Category: Museums / Organizations

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Former RAN Historic Flight Sea Fury Prepared for Transport to New Home

HARS Navy Heritage Flight of New South Wales, Australia has reported that Hawker Sea Fury WG630 is in the process of being relocated from Nowra to its new home at Albion Park.

The Sea Fury was previously part of the RAN Historic Flight collection, which was acquired by HARS Aviation Museum in 2018. The flight, which was grounded in 2008, consists of the Sea Fury, as well as two Grumman Trackers, two Bell UH-1B helicopters, two Westland HAS.31B helicopters, a de Havilland Sea Venom and a C-47. The Sea Fury will reportedly be on public display while engineering staff work to create a restoration/repair schedule which will hopefully see the machine returned to airworthy condition.

The Sea Fury, which was in storage at Air Affairs in Nowra, recently had its fuselage loaded onto a semitrailer for Friday’s journey. Click below to check out a video of the process.

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Kermit Weeks Releases Second Episode of Q & A Video Series

Fantasy of Flight’s Kermit Weeks has released the second installment of his “Kerime Q’s” video series which answers select questions from his YouTube channel videos.

The second episode sees Kermit responding to questions on the P-51C paint scheme which were raised after the first episode. He then answers a broad selection of questions dealing with Hurricane Andrew and it’s aftermath, progress on the S-38 and Fokker D.VII, acquisition of the Seversky P-35, and much more.

Click below to check it out.

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EAA Museum B-25H Performs First Post-Restoration Flight [Video]

After “countless hours” of work, the EAA Museum’s B-25H Mitchell “Berlin Express” returned to the air on Saturday for its first post-restoration flight.

As previously reported, the aircraft (N10V / S/N 43-4432) was originally delivered to the USAAF in 1943 and went on to serve as an administrative aircraft at several bases around the US. Following the war, it passed through the hands of several owners, including Tallmantz Aviation, who used the machine in the 1970 film Catch-22.

The B-25 was donated to the EAA Museum in Oshkosh, Wisconsin in 1972 where it was restored to flying status as “The City of Burlington.” However, it was damaged in a landing accident in the 1980s, which resulted in cosmetic repairs and static display at the museum.

In 2015, the decision was made to fully restore the aircraft and return it to airworthy condition in order to “honor veterans and promote educational outreach.”

Click below to check out a video of the flight and an overview of the restoration.

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New Kermit Weeks Video Series Details “The Saga of the Stinson L-1”

Fantasy of Flight owner Kermit Weeks has shared a new two-part video series detailing the “Saga of the Stinson L-1.”

Specifically, the series details FoF’s efforts to “sort out an issue that prevented it from starting and running smoothly.” Work has been ongoing for over a year and part 1 in the series chronicles several attempts to start it during this period, as well as its failure and the frustration of crew members.

Part 2 documents additional attempts and various difficulties the crew has had in finding the source of the problem. It also reveals whether or not a fix was ultimately found.

Click below to check out both parts.

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Newly Restored Mosquito PZ474 Arrives At New Home [Video]

Texas-based Lewis Air Legends has reported the arrival of their newly restored de Havilland Mosquito PZ474, which is one of only four airworthy examples of the type in the world.

As previously reported, the Mosquito FB VI was originally constructed at Hatfield in 1945 and was used for RAF training before serving with 75 Squadron in New Zealand as NZ2384. In the 1950s and 60s the machine was owned by the Insurance Finance Corp. of Studio City, CA, and is believed to have been used by the CIA for intelligence gathering in South America. Continue reading Newly Restored Mosquito PZ474 Arrives At New Home [Video]

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Kermit Weeks Shares March 2019 Messerschmitt Bf 108 Update [Video]

Following up on a two-part series released last month, Kermit Weeks has posted a new video update on the restoration of his 1936 Messerschmitt Bf 108.

The update serves as an installment of Fantasy of Flight’s Mechanic’s Corner and features restoration specialist Paul Stecewycz detailing recent work to the wings, which have been stripped and put into fixtures for skin removal, as well as the control surfaces, cockpit glass, and cockpit instruments.

Click below to check it out.

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Kermit Weeks Films Visit With Possible New Acquisition: Polikarpov I-16

Kermit Weeks has posted a new video detailing his recent trip to the old CAF Museum in Midland, Texas to examine an available Polikarpov I-16 that he was considering purchasing.

The I-16 was the last of Nikolai Polikarpov’s fighter designs to enter production. An aircraft of revolutionary design, the I-16 was the first monoplane fighter with an enclosed cockpit and retractable landing gear to enter front line service anywhere in the world. It’s operational status introduced a new standard to fighter design.

According to the original listing, the aircraft (N30425 / S/N 2421645) was rebuilt in Russia by the original factory for the New Zealand-based Alpine Fighter Collection.

Click below to check out the new video and learn if Kermit will be adding the aircraft to his collection.

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Museum of Aviation B-17 Reunites With Its Wings As Restoration Continues

The Museum of Aviation in Warner Robins, Georgia has reported a major milestone in the restoration of their B-17 with both wings now attached to the fuselage.

This particular B-17G (S/N 44-83690) was originally delivered to the USAAF on May 9, 1945 and stored in Ohio before moving on to bases in Texas. In 1950 the machine was converted to a DB-17G with the addition of drone control equipment and in 1951 departed for the Marshall Islands to take part in Operation Greenhouse. In 1955, additional drone equipment was added and the aircraft was re-designated DB-17P. It went on to serve with 325th Drone Squadron from 1956-1959 before being removed from the USAF inventory in 1960 and transferred to Grissom AFB in Peru, Indiana, where it is seen above back in 2010.

After sitting on outdoor display for 54 years, the aircraft was moved to the Museum of Aviation in 2015 and became the subject of an extensive restoration that is still ongoing. The museum reports that they “still have much to restore,” but “she looks more like an airplane” with the wings now reunited with the fuselage.

Click below to check out recent photos.

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Collings Foundation to Debut Newly Acquired P-40 With Wings of Freedom Tour

The Collings Foundation in Stow, Massachusetts has announced that their new TP-40N Warhawk will be joining the National Wings of Freedom Tour beginning tomorrow.

The aircraft (N293FR S/N 42-9749) began life as a P-40K which was delivered to the USAAF in 1942. It served with the 11th Air Force, Alaskan Air Defense Command and was damaged near Port Hyden in 1943, being struck off charge shortly thereafter. The machine was recovered in 1975 and eventually underwent restoration to airworthy status, returning to the air in 1986.

In 1990 it became part of the Evergreen Heritage Collection in Arizona and later the Evergreen Aviation Museum in McMinnville, Oregon (where it is seen in the photo above). It was acquired by the Collings Foundation in 2017 and converted to a full dual-control TP-40N.

In addition to joining the Wings of Freedom Tour, the new TP-40N will reportedly be part of Bomber Camp 2019 as well. Click below for photos and additional info.

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New Video Details Ongoing Restoration of Kermit Weeks’ Seversky P-35A

Fantasy of Flight owner Kermit Weeks has posted a new video update on the restoration of his rare Seversky P-35A.

In the video, Paul Stecewycz offers a brief overview of previous updates before explaining the next phase of the project, which will see the wings going into wing fixtures and the beginning of wing skin removal by FoF sheet metal specialist Rick Reeves. This process serves as the starting point for “fully striping the wings, examining the status of the components, and proceeding to do what is necessary to completely restore both wings to new condition.”

The new update is reportedly a prelude to the next update, “which will take you through the restoration and fabrication process, following a single wing skin from removal, to fabrication, to finishing, to placement back on the wing.”

Click below to check it out.

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