Category: Museums / Organizations

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Lancaster FM104 to Relocate to British Columbia, Airworthy Restoration to Follow

The British Columbia Aviation Museum in North Saanich, Canada has announced the acquisition of Avro Lancaster FM104 from the city of Toronto.

The bomber was originally built by Victory Aircraft of Malton, Ontario in 1944 and installed along Toronto’s waterfront following its retirement from the RCAF in 1964. Now in need of extensive restoration, the machine has spent recent years in storage at Edenvale Aerodrome west of Barrie while its future became the focus of debate.

The Lancaster will be relocated to the museum, located near Victoria International Airport, over the next few months. Restoration will reportedly commence immediately with the goal of returning the machine to airworthy condition in partnership with the a team of vintage aircraft restorers at Victoria Air Maintenance.

BC Aviation Museum President John Lewis states: “I am pleased that many local aircraft manufacturing specialists and vintage aircraft enthusiasts have pledged their time and knowledge to volunteer on this project. Many people at the BC Aviation Museum and the Victoria aviation community have worked hard to make today’s announcement possible. We are now looking forward to the day when Lancaster FM104 goes on display at our museum.”

(via British Columbia Aviation Museum Photo: airforcefe via Wikimedia Commons)

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Mosquito Pathfinder Trust to Return Wooden Wonder to UK Skies by 2020

The Mosquito Pathfinder Trust has announced “a commercial understanding with the Aircraft Restoration Company (ARC)” to “provide the suite of Engineering and Design Services” for a de Havilland Mosquito airframe that will be brought to airworthy condition before being transferred to the UK.

The machine in question has been under construction by Glyn Powell and is currently said to be 50% complete. The project is based on the remains of NZ2308, which was originally constructed at Bankstown near Sydney as an early model FB.40. It was initially allocated RAAF serial A52-20 before being converted to a T.43 dual control trainer and given the serial A52-1054. In 1947, the machine was acquired by the Royal New Zealand Air Force with less than 20 hrs of service time. Now identified as NZ2308, the Mosquito entered service with 75 Squadron at Ohakea and performed “numerous exercises and aerial demonstrations all over New Zealand.”

The aircraft was declared surplus in 1955 and sold to a private owner. Over the following years it languished outdoors until it was recovered by Powell, who spent the next 20 years working on the project, which included the scratch-built construction of an entirely new wooden airframe. Continue reading Mosquito Pathfinder Trust to Return Wooden Wonder to UK Skies by 2020

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USAF Museum Begins Restoration of Avro 504K [Video]

The USAF Museum in Dayton, Ohio has begun restoration of its Avro 504K.

This particular example of the famous WW1 British trainer was originally constructed by the Royal Canadian Air Force’s Aircraft Maintenance & Development Unit in 1966-67 using original parts, including a 110 hp Le Rhone rotary engine. It arrived at the USAF Museum in 2003 and has since been on display in its Early Years Gallery wearing the colors of an aerobatic trainer of AEF No. 3 Instruction Center, based at Issoudun, France in 1918.

The aircraft was recently disassembled for transport to the restoration facility, a process that has been captured in the newly released video below. A time frame for completion and color / marking details have not yet been announced. Continue reading USAF Museum Begins Restoration of Avro 504K [Video]

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New Engineering Plan Announced to Return DH Mosquito RL249 to UK Skies

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Leicestershire-based charity The People’s Mosquito (TPM) has announced an “achievable, structured five-year engineering plan” to return de Havilland Mosquito RL249 to UK skies.

The news reportedly comes after close consultation with the historic aircraft experts at Retrotec, Ltd. and includes the launch of a dedicated fundraising campaign which seeks to raise “£499,000 over the next 12 months to deliver the successful front-end engineering, tooling and design and fabrication of the Mosquito FB.VI fuselage mould in the UK.”

The funding will reportedly support “crucial UK CAA due diligence from the outset of the project” and enable Retrotec’s engineers to analyze TPM’s massive technical library and develop exact computer aided design (CAD) models for the airframe. Additionally, the funding will allow Retrotec’s workshops to be reconfigured to accommodate the build and enable the fabrication the Mosquito’s unique fuselage mold, which will see the return of a manufacturing capability “not seen on these shores for more than 75 years.” Continue reading New Engineering Plan Announced to Return DH Mosquito RL249 to UK Skies

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Museum Completes Repaint of World’s Only “Big Tail” SR-71

Yesterday, the Air Force Armament Museum located at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida completed the process of repainting their SR-71 Blackbird.

As previously reported, the aircraft, SR-71A S/N 61-7959, was completed in 1965 and, in 1975, was modified with a nine-foot boom on its aft end carrying Electronic Countermeasures and an Optical Bar Camera. The result earned the machine the moniker “Big Tail” and it would remain the only example of the type to be fitted with the modification, as tests revealed that the equipment provided no marked advantage. The aircraft performed its last flight in 1976, being placed in outdoor storage before being moved to its current home in 1991.

The project utilized 22 gallons of primer, 22 gallons of paint and newly manufactured information decals. Click below to check out images of the completed machine, including a scrollable panorama.

Continue reading Museum Completes Repaint of World’s Only “Big Tail” SR-71

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Recently Unearthed Spitfire Wreck To Be Displayed For First Time In Ireland

The remains of a Spitfire unearthed last year in County Monaghan, Ireland will reportedly be displayed for the first time as part of a new exhibition at the Monaghan Museum.

As previously reported, the aircraft (Mk Ia R6992) had served in the Battle of Britain before being reassigned to a weather-monitoring squadron at RAF Aldergrove in Antrim. On November 20, 1942 it suffered an in-flight engine failure, prompting pilot Gordon Hayter Proctor to bail out before it crashed in a meadow in Figullar, Emyvale. Although much of the wreckage was removed by the Irish Army shortly thereafter, 21st century ground surveys revealed that additional artifacts were still present about four meters underground, prompting the 2017 excavation that unearthed components such as the aircraft’s Rolls Royce engine and cockpit door.

R6992 is the only Spitfire ever found in Ireland that had been involved in the Battle of Britain, and the new exhibition will be built around its remains. Titled “The Monaghan Spitfire: Life on the Border with a World at War,” The exhibition is described as exploring “the deadly experience of a county, which existed on the border between two worlds, one tearing itself apart and another, trying desperately to stay out of a global conflict which had almost engulfed it.”

The exhibition is set to open on June 28th and will reportedly run for one year.

(via Monaghan County Museum and thejournal.ie)

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On-Board Footage Captures Original SPAD XIII’s Flyby With Rafale Fighter [Video]

During the 2018 La Ferté-Alais airshow in France, spectators were treated to a flyby from Memorial Flight Association’s original SPAD XIII and a French Dassault Rafale – an event that encapsulated a century of aeronautical development.

This particular SPAD XIII is the oldest known example of the type in existence, as well as the only original example flying in the world. The aircraft was built in February 1918 by Société Kellner Frères Constructeurs as #4377 and was recovered from an attic in the 1970s by Jean Salis. Restoration began in the 1980s and was completed following its donation to the Memorial Flight Association in 1990. It returned to the air in 1991 and now wears the colors of the machine flown by Henri Trémeau of SPA 83.

The remarkable flight was captured from the ground as well as the air, and can be seen in the video below.

Continue reading On-Board Footage Captures Original SPAD XIII’s Flyby With Rafale Fighter [Video]

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Kermit Weeks Plans to Bring Four WW1 Aircraft to AirVenture 2018 [Video]

Fantasy of Flight owner Kermit Weeks has announced plans to bring four of his WW1 aircraft reproductions to the 2018 AirVenture fly-in in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

The machines include his TVAL-built Sopwith Snipe and Albatros D.Va, a newly restored Sopwith Pup which is currently undergoing repairs following an “unfortunate incident” during its maiden flight, and his new Fokker D.VII, which was recently completed by noted WW1 aircraft builder Fred Murrin.

It appears that the Snipe is the only machine that could take flight at the event, as the remaining aircraft have not yet amassed the required 10 hrs of flight time, or are currently involved in ongoing maintenance. Click below to check out the update.

Continue reading Kermit Weeks Plans to Bring Four WW1 Aircraft to AirVenture 2018 [Video]

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Spitfire RW388 Undergoes Trial Wing Fitting As Restoration Progresses [Video]

Spitfire LF Mk. XVIe RW388 has undergone a trial wing fitting at Medway Aircraft Preservation Society as work progresses to restore the iconic aircraft to its former glory.

As previously reported, the machine was built by Vickers-Armstrongs, Ltd. in 1945 and was used for training and towing targets for Navy ships during WW2. Following the war it was used as a gate guard at RAF Benson and RAF Andover before being officially presented to the city of Stoke-on-Trent by the Royal Air Force in 1972. It was installed at the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery in Hanley, Staffordshire in 1985 and has taken a place of honor in their Spitfire gallery, which is dedicated to the type’s locally-born designer, Reginald Mitchell.

In addition to the successful wing fitting, work on RW388’s Merlin engine is also said to be nearing completion. In 2019, the restored Spitfire is slated to return to the museum for display in a new, £6 million glass-fronted extension that will also include a new cafe and city square.

Click below to check out photos and videos of the recent work.

Continue reading Spitfire RW388 Undergoes Trial Wing Fitting As Restoration Progresses [Video]

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CAC Wirraway’s Path Toward Flight Continues With Engine, Taxi Test [Video]

Fantasy of Flight owner Kermit Weeks has shared a new video showing the latest engine, taxi test of his recently acquired CAC Wirraway, which will eventually be the only example of the type flying outside Australia.

The type was an Australian development of the North American NA-16 and the predecessor of the CAC Boomerang. This particular aircraft (A20-704) was delivered to the Royal Australian Air Force in 1945 and was slated to be converted to a target tug, although this never happened. It was instead placed in storage at RAAF Tocumwal and later assigned to 24 Squadron before being struck off charge in 1959. In subsequent years it passed through the hands of a number of owners, including Murray Griffiths, who restored the machine and returned it to the air in 1997. It arrived at Fantasy of Flight in 2014 in what Weeks described as “part of a trade for a Sea Fury I sent down in trade for work that he was doing for me several years ago.”

Since its arrival, the Fantasy of Flight team has been working to return the Wirraway to the air, most recently focusing on the engine and brakes. Click below to check out the latest update.

Continue reading CAC Wirraway’s Path Toward Flight Continues With Engine, Taxi Test [Video]