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$9.95 / NZ $9.90 (incl GST)VOLUME 26 NUMBER 2

Minlaton Monoplane Marvel & Bristol in WWIWirraway is 75!Part 3, 19452014

RAAF DOUGLAS

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75 SQN RAAF KITTYHAWKS & KOKODAS UNIDENTIFIED BOMBER

MORE MAGNIFICENT CORSAIRS Night Corsairs, Part 2Worlds Corsair SurvivorsThe Flying Tribute combat veteranCO

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Above: PBY-5A Black Cat 1/72 scale. Below left: Sopwith Camel F.1 1/32 scale. Below right: UH-1D/H 1/48 scale. Bottom left: F-111C 1/48 scale. Below right: F/A-18D Hornet 1/72 scale.

Aero44 DT Academy.qxp_V 10/09/2014 7:07 pm Page 59

28 The Douglas Dolphin in RAAF Service

From the files of the Aviation Historical Society of Australia (AHSA), a rare insight into the service life of the four RAAF Douglas Dolphins of WWII.

34 Stow Maries The Great War airfield is in the state in which it was

abandoned in 1919. Mike Shreeve looks at the exciting project to restore the site to its former glory.

38 Wirraway 75th Anniversary Part 3 Following the previous features on the Wirraways origins

and war service, Derek Buckmaster takes the story from 1945 right up to today.

46 Minlaton Monoplane Marvel Phil Hosking explores the history behind

the Red Devil, the 1917 Bristol M-1C Monoplane.

50 Bristols Blunt Bullet Contributing Editor James Kightly profiles the

Bristol M.1C type.

53 Bristol in the Great War One Great War company entered the war with more

experience and capability than almost any other. James Kightly reviews the Bristol lineage of 1914-18.

55 Kokodas Unidentified Bomber A Japanese bomber wreck lies high in PNGs mountains.

Michael J. Claringbould reveals it ended there after a combination of circumstances involving RAAF P-40s and a spotter nicknamed Golden Voice.

60 The Many Fuselages of Uiver Neil Follett details the four DC-2s and one DC-3

that have been painted to represent PH-AJU.

CORSAIR FEATURE Pt.II64 Night Corsairs, Part 2 We present an extract from Alan C Careys Night Cats

& Corsairs, on the first Corsair night fighter units in the Korean War.

68 A Flying Tribute Frank B. Mormillo introduces us to the much

travelled F4U-4B, a rare Korean War combat veteran.

72 Magnificent Corsairs Worldwide Following the Top Ten Corsair Survivors last edition,

Flightpath presents a selection of notable Corsairs in preservation and flying today.

F L IGH T PAT H | 3

ContentsVolume 26 No.2 , November 2014 - January 2015

Regulars04 News22 Mailbag23 Calendar24 Personal

Effects42 Poster76 Airshows

COVER: The former 75 Squadron RAAF P-40N-1 Kittyhawk A29-488 (ZK-CAG) flown by owner Frank Parker and captured by GHOSTS Philip Makanna.

76

4 | F L IGH T PAT H

News

Editor: Rob Fox Ph: (03) 9580 7436 Email: [email protected]

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The Australian National Aviation Museum at Moorabbin, Vic, undertook a huge effort to celebrate the 75th birthday of the oldest sur-viving Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation (CAC) aircraft, Wirraway A20-10. This is the eighth Wirraway off the production line in 1939. On the exact day, 6 September 2014, 75 years after A20-10 was rolled out at Fisher-mans Bend, the aircraft was again rolled out to an appreciative crowd after an intense restoration programme had brought the air-craft back to its original (pre-war) scheme.

Among other highlights, a number of ex-CAC employees turned up and the oldest one - 90 year old Alan Patching had the honour of cutting the special Wirraway cake. Happy Birthday was sung by The Pacific Belles,

and in the afternoon, the aircraft was fired up for the appreciative crowd, only the sec-ond time it had run after a 27 year hiatus.

This major part of the restoration had been started only ten weeks previously, though some metal fabrication work had been under-taken on an occasional basis prior. The work was done by an all-volunteer crew, with many late-night hours, volunteer extra contribu-tions and travel from around Australia to help. The estimate was around 2,500 hours of volunteer time, and included many junior helpers on this project which gave much en-couragement for the future. All the proceeds raised went towards restoring the Museums CAC Boomerang. (see our Wirraway feature on page 38) James Kightly

CAC Wirraway 75

CLOCKWISE: The oldest surviving Common-wealth Aircraft Corporation aircraft, Wirraway A20-10. [Rob Fox] The Pacific Belles were on hand to sing Happy Birthday to the Wirraway. [J Kightly], The museum commissioned a special birthday cake for the celebrations. [Ewan McArthur] The Wirraway was fired up during the festivities, only the second time it had run after a 27 year hiatus. [J Kightly]

F L IGH T PAT H | 5

News

The Classic Jets Fighter Museum (CJFM) has sold its rare Lockheed P-38H Lightning, the only one in Australia, to the UK. It was previously listed as the star attraction and most outstanding feature of the Classic Jets Fighter Museum. Museum Di-rector Bob Jarrett told Flightpath the Lightning 42-66841 has been shipped to Britain where it will undergo a complete rebuild program to return squadron number 153 to airworthy status. CJFM recognises that this is the best possible outcome for the long term preservation of this rare early model P-38H Lightning.

This P-38 flew with the 475th FG, 432 FS, of the USAAF 5th Airforce in Papua and New Guinea un-til its pilot made a forced landing on 14 September 1943 at Fieta, breaking off its propellers and dis-lodging its two Allison Engines. The remains lay abandoned in the kunai grass area near Brahmin, forty miles (60 km) inland from Madang, until 1992 when initial unsuccessful attempts were made to remove the aircraft. Following three fur-ther years of negotiations by Bob Jarrett, the re-mains of the P-38 eventually arrived in Adelaide, South Australia on 17 May 1999. On arrival the museums volunteers began the deep restoration of the P38 until it was completed and placed on display. In October 2014, the P-38 was seen while being transported to David Arnolds Flying A Services facility at the former USAF base of RAF Bentwaters, England. Rob Fox

Rare Pacific Veteran P-38 Sold

ABOVE: The ex CJFM P-38H wrapped in plastic in the last stage of its journey to David Arnolds facility at Bentwaters, England.

LEFT: TheLockheed P-38H-5 Lightning 42-66841 nearing completion in 2005 at the Classic Jets Fighter Museum event at Parafield, South Australia. [CJFM]

BELOW: The abandoned P-38 as found in the kunai grass at the WWII Fieta emergency landing field, inland from Madang, [via CJFM]

The future of the B-24 Liberator Memorial project at Werribee, Victo-ria, and the W.W.II hangar it is being restored in were secured last Oc-tober thanks to the Victorian State Government assistance. The Assist-ant Treasurer, Gordon Rich-Phillips (Minister for Aviation Industry) said, a land transfer agreement between the State Government, Mel-bourne Water and the B-24 Fund had been signed, paving the way for the preservation and enhancement of the sites aviation heritage. The agreement will see Melbourne Water transfer about 1.475ha of land through the state to the B24 Fund, pending a works permit being is-sued by Heritage Victoria. As we reported in the previous Flightpath, both the Liberator and the Werribee Satellite Aerodrome Hangars are last of their kind in Australia. Located at the corner of Princes Hwy and Farm Rd in Werribee, the agreement guarantees it as a museum pre-cinct and gives the B-24 a much coveted permanent home. Rob Fox

B-24 Liberator & hangars secured

Jam

es Ki

ghtly

Call Rob 0411 336 156 or email: [email protected]

Winjeel Wings & Centre sections.2 sets approx life each.

Still in RAAF shipping crates with RAAF paperwork.

$45K per set negotiable. Just what your TX Winjeel requires.

FOR SALE

6 | F L IGH T PAT H

News

A rare inter-war fighter, the Dewoitine D-530 No.06 F-AJTE, has just been com-pleted after several months of restoration by the specialists in the workshop from Muse de lAir et de lEspace [the French National Aviation Museum] at le Bourget. The D530 was the ultimate evolution of the inter-war series of Dewoitine fighters, and was equipped with a 500 hp (370kW) His-pano Suiza 12 engine, and was built in the Argenteuil factory in 1937 especially for the notable French pilot Marcel Doret who was the test pilot of Dewoitine at the time and a world renowned acrobat pilot. The Dewoitine was used for airshows before W.W.II, then post war by Doret again until their last flight on 12 April 1955. F-AJTEwas returned to Hall 10, the building devoted to the inter-war period in July 2014. Eric Janssonne

Le Bourget Dewoitine D530 Returns

Dewoitine D530 F-AJTEon show again at the Muse de lAir et de lEspace, le Bourget. [Patrice Schaffhauser Via Eric Janssonne]

Nick Caudwell made the first flight of his scratch-built Sopwith Snipe, VH-SNP at Ty-abb Airport in the early morning of 17 Octo-ber 2014. He told Flightpath: I was sur-prised just how quickly it leapt off the ground in a very short distance. By the time the tail was up, a quick glance at the airspeed and were already airborne and climbing like a rocket. The rudder and elevator light and quite effective although slightly mushy. The ailerons, though, are very heavy and really stiffen up once over 100 mph (160 km/h). Tail down wheeler for landing and once the skid is down it comes to a stop very quickly. Using original blueprints, the replica Great War fighter was constructed from the ground up, with the only deviation from originality being a Continental W670 seven cylinder ra-dial engine in place of the rare Bentley BR2 rotary. (See Flightpath Vol.25 No.4) Nick constructed his Snipe over the past nine and a half years in the garage of his Mt Eliza home and used numerous original Snipe parts in the authentic reproduction, includ-ing a gunsight and controls. Rob Fox

Great War Snipe Flies

ABOVE & BELOW: Nick Caudwell airborne in his Great War Sopwith Snipe replica at Tyabb. The Snipe was built from original blueprints and is finished in the colours of AFC Ace Bo King. [Michael Pover]

BELOW RIGHT: A very happy Nick Caudwell after his first flight at Tyabb. He has flown the Snipe, historically in the centenary year of both the birth of the Australian air arm and the Great War. [Darren Barnfield]

F L IGH T PAT H | 7

News

On 20 and 21 of September 2014, during the European Heritage Days, the Memorial Flight workshop based at Dugny, France opened its doors to the public. Visitors were able to see the restoration projects underway. Among the most advanced projects, was the repro-duction Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2F, F-AZZN, now in the final stages of its rebuild. The project, based on a The Vintage Aviator Ltd. (TVAL) airframe, is scheduled to be fly-ing sometime in 2015 and is painted in the colours of B.E.2f number 2560 of 52 Squadron RAF, complete with all its night equipment.

The Memorial Flight team is also rebuilding two Albatros D.Va reproductions also sourced from TVAL in New Zealand both projects are being rebuilt side-byside, and its anticipated they will be flying sometime in 2017, together appropriately registered as F-AZUA and F-AZUB. There is no other Albatros D.Va cur-rently flying in Europe. Also, in the early stages of rebuild, the Memorial Flight has started the restoration of the Brussels Air Mu-seums Aviatik C.I to static condition. This is the very last example existing worldwide. Us-ing original parts as patterns, a flying repro-duction will also be constructed in the long term. Additionally, the Memorial Flight is also involved in the overhaul of the two Morane AIs owned by the Salis family at Le Fert-Alais. Both will be overhauled within the next eighteen months with new fabric applied and new internal fittings added, to bring them to a higher, more accurate standard.

Lastly, the Memorial Flight is also re-building, to static condition, an original LVG C.VI and Polikaprov I-153 for the Muse de lAir et de lEspace of Le Bourget. Future projects include the reconstruction of an Avro 504 and Morane N to flying condition and the restoration to fly of the Svedinos Automobile and Aviation Museum FFVS J22 in Sweden. Benjamin Gilbert

[More information about Memorial Flight can be found on their website: http://memo-rial.flight.free.fr and www.j22-project.com. The author wish to thanks Arnaud Mars for his help and assistance with this report.]

French Memorial Flight News

TOP: The reproduction B.E.2f in the colours of 52 Squadron. [all images Benjamin Gilbert]

ABOVE LEFT: One of the Morane AI fighters.

LEFT: The second Moraine fuselage without covering.

ABOVE: Two Albatros reproduction fuselages.

A rare surprise vintage aircraft recently arrived from tropical Tahiti to start a new life in Belgium. The machine is a member of the Ryan ST family of two-seat, low-wing monoplane sport and training aircraft built by the Ryan Aeronautical Company. This example, a PT-22, is fitted with a Kinner R-55 engine producing 160hp (120kW), and they were mainly used as trainers by the US military. This trainer, 1676, was built in 1941 and became part of the U.S Army Air Corps as 41-15647 in 1942. Demobbed as late as 1952, it went on to a civil career in Canada (from 1958 to 1964) and the USA, then it was shipped to Tahiti and registered as F-AZNO during 2008, painted in a very colourful US Navy livery. In 2013 it was obtained by a Belgian operator, and the Ryan started a long journey around three-quarters of the word in a con-tainer. It has been fully cleaned and restored, and now bears the name Miss Tahiti painted on the nose as a souvenir of its tropical life. Roger Soupart

Tahitian Ryan emigrates

The PT-22 Miss Tahiti seen at Antwerp, its Belgian home base. [Roger Soupart]

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News

The Mk 102 Merlin, Number 5 in a series of 108 made by the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation [CAC].

An Australian-made Rolls-Royce Mer-lin engine, a rare survivor of its kind, is destined for a new life after several decades of cherished ownership by a private aircraft enthusiast. The engine is Number 5 in a series of 108 Mk 102 Merlins made by the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation (CAC) at its en-gine plant in Lidcombe, New South Wales under licence from Rolls-Royce. Production of Mk 102 engines took place between 1946 and 1952 for use on Mk 30A and 31 Lincoln heavy bomb-er aircraft, which the Government Air-craft Factory at Fishermans Bend built under license from Avro.

According to the engines owner, its last use was as a spare kept at RAAF Base Mallala in South Australia. When the Lincoln fleet was withdrawn from service in 1961, the Merlin was one of various items put up for disposal, pass-ing to a scout troop who held it as an exhibit for a few years, after which the current owner acquired it. He has kept it since then as a prized memento of Australias once thriving aircraft con-struction industry. Now needing to re-cover garage space, he has decided to sell the Merlin. Tony Cox

The Qantas Founders Museum (QFM) in Queensland have announced the acquisition of a Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation. The aircraft was bought in September 2014 at an auction organised by the Manila airport authority.

The Constellation changed the nature of international flying from Australia, and was a major advance in the history of Qantas, cutting flight times to London from ten days to four. The museums Rodney Seccombe says it has been trying for years to get hold of a Constellation, because The Connies have all sorts of firsts - they were the first pressu-rised, they were the first ones to fly around the world, and Qantas actually had counter-rotating flights going around the world and they crossed over in London and Sydney.

This Constellation was delivered to the US Navy in December 1953 as R7V-1, BuNo 131643 and redesignated as a C-121J in 1962, nicknamed Ole Blue from Point Mugu while in service. Retired to the Boneyard at Davis Monthan AFB by 1973, it had a brief flying career in the late eighties hauling fish as N4247K before being impounded at Manila Air-port in the Philippines, being noted there in June 1988, where it has remained in a deterio-rating condition. As construction number 4144, it is the second oldest survivor, and al-though a military version without Qantas history, the machine will fill a notable gap in the airlines history, and will complement the Historic Aircraft Restoration Societys airworthy example VH-EAG, one of only two current fliers. Over thirty examples survive, many in museums and collections overseas, but this will be the first static example in Australia. The museum is currently fundraising to arrange transport for the non-airworthy aircraft to Australia. James Kightly

Connie for Qantas Founders

The ex Winkys Fish hauling L-1049 Super Constellation in Manilla and heading for outback Queensland. [Via QFM]

Home-grown Merlin on course for new role

The RAAF long nose Mk31 Lincoln was also manufactured in Australia by GAF.

Swan Hill airports ranks swelled in early October when the Antique Aeroplane Association of Australia (AAAA) members winged their way in for their AAAAs annual Spring Fly-in. Fifty four antique, classic and vintage aircraft were in attendance at the event . However, it was Victorian Peter Harlows newly imported 1941 Interstate Super Cadet VH-VCQ which took home the Peoples Choice Award, the only award at the event. Rob Fox

AAAA in Swan Hill

Ian Harvey taxying in his Aeronca Chief past the CAC Winjeel and the oncoming Stinson 108 Voyager. [RF]

Caboolture Hawker ResurgenceAt Caboolture airfield, Queensland, two Hawker aircraft of very different eras have recently arrived for restoration. The first is Jack McDonalds long dormant ex-RAAF Hawker Demon. Only one complete RAAF Demon currently exists A1-8 in the RAAF Museum. Jack was closely involved in this restoration and was restoring his own aircraft to airworthy standard at the same time. Work progressed well but as is often the case, other projects and work pressures meant that the aircraft was put aside until recently.

Jack has enlisted the support of veteran re-storer Ron Lee, with an additional group of volunteers assisting in the process. The De-mon is coming together at Caboolture in Jacks hanger alongside the Bristol Beaufort A8-141 airworthy restoration. It is anticipated that the Demon will be completed to full and authentic static condition within two years.

A new and much anticipated aircraft ar-rival at Caboolture airfield on 2 September was Hawker Hunter FR74B, G-BABM, Singa-pore 526. This aircraft is the last of 21 ex-Singapore Air Force Hunters that Geoff Moesker acquired in 1995 and is still owned by him. Geoff has placed the aircraft at Ca-boolture for display, also in the Beaufort hangar. It is intended to restore the aircraft to non-flying but operational status with a working engine and systems. The aircraft is particularly historic and significant in that it was at one time Hawker Siddeleys own demonstrator registered G-BABM which toured the world and was featured in many magazines in the seventies, culminating in a spectacular display at the Farnborough Air-show UK in 1976. Geoff is intending to com-pletely restore the aircraft in its demonstra-tor colors of sand and brown upper surfaces and azure blue lower surfaces. The aircraft is very complete and essentially untouched, with its engine still fitted. An additional Rolls Royce Avon 207C engine will be dis-played alongside the aircraft, along with other equipment. John Parker

ABOVE RIGHT: Ross Ebzery commences work on the restoration of the Hawker Demon cockpit at Caboolture. [John Parker]

ABOVE LEFT: Jack McDonalds Hawker Demon begins its restora-tion to authentic, static RAAF configuration. [John Parker]

Ron Lee and Noel Spalding inspect the Hunter after it has been installed in the Hangar at Caboolture a very complete aircraft including its original engine. [John Parker]

The Hunter in its former manufacturers scheme which it is intended to be repainted into. [Hawker Siddley]

F L IGH T PAT H | 9

News

10 | F L IGH T PAT H

News

Aussie Reno RacingThree Australians roared across the Nevada desert and onto the podium in September 2014, the biggest ever Aussie contingent go-ing for Renos gold. Mark Pracy from Mait-land, Lachie Onslow of Armidale, and first timer Charlie Camelliri from Bathurst (all NSW) competed in the jet class of the US National Championship Air Races in Reno, Nevada, USA. Mark Pracy, who operates fighter rides and is a formation aerobatic flight instructor, flew his new Czech-built L-39C Albatros, True Blue into third place in the Gold division, in the fastest time ever for the Australian group. Racing his TS-11 Iskra, Hot Section Lachie Onslow took sec-ond place in the Silver race and he was joined by fellow Australian Charlie Camill-eri in the L-29 Miss Independence. First timer Camilliri placed 4th in both Bronze and 5th in the Silver jet classes and all three are planning podium finishes for 2015 rac-es.See the full Reno report on page 76. [RF]

In Holland, the Fokker C.X replica project made its public debut when it was rolled out at Hoogeveen Airfield on August 31. Work on this 1933 rare Fokker reconnaissance two seat type started in 1994. Although earmarked for the new Nationaal Militar Museum (National Military Museum) to be opened on December 11 at the former Soesterberg air force base, the C.X will remain for at least another year at Hoogeveen, awaiting funds to finish the job. It is classified as a replica by the collection, though incorporates many original parts. It will be finished in the livery of a Koninklijke Luchtmacht (KLu - Royal Netherlands Air Force) Fokker C.X. Roger Soupart

Fokker CX debut

With its wings fitted the Fokker CX is displayed outside for the first time at its public debut. [Roger Soupart]

Onslaught Jet Racing have taken Hot Section to the Reno races since 2011, and in 2012, Onslow came third in the Gold section.

LEFT: Pracy racings Mark Pracy pilots his newly acquire L39C True Blue around the pylons at Reno. [all Roger Cain]

BELOW: First timer Camilliri placed forth in both Bronze and fifth in the Silver in the L-29 Miss Independence.

A North American F-100 Super Sabre was recently disas-sembled with the intent of preservation from where it had been on the old French Air Force Base 128 at Metz-Fres-caty, Lorraine, eastern France. This Super Sabre had been displayed on a pylon there since 2005. The aircraft has been moved to the former French Air Force Base 136 of Toul-Rosires, also in Lorraine, which had closed in 2004. The intention is the creation of a small museum tell-ing local aeronautical history. In this future museum, along with a range of photographs, objects and docu-ments, there will be also a J57 engine (the type which equipped the F-100) and a SEPECAT Jaguar. This muse-um opened in late 2014. Eric Janssonne

Super Sabre saved

F L IGH T PAT H | 11

News

The Flying LadyHugh Bickle of Hollister California pur-chased NC-149M The Flying Lady, a 1930 New Standard Model D-25 in 1991, which had previously resided at a restaurant and Golf Course of the same name. A five-seat aircraft, this plane was sold in 1930 and used for hauling contraband (probably alco-hol) into the USA from Canada until it was seized by the U.S. Customs in January of 1934. Purchased again in 1934 it carried passengers on scenic flights until W.W.II in 1941. After the war it was purchased and used as a crop duster until sometime prior to 1970 when she was converted back to her original factory condition. Jan and Irv Perch (pronounced Perlich) bought it in 1970 and

flew it to Morgan Hill in northern California where it became the centrepiece for their Flying Lady Restaurant, receiving an artis-tic white and gold paint scheme.

After Bickle bought the aircraft, he flew it carrying friends for pleasure flights until 2006 when it was disassembled and complete-ly rebuilt to better-than-new standards by Vintage Wings and Wheels at Hollister Cali-fornia. In June 2014 it took to the air again, with its original Wright J-5 220 horsepower engine. With less than a dozen New Standards flying today, Bickles is particularly notable as the only one with the original engine, cowling, wooden spinner, propeller and 30 x 5 inch (76 x 13 cm) wheels. Roger Cain

In RAF Bomber Command pressing on meant going on to the target in bad weather through enemy defences, and when at the target going on for those extra seconds to put the bombs onto the target, rather than releasing them at the clos-est edge of the activity.

Squadron Leader Frank Lawrence DFC DFM RAAF enlisted in 1941, was a Sergeant Pilot in 1942, flew his first tour of operations in 1943, and by 1945 was a flight commander on 460 Squadron RAAF.

This is an account of the flying career, not only of Frank Lawrence, but of men who trained with him and flew Lancasters against Nazi Germany.

The book is in two parts. First, enlistment, training and an operational tour from March to August 1943, followed by time at 27 O.T.U. and a second tour in 1945, on both 467 and 460 Squadrons, including food drops in Holland and flying home released prisoners of war. In this Part, when a crew fails to return, as in 1943, they cease to be part of the life of the Squadron.

The approach paths of the bomber streams are provided, to illustrate the level of skill in night flying required and of the navigator in each aircraft. Details of the experiences of crews are included, plus of the destruction inflicted on the targets, and 460 Squadron Line Book entries add to the human side of squadron life.

Part Two presents what became known post-war of the circumstances of each aircraft loss and the fate of the crew. In some instances the German night-fighter pilot can be identified. Details are included of the service of each man, whether he survived or where he is buried or commemorated.

This is a detailed account of what was required of a bomber crew 1943-45.There is also a section on the Service career of each of the men who trained with Frank Lawrence on No.19 Pilots course at 8SFTS, Bundaberg.

PRESS ON was a highly valued spirit in the RAF and RAAF 1939-45.

PRESS ON is available on CD, $22.00 including postage within Aust

Book, $55.00 including postage within Aust Amazon-Kindle, $7.99

Banner Books122 Walker St, Maryborough QLD 4650Phone: [email protected]

For your own security, please telephone your card details. We do not enter this in the computer.

Hugh Bickles colourful 1930 New

Standard Model D-25, The Flying

Lady back in the air again. [Roger Cain]

The Newark Air Museum in the UK recently purchased Hawker Siddeley Dominie T1 XS726 from Everett Aero of Sproughton, Suffolk. Funding for the acquisition was provided thanks to the generosity of two long-standing museum members, Mike and Kathy Smith. On Wednesday 24 September 2014 the airframe was delivered to the museum in eastern Not-tinghamshire by a team from Everett Aero, and who also refitted the wings. The Dominie fills an important gap in the museums themed dis-play of training aircraft. T1 XS726 was deliv-ered to the RAF on 25 October 1965 and served at RAF Cranwell and with both 3 and 6 Flying Training Schools. Dominies were retired from RAF service in early 2011 and XS726s final training role was as an instructional airframe (9273M) at RAF Cosford. Howard Heeley

Dominie to Newark

The Hawker Siddeley Dominie T1 XS726 was delivered to the museum by a team from Everett Aero, and who also refitted the wings.


News

A Northrop Nomad in target-tug configuration and colours. [Canadian Department of Defence]

RCAF Northrop Nomad Recovery PlannedThe Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) plans to raise a W.W.II Northrop Nomad from its resting place in Lake Muskoka, On-tario, Canada this October. The RCAF will use their recovery and salvage section from 8 Wing Trenton, with divers from the Fleet Diving Unit from the Atlantic region, and the aircraft will be delivered to the National Air Force Museum in Trenton, Ontario.

On 13 December 1940, Flight Lieutenant Pe-ter Campbell RAF and Leading Aircraftsman Theodore Ted Bates RCAF went missing when their aircraft, Nomad 3521, was involved in a mid-air collision with another aircraft, No-mad 3512, while on a search for a missing air-men themselves. Only Nomad 3512 and its crew were subsequently located at the time.

In September 2013, the RCAF announced that the remains of Flt Lt Campbell and LAC Bates were successfully recovered, and were laid to rest with military honours at Woodlawn Memorial Park in Guelph, On-

tario. The remains of the airmen were lo-cated and recovered by members of the Royal Canadian Navys Fleet Diving Unit (Atlantic) during a dive to the aircraft wreckage in Lake Muskoka in October 2012.

The Northrop A-17 was a military develop-ment of the Northrop Gamma. Obsolete at the start of W.W.II, the RAF and the RCAF acquired the type (naming it Nomad) for training purposes as part of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. Initially used at Camp Borden, Ontario, to check out qualified civilian pilots, in 1941, they were modified as target-tugs for gunnery training at various schools in Quebec and Ontario.

No other British Commonwealth-operat-ed Nomads survive - one USAAC Northrop A-17 is on display at the National Museum of the USAF, and a Douglas 8A-3P (the export model) is on external display at the museum of the Fuerza Area del Per (FAP - Peru-vian Air Force). James Kightly

Also taking place during the Reno National Championship Air Races (see page 76) was the National Aviation Heritage Invitational, now in its 16th year. With six categories to compete in, the Grand Champion award went Dave and Jeanne Allen of Colorado and their 1934 Waco YKC. The Classic tro-phy went to Josh and Junelle of Washington with their 1947 Cessna 140 and the Antique Trophy was given to Tim Weston of Wash-ington and his red 1944 Howard DGA-15P. The Large Trophy went to Rick Clemens of nearby Carson City and his 1944 Douglas A-26C. Winning both the Peoples Choice and the Military Trophys was Brian Reynolds and his white-tailed Goodyear FG-1D Cor-sair from Olympia Washington. Others de-serving mention were a huge GeeBee QED replica, a Lockheed Vega DL-1 Special, and a Grumman F3F-2. Roger Cain

Reno Invitational Awards

Brian Reynolds 1945 Goodyear FG-1D Corsair won both the Peoples Choice and Military NAHI Award.

Rick Clemens departs for home after winning the Large Aircraft award in the NAHI competition.

The Boeing B-747 Prototype, RA001 undergoing refurbishment at the Museum of Flight in Seattle, Washington, USA. [John Freedman]

Boeings First 747 Jumbo Jet RefurbishedNews from the Museum Of Flight in Seattle, Washing-ton, USA is that they have restored the Boeing B-747 Prototype, RA001. It will wear the same scheme it had when it rolled out of the factory on 30 September 1968.

The City Of Everett first took to the air on 9 Febru-ary 1969, and was used to test further 747 improve-ments until it was retired in October 1983. But the story did not end there, it returned to test the Pratt & Whit-ney 4084 engines in 1993.

Since then it had deteriorated from outdoor storage, and was in desperate need of care, its once-gleaming paint scheme had faded and was flaking off. Now the Queen of the skies looks as good as she did when she shocked the world on her launch. The museum has plans to build another huge building to keep her and the other outdoor exhibits from the elements, so that future generations can see her in her glory. John Freedman


News

On 19 July, the Imperial War Museums flagship building in Lambeth, London, England, reopened after a 40m (A$73m) refit lasting two years. The rebuilt atrium is now more compact and houses a pair of aircraft in place of the five previous. The B.E.2c and P-51D have been moved to Dux-ford, and the Fw 190A reclaimed by the RAF Museum at Cosford. The Sopwith 2F.1 Camel has been repositioned to the W.W.I galleries. Of the original five aircraft re-moved from the atrium, only the ex-609 squadron Battle of Britain Spitfire I R6915 has been rehung. It has been joined by Harrier GR.9 ZD461, which saw combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. The three aircraft now on display in the building provide a representative cross-section of eras and conflicts. In the side galleries, a home has at last been found for the A6M Zero wreck purchased some years ago by the IWM.

The Museums atrium has also been ex-tended downwards by a floor, into what was the basement, visitors now descend a staircase before accessing the atrium. The surrounding galleries now contain a variety of artefacts telling the story of conflicts involving UK forces over the past century. However, many of the larger ar-tefacts jut out from the edge of the galler-ies into the atrium, giving a somewhat cluttered appearance.

One of the most captivating displays is the Lord Ashcroft Gallery, where the worlds largest collection of Victoria Crosses, and a significant collection of George Crosses (the VCs civilian equivalent) with placards, memorabilia and photographs describing

the actions for which each was awarded. This informative captioning contrasts with those in the rest of the galleries. The over-all effect of the refurbishment is, sadly, one of style over content, with dumbed-down captioning and many exhibits such as the as found Long Range Desert Group Chev-rolet Truck and the Lancaster nose section being completely unprotected. In addition, poor flow routes through the galleries leads to significant congestion at busy times. Mike Shreeve

Imperial War Museum Reopened

ABOVE RIGHT: The nose of RAAF operated Lancaster F for Freddie.

ABOVE: The IWMs Zero wreck on display, replacing an earlier cockpit section display.

RIGHT: The Battle of Britain veteran Spitfire Mk.I R6915 and middle eastern veteran Harrier GR.9 ZD461. [All Mike Shreeve]

On 7 October 2014, the RAF Museum in Hendon, London, Eng-land, held an Open Cockpits Evening. This ticketed event al-lowed visitors an after-hours opportunity to access the cockpits of the Chipmunk, Jet Provost T5 and Westland Gazelle, the cab-in of the Wessex, and the rear fuselage of the B-24 Liberator. In addition, steps were placed alongside several other aircraft al-lowing for viewing and photographing a number of additional cockpits. The most innovative attraction was the provision of a scissor lift beside the nose of RAAF-operated Avro Lancaster R5868 S for Sugar. Visitors were lifted up, one at a time, to look in through the pilots side window and view the very original cockpit of this historic bomber, believed to have flown 137 mis-sions during W.W.II. This attraction proved very popular on the night, with a steady line of visitors waiting patiently for this rare opportunity throughout the event. Other cockpits open for viewing included restored Bf 109G Black Six and the He 162 Salamander. A number of early jets, including the Buccaneer, Canberra, Hunter, Meteor and Vampire were also open. A lim-ited number of pre-booked tickets, which sold out well in ad-vance of the event, were made available to give access to the cockpit of the Museums Avro Vulcan B2. The Museum is to be commended for providing this opportunity for enthusiasts to view and photograph the cockpits of some of the aircraft in its Collection. Mike Shreeve

RAF Museum Opens Up

LEFT: The German He 162 Salamander, showing how basic these early jets were.

LEFT: The museums Consolidated B24L-20-FO was also opened up for the after hours viewing.

BELOW: A rare view of the RAAF-operated Avro Lancaster R5868 S for Sugar


After arriving at Conningsby, the Bat-tle of Britain Memorial Flights base, it was the historic Battle of Britain airfield of Biggin Hill in Kent that be-came a temporary base for the tour, for dis-plays at Eastbourne and Headcorn. Crowds flocked to the airport to watch, but the air-port administration promptly closed the viewing area! Their stay was shortened, as the crosswind limits of the pair were hin-dered by the airfields hill-top location and they relocated to Southend.

The Eastbourne display is a mecca for enthusiasts, with the rare opportunity to view the aircraft from above although the viewers have to combat the winds of the precariously lofty perch on Beachy Head, the hill also having the Bomber Command Tribute Memorial officially unveiled only two years ago on the 26 June 2012, thanks to the unparalleled determination of Joe Williams and his team.

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After a triumphant six week tour of the UK, the Canadian Warplane Heritage (CWH) Avro Lancaster Mk.X C-GVRA, FM213, made it safely back to its home base at Hamilton Airport in Ontario Canada on 28 September. Gary R Brown caught up with the two Lancasters several times during the Thwaites Lancaster Bomber Tour 2014 and this is a brief account of his encounters with the iconic pairing.

Lancaster Summer


The Lancasters were observed again at Duxford and Good-wood where for once they were blessed with glorious sunshine. The Goodwood Revival is probably the finest general vintage event in the world, and Goodwood becomes a time capsule for one weekend each summer. With the majority of attendees dressing up in period attire, the 2014 incarnation will be remembered as the year the Lancs arrived!

For many, the most memorable Lancaster experience was East Kirkby, the former Bomber Command airfield that has been mag-nificently restored by the Panton Brothers and their team. The at-mosphere at this event was just magical, and a sell out crowd were there to witness the great spectacle. Desperately difficult to photo-graph, it was one of those events where it was better to put the cam-era down and just soak up the atmosphere. Hopefully in the next decade we will see the East Kirkby Lancaster NX611 Just Jane (the former G-ASXX, Spirit of Surfers Paradise) take flight and regu-larly join the BBMFs PA474 on flights up and down the country.

Despite the CWH having to borrow a Rolls Royce Merlin following the failure of No.4 engine, the tour was a great success, with an im-pressive serviceability record for a seventy year old aircraft. The engine change at Durham Tees Valley airport was made more chal-lenging by differences between the Packard Merlin 224 and the Rolls Royce engine but these were quickly surmounted and FM213 suc-cessfully returned to the tour. There were many other highlights, including the Avro Vulcan XH558 overflying the Derwent Dam.

The Lancaster tour certainly swelled the coffers of some dis-play organisers with record attendances at most venues. The duo also caused many traffic management issues not witnessed since the retirement of Concorde, or the first flights of Vulcan XH558. Financially the tour appears to have been a success, with the re-lated merchandising doing particularly well wherever the tours sales trailer has been in attendance, along with internet sales re-sulting in airshow flightlines filled with a plethora of tour-in-spired T-shirts and caps.

The only reservation was that, although there was a great demand for a public event at which the Lancasters could be seen on the ground, this opportunity was limited to one event at RAF Waddington which, due to its front-line service activi-ties, was itself limited. Given the Lancaster tours success, there is now talk as to whether a Mosquito tour could be staged sometime in the future!

Lancaster Summer

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP CENTRE: Taxiing in at Biggin Hill. The two Lancasters together in the air a sight not seem for decades. Canadian Lancaster C-GVRA on landing approach and a canopy up fly-by. NX611 taxiing on the grass at East Kirby. Canadian and British flags by from C-GVRA. [All Gary R Brown]


On Saturday 16 August 2014, the Flying Heritage Collection (FHC) held its monthly flying day at Paine Field, Everett, Washington State, USA. FHC has some of the rarest and best examples of W.W.II aircraft, from many participants.

This day featured three Luftwaffe aircraft, the Fieseler Fi 156 C-2 Storch, Messerschmitt Bf 109E-3, and Focke-Wulf Fw 190A-5. All three are combat vet-erans; the Bf 109-E W.Nr.1342 was built in 1939, and operated mostly over France, piloted by Eduard Hem-merling. In July 1940 Hemmerling shot down two Brit-ish aircraft, but suffered damage to hisBf 109 Emil, crashing off the coast of Cap Blanc Nez. In 1988 the aircraft was discovered by a man walking on the beach near Calais and the wreck restored over many years.

The Storch was built in 1943, and saw service in Oc-cupied Europe and on the Russian Front. It was found in a derelict condition in East Germany in the 1980s, and has been fully restored.

The Fw 190, W.Nr 1227, was built in 1943 and modified for ground attack, and saw service with 4./JG54 near Leningrad. On July 9 1943 it suffered engine failure from possible sabotage, and crashed in a wetland, where it was discovered almost complete in 1989, being restored over many years in the UK and finished in the USA.

The flying days are open to museum guests as well as the general public. They have an arena where they introduce the aircraft and the pilots that fly them, then the visitor can see them start and taxi out. Then they open the taxiway up so the crowd can move to near the runway to see the display. Being an airport, the flying is limited to flypasts, nevertheless it is a unique opportunity to see them in action.

For more information on this amazing collection, or future flying events, see their website www.flyingher-itage.com. John Freedman

Luftwaffe Over SeattleLEFT: The display pilots are introduced to the spectators arena prior to engine start. From the left; Carter Teeters and the Storch, Bud Granley with the BF-109, and Steve Hinton for the FW-190.

ABOVE LEFT: Steve Hinton flying the Fw 190, W.Nr 1227. Built in 1943 it saw service with 4./JG54 in WWII.

LEFT: The Fw 190, W.Nr 1227, was built in 1943 and later modified for ground attack. It was recovered , as a wreck, from Russia in 1989.


WINNER 2013

MUSEUM FEATURESQantas Founders ExhibitionHeritage Listed 1922 Qantas HangarGuided Aircraft Tours (747 & 707)Wing Walk & Flight Deck ToursPBY Catalina Double Sunrise MemorialWW1 Flight Simulator ExperienceMcGinness RestaurantFounders Gift Store

Art GalleryNew exhibits on the way

The Museum is open daily from 9:00am to 5:00pm (except Christmas Day and Boxing Day).

Tours operate daily and bookings are essential. Combination tour packages are also available.

Phone: (07) 4658 3737 Fax: (07) 4658 0707 Email: [email protected] Address: Longreach Airport, Sir Hudson Fysh Drive, Longreach QLD 4730www.qfom.com.au

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CLOCKWISE: The FHCs 1943 Fieseler Fi 156 C-2 Storch, on short final. The FHCs Fw 190A-5 and Messerschmitt Bf 109E-3. The crowd get a close look at starting the Messerschmitt Bf 109E-3. The museums combat veteran Messerschmitt Bf 109E-3 pulling up and away. [all images John Freedman]


A mystery has been solved at the Avia-tion Heritage Museum of W.A at Bull Creek in Western Australia. Mike Mirkovic, the main researcher and photo librarian at the museum has been perplexed by a section of fabric mounted with photo and a diary extract, that have been on display. Mike explained, The first thing that intrigued me was that the photo was of an Albatros D.III D.636/17, which was forced down in October 1917. The diary belonged to Lieutenant F. C. Conrick of 1 Squadron, Aus-tralian Flying Corps, whose family donated the artefact to the museum. One section reads:

05.30 Left ground with Ned Kenny, Es-cort Stew Paul and Bill Weir, Eastern Recco. Madeba Kastal Anwar also Muakka. A little movement. Hun alarm.

13.00. L (t). Johnny Walker, L. Harold Letch dived on the Hun 2 seater above the drome. A fire broke out in the fuselage and they fired 2 Verrys [sic] lights and pulled out the fuselage was blown off & Johnnies body was found a mile or more away from the wings and engine. 16.00. Harold not found yet. Capt. Allan Brown and Finlay finished the Hun machine off and forced him to land in our lines both pilot and ob-server are in the Compound, The pilot has an Iron Cross & has been on three fronts, they said they made their wills today for the first time. Engine O.K. Undercarriage col-lapsed. German pilot: Lieut. Dittmar was flying the above aircraft, a D5 A.

After a search of the museums photo collec-tion, Mike found a series of photos of the incident from D. Stewart (a Lieu-tenant in 1 Squadron, AFC) and most of the pho-tos accompanying this ar-ticle are from this collec-tion. The action described in the above diary extract, happened on 22 August 1918 in which Lts. J.M. Walker and H.A. Letch were shot down in Bristol F.2b B1222, while in combat with an LVG over Ramleh. The LVG, a German two-seat reconnaissance and ar-tillery spotting aircraft, was then shot down by Capts. Brown and Finlay flying an F.2b B1284.

As far as possible given the time elapsed, Mike has reconstructed the story of the mys-tery of the wing fabric.

On the morning of 8 October 1917, four Bristol Fighters of 111 Squadron, RFC, were patrolling in pairs over the front lines at Gaza, Palestine. Meanwhile on the other side of the lines, Oberleutnant Dittmar of Flieger Abteilung 300 took off from Samach airfield in Albatros D.III D.636/17 with an-other Albatros at 7.30 for a patrol over the

From Palestine to Bull Creek

LEFT: Gustav Dittmar in Luftwaffe uniform sometime in 1943.

BELOW: Albatros lower wing cross at the AHM of WA.

BOTTOM: Colour tinted photo by Frank Hurley of the Albatros

[All photos from Aviation Heritage Museum of W.A (mostly from the D. Stewart collection), a 1 Squadron AFC, Lieutenant and pilot]


FA 300 at Huj airstrip,

Palestine, October 1917,

Albatros D.III 636-17 with its

pilot and ground crew.

9th Light Horse troopers moving the Albatros to the gun limber for towing to Beir el Belah airstrip.

Albatros D.III 636-17 being towed to Weli Sheikh Nuran by 67 Squadrons Crossley Tender.

ObLt. Dittmar watching as RFC ground crew remove the wings.


front. At about 8.00 oclock they saw the British aircraft and dived out of the sun to attack them. This was their first encounter with Bristol F.2bs and they were surprised by the speed and manoeuvres of the Bris-tols. 2nd. Lt R.C. Steele and Capt. John J.L. Williams in F.2b A7194 fought with Ditt-mars Albatros over Wadi Gaza and after the Albatros was holed in the fuel tank and ra-diator, ObLt. Dittmar was forced to land be-tween Goz el Basal and Karm. The Albatros was then surrounded by the men from the 9th Light Horse, who were based at Goz el Basal and they stopped ObLt. Dittmar from destroying his Albatros.

The men from the 9th then got an artillery limber and hooked up the Albatros to it and towed it to Beir el Belah airstrip, where its wings were removed and it was then moved to the airfield of 1 Squadron,AFC (67 (Aus-tralian) Squadron at Weli Sheikh Nuran. The squadrons staff then repaired and re-assem-bled the aircraft and it was probably test flown but though any documents in the ar-chives confirm this. Its was inspected there by General Allenby later that month and later was repainted with crude RFC roundels on

the fuselage and tail, later replaced with a fin flash, which was probably when this piece of wing fabric from the bottom of one of the lower wings was removed.

Later on at a date unknown, probably early in 1918, the Albatros was gifted to the Khe-dive (King) of Egypt and went to Cairo, al-though some sources say it was sent to Brit-ain, however I havent found any records confirmin this. From there D.636/17s fate re-mains unknown. In 1990 the family of Lt. Conrick donated this memento and it has been on display at the Aviation Heritage Mu-seum of W.A ever since.

The Albatros D.III D.636/17Built by Albatros Flugzeugwerke at Johan-nisthal, Germany during early 1917 and was 36th built of the second production batch (D.600 to 649/17). It was fitted with two radi-ators in the upper wing for operations in Pal-estine, and was fitted with a160P Mercedes D.III inline engine and equipped with 2 x IMG 08/15 &.92mm machine guns (Spandaus).

Oberleutnant Gustav Adolf DittmarBorn 24 November 1890 and disappeared in

1945 (Probably captured by the Russians after W.W.2.) He joined the German Army in 1908 and served in various units until trans-ferring to the Fliegertruppe in August 1914, and served in Feldfliegerabteilung (FFA) 2 as a Feldwebel. Promoted to Vizefeldwebel on 15 August 1914. In January 1915 went to Offiziers-Stellverteter and then onto FEA 9 for pilot training. Between 13 and 30 Sep-tember 1915 was with Insp. Der Fliertrup-pen and on 1 October 1915 went to Osma-nische Fliegertruppe. In April 1917 joined Fliegerabteilung 300 Pascha. POW from 8 October 1917 until 18 December 1919. Post-war history unknown, joined the Luftwaffe and was a Major in 1944. Served as political and military representative at the Junkers factory in Madgeburg between 15 December 1941 til 19 May 1944, but nothing is known after this.

References include: One Airmans War, Joe Bulls Personal Diaries 1916-19, ed-ited by Mark Lax, Banner Books, 1997. Desert Column website (Australian Light Horse Study Centre) and The Aer-odrome website.

ObLt. Gustav Dittmar watching his Albatros being recovered.

9th Light Horse recovering the Albatros with ObLt. Dittmar wearing the Fez observing.

Albatros with RFC roundels on the tail and fuselage.


General Allenby posing in front of the Albatros at We

li Sheikh Nuran air strip.

Albatros now repainted and wearing full RFC markings, c.1918.

Albatros fuselage being towed away with the Light Horse watching.


Mailbag

Those Atomic MustangsHi Rob, I was interested in Six of the Best in this months magazine [Vol.25 No.4] as it was mentioned they had seen pictures from a source who had flown in there. I guess I was the source, as we landed our Mooney VH-MBO into a small area at the bomb side that had been cleared for tents. It wasnt possible to land on the strip itself as there were steel tank traps down its length.

The photos in the magazine must have been taken at Emu after the Mustangs were towed there as there were no fences further south where the bomb pulverised the tower it had been on, although the Submarine Conning Tower nearby it did not seem dam-aged, nor did the Mustangs other than the fabric tail feathers - probably damaged by sun, wind, and vandals of course. The first picture is Emu to the north. After seeing the Mustangs, I bought A68-119 VH-IVI. An ex-cellent magazine. Cheers, Langdon Badger, South Australia

ABOVE RIGHT: The Emu atomic test site when first vistited by Lagdon Badger in his MooneyVH-MBO, with A68-30 in the foreground.

ABOVE: The Mustangs as found by Langdon on his original visit to the Emu.

RIGHT: Langdon Badger about to do his fisrt solo in his CAC Mustang VH-IVI,formerly RAAF A68-119.

Dear Rob, It was very interesting to read about the Emu Mustangs, Six Of The Best as my father Geoffrey Marshall was one of the RAAF pilots who flew the Mus-tangs into Emu Creek. In his memoirs he wrote the following:

By the time I was posted from ARDU in 1951, the Long Range Weapons Establishment was well advanced, and work both in the Unit-ed Kingdom and Australia as extensive as if in wartime. The early work at Woomera mainly involved conventional flying like the testing of high altitude improved bombs and parachutes, but steadily various sorts of guid-ed weapons arrived. Not all the equipment or endeavour came from England, and Austral-ian participation was highly praised, not only

in building hangars and runways, but also in technical and design work, including the great amount of instrumentation and analyti-cal work. One of the important fields was the testing of the means of delivery as well as the actual testing of the extremely powerful nu-clear weapons. Woomera had become known as the Joint Project. My first interest in nu-clear activity was an invitation to me in my job as Director of Technical Support at Victo-ria Barracks, Melbourne. The task was to fly four Mustangs to Emu Creek, which is almost in the dead centre of Australia. Experienced pilots were required, as there was no runway at the Creek and aircraft took off and landed on the bed of a dried-up lake. The aircraft were to be used as target response items.

They would be placed close to the point of bomb explosion just to see how they were af-fected. (The pilots were first removed!) This testing to damage or destruction was one of the widely used excuses for letting off the new bombs.

I agreed to fly one of the aircraft for the test, which took place in April 1953. We had many over produced Mustangs, some brand new and stored at Tocumwal. The other 3 blokes were Pete Parker, Lee Archer and Ron Susans, all good fighter pilots. Our first stop was to be Mallala and I assumed that we would fly in formation but realised quite soon that was not the case. I didnt want to thrash the engine so I always turned up last, except the last leg from Woomera where I arrived second. The lakebed was not very big and I finished up only a few yards short

of the stunted tree growth. We only stayed long enough for food - the flies were pretty bad at Emu Creek - and were taken back by Bristol Freighter to Mallala. My aircraft was A68-7 and I still have the magnetic compass which I removed at the Creek.

From accounts by Geoff, I believe A68-7 had problems with the flaps. He made a hot landing without flaps and had to ground-loop the aircraft to avoid the trees. I have attached a photo-copy of the relevant page from Geoffs log book. The log book also records nu-merous flights in A68-1001 and A68-1 when Geoff was Commanding Officer at ARDU. Geoff passed away in 2002. Yours sincerely, Rick Marshall, For-rest, ACT

Geoff Marshalls logbook entries show the Emu ferry flight entry and the div

erse types he flew.

Ferrying the CAC Mustang A68-7

Dear Rob, I recently read the Pregnant Lanc article in Vol.25. No.3, and was re-minded of a similar scheme dreamed up by the RAAF in the mid fifties to transport spare R.R. Merlins in the bomb-bay of an Avro Lincoln. It had been found that the bomb-bay doors would not close fully with a Merlin in a cradle hung from the bomb hooks, so wooden stop blocks had been made to fit the shafts of the door jacks to limit the closing of the bomb doors. I be-came involved during the testing of these at No.1 A.D., Laverton. The No.3 engine was started to power the hydraulic system, but was soon stopped with a shout of Weve got a fire!. I scrambled up through the fuselage

and out through the upper hatch and on to the engine nacelle and removed a small cowling panel, to find a smouldering birds nest built around and under the coolant header tank. The fire was soon put out and the nest removed! The aircraft had not been flown for some time, so it and another parked Lincoln nearby were inspected for nests, and I heard later that enough material had been removed to fill a 44 gallon drum! I dont know if the scheme was proceeded with, as I left the Air Force in December, 1956. I hope this is of interest, and perhaps other readers may know if the scheme was proceeded with or not. Yours Faithfully, Peter Lang, Mordialloc Vic.


Mailbag

A68-35Hello Rob, I was interested to read Neil Fol-letts article on the Mustangs used for atomic testing. One of the aircraft featured in the article was A68-35. I have included a photo of my late father Bob Miles about to taxi in 35 for a sortie for City of Melbourne squadron in 1952. His log book says he flew 35 a number of times, the last time being on 21 September 1952, his log book entry reads A/A 1/4 at-tacks cine (i.e. quarter attacks using gun camera). Bob worked his way through gen-eral aviation in the early 1940s at the Royal Victorian Aero Club then progressed to a job with Ansett Airways as a DC -3 First Officer and then up through the Ansett fleet culmi-nating in a 727 command. He joined 21 (City of Melbourne) Squadron on 16 June 1951 as a Flying Officer and also had a stint at the Gov-ernment Aircraft Factory, Fishermans Bend as a test flight engineer on Lincoln Bombers. He passed away in Sept 1993.

I have followed my fathers footsteps and have been flying since 1987, currently with Jetstar on the A-320, but have also been lucky enough to fly Mike Jarvies Stearman on occasion which featured in the latter pag-es of issue Vol.25 No.4. Love the magazine. Regards, Robert Miles, Strathmore, Vic.

ABOVE: Bob Miles about to taxi CA -18 Mustang A68-35 whilst with the 21 (City of Melbourne) Squadron at Laverton in 1952.

LEFT: Climbing aboard a 21 Squadron DH Vampire, Bob Miles also had a stint at Fishermans Bend GAF as a test flight engineer on Lincoln Bombers.

ABOVE RIGHT: Bob Miles training in the CAC Wirraway A20-557.

The crash site of this aircraft is stated in Michael Claringboulds article [Vol.26 No.1] as being twenty miles SouthEast of Port Moresby, near the Rigo Village. On the Pacific Wrecks website the location is given as near Galley Reach North West of Port Moresby! I remember a wreck in the given position at Galley Reach which was in the Moresby training area during the

late sixties, and was told it was a B-24. Im even more confused than usual! Please help! Regards, Jim Pescott, via email

Michael Claringbould replies: My mistake, I confused the data base! The B-24 wreck is on Fairfax Cattle Sta-tion, in the Galley Reach area, and less than one mile from the coast.

The B-24 Big Emma

Pregnant Lincoln CALENDAR OF AVIATION EVENTSFEBRUARY 201524-March 1 Australian International Airshow and Aerospace and Defence ExpositionAvalon Victoria.Visit http://www.airshow.com.au/airshow2015/index.html

MARCH27-29 The Antique Aeroplane Association of Australia National Fly-in, Echuca Victoria.See http://www.antique-aeroplane.com.au

*The RAAF Museum at Point Cook VIC conducts an Interactive Flying Program this takes place at the museum every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday at 1.00 pm. Visit: www.airforce.gov.au/raafmuseum

*Temora Aviation Museums Aircraft Showcase Days are conducted on the first and third Saturdays of each month, visit: www.aviationmuseum.com.au

*Please confirm all airshows and events with the organisers as details may have changed after the production of this publication.


Personal Effects

The Vandersarl BlriotExceptional for having survived a full century, largely intact, the Vandersarl Blriot is one of very few original aircraft to survive from aviations pioneering days. This handsome coffee table book designed by Javier Arran-go and Flightpath contributor Philip Makanna commemorates the restoration of the Vander-sarl Bleriot XI and completes the story of two Denver boys building a flying machine in 1911. Lavishly illustrated period images, reproduced diagrams and original plans are comple-mented by photographer Makannas studio quality imag-es. The work follows how it came into being, was first flown, later preserved and how the dream was fulfilled over a century later. As Javier says; when the Blriot arrived in California, its journey through one hundred years was evident. Components were missing, met-al parts were rusted and its wood was old and twisted. But its soul was intact. We can fol-low the daunting task of re-building, from scratch, the one-of-a-kind engine that exactly replicates the Vandersarls orig-inal inline powerplant. The Vandersarl Blriot restoration project was completed by Javier Arango in late 2012, and he took it back into the air for its first and successful flight on 12 No-vember 2012. The Vandersarl Blriot XI is the only flyable air-craft of this genre, and it may also be the oldest American-built airplane that still flies. Javiers Blriot. A Limited Edi-tion each book is autographed by Philip Makanna. (Reviewer: Rob Fox) Javier Arango & Philip Makanna, US$30.00 plus P&P GHOSTS, www.ghosts.com

Crosswinds life on the wingA key member of the Flightpath team, Ron Watts, has released his autobiography in co-opera-tion with Mission Aviation Fel-lowship (MAF) where he has worked and flown for most of his life. This has been, as Ron notes, a remarkably rewarding and much travelled life in mis-sion flying for MAF. They are a worldwide Christian organisa-tion that provides aviation, communications, and learning technology services to more than 1,000 Christian and hu-manitarian agencies, as well as thousands of isolated mission-aries and indigenous villagers in the worlds most remote are-as, and obviously depends on people to undertake a remarka-ble mix of tasks requiring a unique skill set, attitude and re-ligious calling.

Rons book is (at the risk of stating the obvious) in many ways a particularly Australian story, with an engagement with the wide brown land that many Australians can relate to, though many fewer have real or as extensive outback expe-rience as Ron. One essential ele-ment for Ron, however is the role of Christianity in his life as well as that of aviation, and a passionate devotion to worth-while good works. The book goes from Rons childhood through many remarkable and varied experiences right up to (and beyond) his successful record attempt every6m-inutes in 2011, as documented in Flightpath Vol.23 No.1. Like Ron in real life, the book is a

straight, modest, but clear and engaging account of interesting times and experiences lived to the full and with his faith. Read-ers should find it inspiring. (Re-viewer: James Kightly) Ron Watts $15.00, includes P&P, Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) Austral-ia, www.maf.org.au Pro-ceeds from sale of this book support the work of MAF.

Hidden Warbirds IIThe adventure of hunting for hidden treasures has always conjured up romantic notions of risk and reward, none more so for our readers than the thrill associated with W.W.II warbird discoveries. This work is an at-tractive follow-up to the ac-claimed Hidden Warbirds book, in which the author fur-ther explores the romance and the stories behind some of the most celebrated wrecks and re-coveries of more recent times. As with volume one, this is a great read which again covers a wide variety of warbirds, plac-es, people. In this sequel, wreck discoveries and recoveries in-clude the P-47 Dotty Mae, lifted from depths of a lake in Austria; a Junkers 88 recovered from the icy waters of Norway; the Aus-tralian Iron Range P-40, and a host of others, including some that were not so hidden! All chapters benefit greatly from the quality photographic repro-duction of the before and after, and historic images of the large array of recovered aircraft.

Over 150 photographs, de-picting more than 20 warbird stories, document the history of each featured aircraft. Span-ning the worldwide warbird res-toration movement, Hidden Warbirds II successfully hon-ours those that have invested (and risked) time and money recovering and restoring war-birds, and shows how they have helped expand the understand-ing of W.W.II aviation history. (Reviewer: Rob Fox) Nicholas A. Veronico, US$30, Zenith Press, www.zenithpress.com

Night Cats & Corsairs The Operational History of Grumman and Vought Night Fighter AircraftWhile the history of the Grum-man F6F Hellcat, F7F Tigercat and Vought F4U Corsair has been very well recorded and re-counted over the years, the specialised night fighter vari-ants of these types have gener-ally been given a short note at the end of the account of the better-documented earlier ver-sions. This is usually because the aircraft were (very obvi-ously) operated at night, but were also obscured for other reasons: like many other tech-nological advances in aviation, the development and entry to


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service of the US Navys air-borne radar was, as the time, understandably top secret. Furthermore, the Navy and Ma-rine Corps night fighter crews often were operated as penny packets, sometimes even dis-persed among units with other more high-profile tasks. As a result, little reliable informa-tion was made public or is to be found in most sources.

Alan Careys book amply re-dresses this imbalance, in this handsome, large format, well-presented book of over 200 pag-es. He goes into comprehensive, well-illustrated detail on the de-velopment of the radar, aircraft, and the resultant training and development of tactics, before delineating the early, faltering steps of Pacific night fighter op-eration and the maturing of the task into the early Korean War.

The text is a well-sourced but also well written account with plenty of direct experience, and the book is also illustrated com-prehensively. Some early opera-tional images are of originally poor quality, but more than bal-anced by their historical interest and Alans dedicated work in finding previously secret high-quality factory images of the air-craft and their radar fitouts, all well presented. Its a pleasure to see a new work that essentially brings a previously obscured area to prominence, while also providing comprehensive au-thoritative detail to the reader. (Reviewer James Kightly.) Alan C. Carey, US$49.99, plus P&P, Schiffer Publish-ing Ltd., www.schiffer-books.com

They Gave Me A Seafire The late Mike Crosley, who died in 2010, joined the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) at the height of the Battle of Britain because the wait list for the RAF was too long. Joining a service struggling with its own identity, a lack of modern aircraft and members of the leadership team who vehemently ques-tioned the very existence of the aviation branch, he makes it through intensive - albeit occa-sionally archaic and amusing - training before flying opera-tionally. He survived the sinking of HMS Eagle, the North African landings, Arctic convoys and much more be-fore taking command of a Seafire squadron prior to join-ing the British Pacific Fleet. Crosley is frank about the services failings, particu-larly the mis-use of the Seafire and fighter force in general, but highlights the fine men who made it work. The FAA, by 1945, was a very effective fight-ing force perfectly placed to take advantage of the massive advances in naval aviation, many developed by the service itself, that were to come in the post-war years. Crosley was there for all of it.This book is a typically well put together and illustrated hardback from this publisher and has been subtly updated. If you have not already read this superb book, this is the perfect opportunity to right a wrong. If youve read it, intro-duce a friend! It is one of the most honest, candid and truly delightful memoirs of the era. This new edition, with a postscript lovingly written by Crosleys wife, is the perfect me-morial to one of the FAAs greats.

(Reviewer: Andy Wright) Mike Crosley, 15.99 GBP plus p&p, www.pen-and-sword.co.uk

Australias Few and the Battle of Britain The sheer presence of this beautiful hardback demands at-tention. The hardcovers repli-cate the dust cover artwork and prove there is more to life than dark cloth and gold-embossed text. They are a taster as, once the book is opened, the crisp, clean pages, the superb layout and the professional notes and index are the pinnacle of book design. Such effort was required because the content is sublime. Yes, its another book on the Bat-tle of Britain but, rather than another angle on this most fa-mous of aerial campaigns, this one is very personal and re-in-troduces eight relatively un-known Australian flyers to the world. Only Hughes, Glyde and Sheen were familiar names. Even so, for Glyde, this is the first time his story has been told in detail. Indeed, the same could be said for the others too Millington, Crossman, Hol-land, Kennedy and Walch. Most, if not all, simply became one of The Few in photos or on plaques and headstones in semi-forgotten fields in England. These young men have a voice again (notably Des Sheen was the only one to survive the war). Their lives are laid bare via an impressive collection of letters and diary entries. There is, of course, a lot of combat but these sequences do not outweigh the pre-war lives, training and per-sonal lives and loves in England.

The final chapters emotionally detail the families struggles to live without their beloved boys. Everything is so well done and, importantly, eight men can live on in the hearts and minds of all who read this book. They de-serve it. Postscript. First pub-lished in Australia, a UK edition is now due in 2015. (Reviewer: Andy Wright) Kristen Alexander, $49.99 plus p&p, www.newsouth-books.com.au

GHOSTS 2015 A Time Remembered & The Great WarInternationally renowned aviation photographer and a favourite con-tributor to Flightpath, Phillip Makanna, has produced two stun-ning calendars to adorn the walls of our studies and offices in 2015. GHOSTS W.W.II types in A Time Remembered are a faithful rep-resentation of some of the best types the warbird movement has


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to offer. This year the venerable P-40K Warhawk heads up this great selection of rare warbirds. These include the B-17, FG-1D, Lysander and P-26A to mention a few. Addi-tionally the W.W.I Great War Calendar presents further endur-ing images that are led off by a formation of three German Alba-tros, complemented by other fly-ing rarities including a Sopwith Tabloid, Curtiss JN-4H Jenny, B.E.2c, Sopwith 7F.1 Snipe, and more to admire for each month of 2015. (Reviewer: Rob Fox) Phillip Makanna, $29 + $10 P&P, www.aviationart.com.au, phone 03 9592 1943, PO Box 2311, Nth Brighton, Vic 3187

One Life Left There were so many incredible, unknown people in the RAF. Wing Commander Hugh Garlick DFC was one of them. His serv-ice career was incredibly varied and the aircraft he flew were from a more romantic era of aviation. The authors first post-ing was to No. 56 Squadron in the mid-thirties, where he flew Gloster Gauntlets and proved a talented pilot. RAF pilots flew in the Fleet Air Arm so Garlick eventually ended up in the Med-iterranean flying float-equipped Swordfish and Hawker Nimrods. The flying, as so entertainingly described, was simply idyllic.

With the war imminent, Gar-lick expected to be sent home. He ended up in Gibraltar, again flying Swordfish floatplanes, performing convoy and U-boat

patrols. When he did return home, he was given command of No. 235 Squadron and its Beau-fighters based in the Shetlands. Amazingly, he returned to the Med after the squadron is post-ed to Malta. However, after six weeks, Garlick returned home and became Chief Instructor of No. 2 OTU. He was then unable to avoid a stint in Operations (during the height of the V-1 campaign) before seeing out the war as Fleet Aviation Officer for C-in-C Home Fleet. Back in the Navy! This is a delightful book. It is written with humour, mod-esty and regularly has a wonder-ful turn of phrase e.g. I was decanted into the rear of a Swordfish.

It does have the occasional little niggle in print-on-demand form but its a great read and, pleasingly, is available in many formats, notably the iPad ver-

sion is loaded with extras. (Re-viewer: Andy Wright) Hugh Garlick DFC, $34.07 plus p&p (hardcover), www.lulu.com/au; $3.99, Apple iTunes; 1.99 GBP (ePub), www.lulu.com

Mosquito Down! Frank Dell joined Bomber Com-mands Light Night Striking Force (LNSF) with more than 1,000 hours in his logbook. Af-ter initial training in England, he had been sent to the US to earn his wings but was kept back to instruct. He finally flew his first operation at the end of August 1944. He was shot down on his thirteenth.

The main focus of this book is the authors remarkable journey as an evader in Germany and Oc-cupied Holland, so do not expect great insight into the life of an LNSF crew. The final operation, and a beautifully detailed account of the first are the only flights written about in depth. But the meat of the book is his evasion af-ter shoot-down. Few readers would not be on the edge of their seat as the author treks generally westwards for five nights. He sur-vives a number of close calls with German civilians and soldiers. Failing physically, he maintains his wits to make it just inside the Dutch border where he is found by local teenagers. What follows is as remarkable as his fifty-plus mile walk. Looked after by the Dutch Resistance, the author assists them during supply drops and,

along with other downed fliers, manages to get out and about sur-prisingly often although this was sometimes in response to hunt-ing parties looking for Allied air-men. Six months in hiding and several more close calls pass be-fore he is liberated. A book of typical quality from this publish-er, this is very much a tribute to the brave men and women of the Dutch Resistance as told by one they saved. (Reviewer: Andy Wright) Frank Dell with Brett Piper, $30.95 plus p&p, www.booktopia.com.au

Victory New Zealand airmen and the fall of Germany The announcement of a new book from this author is always well-received. Max Lambert has made a name for himself over the past decade for beau-tifully constructed and written anthologies about New Zealand airmen in WW2. His latest and, incidentally, last, is no excep-tion. The authors first two books (Night After Night and Day After Day) concentrated solely on the bomber and fight-er boys respectively. With Vic-tory, it is the last year of the war in Europe that is the focus. New Zealand aircrew flew in every imaginable role in the European theatre. Bombers, fighters, fighter-bombers, air-sea rescue, anti-shipping and long-range convoy and U-boat patrols all feature in this su-perb book.

It is the Coastal Command operations that really stand out. The bomber and fighter operations are, from this au-thor, familiar territory and, as ever, are gathered from inter-views and first-hand accounts supported by an excellent bibli-ography. The same applies to the Coastal Command tales but this is the first time Lambert has, in this series, ventured into this realm. The result is pure delight. Yes, Kiwis em-ployed in U-boat hunting has been written about before but, with the Lambert touch, they


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take on another quality that of deeply moving tribute to the memory of these men.

Well-illustrated and with the authors insistence on rounding out an airmans story (as op-posed to just a passing refer-ence), this is the perfect finish to the trilogy and will be one of the best new aircrew books of 2014. (reviewer: Andy Wright) Max Lambert, Harper Collins, $28.95 plus p&p, www.harpercollins.com.au

The Bomber Command War Diaries The release of this epic work in 1985 suddenly made research into Bomber Commands opera-tions so much easier. Here was every single raid complete with details of the target, aircraft dis-patched, losses, a surprising amount of notable personnel an-ecdotes and even reports from German sources as to damage and loss of life on the ground.

Having all of this information in one book is a godsend in the great scheme of things. This would have been particularly so in the days before the internet. The original edition has been copied verbatim and placed on several websites (which was not really legal.) Why, then, bother with a new print edition?

Handling this 800+ page book is surprisingly easy and, despite the online content, it remains a valuable resource. This new pa-perback edition from Pen & Sword includes a section cor-recting errors from the first

book. Every operation is laid out in chronological order and grouped together in campaigns i.e. The Phoney War, The Thousand Raids etc. enumer-ating 21 campaigns in all. Each of these sections concludes with a summary of the statistics for the period covered. These make for interesting compari-sons as the war progresses.

Part Two accumulates these statistics as they apply to air and ground crew, escapers and evaders, and aircraft types. Part Three looks at the num-bers from a group, squadron and OTU point of view. It is as comprehensive as it can get and is guaranteed to be one of the more well-thumbed books in any Bomber Command collec-tion. (reviewer: Andy Wright)Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt, Pen & Sword Books, $38.50 plus p&p, www.pen-and-sword.co.uk

A Wooden Wonder Restored de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito FB.26From New Zealand comes this DVD (also available as a Blu-Ray) disc of film featuring the recently restored Mosquito KA114. Unlike most other avia-tion DVDs, this includes over two hours of video footage, in-cluding airshow displays, air-to-air and onboard footage, and dual-audio tracks. Interviews

with the pilots are an added ex-tra. Rather than being a film, this series from Alex Mitchell and Allan Udys Historical Avia-tion Film Unit (HAFU) is, as they say, a scrapbook collec-tion of short film clips between two and fifteen minutes long, which provide the sights and sounds of the aircraft in action which are rarely made available for the enthusiast and not nor-mally included in broadcast me-dia. While there is a narration by Glenn Kirby, this can be se-lected off so the ambient sound of the flights (predominantly the two Merlin engines!) can be enjoyed. This is one for those who have not had a chance to see this aircraft in action in New Zealand (or now in North America) or for those who have seen it, and want to keep a ver-sion of the experience at home! (Reviewer James Kightly.) Historical Aviation Film Unit, Blu-Ray: NZ$49.95, DVD: NZ$34.95, plus NZ$5.00 P&P, www.aviationfilm.com

Observers and NavigatorAnd other non-pilot aircrew in the RFC, RNAS and RAFThis updated and expanded work, is a detailed examination of the often glossed over ancil-lary aircrew in British military aviation. Comprehensively re-searched, associated with high quality photographic reproduc-tion of the plethora of images,

this work is an essential study tool in gaining an overall view of military flying operations.

The role of the little under-stood observers, aerial gunners/gunlayers and kite balloon ob-servers who flew with the RFC, RNAS and later the RAF be-tween 1914 and 1919 opens the work and sets the scene for the following chapters. These go on to examine the proliferation of non-pilot aircrew categories un-til in 1942 when the observer was supplanted by the air bomber and a variety of special-ised types of navigator. First published in 2001 this edition is fifty percent larger and ex-pands the Great War and W.W.II eras and the often overlooked less evocative inter war and post war periods. It continues, reflecting on the RAFs ill-con-ceived policy of the 1946 Air-crew Scheme which had to be abandoned in 1950 in favour of an all-officer policy for pilots and navigators. The author ex-amines the way in which this egalitarian program has actual-ly been implemented while con-tinuing to trace the rises and falls in the fortunes of all non-pilot aircrew categories and the evolution of post-war aircrew training until the last naviga-tors graduated in 2011. This is undeniably an essential refer-ence guide for all those inter-ested in military aviation. Wing Commander C.G. Jeff Jefford, MBE, BA, RAF (retired) 40 + P&P www.grubstreet.co.uk, via Capricorn Link, www.capricornlink.com.au


damage was sustained and the Dolphin re-turned to Rathmines on auxiliary fuel tanks. A35-2 was out of service for several periods in 1943 during extended maintenance caused by corrosion problems in the hull, but was flown by 9 Squadron and 3 OTU at Rath-mines until December that year when it went into the hangar for a complete over-haul. The corrosion and other maintenance problems were considered uneconomical to repair, and on 14 February 1944 approval was given to convert it to components.

A35-3, c/n 1001. The fourth Dolphin was built as a Dolphin Model 3 and delivered in November 1931 as a luxurious air yacht for US industrialist Powel Crosley of the Cros-ley Radio Company. This aircraft was pow-ered by two 300 hp (223 kW) Pratt & Whit-ney Wasp Junior A engines and fitted with a spacious cabin for just four passengers, and registered as NC982Y. Its subsequent civil career is not known, but it was taken on RAAF charge on 5 October 1942 when it was received at RAAF Station Point Cook and erection commenced immediately. Service records describe it as Received from RAF, though no British serial numbers were ever allotted to the type. The American civil reg-istration NC982Y was still on the mainplane when the aircraft was assembled. The RAAF engineering records state, All previ-ous history of this aircraft before RAAF ac-ceptance is unknown. Airframe log books make no reference to previous hours flown.

The machines erection at Point Cook was delayed while awaiting spare parts, but it was eventually completed on 9 November and the aircraft was flown to Rathmines to enter service with 9 Squadron and 3 OTU. By now it was fitted with Pratt & Whitney Wasp Junior SB1 radials.

It was last flown by the RAAF 6 December 1944 at Rathmines, then retired and held by 3 OTU pending a decision on it disposal. A survey report dated 13 December stated its general condition was good, although the brakes were unserviceable, so only airworthy for water operations until the brakes were re-paired. A35-3 flew a total of 145 hours and 25 minutes in RAAF service. The report recom-mended that the aircraft be handed over to the Commonwealth Disposals Commission for civil disposal and notes: This aircraft be-ing the only one of its type in RAAF is most uneconomical from both service and mainte-nance points of view, as replacement parts are impossible to procure.

In March 1945 A35-3 was sold to Mr. M. Whittle of Sydney for 750.

A35-4, c/n 1279. Originally ordered by Wilmington-Catalina Airline during 1934 as a Dolphin Model 114, this version was pow-ered by two 550 hp (410 kW) Pratt & Whit-ney Wasps and fitted for 13 passengers. Reg-istered NC14204, it remained in service on the Catalina Island run until after the attack on Pearl Harbor when the airline, now re-named Catalina Air Transport, ceased op-erations for the duration, and NC14204 was photographed in service at Catalina Island in June 1941. Later purchased by the RAAF and shipped to Australia, A35-4 was taken

on RAAF charge 8 April 1943 at Point Cook.After assembly the aircraft was delivered

to 3 OTU Rathmines on 22 May 1943 before being issued to No. 4 Communications flight, (4CF) Archerfield Aerodrome, Bris-bane, on 8 July. A35-4 thus became the only RAAF Dolphin to be issued to an operation-al unit rather than being used for training at Rathmines. However its life on communica-tions flying was destined to be very short. After pilot familiarisation with 4CF, involv-ing a series of dual pilot sea landing exer-cises during July, it crashed during its first travel flight and was written off on 29 July 1943, when A35-4 was scheduled to operate a flight from Archerfield to the Rose Bay

flightpath january 2015 huytran

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