into mass manufacture. aircraft. That means it was 7 January
his earlier aircraft. The design was testing records, the second U-2 There were no documentary 1928.”
revised so as to reduce weight and prototype was sent to the airfield on materials in any of the archives; it NII VVS state testing was
improve its shape; on the request 16 January 1928, and it first flew was only known that the maiden conducted in March 1928. The
of the NTK UVVS (Scientific and on one of the days that followed. flight had taken place either in very aircraft, with a gross weight
Technical Committee of the Air However, there are other reports late 1927 or in the very beginning of 870kg (1,918lb), reached a
Force Administration), the strength in respect of the date. The famous of 1928. Test pilot Gromov did maximum speed of 140km/h
of the wing cellule was enhanced. Soviet expert Vadim Shavrov not remember the date. In one of (87mph); its landing speed was
In the new configuration, the recorded the following version: “We the letters by N. N. Polikarpov we 60km/h (37.3mph). In these and
BELOW: Aeroflot U-2SPs of the mid-1930s with three open cockpits. The aircraft in the foreground features a ‘faceted’ forward pilot’s
windscreen and flat passenger windscreens.
 POLIKARPOV U-2/Po-2 DATABASE
other performance parameters, the immediately won high praise from were also provided to the flying applications. The first special-

| Development | In Service | Technical Details | Insights

U-2 conformed fully to the design
specification. Pilots’ opinions were
unanimously positive too. It was
decided to launch mass production
at Factory No 23 in Leningrad,
which had been building trainer
aircraft for several years.
The first mass-manufactured
U-2s began to reach flying schools
in 1930. In spite of certain
drawbacks, as are experienced with
many new designs, the aircraft
both instructors and trainees. It was
far more efficient, the percentage
of trainees rejected due to poor
airmanship being notably reduced.
Approximately 1,400 U-2s
were built in the first three years
of manufacturing in Leningrad.
This allowed the almost complete
replacement of the worn-out
U-1s in the training institutions
of the Red Army Air Force and
the Civil Air Fleet; some aircraft
schools operated by Osoaviahim
(the Society for Promotion of
Defence, Aircraft Building and
Chemical Construction). At that
time, the Civil Air Fleet ran three
flying schools, one each in Bataisk,
Tambov and Balashov. They
received several dozen U-2s, but the
lion’s share went to the Air Force,
which had 597 as of January 1933.
Almost immediately, the U-2
proved its suitability for other
purpose version was the U-2AP
(Aeropyl) agricultural aircraft,
intended for fighting locusts and
other plant pests, which had become
a real plague in southern regions of
the Soviet Union. The agricultural
U-2s were also used successfully
for aerial sowing. In 1933 alone,
138,000 hectares were sown from
the air.
Some 1,255 U-2APs were
built by 1941. During the Great

ONE-OFF VERSIONS
• Inventor Filatov suggested replacing the standard tail unit of
the U-2 with a V-shaped (‘butterfly’) tail. A prototype was tested
successfully in 1934. Stability and controllability of the aircraft were
unaffected; however, there were no obvious advantages either, and
the modification never entered production.
• In 1937, engineer Konstantin Shcherbakov equipped U-2 c/n 5342
with special skids, fitted with servo-assisted steering gear. This device
could turn the skid downwind in any flight regime, seeking to improve
the aircraft’s stability.
• To improve the U-2’s take-off and landing performance, in 1937
engineer Nikolai Chechubalin replaced the standard wheels with
a caterpillar assembly. Each caterpillar was essentially a chain of
textolite rollers, 50mm in diameter and 3m (9.8ft) long, arranged
between guides along the sides. The caterpillar undercarriage worked
well during testing, with only slight increases in weight and drag.
• During 1937, designer Yevgeny Agitov converted an 85hp six-
cylinder powerplant into an aero engine; it was referred to as the
GAZ-AVIA. The following year, it was mounted on a U-2. Flight-testing
showed that use of the engine, which weighed 200kg (441lb) and
produced just 85hp, led to a considerable deterioration in flight
performance. It was not pursued.
• In 1939, specialists at the NII VVS experimental shops devised and
tested a prone-pilot arrangement. Trials showed that it was feasible,
and could be recommended for use on record-setting aircraft and
interceptors. However, work was discontinued, since no aircraft
projects that could benefit from such a configuration had been or
were being developed at that time.
BELOW LEFT: The U-2 with the V-shaped tail designed by Filatov.
BELOW RIGHT: The testing of the prone-pilot U-2, 1939.
BOTTOM LEFT: The caterpillar undercarriage devised by
Chechubalin. With such ‘footwear’, a U-2 could take off and land
from ploughed fields.
BOTTOM RIGHT: A U-2 with an 85hp GAZ-AVIA car engine.

AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016 www.aeroplanemonthly.com 79

DATABASE POLIKARPOV U-2/Po-2
ABOVE: An S-3 air ambulance with the original mottled camouflage.
Patriotic War, these aircraft were
— after fairly simple modifications
were made — used instead for
urgent transport tasks. Several
new agricultural Po-2 variants
appeared post-war, some of them
modified from military aircraft; later
‘Aeropyls’ were based on the Po-2L
passenger version.
In 1931, the U-2AP became the
basis for a version fitted with an
enclosed passenger cabin. It was
designated as the U-2SP (Special
Purpose). From 1934 the factory
manufactured the U-2SP with three
open individual cabins, the pilot
and passengers sitting one behind
the other, protected by standard
windscreens. More than 830
U-2SPs had come off the Leningrad ABOVE: The S-1 air ambulance was the first U-2 adapted for the role. 600 had been made in Leningrad by
line by 1940.
WARTIME PRODUCTION
Production of the U-2 — together
with the necessary tooling — was
handed over in 1940 to another
Leningrad factory, No 387. This
led to a considerable reduction
in the production rate. However,
the outbreak of war entailed great
demand for U-2s, and manufacture
was launched at several new
factories. From 1941-45, more than
17,000 were built, many being
operated as night bombers.
A pre-war decision on building
transport gliders led to the
appearance of new enterprises
specialising in wooden aircraft.
Among them were four factories
that built the U-2.
80 www.aeroplanemonthly.com
Air ambulance U-2s with the
designation SS (Sanitarny Samolyot,
Russian for ‘air ambulance aircraft’),
or S-1, emerged from the factory
from 1934. The derivative featured
a raised fuselage top — referred
to as a ‘grotto’ — right behind the
cockpit. This could carry a patient
on a stretcher and an accompanying
physician. The Leningrad plant
manufactured 99 S-1s from 1934-36.
While no air ambulance U-2s
were built in 1937-39, a vital Red
Army need for them arose during
the Winter War. An improved
version, built in 1940 and designated
S-2, featured a larger ‘grotto’ with
additional windows and the 115hp
M-11D engine.
The high wartime demand for
air ambulance aircraft was satisfied
in part by making use of removable
cabins designed by Bakshayev and
Shcherbakov, and by conversion of
U-2s, U-2APs and U-2SPs into the
S-3 version. The latter, constructed
at the suggestion of technician
Filatov (and thus sometimes referred
to as the SKF, Sanitarnaya Kabina
Filatova — Russian for ‘Filatov’s
air ambulance cabin’), was notable
for its simple and original design.
Almost any version of the U-2 could
carry, instead of the standard raised
‘grotto’, a new box-type plywood
container fairing with a central
partition. Projecting beyond the
fuselage sides, it could accommodate
two casualties instead of one. Nor
did it alter the aircraft’s flying
characteristics in any way.
Factory No 23 began to build the
U-2VS (Voiskovaya Seriya, meaning
‘Army Aviation Series’) in 1933.
These aircraft were equipped with
bomb racks and bow and turret-
mounted machine guns. The U-2VS
was used for training in military
aviation schools. Approximately
The encircled red star emblem was typical for special-purpose units. 1938.
• Factory No 387 was, upon available. Gradually, many of the of ferrous metal consumption per
the outbreak of war, evacuated problems were solved by means aircraft.
from Leningrad to Kazan. Initially of the substitution of different In 1942, the factory’s design office
there was a shortage of materials, materials and cost savings in the was working on conversion of the
engines and components; aircraft manufacturing process. These steps aircraft into a bomber under the
lacquer and casein glue were not allowed a 39kg (86lb) reduction U-2VS designation. The number of
DER-7 beams for the attachment
of bombs under the lower wings
U-2/Po-2 mass production 1941-45 was increased from four to six. That
Factory 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 armament, with a total load of
300kg (661lb), became a standard
No 387* 1,245 2,225 2,733 3,045 2,155 configuration from mid-year. A
No 464 - - 71 736 557
No 471 - - 53 657 417
folding seat was fitted in the rear
No 494 - 18 270 695 427 cockpit to facilitate gun operation.
Total 1,245 2,243 3,127 5,133 3,556 Instead of the DA machine gun,
Overall total for this period: 15,304 an ShKAS belt-feed machine gun
* — In 1940, Aviation Factory No 387 manufactured 50 U-2s.
was installed. Of more than 2,000
aircraft manufactured during 1942,
AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016
 POLIKARPOV U-2/Po-2 DATABASE
938 were equipped with a multi-

| Development | In Service | Technical Details | Insights

purpose pintle mount; of those, 771
were fitted with an ShKAS gun.
To enable night missions, a new
instrument panel with an AG-1 or
AGP gyro horizon was installed; the
aircraft were given navigation lights
and a FZS-155 landing light.
Considerable work was carried
out in the name of saving materials.
In particular, the wingtips,
empennage and landing gear
fairings were made from wood and
plywood, while engine cowlings
were manufactured from sheet iron.
The Kazan Aviation Factory
kept building combat aircraft until
October 1945. Later, it began
turning out Po-2S air ambulances,
production of which was transferred
from Factory No 494. The Po-2S
featured a new instrument panel,
modified wiring and a new high- ABOVE: U-2VS c/n 641115, manufactured at Factory No 464, during acceptance testing in August 1944.
quality paint coating. Some aircraft The aircraft is in standard configuration.
were manufactured in Po-2L
configuration, with space in the • Factory No 464 moved in 1943 • Aviation Factory No 471 was to the People’s Commissariat of
cabin for two passengers, though the to Dolgopruny in the Moscow set up in 1941 at woodworking Forestry.
labour-intensity of this modification region. It began to build U-2s in facilities in Shumerlya, western • Aviation Factory No 494, in
was estimated at 15 per cent higher. mid-year. During 1944, it turned Russia. Manufacturing of the U-2 Kozlovka on the River Volga, began
In late 1946, manufacturing of out a batch of U-2NAK night was launched there in accordance work in July 1941. During August
the Po-2 was transferred to Factory artillery observation aircraft. The with technical documentation 1942, it started to manufacture S-2
No 168 in Rostov-on-Don, when plant ceased to manufacture the already prepared at Factory No 387. air ambulances, and in 1944 the
the Kazan factory began to make Po-2 in 1945, switching that June to In July 1945, this was discontinued, U-2L passenger version with an
combine harvesters. the Yak-10 liaison aircraft. and the factory was handed over enclosed cabin.

ON FLOATS
Early work on a U-2 floatplane was carried out at Factory No 25 in
it was deemed suitable to be flown by pilots of below-average skill.
However, in spite of the positive opinions, this version was not further
developed.
Moscow under the supervision of Sergey Kocherigin. The aircraft, A passenger-carrying Po-2LP (c/n 327118) with an M-11D engine
designated MU-2 (or U-2M), was fitted with a single central wooden was equipped with floats at Aviation Repair Base No 402 in Bykovo,
float and two small floats for lateral stability. Moscow area, during 1945. The floats were manufactured in repair
Testing was conducted on the Moscow River in spring 1931. It was shops of the USSR’s NKVD border troops according to drawings from
found that the main disadvantage was in starting the engine: it was Aviation Factory No 23. Waterborne take-offs and landings were
extremely uncomfortable to turn the propeller manually (there was no quite possible with three passengers on board, and at a maximum
other way of starting the engine on the U-2 at that time) while standing take-off weight of 1,300kg (2,866lb). The aircraft got onto the ‘step’ at
on one of the side floats. Furthermore, after the appearance of the Sh-2 an indicated speed of approximately 60km/h (37.3mph), and lifted
flying boat, the demand for small floatplanes in the USSR was basically off from the water with ease at 80-85km/h (49.7-52.8mph). Both in
satisfied. Work on the U-2 seaplane conversion was temporarily level flight and turns or manoeuvres, flight performance of the float-
discontinued. equipped aircraft was almost identical to that of an ordinary Po-2. The
It resumed nine years later, with the appearance of the more seaplane was stable on landing, too.
powerful M-11D engine featuring a pneumatic self-starter. At the same It was suggested that such floats should be manufactured for use
time, the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute (TsAGI) conducted an on Po-2s in the north of Russia and in Siberia. An unknown quantity
extensive investigation into floats for aircraft of different gross weights, of float sets was fabricated for operations from river basins in border
speeds and roles. For the U-2, they selected floats that became known areas. During the summer of 1946, five Po-2s (c/ns USSR-N402, -N403,
as the Model 10 design for twin-float seaplanes. They were intended to -N404, -N405, and -N406) were fitted with floats and handed over to
have a high lift-drag ratio at low speeds. the Igarka Aviation Group of the Chief Administration of the Northern
In 1940, Factory No 23 in Leningrad built a seaplane version of Maritime Route (GUSMP).
the U-2 using such floats. Then the war began, and again floatplane
development was suspended. However, the single-float Po-2M was
built at Aviation Factory No 51 in Moscow during 1944. It was designed
on the initiative and under the supervision of Nikolai Polikarpov. Based
on wartime experience, he decided to create a special-purpose combat
aircraft to carry out military operations in areas rich in rivers and
lakes. So as to hang bombs under the wings, he chose an arrangement
involving a single central float and two small auxiliary floats. Armament
included 100kg (220lb) of bombs — four FAB-25s on underwing racks
— and a pintle-mounted DT machine-gun. The new NP-Po-2 night
bombsight was used.
The Po-2M generally proved successful in testing. It was
recommended for application by Air Force units operating from rivers
and lakes with at least 500m (1,640ft) of take-off and landing space, ABOVE: The float-equipped Po-2LP at Aviation Repair Base No 402
and with open approaches. So simple was the aircraft to operate that at Bykovo in the Moscow area.

AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016 www.aeroplanemonthly.com 81

 In Service
ABOVE: Osoaviahim U-2s taking off during an aviation festival at Tushino, August 1934.
The trainer that
I
n the Osoaviahim
flying clubs, the U-2
played a remarkable role
was transformed in training would-be
pilots during the pre-war period.
into a combat At that time, the slogan ‘Young
Communists, Learn to Fly!’ was
very popular in the USSR; it was
aircraft part of a propaganda campaign.
From 1931-36, the Osoaviahim
aircraft fleet grew 19-fold. As of
1936, the Society for the Promotion
of Defence had as many as 150
flying clubs, 8,000 pilots having
completed their training in 1935
alone. Enthusiasm for aviation was
promoted by aviation parades and
festivals, which became regular
occasions from 1932.
The U-2 trainers were of great
significance in the massive aviation
boom that swept the entire country.
ABOVE: An instructor explains the purpose of the few instruments
in the aft cockpit to his trainee. The forward cabin features a non-
standard instrument panel accommodating a starting magneto.
82 www.aeroplanemonthly.com
The Osoaviahim flying clubs put
approximately 50,000 people
through initial training on the U-2
alone. The majority continued
training in flying schools and then
remembered with gratitude the
small biplane, which had given
them a ‘free pass’ to flying.
The summer of 1941 brought a
quite unexpected turn in the fate
of the peaceful biplane trainer.
Major aircraft losses during the first
days of the war against Germany
forced the Soviet government to
take urgent measures, among them
a search for new weapons. Given
the enemy’s air superiority, one idea
was to use obsolete aircraft types
as night bombers. An order from
the Supreme Command stated
that several dozen night bomber
regiments should be formed on
ageing multi-purpose R-5 and R-Z
biplanes and U-2 trainers.
The highest hopes were pinned on
the R-5s and R-Zs — by contrast,
the U-2 was viewed as being of
secondary importance. No-one could
have expected that this seemingly
harmless little machine would prove
the most useful in the role.
Determining the exact number of
active U-2s at that time is difficult
due to various factors. Of slightly
more than 14,000 U-2s produced,
in excess of 10,000 were built as
trainers. Over the course of 12 years,
the early examples were subjected to
more than one overhaul, and some
were written off. Some were lost in
accidents; however, when a crash
involved no fire, the aircraft was
almost always restored. Furthermore,
the U-2s were often listed in aviation
fleet inventories under “other aircraft
types”, rather than as an individual
type. Still, a general idea can be
gained.
The majority of U-2s, of course,
were posted to the Air Force. As
of late September 1940, the Red
Army Air Force had at its disposal
3,424 U-2s (of which 2,496 were
serviceable) and 29 U-2S air
ambulances (22 serviceable). Naval
Aviation had 384 U-2s and several air
ambulances. The author has no data
as to the number of Air Force U-2s
in summer 1941. However, given
the low number of deliveries in the
winter of 1940-41, we can assume
that the figure only slightly exceeded
some 3,600 or 3,800 aircraft.
As of 1 April 1941 the Civil Air
Fleet had 426 U-2s, 533 U-2APs, 42
S-1s (plus four more in the NKVD),
178 S-2s and 524 U-2SPs. At the
same time, Osoaviahim had 3,175
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| Development | In Service | Technical Details | Insights

at the disposal of agencies including
the Border Troops (16 aircraft) and
NKVD (22).
The number of U-2s in various
versions posted to different non-
military agencies totalled, in April
1941, 5,551 aircraft. Thus, the
quantity of reasonably serviceable
U-2s available in the USSR just
at 9,200-9,400 aircraft, though
the very first month of military
hostilities resulted in a considerable
reduction of this figure.
The flight and groundcrews
operating the U-2s are worthy of
special mention. Upon formation,
the individual regiments were
manned initially by pilots and
Civil Air Fleet and Osoaviahim.
Later there arose a practice to post
to the U-2 units pilots who had
been wounded, reservists, or those
unfit to fly fighters or bombers for
health reasons. However, almost
immediately after the start of the
war, U-2 aircrews began to be
trained at separate schools. The
types of flying in bad weather or
at night, since the type remained
the main liaison and air ambulance
aircraft for the Red Army.
During wartime, 22,227 pilots
completed their training on the U-2
at Civil Air Fleet schools; 18,704 of
them were posted to Air Force and
Long-Range Aviation units.

IN ACTION DURING THE GREAT PATRIOTIC WAR

Once the panic surrounding early
combat losses had subsided — and
as the summer nights became longer
— the Red Army began to employ
increasingly efficient techniques for
fighting the enemy, from partisan
warfare and sabotage operations to
night-time aerial bombing raids. As
far as is known, U-2s were first used
for night bombing missions on the
Southern Front in July and August
1941. However, the time soon came
when fully equipped U-2 units
were active on almost all fronts.
By the end of 1941, up to 20 new
light bomber regiments had entered
action.
The most active combat use of
U-2s took place near Moscow in
late 1941. A group was formed
for operations around Mozhaisk
under the command of Col Sbytov.
It included a squadron of hastily
armed U-2s. From 8-19 October
they flew 508 sorties around
Yukhnov, inflicting considerable
damage to German troops.
More U-2s began to arrive at
the front. Re-equipment usually
involved the attachment of DER-7
underwing bomb racks. Four such
racks — which had long before
been used on the Polikarpov R-1 —
could take up to 100kg (220lb) of
bombs. Later, the number of racks
was increased to six; the bomb load
grew too, with individual bombs of
up to 50kg (110lb) or even 100kg
(220lb) being used.
Early night bomber operations
involved much improvisation as
crews developed better tactics and
new fighting methods. The results
were sometimes far from impressive;
the bombing accuracy suffered, and
the lack of proper flight training and
night flying practice was felt. But,
as experience grew, the situation
changed considerably.
The 46th Back-up Regiment
was formed at Alatyr, Chuvashia,
in June 1942. Its task was to train
U-2 crews for flying in difficult
weather conditions and at night.
The main problem had been the
total absence of aircraft specially
equipped for night flying. Initially,
the few aircraft that were fitted
with autopilots and illuminated
ABOVE: U-2VS c/n 4504 with an M-11D engine, manufactured at Factory No 387 in October 1943. The
photo was taken during state testing, which took place from 21 November 1943 to 13 January 1944.
back to idle, and glide almost
silently as far beyond the front line
as possible. At 300m (984ft), the
pilot applied full power again.
About a year after the outbreak of
hostilities, U-2s began to be fitted
with mufflers for the M-11 engine.
At first, makeshift devices appeared
on the front line; later, they were
mounted on newly manufactured
aircraft too.
The practical use of mufflers
and flash reducers showed that the
enemy was unable to detect an
aircraft so equipped at an altitude of
700-800m (2,297-2,625ft). There
ABOVE: A U-2 being refuelled in the field. The 50kg (110lb) bombs were many cases when a U-2 with
under the wing indicate preparation for a combat sortie. such devices proved undetectable at
lower altitudes as well.
instrument panels were allocated for pilots trained by the 49th Back- A flight leader from the 23rd
training purposes. up Regiment at Bogorodsk. The Guards Regiment, Guards Master
As the U-2 production rate said 15 hours of practice proved Sgt Sinyakov, reported: “From May
increased, so manufacturing began evidently insufficient for the young 1942 up to now [April 1943], I
at nearby factories in Shumerlya pilots, since three aircraft out of five have been flying U-2s fitted with
and Kozlovka. There thus developed crashed when the pilots lost their AKS-2 mufflers. The latter have
what amounted to a U-2 training bearings. shown themselves to advantage
centre at Alatyr, which received It was not an easy task to fly the in a combat situation. The engine
new combat-equipped aircraft. U-2 at night. A nocturnal mission sound becomes softer; this allows
The flying practice available there was full of hazards; crews had to flying with impunity over large
typically did not exceed 15 hours, act with particular prudence, and facilities protected with all air
meaning crews had to acquire stick scrupulously to the established defence weapons. I have flown a
experience at the front, often at a rules. On a sortie to the Germans’ lot of reconnaissance sorties. I flew
heavy cost. For example, operational rear, the aircraft had to approach across the front line at an altitude of
service testing of the U-2NAK the front line at an altitude of at 800-1,000m [2,625-3,281ft], closed
in 1944 was conducted using least 1,500m (4,921ft), then throttle the muffler’s shutter, descended to

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DATABASE POLIKARPOV U-2/Po-2
100 or 150m [328 or 492ft], and
felt like a master of the area: the
running vehicles did not switch on
their lights; large railway stations
conducting the unloading of troops
did not attempt to camouflage
themselves against an unexpected
raid; sometimes, the enemy took me
for their ‘cuttlefish’ [the Henschel
Hs 126].”
Guards Capt Mankevich of the
23rd Guards Regiment stated, “The
muffler/flash reducer plays a positive
role in night conditions, since it
ensures acoustic covertness and the
element of surprise in approaching
the target. In our raids against large
pockets of resistance, where the
enemy’s air defence weapons are
concentrated, the aircraft fitted with
mufflers/flash reducers approached
the target and left without
hindrance, whereas the aircraft
which were not fitted with mufflers/
flash reducers were detected on
approaching the target and met by
anti-aircraft artillery.
“It is peculiar that, on the
appearance of aircraft fitted with
mufflers/flash reducers, the enemy
does not take any defensive steps
ABOVE: The attachment of
50kg (110lb) bombs to a U-2’s
underwing racks.
84 www.aeroplanemonthly.com
until the moment of bombing,
especially in areas where the enemy’s
aircraft operate. The sound of a
muffled engine is […] identical to
that of the Ju 87’s engine. There
were cases when the enemy from its
airfield gave signals to land to our
aircraft flying over.”
In 1943, MAKF-4 mufflers
appeared, acting as a high-frequency
acoustic filter. In accordance with
2nd Polish Night Bomber Air Regiment ‘Kraków’,
ABOVE: A U-2VS carrying underwing ABPK-100 bomb dispensers, and sporting winter camouflage.
an order dated 21 July 1943, such
mufflers were installed on some of
the U-2 M-1Ds of the 213th Night
Bomber Division led by Maj Gen
Molokov, Hero of the Soviet Union
and a famous polar pilot, who
himself flew U-2s a great deal.
Aircraft with MAKF-4
mufflers/flash reducers underwent
operational service tests in combat
conditions until 3 September 1943,
Polikarpov U-2VS ‘White 4’
Lublin, summer 1944
ANDREY YURGENSON
ABOVE: An MAKF-4 muffler/
flash reducer on an artillery
observation U-2 in autumn 1943.
LEFT: A DT machine gun (without
its cartridge tray) in the stowed
position on the pintle mount of
U-2VS c/n 4504.
in the presence of the Red Army
NII VVS representatives. The results
were deemed satisfactory, and a
decision was made to fit all the
aircraft of the 213th Night Bomber
Division with MAKF-4s before 1
October.
On a bombing mission with
300kg (661lb) of bombs, the U-2
‘crawled’ to the front line at a speed
of approximatelyy 90km/h
90kkm/
m/h (56mph).
h (5
(56m
6mphp ).
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Not all of the aircraft were able to Night Bomber Division. That

| Development | In Service | Technical Details | Insights

climb to the required altitude of
more than 1,000m (3,281ft) above
the most dangerous area of the
route. From that moment on, the
type’s chief weapon and ally was its
covert nature.
Many tactical techniques were
employed when approaching the
target and making an attack. Pilots
resorted to group attacks, with the
most daring crews drawing fire
upon themselves. They bombed
searchlights and anti-aircraft
artillery units, and subjected them
to machine gun fire. The main goal
in every case was to leave the area
under fire in good time. Battles
with ground gunners were decidedly
unequal. If hit, the aircraft could
catch fire and burn out in just 40
seconds.
The particular tactics for
operations in the German rear
required the U-2s to fly from small,
temporary landing sites along the
front line. In the evening or as
darkness fell, aircraft flew to these
locations, to which bombs and fuel
were brought in advance. By day,
German reconnaissance and attack
aircraft searched for the principal
basing locations of the Soviet night
raiders; at night, they tried to find
the forward sites.
Utmost attention was paid to
camouflaging the field units. Special
care was taken to ensure an effective
blackout; the use of powerful
floodlights was reduced almost to
Front-line U-2 disposition, 1 July 1943 month, it lost 19 U-2s. Of those,
three were shot down, 14 sent for
6th Air Army of the North-western Front 31 active repair, and two suffered accidents.
(1 unserviceable) Losses of all aircraft types in the
3rd Air Army of the Kalinin Front 4 (2) 5th Air Army for that same period
1st Air Army of the Western Front 205 (1)
15th Air Army of the Bryansk Front 51 (1) totalled 336 aircraft, of which
16th Air Army of the Central Front 75 (3) 121 were shot down. Attrition
2nd Air Army of the Voronezh Front 42 (8) among the U-2 night bombers was
5th Air Army of the Steppe Front 20 considerably lower than for other
17th Air Army of the South-western Front 71 (5) combat aircraft.
8th Air Army of the Southern Front 67 (12)
4th Air Army of the North Caucasian Front 72 For pilots who flew U-2s, the
257th Separate Air Division of the Air Force 15 number of combat sorties was the
Total 653 (38) key indicator of their performance.
Among the top scorers were two
Heroes of the Soviet Union, Maj
zero. Sometimes, car headlights or lights on — and simulated the A. A. Dobkevich (with 1,037
small bonfires were used for short- landing procedure. They then combat sorties) and Maj A. P.
term illumination, but more often switched off the lights and flew Yerofeyevsky (1,034).
kerosene lamps of a tubular lantern to the darkness-enveloped main The number of U-2s in combat
design were employed. Pilots used airfield. service on the most intensive
to say that one should be able to In most cases, such practice segments of the Soviet-German
perform a landing approach at yielded good results. From 15-18 front was impressive, too.
night “with the runway lit by the September 1942, German aircraft Gradually, as the war went on,
tip of the regiment commander’s made 67 attacks against airfields of the quantities grew. In January
cigarette.” the 272nd Night Bomber Division; 1944, 49 night bomber regiments
To protect the main airfields of those, only 31 raids actually at the front had up to 1,000 U-2
used by the U-2s, decoy airfields targeted the operating airfields. bombers in operation. As the
were sometimes set up near them, Furthermore, from 21-31 October, military situation changed, units
with intensive combat operations the division’s main bases were were reassigned to other areas.
being simulated at these locations. attacked by German bombers just As of January 1945, the number
The decoys were provided with twice. of combat U-2s amounted to
clearly detectable night take-off Combat operations by the night 1,018 aircraft. A quite appreciable
lights; the actual bases, meanwhile, bomber divisions enjoyed mixed number operated with the 3rd
were lit with only two small success. One measure of the U-2s’ Air Army of the 1st Baltic Front
lights indicating the take-off and efficiency can be ascertained by (116) and the 15th Air Army of
landing direction. On returning comparing the losses sustained by the 2nd Baltic Front (153). Upon
from a combat sortie, U-2 crews various aircraft types. In May 1944, the war’s end in May 1945, night
approached the false airfield — the 5th Air Army had 1,105 aircraft, light bomber regiments had at their
sometimes with their navigation among them 72 U-2s in the 312th disposal 991 U-2s.

THE ‘NIGHT WITCHES’

The heroic Soviet comedy ‘Nebesny
Tikhokhod’ (‘The Slow-Pacer in
the Sky’) made the U-2 immensely
popular with the general public. It
also established a belief that, during
the war, the aircraft was flown
mostly by female crews. In fact, of
more than 80 regiments and many
squadrons that flew U-2s, only one
female regiment operated at the
front: the 46th Guards ‘Taman’
Regiment. Its history began on 8
October 1941 when Josef Stalin
signed Order No 0099 to deploy
three women’s air regiments — the
586th Fighter Regiment, the 587th
Bomber Regiment, and the 588th
Night Light Bomber Regiment
flying the U-2.
Formation of the 588th Night
Light Bomber Regiment at Engels
was basically completed on 6
February 1942. As soon as June, its
crews began to fly combat sorties.
This was a hard time for the Red
Army’s Southern Front. Against
a rampant enemy and with heavy
losses, Soviet troops were retreating
from Voroshilovgrad and Rostov.
The women’s regiment suffered
casualties, too. Squadron leader
Lyuba Olkhovskaya and navigator
Vera Tarasova failed to return from
their first combat sortie, which was
flown by three crews led by regiment
commander Yevdokia Bershanskaya.
ABOVE: 588th Night Light Bomber Regiment comrades-in-arms:
pilot Marina Chechneva and navigator Yekaterina Ryabova.
Throughout summer 1942, the
588th kept up operations on the
Southern Front. The night bombers
attacked German crossings on the
Mius and Severny Donets rivers,
and carried out raids against vehicle
columns in the steppes near Salsk.
Together with other units, the
regiment suffered the hardship of
retreating from the Donbass region
to the Caucasian foothills.
On 13 August, it was redeployed
to the village of Assinovskaya, where
it remained for nearly five months.
During a relative lull, a group was
organised for the training of new
navigators, the separate navigator
squadron members being retrained
as pilots. Replacement crew
members also arrived, comprising
women sent to the Army under
mobilisation. Throughout the war,
150 new recruits joined the unit.
Before the end of 1942, the
588th took part in the defence of
Vladikavkaz, the U-2s bombing
German troops near Mozdok,
Prokhladnaya and Digora. The
following March, the regiment
began to fly combat sorties to
support offensive operations aimed
at breaking through the ‘Blue Line’,
a line of defences constructed by the
Germans on the Taman Peninsula.
On some nights, the crews flew as
many as eight or 10 sorties.

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DATABASE POLIKARPOV U-2/Po-2
In no way was the women’s
regiment treated any differently
from its male counterparts, nor
was it ever posted to ‘quiet’ parts
of the front. The women fought on
an equal basis, suffered the same
difficulties and hardships, and
incurred heavy casualties. From its
formation until the termination of
hostilities, 32 members of the 588th
died in combat.
The night of 31 July 1943 was
the most tragic. Twelve crews
departed on a mission to bomb
ABOVE: Leaflets being dispensed from a U-2VS named Avenger, with tail number 19, from the 46th
Guards Regiment. The fuselage bears the inscription, “We will take revenge for our comrades-in-arms
Tanya Makarova and Vera Belik!” This aircraft is also depicted in the colour side view on this page.
SECOND-LINE ROLES
During the initial period of
hostilities, when manufacturing of
the U-2 for its new role had not yet
been launched, aircraft were handed
over to combat units from their
second-line counterparts. Before
mid-1942, 898 U-2s were thus
provided to the Army, mostly from
flying schools.
As of 1 July 1942, light bomber
regiments had at their disposal 679
86 www.aeroplanemonthly.com
‘Blue Line’ positions. German night
fighters, interacting with searchlight
units, shot down four U-2s. Eight
women were killed. A burning U-2
typically took less than a minute to
disintegrate in mid-air, while pilots
carried no parachutes until 1944. It
was believed that death was the best
way out for a crew shot down over
enemy territory. Navigators seldom
had machine guns at their disposal.
The regiment’s aircraft were fully
equipped with defensive machine
guns only as late as summer 1944.
U-2s, 90 being unserviceable. The
number operating on the front line
had risen to 1,072 by 19 November,
with 122 unserviceable. It should
be noted that even if an aircraft
was unserviceable on a certain day,
it could have been mission-ready
as soon as the next day or — in
extreme cases — in two days.
U-2s were also taken from the
Civil Air Fleet. This resulted at
Polikarpov U-2VS ‘White 19’
46th Guards Night Bomber Regiment, 1945
ANDREY YURGENSON
From November 1943 to May
1944, the 588th supported the
landing of seaborne troops on
the Kerch Peninsula, and took
part in liberating the Crimea and
Sevastopol. Bombing missions were
flown every night in April 1944,
by which time many pilots and
navigators had flown 500 combat
sorties.
For its especially meritorious
combat achievements, the 588th
Night Light Bomber Regiment was
re-designated as the 46th Guards
one time in a situation whereby
almost all these small biplanes
were operating on the front line,
leaving just a few in second-line and
training roles. In 1944, second-line
units of the Civil Air Fleet had only
34 U-2s in service. The statistics
testify to the extent of militarisation
of the civil ‘slow-pacers’. In 1944,
U-2 combat losses in the Civil
Air Fleet regiments totalled 50
Night Bomber Regiment on 3
February 1943. It was awarded
the title of ‘Taman’ Guards Night
Bomber Regiment decorated with
the Order of the Red Banner and
the Order of Suvorov Third Class
for its part in the liberation of the
Taman Peninsula. After liberation
of the Crimea, the 46th was
redeployed to Byelorussia (today
Belarus), and headed towards
Berlin in 1945.
The regiment’s women pilots
flew 23,672 wartime missions,
and dropped more than 3,000
tonnes of bombs on the enemy.
At the war’s end its strength
numbered 230 personnel, among
them 80 aircrew members.
Twenty-three women, five of them
posthumously, were awarded the
title of Hero of the Soviet Union;
another two were made Heroes
of Russia in more modern times.
Approximately 40 of the regiment’s
pilots and navigators flew in excess
of 500 missions — those given the
title of Hero had to have notched
up 800.
Upon the end of hostilities in
May 1945, many women were
demobilised by the Soviet armed
forces. The 46th Guards Night
Bomber Regiment existed as a
combat unit for a few months
longer. It was disbanded on 15
October 1945.
aircraft; non-combat losses, 64. The
corresponding figures for 1945 are,
respectively, 26 and 25.
The quantity of U-2 air
ambulances in service may seem
far from significant, but there are
many reports from combatants
who attributed their survival to
these aircraft. Numerically, the high
point in the service of S-1, S-2 and
S-3 aircraft in Army units was in
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| Development | In Service | Technical Details | Insights

ABOVE: Moscow, 11 January 1944. A U-2SP of the 574th Separate
Liaison Squadron is taxiing for take-off, carrying a cargo of freshly-
printed metropolitan newspapers for troops of the 1st Baltic Front.
RIGHT: Nurses loading an injured soldier onto a U-2 fitted with
Bakshayev ambulance containers in 1942.

May 1942, when 179 were noted
in use. Factory No 387 in Kazan
made 1,204 Bakshayev ambulance
cabins prior to discontinuation of
production in 1945.
In comparison with the night
bombers’ combat achievements,
the U-2’s role as a liaison aircraft
receives very little attention.
However, it is of no less significance.
Given the shortage of radio
equipment in Red Army units,
U-2s formed the basis of the
wartime communications system as
established in 1942. Every frontal
headquarters had 32 liaison aircraft
assigned, and each army 12. Given
the importance of this activity,
liaison squadrons were manned by
the most experienced pilots.
In Soviet Naval Aviation, U-2s
were used for liaison purposes only,
and were not numerous — summer
1942 saw a maximum of 56 on
strength. The number of U-2s of all
types in the Far East grew somewhat
before the start of hostilities in
Japan. In August 1945, 181 were
in service with the Air Force of the
Pacific Fleet and the Pacific Flotilla.
With the war in Europe having
come to an end, there arose during
the summer of 1945 the problem of
finding further duties for this army
of biplanes. Some of the military
examples were handed over to the
Civil Air Fleet, and converted into
training, agricultural or passenger-
carrying aircraft. However, a year
later, more drastic measures were
taken. A total of 11,937 obsolete
and worn-out aircraft were officially
written off, among them 1,959
Po-2s.
ABOVE: This U-2 is performing parachute-dropping training.
Aviation Factory No 387 in
Kazan and No 168 in Rostov-
on-Don continzed to build the
latest Po-2 derivatives until the
late 1940s, namely the Po-2S air
ambulance, the Po-2A agricultural
version, and the passenger-carrying
Po-2L. These found a wide range of
domestic applications, for instance
in forest fire-fighting, geological
exploration, aerial surveys and
communication.
The Po-2 also remained in use
with the Civil Air Fleet schools and
the flying clubs of DOSAAF (the
Voluntary Association for Assistance
to Army, Aviation and Fleet) until
the early 1950s for initial training
and exercises and, sometimes, para-
drop training. Some were in service
with the Air Force in the 1950s as
liaison aircraft and as trainers for
blind or night flying.
Mass decommissioning of the
Po-2s in the Soviet Union began
in 1958-59. In remote areas of the
country, they remained in operation
for a year or two more — possibly,
at some locations, for even longer.
However, they disappeared from
official reports and summaries.
The type continued in post-war
service in many other Communist
countries. Licence production was
undertaken in Poland from 1948-
56, the CSS-13 being built by the
WSK-Mielec and WSK-Okęcie
factories to the tune of some 500
examples. The Yugoslav Air Force
used its Po-2s as late as 1959, and
the type soldiered on with aero
clubs in eastern and central
Europe for longer still, not
least as glider tugs.

‘BED CHECK CHARLIES’ OVER KOREA

Perhaps the most famous employment of the Po-2 after World War
Two occurred during the 1950-53 Korean War. Its role harked back
to the Great Patriotic War, as North Korea’s Korean People’s Air Force
operated the biplane as a night intruder, taking advantage of its low
noise levels and slow-flying capabilities. The first such raid against a
United Nations base took place on 28 November 1950, when a single
Po-2 attacked Pyongyang airfield and caused major damage to parked
US Air Force F-51 Mustangs of the 8th Fighter Bomber Group.
Thereafter, the manner in which UN forces were roused from their
slumbers by the Polikarpovs and other North Korean aircraft — the
likes of Yakovlev Yak-18s, Lavochkin La-11s and, on one occasion, a
Beriev MBR-2 seaplane among them — led to application of the ‘Bed
Check Charlie’ nickname, first used by US troops to describe Japanese
nuisance raiders during the Guadalcanal campaign. Their missions
were sporadic, but highly irritating. On 17 June 1951 a pair of Po-2s
bombed F-86 Sabres lined up at Suwon, destroying one 335th Fighter
Interceptor Squadron aircraft and badly damaging four others. Not
bad for a biplane designed in the 1920s.
Just as in World War Two, the slow-paced Po-2 was a difficult
weapon to combat. Especially for the early Western jets active in
Korea, decelerating sufficiently to get in a decent shot proved a risky
business, while the Polikarpovs could use terrain to their advantage
in making an escape. Illustrating the dangers, one USAF F-94 Starfire
night fighter collided with its target Po-2 on 12 June 1952. But there
were several successful shoot-downs. Notably, Po-2s were the subject
of the sole air-to-air kills ever recorded by several types: the B-26
Invader (a USAF aircraft, with undercarriage and flaps extended to
slow to 90kt, achieving the feat in June 1951), the F7F Tigercat (single
examples falling victim to US Marine Corps F7F-3Ns of VMF(N)-513
on 30 June and 23 September 1951) and the AD-4 Skyraider (another
Marine aircraft, of VMC-1, claiming the kill on 15 June 1953).
Ben Dunnell

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 Technical Details

ABOVE: Assembly of a Po-2 fuselage frame during a recent restoration in Russia. In

the background is a rig for the wing assembly.

A restorer’s
T
he author has been OSS TsKB 2 aerofoil with relative the professional level of a village
involved in the thickness of eight per cent was used blacksmith”. OVS steel wires (of

perspective on
restoration of U-2s/ (later, it was referred to as the TsAGI 2mm and 2.5mm thickness) are
Po-2s since 2002, and 541 design). The tail and wingtips needed to assemble the fuselage.
can thus provide insights both into were also rounded off. To assemble the wing, steel rods
the design and the type’s original construction and
how it may be restored today.
The wood used is mostly straight-
grained pine with a specific density
are used to make the internal braces.
The required rod diameters are 4mm

construction of
Essentially, the U-2 was an of 0.52kg/cubic cm; depending on (a length of approximately 20m will
ordinary two-seat biplane with an the quality of the wood, two or three be needed), 5mm (about 30m), 6mm
all-wooden structure and simple cubic metres of such material are (2m) and 7mm (2m).
the Polikarpov design. In its first incarnation it had
a squared-off tail and wingtips and
required for one aircraft. Aircraft
plywood is of critical importance;
Other necessary items include
materials for the engine mount,
tail. This was brought about by the the required thicknesses are 1mm cowlings, and undercarriage;
biplane requirement to make manufacturing
cheaper, and to ensure easy
(eight to 10 sheets); 1.5mm (six or
seven sheets); 2.0mm (five or six
cables for control linkages; flying
instruments and engine instruments.
component swaps in case of repair. sheets); 3.0mm (one sheet); and We will also need cotton cloth for
In particular, all the outer wing 5.0mm (one sheet). The sheets are the skin, a small amount of leather,
panels were identical, while ailerons of standard type, measuring 1.5 by glass for the windscreens, and
could be used as elevators, and vice 1.5m (4.92 by 4.92ft). approximately 100kg (220lb) of
versa. The wing section utilized the To bond the materials in a U-2/ cellulose dope.
thick Prandl 365 aerofoil section Po-2 restoration, it is better to use Most Po-2s were equipped with
with a relative thickness of 14 per modern synthetic adhesives — for M-11G and M-11D engines,
cent. On the second prototype, example, the K-153 plasticated though during the post-war period
for the wing section a thinner epoxy resin — rather than the the M-11K and M-11L were used.
historical casein glue. While this Today it is difficult to find such
does involve a certain deviation from engines, which featured open-type
U-2 specifications originality, the final bonding quality pushrods and had no valve boxes.
U-2 M-11 U-2VS AP-1 and the resulting reliability of the The M-11FR-1 and M-11FR, which
structure are worth it. were used on the Yak-18 trainer, are
Length 8.17m (26.8ft) 8.17m (26.8ft) 8.17m (26.8ft)
The Po-2 has a truss fuselage; the more widely available for U-2/Po-2
Upper wingspan 11.42m (37.5ft) 11.42m (37.5ft) 11.42m (37.5ft)
wooden components are secured restorations in the modern era.
Empty weight 650kg (1,433lb) 684kg (1,508lb) 711kg (1,567lb)
Gross weight 907kg (2,000lb) 1,064kg (2,346lb) 1,053kg (2,321lb)
together using assemblies made The standard fixed-pitch propeller
Maximum speed 160km/h (99.4mph) 134km/h (83.3mph) 139km/h (86.4mph)
from 1mm, 1.5mm, 2mm and is bonded from wood. Years ago, the
(ground level) 3mm-thick steel sheets. Fragments prop was fabricated from ash boards,
Maximum speed 140km/h (87mph) 132km/h (82mph) - of assemblies prepared according with outer plates made from oak or
(3,000m/9,843ft) to pattern drawings are assembled beech. Later, dense pine and oak were
Service ceiling 4,450m (14,600ft) 3,500m (11,483ft) 3,000m (9,843ft) into the required structural used. Depending on the aircraft’s
components using steel bolts and purpose, propellers with 2.35m
Note: data for U-2 as manufactured by Aviation Factory No 23 in 1935-36. fixative welding. The workmanship diameter and a pitch of 1.49m,
will, as they say, “correspond to 1.67m or 1.73m were used.

88 www.aeroplanemonthly.com AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016

 POLIKARPOV U-2/Po-2 DATABASE

| Development | In Service | Technical Details | Insights

AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016 www.aeroplanemonthly.com 89

 Insigghts
ABOVE: An unmarked U-2VS on a test flight.
I
Flying and n the words of a
description of a 1939
flight evaluation, “The
preserving aircraft taxies steadily
at 800-850rpm, allows unassisted
the Polikarpov taxiing at a wind of up to seven
to eight metres per second, and
performs turns easily. The take-off
veteran is normal. The tail lifts easily…
speed at lift-off is 75-80km/h
[46.6-49.7mph]. The best indicated
rate of climb is 95km/h [59mph]
at 1,550rpm. The aircraft climbs
steadily…
“In level flight, the aircraft
demonstrates good longitudinal and
transverse stability, similar to aircraft
of previous models. The best gliding
speed is 90-95km/h [56-59mph]
at 400-450rpm. The aircraft glides
steadily, without any abnormal
tendencies.
“The best turning airspeed is
108-115km/h [67.1-71.5mph] at
90 www.aeroplanemonthly.com
1,580rpm. The aircraft enters and
exits turns at a bank of up to 45°
easily; considerable effort is required
for steep turns. The aircraft is stable
while turning.
“The entry speed for a loop is
150-160km/h [93.2-99.4mph] at
1,750rpm. Altitude loss is up to
50m [165ft]. The aircraft behaves
normally. The aircraft performs rolls
normally at a speed of 105km/h
[65.2mph] at 1,300rpm. Altitude
loss is 80-100m [260-328ft].
With normal rudder and elevator
deflection angles, the aircraft enters
a spin… it spins and recovers from
the spin normally.
“The landing is performed
normally, and the aircraft lands
easily on three points. The landing
speed is 65-70km/h [40.4-
43.5mph]. There are no abnormal
tendencies during the approach and
landing run.”
STARTING THE
‘SLOW-PACER’
This extract is from the
instructions for manually starting
the M-11 engine. “Upon taking
his seat in the aircraft”, it reads,
“the pilot (technician) shall make
sure that all instruments and
control levers are in good order,
and the ignition is off.
“After opening the gasoline
valve, the pilot (technician)
shall command: ‘Turn the
propeller’, and shall confirm the
command by extending his left
arm horizontally to the side and
performing, with it, a rotational
motion at the shoulder level.
“The engine-man, upon
receiving the command, shall ask:
‘Is it off?’ The question shall be
confirmed by his arms being held
upward and crossed. The pilot
(technician) shall again make
sure that the ignition in the cabin
is off, and shall answer, ‘It is off’.
He shall also confirm the answer
by holding his arms upward and
crossed.
“Upon receiving the
confirmation, the engine-man
shall take the propeller blades in
his hands and turn the propeller
in the forward direction.
Meanwhile, the pilot (technician)
shall perform engine priming
using the priming pump and
making three to five pumping
motions in the summer period or
eight to 12 pumping motions in
the winter period.
“The engine-man shall
energetically rotate the
propeller to reach compression.
Simultaneously with the
propeller snatch, the engine-man
shall run off to the right, put up
his right arm, and report loudly,
‘Contact!’
“The pilot (technician) shall
reply, ‘Clear prop!’ and start up
the ignition by engaging the
switch and turning the starting
magneto handle. He shall also
confirm the command by
extending his left arm to the side.
“If the engine fails to be
started, the pilot (technician)
shall turn off the ignition
and command, ‘It is off’.
Simultaneously, he shall confirm
the command by lifting crossed
arms above his head.
“After that, the propeller shall
again be set to compression with
the ignition off, and the starting
procedure shall be repeated.
The engine-man may come up
to the propeller only after the
affirmative answer by the pilot
(technician), ‘It is off’ to the
engine-man’s question, ‘Is it off?’”
AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016
 POLIKARPOV U-2/Po-2 DATABASE
THE Po-2 TODAY

| Development | In Service | Technical Details | Insights

ABOVE: The Shuttleworth Collection’s Po-2 G-BSSY has been flying at Old Warden since 2011. It is marked as an aircraft of the 9th Guards
Night Bomber Air Division, which supported Polish rebels in September 1944. DARREN HARBAR
Many U-2s/Po-2s have been hope that the aircraft will carry on veteran Po-2 that also served in UK is the Shuttleworth Collection’s
preserved, several in Russia itself. flying for many years to come. the Korean War. Kermit Weeks machine, which dates from 1944,
Two are listed among the exhibits in It’s not just in Russia and other keeps a 1954-built example in and flew in Yugoslavia in both
the Air Force Museum at Monino. former Warsaw Pact states that his Fantasy of Flight museum military and civil hands post-war.
Another is kept in Kazan, and one Po-2s can be found flying today. in Polk City, Florida, and the The ex-Yugoslav Po-2W in the Salis
is on display in the V. P. Chkalov The Flying Heritage Collection Military Aviation Museum near family’s La Ferté Alais, France-
Museum in Chkalovsk near Nizhny at Everett, Washington, has a Virginia Beach also has a Po-2 in based Casques de Cuir fleet
Novgorod. The latter (c/n 9589) 1944-vintage Russian Front combat its collection. The only one in the hasn’t flown for a few years.
was registered personally to famed
test and long-distance pilot Valery
Chkalov as USSR-Ch4. It is a
unique aircraft, since it was one
of just four private aeroplanes
registered in the Soviet Union at
that time.
Meanwhile, a significant number
of ‘Kukuruzniks’ — the aircraft’s
nickname, derived from the Russian
word for maize, and a reference to
its early crop-dusting role — have
reappeared in the sky. The veteran
biplane has, indeed, become a
symbol of the restoration of flying
historic aircraft in Russia. Materials
used in its construction are widely
available, structural components
can be made easily with minimum
equipment, there is an abundance
of technical documentation, and —
most importantly — M-11 engines
still exist. Simple maintenance and
reliability provide good grounds to ABOVE: The Military Aviation Museum’s Po-2 N3602 during a flight out of Virginia Beach. MAM

AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016 www.aeroplanemonthly.com 91

Events
OLDTIMER FLIEGERTREFFEN HAHNWEIDE
9-11 September
The setting for the Oldtimer Fliegertreffen
events on the historic Hahnweide airfield
south of Kirchheim unter Teck near Stuttgart
could not be more idyllic. The heavily
wooded rolling hills of the Schwäbischer Alb
run across the area, rising to a little over
1,000m in places. They are the location of a
number of castles — Burg Teck overlooks the
airfield — and contain some of the most
important Celtic remains in Europe. The local
dialect has close links to Alemmanic, a
language first mentioned by the Romans
around 213AD. Variations of it crop up as
Swiss German, and elsewhere in Alsace,
western Austria and Liechtenstein.
The show is usually staged every two years,
but this time it returned after a three-year
break due to personnel changes within the
Fliegergruppe Wolf Hirth, the organisers. It
represents a huge task for a relatively small
group of individuals, even though during the
event itself they can call on the help of
around 500 volunteers from the eight other
flying and gliding clubs on the airfield, and
within the local community.
BELOW: There are few finer air display venues than the Hahnweide — and few events with a busier flightline.
Reviewed by David Halford
As on previous occasions, around 350
aircraft booked to attend what is a cross
between a fly-in and an airshow. To judge
from the density of parked aircraft along the
crowdline and in the south-west corner of
the airfield, many more than usual turned
up, some 311 machines according to the
organisers, yet the marvellously relaxed
atmosphere was undiminished.
Not only in the UK has a heavy-handed
attitude to display regulation been seen in
recent times. Here, officials from the
Präsidium of the Baden-Württemberg
government were keeping a close eye on all
the flying activity. Though it appeared that
some displays were closer to the crowd than
in 2013, memories of the 1988 Ramstein
disaster still colour the oversight of all
German air events.
The nearest thing to a team display was a
‘Flying Circus’ of circling aircraft from the
Quax-Flieger club at Paderborn-Lippstadt,
which was celebrating its 10th anniversary
the following Saturday. Nineteen aircraft
from the group were on the airfield, and
more than half a dozen, including a
Chipmunk, Jungmann, Stearman and
Stieglitz, took part in the display. A 20th
Quax aircraft, the Fouga Magister, was seen
briefly overflying the airfield on Saturday.
A ‘Flying Circus’, like its terrestrial
counterpart, needs a ringmaster, a real
showman, and in Mikael Carlson the
Hahnweide event had one in spades. His
show in the Fokker Dr.I opened with Jürgen
Weller’s Fokker E.III replica taking off just
ahead — its 110hp Rotec seven-cylinder
radial sounding barely more powerful than
a garden mower — with Carlson’s Le Rhône
well throttled back on its tail, before letting
rip as the ‘Eindecker’ broke away to land.
Mikael certainly showed the Dr.I to best
advantage. What a nimble performer it is in
the right hands, soaring and diving, turning
on a sixpence. Having ‘gunned down’ his
wife Gunilla, who was ‘firing’ at him from the
ground, Carlson allowed himself a few
victorious passes before landing. On both
Saturday and Sunday his displays earned the
loudest spontaneous applause. His outings
DR ANDREAS ZEITLER
ABOVE: Mikael Carlson’s Thulin A aloft at sunset. DR ANDREAS ZEITLER TOP RIGHT: ‘Eindecker’ and ‘Dreidecker’ team up. DAVID HALFORD
ABOVE RIGHT: Klaus Plasa getting airborne in Karl Grimminger’s beautiful silver Hurricane. DR ANDREAS ZEITLER
in his Thulin A were more sedate, but as cover still more ground, but his mount is at Walter — 80 this summer — with his Harvard,
always beautifully flown. The commentator least a little more rapid. It made for an Toni in a T-28 Trojan recently purchased from
claimed it to be the world’s oldest flying interesting contrast with Cessna O-1 Bird Jan van den Flier in Antwerp.
original aircraft, something about which Dog EC-MAB, part of the Fundación Infante Long-winged German aircraft old and new
Shuttleworth might wish to differ. de Orleans at Cuatro Vientos. made their presence felt. The sight of Klemm
Further international guests were the A first-time guest at the Hahnweide was L25a D-EBMX, a rebuilt 1927 aircraft with a
Yak-11, P-40N and P-51D from Melun-based silver-painted Hurricane XII AG244/G-CBOE five-cylinder BMW engine, was notable for
France’s Flying Warbirds, present to mark the from the growing collection of Karl- the LED strips embedded in the prop blades
untimely death in a light aircraft accident Friedemann Grimminger at Aalen-Elchingen, creating the initials ‘BMW’ as they spun.
near Strasbourg last autumn of Marc ‘Léon’ north of Ulm. His DH83 Fox Moth G-ACEJ Another head-turner was the UAV-like Grob
Mathis, a display pilot at the Hahnweide for was on hand too. The Hurricane was flown G520T Egrett surveillance aircraft, making
many years. Their arrival provided a brief by Klaus Plasa, whose planned appearance in several passes on the Sunday.
cliff-hanger, when the Mustang undershot, the Messerschmitt Stiftung’s Bf 109G-4 ‘Red One of the best-known European warbird
landing short of the path at the eastern end 7’ was cancelled after its late-August take-off collections, the Flying Bulls, was not
of the runway before bouncing over it. mishap at Manching. However, the Stiftung’s scheduled to have a presence at this year’s
Thankfully no damage was done, allowing Me 262 was very welcome. So was the event, but while settling down to a litre of
the memorial to be flown on Sunday. Paul father-and-son Eichhorn duo, the evergreen Weißbier and a plate of Maultaschen ð
Erhardt’s Zlin 526ASM (D-EWXA), a type in
which Mathis had given some of his most
unforgettable displays, led the cross-shaped
‘missing man’ formation before pulling up
and away.
Those aircraft aside, the French were again
present in force. The Amicale Jean-Baptiste
Salis’ AD-4N Skyraider was thrown around
spectacularly by Christophe Bailly in
Saturday’s evening light, while the two
Alençon-based Dassault Flamants
performed their elegant duo, the MD311
(F-AZER) repainted in black, as a bomber, for
a recent feature film shoot in France.
British involvement was small but select.
Dan Griffith flew Stephen Stead’s Spitfire
LFXVIe with his usual polish, but another
well-known UK warbird pilot had a far longer
journey to make. Jonathon Whaley joined his
friend Tom Leaver in bringing 1928-vintage
Travel Air 4000 NC5427 from Compton
Abbas, a nearly 15-hour, 1,170nm round trip.
Coming out of Spanhoe in USAF-marked ABOVE: A typical early-morning Hahnweide scene — dew on the ground, mist hanging in the
Helio Courier G-BAGT, Carl Tyers had to hills, pilots of visiting aircraft waking from their slumbers. DR ANDREAS ZEITLER

AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016 www.aeroplanemonthly.com 93

Events

ABOVE: The horseman of the Hahnweide.

DAVID HALFORD

TOP RIGHT: The marvellous Klemm L25

from BMW Heritage. DAVID HALFORD

RIGHT: Raimund Riedmann, the Flying Bulls’

P-38, and the 14th-century Burg Teck.
DAVID HALFORD

(Swabian ravioli) after the Slingsby T21 glider

had closed the show on Sunday, I heard a
sudden shout of “Corsair!” Everyone’s plates
went flying as we scrambled for cameras and
dived for the crowdline, as the P-38L
Lightning and F4U-4 Corsair barrelled in
from the north-west in formation at speed,
en route from Sanicole to Salzburg. Raimund
Riedmann and Eric Goujon beat up the field
for several minutes before disappearing as
fast as they arrived.
They were some compensation for the
supposed appearance on the Friday of the
Patrouille de France, who straggled across
the airfield just once en route to a display
near Mulhouse. They were persuaded to
make a flypast by the Aéro-Club Albert
Mangeot of Pont-Saint-Vincent near Nancy,
with which the Fliegergruppe Wolf Hirth has
had close links since 1955. It was later claimed
that local air traffic made any formation
flying too dangerous.
As for the strangest happening of the show,
it was probably prior to the Monday
departure to Mengen of the Antique
Aeroflyers’ Kinner B-1 Sportster and
Morane-Saulnier MS317 when, out of
nowhere, a man on a white stallion rode up,
seated on a Western-style saddle, and
engaged the pilots in conversation. A
memorable Fellini-esque moment.
Thanks to very fine weather — something
of a curse for keen photographers, as much
of the flying is contre-jour along the
Hahnweide’s 13/31 airstrip — around 35,000
to 40,000 people visited the show during the
weekend, though children under 14 were
allowed in free. Meanwhile, hundreds
gathered outside in the fields under the
eastern approach. The old — and unfair —
cliché goes that Swabians are reputed to have
deep pockets but short arms, and are
reluctant to part with their money.

RIGHT: So many
international classics to
savour — Stearmans, Fox
Moth, Waco YKS-6 and
more. DR ANDREAS ZEITLER

BELOW: The Saturday

night’s illuminated
flightline, with the P-40N
from France’s Flying
Warbirds prominent.
DR ANDREAS ZEITLER
 THE DUXFORD AIR SHOW
10-11 September
ABOVE: The ‘Ultimate Pistons’ — Fury and Bearcat — sweep in from the M11 end. JOHN DUNNELL
IWM Duxford’s final show of the season, given
a ‘Meet the Fighters’ theme in honour of the
80th anniversary of RAF Fighter Command,
brought together machines spanning the
years from the Great War to the Korean War in
an imaginative programme. Yet still it was not
the easiest weekend. The venue’s introduction
of an advance ticket-only entry policy and £5
car parking charge remain bones of
contention for some, while the event was not
allocated any modern fighter aircraft to bring
its theme up to date. Then Saturday saw poor
weather, rain and low cloud combining to
comprehensively wreck proceedings. It is to
the credit of all involved that anything was
able to fly.
In contrast, Sunday enjoyed unbroken blue
skies, a far bigger crowd — thankfully advance
tickets remained available until midnight the
previous day — and the display was able to go
BELOW: Thirteen Spitfires and a Seafire parade against the blue. BEN DUNNELL
AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016
Reviewed by John Dunnell
ahead as advertised, opening with the
‘Ultimate Pistons’ pair of Richard Grace in
North Weald Heritage Aviation’s Fury FB11
accompanied by Pete Kynsey with The Fighter
Collection’s Bearcat. This perfectly executed
high-energy close pairs routine was a great
start to a marvellous afternoon.
RAF and Fleet Air Arm biplane fighters from
the 1930s were well-represented. A Hawker trio
of the Historic Aircraft Collection’s Fury I,
Howell Davies’ Demon and the HAC’s Nimrod II
flown by Charlie Brown, Stu Goldspink and
Peter Holloway paraded, while Nick Grey threw
TFC’s Gladiator around the sky in an exuberant
performance that included almost vertically
banked turns at low level — a wonderful sight.
The early years of World War Two were
illustrated by a ‘Dunkirk Trio’, in which
Comanche Fighters put up Dave Southwood
for his first display in a Spitfire Ia — X4650, still in
its ‘Dunkirk’ film colours — and Brian Smith with
Spitfire Vb EP122 in a tailchase against Historic
Flying’s Buchón. When at Duxford for Flying
Legends, EP122 also wore a temporary movie
scheme, making this September show a first
opportunity to see the machine in its splendid
No 185 Squadron markings as carried in the
1942 defence of Malta.
An ambitious attempt was made to
demonstrate gunnery training. This featured
Anna Walker in her Piper Super Cub picking up
a flag target, an interesting thing to see in itself,
even if it didn’t go quite according to plan.
Flying the HAC Hurricane, Dave Harvey made a
series of dummy attacks on the unfortunately
tangled banner.
One of the weekend’s highlights was
provided by the Norwegian Air Force Historical
Squadron. Kenneth Aarkvisla flew an excellent
solo session in the SB Lim-2 (MiG-15UTI), before
being joined for a tailchase and a three-ship
pass by the Vampire T55 and FB6. As the MiG
landed, the de Havillands performed as a pair in
the hands of Rolf Meum and Per Strømmen. For
any fan of early jets, this was a real treat.
As the afternoon drew to a close, how better
to mark the theme than with massed Spitfires?
This time there were 14, flying as two four-ship
groups in trail flanked by two vics of three, with
Brian Smith leading in Aero Legends’ MkIX
TD314. In that formation they made three
passes prior to breaking into smaller elements.
What followed was a typically outstanding
Duxford tailchase, the sky filled with the sight
and sound of Spitfires — and the Seafire III, of
course. It may have been a little smaller than
last year’s Battle of Britain extravaganza, but
the line-up of aircraft was still different. There
was EP122, of course, and MkIa P9374, not seen
in a public flying display since its sale at auction
last summer.
That wasn’t quite the end, as the final item
was a full blue-skies display by the Red Arrows.
What a fine way to conclude Duxford’s 2016
season, and for Jeanne Frazer to bow out after
15 years as the venue’s flying display director.
www.aeroplanemonthly.com 95
Events
AIRPOWER 16
2-3 September
ABOVE: The Sycamore entertains as Vampire and J 29 taxi back. BEN DUNNELL
It was a ‘pinch yourself’ airshow moment.
A Bristol Sycamore displaying as a Fouga
Magister, de Havilland Vampire, Saab J 29 and
Northrop F-5 taxied in, all set against the
imposing backdrop of the tree-covered
Styrian hills. Yet this was just one of the many
memories to linger from AirPower 16.
Yes, this huge triennial event at the
Austrian Air Force’s Zeltweg base — officially
called the Fliegerhorst Hinterstoisser — is one
of the very best modern military displays. But
it’s far more than that. AirPower offers action
from almost the entire aviation spectrum,
contrasting Mikael Carlson’s low-level
aerobatics in his Fokker D.VII with the cream
of today’s solo fast jets, of which the best has
to be the French Air Force Rafale. And what a
spectacular stage on which to watch it.
Above all, AirPower never forgets that it’s a
show. Take the opening gambit. An Austrian
Air Force Eurofighter Typhoon and an Alpha
Jet from the Flying Bulls made formation and
opposition passes past a tethered hot-air
balloon advertising the Styria region, before
three of the air force’s Pilatus PC-6 Turbo
Porters dropped water dyed in the Austrian
flag colours. Talk about starting in style.
With Red Bull being the event’s main
commercial backer, of course the Flying Bulls’
fleet looms large. The public display debut of
the Sycamore (see pages 66-71) was a true star
item, but almost as good — and rather more
dynamic — was a highly original combine of
96 www.aeroplanemonthly.com
Reviewed by Ben Dunnell
B-25J Mitchell, P-38L Lightning, F4U-4 Corsair
and two Alpha Jets. Performing initially as a
five-ship before splitting into elements, the
quintet gave a tour de force of showmanship.
In the midst of close-coupled box-four
formation aerobatics from the warbird
fighters and jet trainers, the Alpha Jets broke
away to draw a smoke heart, pierced by the
barrel-rolling Lightning and Corsair. Take a
bow Philipp Haidbauer, Stefan Doblhammer,
Raimund Riedmann and Eric Goujon.
The crowning glory, though, was one of
the best ‘old and new’ formations. Every jet
type ever operated by the Austrian Air Force
came together for a series of passes, an
in-service Saab 105OE flanked by the Vampire
T55 from the Fliegermuseum Altenrhein and
the Magister based with the Quax-Flieger in
Germany; tucked in close behind came the
Swedish Air Force Historic Flight’s SK 35C
Draken and J 29F, accompanied by a Swiss Air
Force F-5E Tiger II and Austria’s current
fighter, a Typhoon, bringing up the rear. A mix
ABOVE: The Flying Bulls’ four-ship. BEN DUNNELL
of military and civil pilots, aircraft with
significant variations in performance — this
was a splendid piece of flying. What different
shapes, too, from first-generation straight-
winged jet to contemporary canard delta.
From the final flyby, Lars Martinsson lit the
Draken’s afterburner and, with a
characteristic burst of flame, pitched up and
out of the formation. His excellent solo
display rekindled memories of the two
decades to 2005 during which the Saab
fighter stood on Austria’s air defence front
line. But who says 21st-century combat jets
don’t have charisma too? Certainly, no-one
told the pilots in the later Austrian Typhoon
two-ship combat demo, a masterclass of
aggression, agility and raw power.
More than 300,000 people attended
AirPower 16 over its two days, the
atmosphere — as usual at Zeltweg — almost
more akin to a music festival than an airshow.
Superbly organised, unceasingly entertaining,
there really is nothing quite like it.
ABOVE: Austrian Air Force jets
old and new. BEN DUNNELL
AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016
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Books
Book of the Month
EAP: The
Experimental Aircraft
Programme
by Allan Seabridge and
Leon Skorczewski
published by BAE Systems
The Second World Training the
War Guide to Aircraft Right Stuff
Identification by Mark A. Frankel and
Tommy H. Thomason
published by Amberley
This volume is essentially a reprint of a
document produced by the United
States War Department and issued to US
forces in 1943. Intended as a practical
aircraft recognition guide for the man in
the street (should that be ‘the man in the
dugout’?), it is intelligently produced and
contains far more than simple black
three-view drawings of aircraft types,
both ‘ours’ and ‘theirs’. For each design
there is a list of distinguishing features, a
summary of basic facts and a series of
photos taken from various angles to aid
recognition. There’s also a useful glossary
of terms used, with a good, practical
explanation of each.
This title’s appeal results very much
from its period feel. Some information is
questionable: was a version of the
Focke-Wulf Fw 190 really used by the
Japanese in the South-west Pacific? This
and other points provide a useful
reminder that Allied intelligence didn’t
always get it right. When commenting
on Allied aircraft, naturally, the authors
were on safer ground. Would anyone
quibble with the statement that ‘the
Albacore is an obsolete aircraft’? Well
reproduced, this will surely provide a
few hours of nostalgia to today’s
armchair-seated enthusiast reader.
Denis J. Calvert
ISBN 978-1-4456-5889-6; 9.2 x 6.5in
hardback; 128 pages, illustrated; £12.99
★★★★★
AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016
A book of more than 400 pages on an
aircraft with a build run of precisely one
might seem excessive, but the British
Aerospace EAP was no ordinary
aeroplane. After all, this technology
demonstrator, which contributed so
much to the Eurofighter, was the last all-
new, all-British fighter design to fly when
it took to the air 30 years ago — even if it
was never intended for production.
The authors, both of whom were
deeply involved in the EAP programme,
have covered this fascinating subject in
unprecedented detail. The result is, it
must be said, quite a scholarly tome, but
one that often belies its dry appearance.
Some of the recollections of early
planning meetings are rather amusing,
and Seabridge and Skorczewski draw
throughout on a varied range of archive
documents and individual accounts.
If I do have a criticism, it concerns the
text’s overall balance. In 418 pages, the
description of the EAP’s flight test effort
only begins on page 330, and ends on
published by Schiffer Publishing
A weighty tome printed on high-quality
paper, on the face of it this book about
the aircraft that have trained US military
jet pilots carries on in the best traditions
of Schiffer’s high production values. It’s
certainly a good concept; after a chapter
on ‘Flight Training Before Jets’, the text
goes straight into each of the types used
for pilot instruction by the US forces
during the jet age, starting with the T-28
Trojan.
There is much interesting information
here — for instance, the reminder that
the DHC-1 Chipmunk (sadly, incorrectly
referred to as the “deHavilland DCH-1B”)
and Boulton Paul Balliol were evaluated
for the primary trainer deal eventually
won by the Beech Mentor. Accounts of
training in the T-34 and the T-38 Talon
are entertaining and insightful. Sadly,
though, the whole product is very badly
let down indeed by the photo
reproduction. Every single image in the
book — except those on the dust jacket
— is pixelated to a greater or lesser
degree, indicating a serious flaw in the
production process. Have low-resolution
versions inadvertently been used?
Aspects of the layout leave something to
be desired, too. Given the very high
purchase price, the reader deserves far
better. Ben Dunnell
ISBN 978-0-7643-5030-6; 8.5 x 11in
hardback; 352 pages, illustrated; £60.50
★★★★★
Reviews
page 359. A great deal of the content
in this section comes in the form of Rating
tables listing the aircraft’s flights; it
seems to lack the depth of the earlier
chapters dealing with the ★★★★★
development phase. Adding to that, Outstanding
too many of the images have clearly
been blown up larger than their low ★★★★★
resolution can take, and the index Excellent
would be far more usable were it to
quote page numbers rather than ★★★★★
chapter/paragraph references. Good
This is, however, a good book on an
undeniably important aircraft. I doubt ★★★★★
a more comprehensive EAP volume Flawed
will ever be produced, so if you’re
interested in this chapter of post-war ★★★★★
British aviation history, I’d definitely Mediocre
make the effort with it. Ben Dunnell
ISBN 978-0-9573755-4-3;
7in x 9.5in hardback; 418 pages, Enough said
illustrated; £30
★★★★
Piu’ Cento
by Massimo Dominelli and
Luciano Pontolillo
published by Aviani & Aviani
This landscape-format book, entirely in
Italian, is the story of SIAI Marchetti
from 1915 and marks the 100th
anniversary of the company, but it
should be explained that it only covers
the firm’s flying boats, seaplanes and
commercial aircraft, not post-war types
like the SF260.
The first pages list the various types
covered — the S16, 55, 66, 73, 75, 83
and 95 — with the registrations
allocated to various airlines. The S73
three-engined commercial airliner, a
contemporary of the Junkers Ju 52/3m,
became well-known on European
routes, operated by Italian, Czech,
Hungarian and Belgian companies.
Italy’s Ala Littoria was the main user,
and a map shows their considerable
route network from Rome to such
destinations as Haifa, Cairo, Tetuan,
Lisbon and Constantinople.
Many of the illustrations are printed
at double-page size and are of
excellent quality, while there are
pictures of various models which are
available. This is an attractive addition
to the rather few books available on
Italian aviation.
Mike Hooks
ISBN 978-88-7772-228-7; 11in x 8.5in
softback; 152 pages, illustrated;
available from The Aviation Bookshop
at £26.99 plus £4 p&p
★★★★★
www.aeroplanemonthly.com 99
 TRUMP S HUTTLE
T
he uncensored thoughts
of Donald J. Trump have
on occasion been known,
to put it diplomatically,
to cause a degree of consternation.
Sometimes they don’t seem all that
funny, and so it was back in 1989
when, with typical bombast, he
‘It was great for t
100 www.aeroplanemonthly.com
addressed a press conference to herald
the launch of his new airline, the
Trump Shuttle. Operating on the
potentially lucrative shuttle route
between New York, Washington DC
and Boston, the tycoon’s carrier would
have some stiff opposition. Of Pan
American, Trump told the gathered
throng, “I wouldn’t fly them; they’re
losing money and their planes are old”.
To call the remark tactless would be an
understatement. It was, after all, just a
few months since Pan Am Flight 103
was blown up over Lockerbie.
Trump Shuttle marketing director
Henry Harteveldt wasn’t happy. “That’s
AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016
one of the few occasions not only [the
airline’s president] Bruce Nobles but
I gave Donald hell”, Harteveldt says
today. “I just said that you do not
criticise another airline’s maintenance.
It is wrong. We all strive to maintain
our airplanes well, and there but for the
grace of God go we. There were a lot of
the Trump ego’
AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016
people, especially in the New York area,
who had lost friends and family on
Flight 103 and were still very upset —
understandably so.
“Well, karma is a bitch. A little more
than three months after we started
flying, one of our Boeing 727s landed
with the nose gear up at Boston Logan.
It was determined that it was not our
fault — that there had been a ‘legacy’
maintenance problem that had not
been detected. Our pilots handled the
incident well, our flight attendants
handled the incident well, and there
were no major injuries. But it was very,
very embarrassing.”
Those were Donald Trump’s
words on the day of his new
airline’s inaugural flight back
in 1989. Perhaps its failure was
unsurprising, but there was
rarely a dull moment for those
involved with the ill-starred
Trump Shuttle
WORDS: GORDON RENCHARD
Harteveldt was one of many
seasoned airline industry campaigners
who helped set up the airline.
He had worked in advertising for
American Airlines, marketing for
TWA, and marketing and planning
for Continental. Bruce Nobles, also
ex-Continental, brought him in. As
Harteveldt told Aeroplane, “It was a lot
of fun — it was very chaotic. It was
a start-up situation, and as a start-up
there are always more things to do and
not enough people to do the tasks.
What added to the challenge was that
I left Continental for Trump Shuttle
before the Trump Organization had
actually bought the airline.”
Some background is required.
“Eastern Airlines started the air shuttle
in 1961”, says Harteveldt. “Texas Air
Corporation bought Eastern, and it
owned Continental. There was a plan
to spin off the shuttle as a way to bring
in money and to, frankly, help Texas
Air in its battle with Eastern and the
unions that was going on at the time.
“Frank Lorenzo, chairman of Texas LEFT: Donald
Air, had met Donald Trump and the Trump at the 1988
two had a conversation about buying announcement of
the shuttle. However, the unions his $365-million
at Eastern took legal action and purchase of the
Eastern Airlines
successfully got a judge to say that the shuttle — the birth
shuttle couldn’t just be sold outright; of Trump Shuttle.
that there should be an auction so that PHOTOLINK/NEWSCOM
the shuttle brought in its true value to
the company.
ð
www.aeroplanemonthly.com 101
 TRUMP S HUTTLE
ABOVE: Boeing “It became a bidding war, and the
727-225 N917TS two finalists for the Eastern shuttle were
freshly refurbished the Trump Organization and America
at Miami West Airlines, which saw the shuttle as a
International
in 1989. way to get a toehold into the north-east.
BOB O’BRIEN COLLECTION/
The Trump Organization purchased the
AIRTEAMIMAGES.COM shuttle from Texas Air for approximately
$365 million, and with that we got 22
Boeing 727s, a mix of 727-100s and
-200s. One of the 727-100s we got was
among Eastern’s oldest 727s, from when
they first started taking delivery in the
1960s. We actually wanted the shuttle
to have fewer airplanes, roughly 16, and
we were hoping to have a mix of 727s
and DC-9s, but the deal that Lorenzo
and the Trump Organization agreed to
was 22 airplanes, all 727s.”
Trump himself had announced
the purchase of Eastern’s shuttle at
his Plaza Hotel in Manhattan on 12
‘Donald said the Trump Shuttle would be
a ‘diamond in the sky’. After that I said,
‘We’re starting with cubic zirconia’
October 1988. Harteveldt was an
early recruit. “I got to New York, I
started my job, and we were building
an airline without actually having an
airline. That was a risk I was willing to
take. I’d left a secure job in Continental
for this start-up, and a lot of other
people did as well — people who’d
come from other airlines.
102 www.aeroplanemonthly.com
“As marketing director, my job
was to build the brand. What was
Trump Shuttle going to be? I was
involved in all the tasks you would
expect a marketing head to be: livery,
cabin design, advertising, frequent
flyer, brand positioning, product
development…
“At the beginning, Donald was very
involved in things that were marketing-
focused — things such as cabin design,
our loyalty programme, advertising,
promotions. But it’s important to
understand that the Trump Shuttle was
its own business unit. We had our own
president, Bruce Nobles; we had our
own chief pilot. We were, for the most
part, self-sufficient.
“Donald was involved only on things
that were fairly major, especially once
the airline was launched. PR was very
important to him, advertising was
very important to him, because in that
pre-internet era those were two of the
communications platforms that really
helped to identify and create the image
of the airline, and position it in the
consumer’s mind. But he would get
involved in other things, including the
design of the magazine, certain aspects
of the meal service that we offered, and
even a frequent flyer ‘thank you’ direct
mail campaign.”
Some of that influence was
undeniably positive. In other
ways, Trump betrayed his lack of
understanding of the airline business in
general, and the shuttle in particular.
“Donald certainly insisted on a
very opulent cabin”, recalls Henry
Harteveldt. “As he kept telling me, “It’s
the Trump Shuttle”, and people had, in
his mind, an expectation of this.
“We ended up spending more than
$1 million per airplane — probably
closer to $2 million — on renovation.
That included maintenance, engine
repair and overhaul, going through the
airframes, as well as what the passengers
saw. Remember, these were some of
the oldest 727s, and while Eastern kept
them flyable these were airplanes that
probably were flying on the minimum
of minimum equipment lists. They had
not exactly received much tender loving
care from Eastern because Eastern
simply didn’t have the cash.
“We put in very thick pile carpeting.
That’s lovely to have in a private jet,
that’s lovely to have in your home.
On a commercial airliner? No. Not
very practical. He insisted that we
put that carpeting down the tail stairs
of the 727. Again, not practical. It
added weight, and those stairs were
used primarily by service personnel,
inevitably in all types of weather, which
in the north-east US includes rain and
AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016

snow. That was not one of the better
decisions.
“He wanted to replace the
aluminium doorhandles on the
boarding door and other cabin doors
with brass handles, because he thought
they would be more attractive. We
talked him out of that. He wanted
to put in marble counter-tops in the
lavatories. We had to investigate that
and convince him that a faux marble
would be just as good.”
Another remark at one of the airline’s
early press conferences rather troubled
marketing boss Harteveldt. “Donald
said the Trump Shuttle would be a
‘diamond in the sky’. After that I said,
‘You may want a diamond in the sky,
but we’re starting with cubic zirconia’.
Again, these were old airplanes with
rather grotty interiors.
“After Mr Trump’s statements, our
advertising had to contain and manage
consumer expectations. A lot of what
we did with our PR and advertising
had to make sure people realised that,
at first, literally the only thing that
changed was the name. In one of our
first advertisements, which we shot at
Boston Logan, we filmed the workers
putting a decal on the fuselage that
said ‘Trump’ over the Eastern Airlines
name and logo. We were sending
airplanes down to Orlando, Florida, to
be repainted and have new cabins done.
It took us several months to get the
first of them in, but [after that] the rest
quickly followed.”
AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016
Using a 727-200, the inaugural
Trump Shuttle service operated from
New York to Washington on 8 June
1989. At LaGuardia, passengers
were greeted by a string quartet,
complimentary champagne — and
Donald himself. He described the
whole venture as “great for the Trump
ego”. Fog caused a 20-minute delay,
but otherwise things went off without
a hitch.
It wasn’t long, though, before the
cracks started to show. “We had a
lot of challenges as a start-up. Our
competitor was Pan Am, and they ran
a very good shuttle. What we learned
through our research was that 40 per
cent of people preferred to leave on
the hour and had some kind of loyalty
towards either Eastern, Continental or
the OnePass frequent flyer programme.
Another 40 per cent preferred the Pan
Am product. We were really battling for
20 per cent of the market.
❖ command a slight revenue premium.
“Back in 1989-90, you didn’t need a
reservation. If you got to the Pan Am
shuttle terminal at 8.29, you’d probably
get on the 8.30 shuttle to Boston or
Washington. In addition, Continental
was still struggling from its 1987
merger with People Express, and did
not have the strong following that it
began to get later in the 1990s. It had
a challenge with on-time performance
and service and some other things.
And, of course, Eastern was not exactly
in the strongest of positions. So, even
though we had a tie to a very strong
frequent flyer programme in OnePass,
the anchor airlines of that programme
were not in the strongest of business
positions, whereas Pan Am could
promise people the world. It had its
own business challenges, but it was
viewed as a ‘less bad’ option by some.”
Still, the newcomer battled hard.
“Because Eastern had been in such
bad straits, when we took over we had
something like 14 per cent market
share. And because Eastern had to be
aggressive with its pricing — both retail
pricing and corporate discounts — we
had less than 14 per cent of the revenue
on the shuttle. Back in 1989, Amtrak,
the US inter-city rail operator, did not
yet have the Acela high-speed train
service. It had Metroliner between New
York and Washington, but it was not
high-speed — it was simply faster than
average and had fewer stops. It was still
a fairly long train ride, roughly four
hours if I remember correctly. New
York-Boston was also four or more
hours on the train. The majority of
people travelling between Washington
and New York, and between New York
and Boston, went by air.
“By the end of March or so of 1990,
we had pretty much gotten to about 50
per cent of the market and were able to
We had a really good sales team, we
had invested in product. One thing we
were really committed to from both an
operational standpoint and a marketing
standpoint was on-time performance
and reliability. In those days, we
maintained the promise that even if it BELOW:
was just for one passenger we would With hindsight,
roll out an empty airplane in order to an interesting
passenger on a
accommodate everybody who wanted Trump aircraft:
to go on any given shuttle flight. We then Governor Bill
had back-up airplanes at the ready and Clinton flew on a
we were able to maintain our reliability. Trump Shuttle
“From a marketing standpoint, 727-200 to
we realised that the air shuttles were Cleveland, Ohio
really time management tools. Our for the annual
passengers didn’t fly to earn frequent Democratic
flyer miles, or for snacks or the in-flight Leadership Council
meeting in May
magazine, or because we had outfitted 1991.
the flight attendants with faux pearl THE IMAGE WORKS/TOPFOTO
necklace accessories as part of their
uniforms. It was because they needed
ð
www.aeroplanemonthly.com 103
 TRUMP S HUTTLE
ABOVE: By the time to get between New York and either
this shot of 727-225 Boston or Washington DC in the
N917TS was taken fastest possible manner. That was core.
at Fort Lauderdale Everything else was ancillary.”
in September 1990, Harteveldt and others saw how
Trump Shuttle
was already in difficult the situation was. “It became
difficulties. It clear to me that it was going to be a
operated charters tougher road to profitability than we
as well as the initially anticipated. When the Trump
shuttle flights. Organization bought the shuttle, the
CARL FORD/ economy was relatively strong, real
AIRTEAMIMAGES.COM
estate values in New York were strong,
and Trump had invested in a variety of
casinos in Atlantic City.
“The executive leadership of the
shuttle had told Trump what they
believed it to be worth, and we all
felt that paying $65 million for it was
too much money. We were concerned
from the outset about our ability to
not only turn a profit but service the
debt. What we heard was that they
were reasonable business concerns but
that the cashflow and profit from the
real estate side of the house would at
least compensate for any losses that
the shuttle may incur during its start-
up phase. We all knew that we would
not be profitable overnight, we knew
that we would not be profitable within
‘The executive leadership of the shuttle
told Trump what they believed it to be
worth, and that $65 million was too much’
a year, but we expected to be well on
our way towards being profitable.
“There were macro-economic
factors outside our control that
occurred. The US went into a mild
recession [in late 1989], and that
recession started more in the north-
east than the rest of the country.
Real estate values softened in New
York and elsewhere. There were some
challenges that the casinos had, which
104 www.aeroplanemonthly.com
have been documented in the New
York Times and elsewhere. I should
point out again that we were a free-
standing business unit — we did not
do anything with the Plaza Hotel
or the casinos other than some joint
promotional efforts. Also, tragically,
there was a helicopter accident in the
fall of 1989 and three of the casino
executives were killed. I think that was
very upsetting to Mr Trump personally
as well as professionally.
❖ the genial Harteveldt, now boss
“The recession intensified in 1990,
and there were some concerns about
what was going on leading up to the
1991 Gulf War. We started to see
that demand softened for the shuttle.
We had to become more aggressive
with our pricing. Continental was
competing out of Newark, there were
some other airlines between New York
and Washington, and Pan Am was
competing aggressively, so there was
a lot of competition in the market. It
brought down the published fares and
the corporate discount fares.
“We took certain steps to reduce
our expenditure — we scaled back
some advertising, we adjusted our
catering — but an airline can’t fix the
economy. The shuttle’s losses I don’t
think were terrible, but, in the context
of the larger financial challenges that
the Trump Organization was facing,
things were starting to implode.”
Harteveldt left in June 1990.
“While I enjoyed working there, and
had a very good working relationship
with Donald on the things where I
did work with him, when I got a job
offer to run marketing for a luxury
hotel company in San Francisco I
took it”. That month saw big changes
for Trump Shuttle, as Bruce Nobles
was ousted as president in favour of
Richard Cozzi. The New York Times
quoted Trump as saying of the airline,
“It will be a financial success, but
right now I’m upset with the people
running it.”
Credit where it’s due comes from
of travel data analysts Atmosphere
Research. “He did listen, he would
say ‘You’re right’, and if he didn’t
agree he would always tell you why”.
But, given Trump’s ambitions, it must
have come as a blow. “He saw Trump
Shuttle as the potential anchor for,
possibly, a larger airline. Let’s put it
this way: I don’t think there were any
of us who went to Trump Shuttle
with expectations that all we would be
was an airline flying between Boston,
New York and Washington DC. We
believed that there was an opportunity
to expand, either organically or
through acquisition…
“While I was there, Donald made
an unsolicited takeover bid for AMR
Corporation, the parent of American
Airlines. Bob Crandall of American
threatened a lawsuit, and Trump sold
his shares in AMR. I believe he made
a profit. There was also, I think, a brief
effort to buy Continental from Texas
Air. Neither of those went anywhere.”
By September 1990, Trump
Shuttle’s creditor banks decided they’d
had enough. An injection of finance
proved little more than a sticking-
plaster solution. Nor could the banks
find a buyer. Eventually, after lengthy
negotiations, USAir was persuaded to
step in. Trump Shuttle was closed on
7 April 1992, the disappointing
end of its founder’s airline dream.
AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016
 I N ! W O RTH
O
UP,0T00!

W
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The Royal Air Force Museum is a Registered Charity, Charity Number 244708.
Competition Terms and Conditions: 1) Only one entry per household. 2) All entries to be received via email no later than 12pm (GMT) Friday 2 December 2016. Any entries received after this time will not be entered into the competition.
3) Total Prize Fund will consist of 4 X £1,000 Names on a Plane Naming Experiences and 20 x £150 Names on a Plane Experiences. No cash alternatives are available. 4) The winners will be informed via email of their success by Friday 9
December 2016. In order to ensure that the competition is deemed to be fair, by entering this competition, the winners agree that their name and town of residence will be published on the Royal Air Force Museum’s website and will
be used any subsequent publicity. 5) If a winner does not take up their Prize within 20 working days of receiving the announcement they will automatically forfeit their claim on the prize. A second prize draw will then be held and a new
winner informed. 6) The winners’ names will be posted on to the Museum’s Twitter Stream and Facebook Fan Pages. 7) On occasions Key Publishing Limited may make offers on products or services that we believe to be of interest to
our customers. If you do not wish to receive this information please state NO INFORMATION clearly on your entry. Also, by entering the competition your details will be passed to the Royal Air Force Museum to be placed on the Muse-
um’s database. In accordance with Museum policies and the Data Protection Act, the Museum will not pass your details on to any third parties. If you DO NOT want to be kept updated with Museum events, competitions and news,
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please also state NO INFORMATION on your entry. 8) The judge’s decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into. 9) The competition is not open to staff of the Royal Air Force Museum, Royal Air Force Museum Enterprises
Ltd, their family or friends. Nor is it open to the Staff of Key Publishing Limited, their family and friends nor to any staff, their family or friends of any affiliates owned by Key Publishing Limited. 10) No purchase necessary.

888 Aeroplane Names comp fp.indd 1 27/09/2016 16:00

In next month’s The December 2016 issue of Aeroplane goes
FREE INSIDE on sale in the UK on 10 November.
All contents subject to change.

2017 AEROPLANE
CALENDAR
Archive images of the
‘V-Bombers’
AEROPLANE

DATABASE
Shorts Belfast
PLUS…
• Nimrod AEW
cancellation —
30 years on
AEROPLANE
• Avro on Helvellyn

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106 www.aeroplanemonthly.com AEROPLANE NOVEMBER 2016

 Britain’s Top-Selling
Aviation Monthly

259/12
FlyPast is
internationally
regarded as the
magazine for aviation history
and heritage. Having pioneered
coverage of this fascinating world
of ‘living history’ since 1981,
FlyPast still leads the field today. 
NOVEMBER ISSUE:
FEATURING:
V-BOMBER SPECIAL
The November issue contains five features
focusing on Britain’s famed V-bomber fleet
- the Vulcan, Victor and Valiant. We also
look at some of those less famous aircraft
that were nearly part of the same fleet.

SPOTLIGHT - YAK-9
Our in-depth Spotlight section profiles
one of the unsung heroes of World War
Two, the Soviet Yakovlev Yak-9. Agile and
robust, the Yaks were a menace to German
invaders and played a significant part in
turning the tide of war.

MUSTANG
We visit Goodwood aerodrome, the new
home of North American P-51D Mustang
‘Miss Helen’ - with air-to-air photography by
Richard Paver. ONLY
BRISTOL’S LEGACY
Ken Ellis reflects on the history of famous
£4.50
British aircraft manufacturer Bristol.

LOOKING BACK AT THE LERWICK

Overshadowed by the Short Sunderland, we
delve into the history of another distinctive
wartime flying boat, the Saro Lerwick.
AND MUCH MORE!
896/16
NOVEMBER ISSUE AVAILABLE NOW
From and other leading newsagents
For latest subscription deals visit
www.flypast.com
*UK scheduled on-sale date.

AVAILABLE FROM Requirements for app:

registered iTunes account on
Apple iPhone, iPad and iPod
b
Touch. Internet connection
required for initial download.

ALSO
Published by Key Publishing

SCAN
Ltd. The entire contents of these
titles are © copyright 2016.
All rights reserved. App prices
AVAILABLE TO
HERE
subject to change.
also available for
DOWNLOAD TO PURCHASE PC & MAC from

896 Flypast latest fp.indd 107 29/09/2016 11:56

Osprey F_P.indd 1 28/09/2016 09:05