Me AW, MESSERSCHMITT Bf 10 Warbird flight test report « 109 and ea 7 pilotsPLAY NOW FOR FREE WARTHUNDER.COM/FLY fs = rr "April 2024 C NEWS AND COMMENT 4 FROMTHE EDITOR 6 NEWS + Solvay museum seeks to save ‘Bev + Mosquito runs in New Zealand + Jersey Jerk scheme for UK Mustang ‘and the month's other top aircraft preservation news 14 WORKSHOP How muttiple different Lancaster airframes are contributing to the Festoration ofthe Lincolnshire vation Heritage Centre's Just Jane 48 FLIGHT LINE Reflections on aviation history with Denis J. Calvert 20. FROM THE COCKPIT Join Richard Crockett on his journey as ' Shuttleworth pilot REGULARS 22 SKYWRITERS 24 8A Your questions asked and answered 92 PERSONAL ALBUM An eclectic range of types at Oslo's Fornebu airport inthe 1970s AEROPLANE APRIL 2024 Ontent 112. REVIEWS The latest Books forthe disceming aviation enthusiast 114 NEXT MONTH FEATURES Bf 109 SPECIAL 26 FLYING THE ‘EMIL’ Get into the cockpit of the world's latest flying BT 109 E with leading warbird pilot Charlie Brown 36 ‘GUSTAV’ VERSUS P.47 Wartime combatants meet again, nearly {80 years after they were downed in the same dogfight 42. YUGOSLAV Bf 109 Gs The ‘Gustav was a mainstay of the carly postwar Yugoslav Air Force — butthe accident rate wast great Magn 1o) Aviation Destination AEROPLANE ees rey ree 50 IMPERIAL AIR MAIL Imperial Aways was founded a century ‘ago, but establishment of ts key air mall route to india took alte longer 58. LAST BUCCANEERS Memories of the mighty strike jets final RAF service days, 30 years on 68 ENGLISH ELECTRIC AYR ‘This early product of the Bish manufacturer failed to take off —iteraly 74 AIR POWER AND THE CHINDITS, ‘Analysing the pioneering use of ai ower to support dificult combat ‘operations in Burma ‘82. AEROPLANE MEETS... DAVE MACKAY ‘The fist Scotish astronaut recalls fying {everything from Shuitleworths Bléiot XIto Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo a ‘outclassed when Tay the Luftwaffe. Nonetheless, its plots fought heroically Pot R. Frankowski describes the PI's history 95 DATABASE: PZL Pt The Polsh fighter was advanced when itfirst appeared, but wwnwkeyAero 3hey made bloody strong aeroplanes, did Blackburn’, So said a late friend about the Lancashire company’s products, and he wasn’t wrong, His comment ‘came to mind in tal ng to several former Buccaneer pilots this month, for the ‘last British bomber’ was indeed a bloody strong aeroplane, right up tots retirement 30 years ago — even ifthe odd incident did, inevitably, happen. ‘The ‘Buce’ final season of displays in 1993, by crews from both Nos 12 and 208 Squadrons, offered a suitable public valediction. Lonly wish I could hhave witnessed the farewell event at Lossiemouth in March 1994 as well, but hearing about it, watching the footage and looking at the photos will have to do. Fast, loud and low: the flying that day summed up the way in which the Buccaneer hadlong the likes of the Solway Aviation Museum 99 been operated. Whata tremendous aircraft, probably the best platform for maritime strike even when it was phased out, and so fondly recalled. And it was the RAP’s last aeroplane of Blackburn descent. Thankfully, the ‘Bucc’ has been served well in preservation. Another Blackburn product has tended to be emblematic of the reverse. The Beverley is not, ll grant, the most important airlfter in the RAF’ history, but itwas much better than its detractors may have you believe. A few years back we ran a brilliant feature by Mike Livermore, son of a'Bev’ pilot, which outlined precisely why. you've not readit,"d urge you to buy our April 2021 issue, but a quick snapshot offers ‘flavour. The Beverley, he wrote, “was remarkable machine, and a step-change in capability over its predecessors: Indeed 4 wwwkey Aero 66 Thankgoodnessfor " From the Editor twas. The RAF had never previously possessed a transport with anything like its combination of capacity and airfield performance. Itserved in many overseas trouble-spots and contributed greatly to British military operations. But, gradually, thelist of complete survivors hhas dwindled to ust one, and since the closure of its most recent home at Fort Paull its future has been uncertain, Now th Airport has stepped in to offer XB259 a settled existence, if £60,000 can be raised. Much opprobrium is till levelled at the RAF Museum for not stepping in to rescue Beverley XH124, displayed ‘outside at Hendon for years, before it was scrapped in 1990. In truth, it was never RAFM property, having been the Hendon station gate ‘guardian, Other n XB259, only ‘cockpits remain, One ofthose, from XB261— scrapped following the failure of the Southend Historic Aireraft Museum — was exhibited for atime at IWM Duxford, but has since ‘moved on to the Newark Air Museum, In these days of disposals and loans out, there was no way any of the national collections would have given XB259 a home, They really ought to have saved one of the other Beverleys while the airframes were still extant, and while they still had space to take on large new additions, So, now, thank goodness for the likes of Solway, and all power tots fundraising campaign, which — to update our news story overleaf —had topped the £35,000 ‘mark when I wrote this, Turn over to see how you can donate. It'sa very worthy ‘olway Aviation Museum at Carlisle Ben Dunnell ‘CONNECT WITH AEROPLANE. [Ei ve facebook convAeroplaneMonthly VW ahistoryintnesir Nine eon GEOFFREY BUSSY Log niga, Getey oping ita copy of Zeroplone Mornin November 98 wring hs debut atc er the August 097 issue. He ively orks 0 igh Speed nin erven bat ko atrolanc wer anes conte fo ‘on Beh nal ston and hing boats nt ‘mont Aerptone, ne tackles an unusual English Beate design whic was aot fase BORIS CIGLIC ‘an aticmey atl fom Belgrado, Seria Bor ‘Began ezearcnng he Fistor of mary aviation Ine ttonainicy fourbooks and co-author ‘tseven, mona tem Wings of Sra (2009, twowohmes of Messerschimit 8109: The Yagostov story (2016 Sand 201) an Lo tkrout PAG 52 Sue ont ce feat 20) Boss area conse Sone Poland, Panes Semany andthe UK @YVIND MUNCH ELLINGSEN ‘longtine stone aKeratt une an pt aorie Anes captain Opin i ims anton of ate, researching and wring Iman featresorhe ‘Wards of Norway journal tnd other pubteations. He eared toy a sto ow ctosed Foret aportin the 19708, at srcetniat proves out Persona bum feature ts ment win a seecton of petos Stoning some of is more eclectic escess and PHILIPP PRINZING torn het Philp Prncing hasbeen athe heim ofthe esaing German agar on tnedegree'n Joumaiem ne mace the obtering more than {years aga Philp welekrown fr is soar Drotegrapny af nistore ara suchas 8109, Earned 2” weve proudlo preset hs ston ‘Spare time, he les ha 945 Stan one Spencs te wit his fam restoring vetage ars mosty Jeeps rom Wert War Two, AEROPLANE APRIL 2024aks ST out to save the UK's churches 7 join us to help stop the biggest heritage crisis There are more than 900 churches on Historic England's Heritage at Risk Register. Across the UK, churches are closing as they cannot fund the urgent repairs they need to remain safe and open. We risk losing these beautiful buildings for good. Just £40 a year - less than £3.50 a month — will help ensure church buildings remain at the heart of communities for generations to come. Please join us today. By becoming a Friend of the National Churches Trust, your support will help us save these wonderful buildings, keeping them open, in use and in good repair. Sign up today by visiting: and join for £40 per year by Direct Debit or send a cheque for £45 with the completed coupon below to National Churches Trust, 7 Tufton Street, London SW1P 30B. Every new Friend gets a free book: Acopy of (RRP £20). This delightful and luxuriously illustrated hardback book is a must for everyone who appreciates churches, art and heritage. a signing upto become a Friend, youl eclve postal communications around four times ayer: i nacre " rn o Tckhere [1 tojoin ouremal ist and recelve our monthly Friends newsletter. Title Forename Surname Address Postcode Email ‘Your information willbe treated as private and kept securely. We il never make public $ap o sel your details ead more atnatonakhurchestustorg privacy. policy nationalchurchestrust.org/friends — Os--W6""NEWS EDITOR: TONY HARMSWORTH E-MAIL TO: tony harmsworthitkeypubshing.com TELEPHONE: +44 (0}7791 808044 WRITE TO: Aeropiane, Key Publishing Lt O B0x100, Stamford, Lncoinshre PEO 1X0, UK ocrrncmerr mnie ae aes Solway seeks funds to save the last ‘Bev’ 121 February, British palaeontologiss began crowd- funding ina ‘race against ime’ to save the body ofa huge pliosaur, dating from the earliest jurassic to early late Cretaceous period, embedded ina chalk cli inWeymouth Bay, Dorset. The 6f-ong skull, said to be one ofthe most complete ever found, has already been recovered, but local ‘museum curator Dr Steve Etches explained, The excavation ofthe remaining pliosaur body isa race against time and nature, so this, isa priority for me, especially since we could lose important pieces of the specimen due to rapid cliff erosion” Meanwhile, 380-odd miles north, startlingly similar'race against time’ had got under way on 1 February to save another 6 wivw.key Acro ‘outsize monster, the loss of which — although itis only justshort of 70 years old — would render the breed extinct. When what is now the only surviving Blackburn Beverley, XB259/G-AOA, made its Inaugural appearance in the News Spotlight section ofthe May 1973 Aeroplane Monthly the very first issue ofthis magazine — there were stil four intact examples of the ‘ype. XB261 was on show atthe Historie Aircraft Museum at Southend Airport, XL149 \was preserved at RAF Finningley, XHI24 was displayed outside the RAF Museum at Hendon, and the first production machine, G-AOAI, had just been acquired by Court Line to carry spare and replacement Rolls Royce RB2I1 engines forts pair of new Lockheed L-1011 7 First to go was XL.149, which was scrapped Inthe spring of 1977 during preparations for the Queen's Silver Jubilee Review of the RAF that july. twas followed by XB261, which succumbed to the wrecking ballin 1989, sixyear after the closure of the Southend The most controversial loss by far was ‘XH124, which had sat outside at Hendon for ‘32 years with litle maintenance — to be fair to the RAEM, itwas never actually transferred nto its books — before being scrapped during 1990, Ie was the last surviving Beverley tohave seen RAF squadron service, The late: 1954/eatly-1955 first production Cl, XB259 was retained by Blackbur Aircraft at Brough for a variety of est work, including roc assisted take-off wials, I then went to the AEROPLANE APRIL 2024Royal Alcraft Establishment at Farnborough ‘where it was used to test braking parachutes for the Handley Page Victor and Avro Vulcan, and tals during the development of aerial supply-dropping techniques. Acquiced by Luton-based Court Line in 1973, the CAA refused to licence it fr the proposed RB211 transport work, Court Line going bankrupt the following August, ‘XB259 made the final ever Beverley flight to Paull afield in the East Riding of Yorkshize ‘on 30 March 1974, following its acquisition by North Country Breweries foruseas a tourist ataction, That plan failed and the Beverley faced scrapping before the owner ‘ofthe Waterfront Hotel in Hull stepped in tosave it the machine being moved in April 1983 tothe Museum of Army Transport in the East Yorkshire own the type was named after, Beverley. That museum closed down in 2003, and XB259 was moved 1 miles south- ‘eastto the military museum at Fort Paull, ‘on the River Humber just west of Kingston upon Hull, Maintenance wasnthigh on the attraction’sto-dolist, a vist by the author in 2016 eliciting the response that few chaps, turned up once a yeat and gave ita wash and tidy-up, ‘The Fort Paull attraction went bustin January 2020, and in September ofthat year ‘XB259 was acquited for proposed use asa ‘glamping pod’ at Birchwood Lodge, a private airfield west of Breighton in North Yorkshire, bby Martyn Wiseman of Condor Aviation, in collaboration with an anonymous benefactor But those plans fell through. ‘Having cheated death so many times, the future for XB259 looked bleaker than eves, until up stepped the Carlisle Airport-based Solway Aviation Museum, Its managing ditector Dougie Kerr says, “Ihad been ‘watchingall the threads on various sites talking about the Beverley. This sa last-gasp 8259, the frst production aircraft and row the sole survivor, taxing on the day rescue mission for XB259, and onceitis here ‘cull form an important part of our collection ‘of British-buit aircraft. We have the room for ‘XB259 but no money. But why le that getin the way With icbeing the last one in the world, 66 Thanks to volunteers and donations it’s going to be saved 99 or one couldn't watch the serap-man take it away, so with the help of Solway’ volunteers and donations its going tobe saved" ‘The museum has launched a £60,000 funding appeal © move the aeroplane. On 22 February, Dougie Kerr gave Aeroplane 1 a eee rt Parrett Precerretner cere eter i February 1990. ‘ SB News April 2021 ‘an update: ‘Donations so far ate at £25k. ‘A auler has not been decided on atthe ‘moment. We will be splitting the fuselage ‘where twas spit the last time it was moved. Please keep donating and abig thank-you to all that have donated so fat Since that May 1973 issue of Aeroplane, no histori British aircraft type has completely disappeared from the face ofthe earth, All ‘of us who care about British aviation history tend to despair at the sense of powerlessness ‘when rare aircraft are disposed of by major ‘museums — yes, RAF Museum and the Imperial War Museums, we are looking at you — buthere we can all make a difference ‘and save an important, much-loved type from oblivion Allan Winn, the chairman of Aviation Heritage UK says, “AHUK is delighted that, after period of uncertainty, itlooks like the future ofthe Beverley is secure in the ‘hands of Dougie Kerr and his team. The fate ‘ofthis now unique aircrafthas been a major concern of AHUK since the closure of the Fort Paull museum, and itis most pleasing that the dialogue between Dougie and Martyn Wiseman, initiated by AHUK executive ‘committee member Barry Love, hasled tothe ‘saving of XH259, The response ofthe heritage aviation community to Solway’sJustGiving appeal for this project has been fantastic, and I would urge anybody interested in this ‘wonderful project o donate tot Here at the magazine we are digging deep tohelp Solway with its brave attempt to save the last Beverley. We implore you todo the ‘same, so we can all ook forward to reporting ‘on the move and viewing the subsequent restoration of XB259, knowing we madea lifference. For details on how to donate, {go fo www justgiving com erovvdfun ‘dougie-kerr or ww paypal.com/gh/ fundralser/charty/3264692, Cheques can be 'made payable to Solway Aviation Society Ltd, Aviation House, Carlisle Airport, rosby-on- Eden, Cumbria CAS 4NW. AEROPLANE APRIL 2024 ww.key.Aero 7The magnificent sight of another Mosquito ing to life, as T43 NZ2308 has its Royce Merlins un up for the ist ‘at Ardmore on 23 Februny. to engine runs at Ardmore is on target to make its public debut atthe Warbirds over Wanaka show over the late March Easter weekend, Itisthe fourth Mosquito toemerge from the Avspecs ‘workshops at Ardmore, Avspecs principal Warren Denholm 123 February at Ardmore, New Zealand, de Havilland Mosquito 143 NZ2308 had its Metin engines run up for the fest time, and the former Royal New Zealand Air Force machine says, “This isa Bankstown, New South Wales-buileT43, the trainer version ofthe Mki0 fighter. I-was originally the personal project of Glyn Powell, who for decades worked tirelessly to build the fuselage moulds for the Mosquito, After DEMON SOLD TO KERMIT WEEKS between 1991 and 2009 by Skysp for the lt Po oa Cee a s Fantasy of cn ae lavist ing Sat ea ater reenter) ete me Reet ent oo ere ete Se ace Pores perenne hee naet eset oat 8 wivmekey Acro acquiring the remains of 'NZ2308, over a 15-year period Giyn rebuilt the wooden airframe along with numerous other components. Following Giyn’s passing in 2019, the project was sold and the airerat transported to Avspecs ‘at Aedmore for completion, The engines and propellers vere sourced from Vintage V.12s at Tehachapi, California and Westpac Propellers in Colorado Springs respectively. The aircraft isdue to be ingpected and certified by the NZCAAin the coming weeks, and test fying will begin shortly after. Atthe controls will be Chino, California based Steve Hinton, Steve travelled to New Zealand to carry out the test fying of Aygpecs’ previous Mosquito, the FBVIPZA74, Who would have thought that in the space of 12 short years, we would see four Mosquitos rebuilt and flying in New Zealand? AEROPLANE APRIL 2024SB News April 2021 Sywell Mustang emerges in 352nd FG ace’s colours | usttwo-and-a-half months after arriving atthe Air Leasing/Ukimate Warbird Flights facility at Sywell from Australia, Commonwealth (CA-18 Mustang M2 VH-MPT. (c/n 1435) was rolled out ina new, spectacular colour scheme ‘on 24 January. The former Royal ‘Australian Air Force machine now represents fersey Jerk, the P.51D flown by 361st Fighter Squadron commanding officer and 13-and-a-half-kill ce Maj Donald A. trait, Built at the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation factory at Fishermen's Bend, Melbourne on 17 November 1947, the Mustang ‘was delivered tothe RAAF's Air Research and Development Unit and moved on 1078 Wing at RAAF Station Williamtown, New South Wales the following Pebruary. remained at Williamtown until uly 1950, ‘when itwent into long.term storage at RAAF East Sale, Victoria and then Tocurmval, New South Wales, finally being sold off as scrap’ in August 1957. During 1997 the fighter ‘was registered VE-MFT to Mustang Pty Lid at Caboolture, ‘Queensland, and during restoration by Sandora Aviat in Caboolture’s Hangar 102 it had a second seat installed. The Mustang flew again on 24 January 2002 with test pilot Ed Field atthe contol, and ‘continued to be operated from Caboolture until its sale to Ultimate Warbird Flights in ‘August 2025. It was re-regstered as GJERK to Fighter Aviation Engineering on & February Capt Donald Strait lew his first ‘combat mission with the 336th Fighter Group in a Republic P-47 Thunderbolt from Martlesharm Heath on 6 February 1944, during which he shot down @ Focke-Wulf Ew 190, His fighter ‘wasmamed Jersey ferk ~ Strait ‘was born and raised in New Jersey —at the behest ofhis ‘rew chief. The young pilot had ‘wanted to calli Jersey Bounce, et ete eter cre) ena rar toa following rol-out at Sywell on 24 January ‘butthat name had already been taken, Although initially reluetaat tohave the appellation Jerk? painted on his aeroplane, he ‘eventually agreed with the crew chief, who suggested anybody ‘who would take offin a single engine aeroplane, cross the North Seain the wintertime and take a chance of getting his ‘ass’ shotoffby the Luftwaffe or hhe was given command ofthe ‘361st FS, During November 1944 ‘he took up that position on the very day the unit re-equipped with P-51Ds, the Jersey Jerk name being transferred to Strait’ new Mustang, He wasto lead the ‘unit until the end of the war, the most distinguished day in the 361sts history coming on 26 Navember 1944 when itshot 66 Donald Strait ended the war as the 356th FG’s highest-scoring pilot 99 anti-aircraft fre had got to bea jerk. (On 10 February Strat claimed his first Messerschmitt B109 G, ‘one of seven-and-a-half 109s hhe was to ultimately despatch, Having completed more than 200 combat hours, at which point hhe was eligible to be ‘rotated home, Strait agreed to continue ‘operational lying just as ong as down 23 enemy fighters during, amass dogfight that started over Osnabstick, with nota single Mustang being lost. Strait shot down further Fw 190s on 14 January and on Valentine's Day the following month, his Final {three kils being Fieseler Fi 156 Storch observation airraft on 20 February. He ended the waras the 356th FG's highest scoring pilot, and later commanded the New Jersey Air National Guard’ 108th Fighter Interceptor Wingas wel as the whole of the NIANG. During 1968 he became lnvolved with the Fairchild A-10 hunderbole Il programme. Sta retired from the US AirForce {in 1968 with the rank of major general, Strait championed the American Air Museum fatDuxford, and was an honoured guest atthe July 2002 Flying Legends show atthe Cambridgeshire airfield. On one ofhis visits tothe UK, trait said, supported the museum even before the fest spade of soil was, turned, Ihave visited Duxford almost yearly. And I make sure year Ido so becauise the th Air Force ‘conducted the most important air operation in history, and we lost 30,000 men doingit. We need tokeep their memory alive” Donald Strait died at his home in Pinehurst, North Carolina on 30 March 2015 at the age of 96 AEROPLANE APRIL 2024 wruwkey.Aero 9SSS News April 2024 ar NEWS IN BRIEF NEWARK AUSTER GETS ENGINE (0n25 January ailestone was passedin the ‘estoraton of the Newark At Museums Auster ‘20PS, S238, wth the iting of the rebult ‘lackoum Crus Bmbareer engine Works ‘abo being undertaken on covering the useloge ‘and reiting the cockpit area. DATO CEASE OPERATIONS ‘The Amsterdam Schiphl-based DOA Classic Aiines wil cease operating ts Douglas 0C'3, PBA, at ne end of September, due to ‘among other facters— onerous regulations, the cacy of Avge, andthe ificaty of ining ‘quale volunteers. Te oxganisaton began cern sightseeing fgttsn 0C-3s asthe Dutch Dakota Associaton way backn 1984 Look out for afl feature next month, ‘TYPHOON WORK RESUMES ‘twas announced bythe Hawker Typhoon Preservation Group on January that work had started onthe restoration of Typhoon /R839606-TFY wit the rear fuselage rebulé gating back under way tthe Aram Assembles acity onthe Isl of Wight attra two-year pause scum, EX-AAC HELICOPTERS TO ULSTER The Uster Aviation Society at Maze Long Kesh, LUsbum received Gazelle RHIXZ322 and Lynx ANT 21666 on February. Both ex Army Air Corps helicopters were roaded in fiom MoD Lyneham, Wilshice, where theyhedbeen stored 0 HUCKNALL MUSEUM TO REOPEN ‘The Hucknal Fight Test Museum wilreopen later this year, after a naw lease was signed 1 ‘renovate and restore the grade Mise hangars atthe Nottinghamshire ste, where Rols-Royce conducted fight nd gtoundtesting on many of Its aero engines rom 1834-72. Anew building wilasobe constructed, Te museum dosedin ‘March 2020 dueto the COVID-9 pandemic <0 Egyptian Bestmann cache arrives in Germany ‘nmid-January the fist containers transporting a valuable cargo oficence- ‘built Egyptian Bicker Ba 181 Bestmanns, arrived in Germany from Egypt After along period of preparation, German enthusiast Emest Mika has achieved a considerable ‘coup, having secured around 20 examples of the Heliopolis Air Works (HAW) Gomhoutia, dozens of 145hp Continental C-145 engines and a huge spare parts holding, Backin 2011 ‘Mika obtained the lat four Gomhoutias which were built by the Kader Factory in Cairo, formerly HAW, and many spares. Unfortunately, Egypt's political upheavals and ultimately the COVID-19 pandemic delayed further plans, butover the past year {has finally worked out. With the exception foftwo examples for museums in Egypt, all ofthe existing Gomhourias are now heading toGermany and represent a real boost tothe vintage aieraft community there. ‘The aircraft manufactured by HAW were buileusing Aerodux glue, so there are none ‘ofthe problems encountered with the previously used casein. The Continental ‘engines are also much more suitable for ‘everyday use than the Hirth units, which ‘were fitted tothe German and Swedish- ‘manufactured BUi 181s, The huge pool of spate parts alone makes thenecessary refurbishment ofthe Gomhourias far easier for future owners. [Emnest Mika was born with an enthusiasm for Buckets His father had imported a ‘Gomhouria more than three decades ago and flew it for awhile, Atthat time, lifelong friendship developed with some Egyptian technicians and pilots, which made possible ‘the import thathas now taken place. Among other new owners, two Gomhourias have already gone tothe Biicker Museum in Switzerland and another two to members of the Flieger Stadl lub at Landshut, Bavaria, Several are stil fr sale. I'you are interested, ‘contact Emest Mika direct at infog@mika-business.com, Ore ee ec eed une SO ee eee rg Peers te 10 vekey. Aero AEROPLANE APRIL 2024WANTED — Airplane Kits & Diecast Collectables s Top Prices Paid cabs For All Makes, All Scales. ef, Diecast, Aircraft, Boats, Model ; ‘<< Railway & Live Steam etc i Instant Cash Paid o Will Travel To Collect email: littleworthmodels@gmail.com_ ip, o 01775 630385 | Wosiezigceuvee 07578 708785 spicing tines, peat sou THE DESTINATION FOR Visit us today and discover all our back issues shop.keypublishing.com/amback _ Call +44 (0)1780 480404 (Monday to Friday 9am - 5.30pm GMT) “Free 2nd cess PRP on allUK & BFPO orders. Overseas charges apy.=e New: pil202 =F Lockheed 10 flies in NZ orethan a quarter ‘ofa century aftr it was acquired by New Zealand businessman Rob Mackley from the Museum of Alaska Transportation and Industry in Wasila, the 82-year old, Burbank-built Lockheed 10 Electra ZK-AFD made its ‘maiden post-restoration Might from Ardmore, near Auckland, 0n 30 January. The projecthas been completed by Hawk Aero at Ardmore, whose managing director Hulb Volker says, "The alreraft, c/n 1145, was one of the last -10s to rol off the assembly line in 1941 and was delivered new to LAN Chile. When it arrived from Alaska it was essentially a complete airframe, but with significant damage to the nose section: ie had been hi bya Douglas DC-3 wing panel duringa storm in Alaska. There was some corrosion from y of outdoor storage and some damage from lawn-mowing tractors and so on. “the Electra has been worked fon over the years by Avspecs, at Rotorua, who refurbished the centre-section ofthe wing, and by Pioneer Aero. [worked oon the aircraft's empennage, wings and other items foray so while Twas at Pioneer Acro, Having started my own company, left Pioneer to work directly for Rob from early 2006, earying out multiple other aircraft restorations, ‘upgrades, maintenance and custom engineering projects ‘while continuing work on the [-10 restoration project and ‘managing the various companies and individuals who assisted With specialised tasks that could not be done in-house. “The tal section had ‘humerous new frames and a new bulkhead made to restore Ieback othe original size and type ofrivets and condition, as this area had some field repairs ddone while in service with LAN le, Passenger seat frames had toberemade, noting that the Individual seats vary somewhat in width and configuration depending on theirlocation in the cabin, The balsa core cabin 12 wwwkey Aero Lockheed 10 Electra ZK-AFD airborne neat. rdmore with Ryan Southam and owner Rob Mackley atthe ‘controls on 23 February, the 90th anniversary ofthe ist fight of the prototype. cr and cockpit flooring material ‘was made by the same company, fon the same machine that produced it for Lockheed in the 1930s, “Rob managed to find all-new parts forthe engines on his travels. tis quite likely that the ‘wo PRW R-S85 engines on this aireraft wil be the last ofthese engines ever to be assembled from new old stock’ parts, rather than from refurbished or overhauled used parts. "We were fortunate tohave access to microfiche files from the Smithsonian Institution in ‘Washington DC, containing original Lockheed parts, drawings and information ‘The Museum of Transport and Technology (MOTAT) in Auckland has an Electra on display and some information fles in its library from when the aireraft type was first imported into New Zealand, both of which were helpful “The brief for the restoration ‘was a polished finish, a high standard and authenticity asmuch as was going to be practical. A lot of behind: the-scenes, customised improvements were madeto the alrcraft and some minor ‘concessions made for modern avionics, better ergonomics and safety improvements. The L-10 ‘was also pre-plumbed for long: “The aircraft was essentially complete around the time of the COVID lockdowns and was ther delayed from the first attempt ata test fightin early ‘October 2022 bya fuel valve “Despite modern technology ‘and manufacturing methods, t isnotable that alot of traditional skulls are being quite rapidly Tost. few areas that come tomind are curved glass for the passenger windows and passenger seatbelt light, the ‘complex metal shaping of fairings, nacelles, the cabin door frame and compound curved, skins, re-creating early-type plastics for small details such as seat handles, and making the laminated wooden passenger window frames —Isorted out ‘custom clamping fixture, and Rob's dining room athishome became a ‘production area’ for frames; 10 laminations foreach frame, glued one lamination at ‘atime, Finding a paint booth large enough was a problem. We ended up making a temporary spray booth” Once test-lying is completed, the Lockheed willbe flown south to Omaka, from where it will be operated, Haswk Aerois currently working on restoring, former Red Arrovs Folland Gnat T1, XR967, to ying condition, as well as assisting with a Gloster Meteor and various other projects, mainly {in partnership with ex pat Brit aul Levit of Auckland-based sheet metal specialists Aero R (On 15 February, Huib gave an update on the Electra’ test- lying programme: ‘A few very minor {ecthing issues have been sorted, The Electra has done 5.2 hours of flying so far and is running very smoothly? AEROPLANE APRIL 2024s April 202) = DH museum Rapide goes on show pean Rho he fuselage ofthe de Havilland Alrraft Museums DHB9A Dragon Rapide, G-AKHW, was recently moved from the restoration building into the new Geofirey de Havilland Hangar at London where the short-haul airiner will bbe completed in ful public gaze. Workhas, been under way'since’KHW arrived from Amsterdam in December 1993, For many years the restoration had been intended to result Ina fying exhibit, but hose plans have now changed and when finished ’KHW wil become one ofthe museum's prized static machines, ‘Museum president Philip Birds says, "The workhas been done entirely by volunteers, ‘many of them ex-de Havilland Hatfield employees. One has even recently celebrated his 100th birthday. Ithas been decided topaint the aircraft in Hillman's Airways colours, marking the pioneering efforts ofthe airline founder, Edward Hillman, The fuselage has now been ited with stub wings and ‘undercarriage. The wings, tai, engines and {internal fitngs will gradually follow, allowing visitors to see assembly progress close up of thisistorie mint-airliner” Mikael Carlson's Fokker Dil and De wil erent we ee rere Uneaten) a FOKKERS TO GATHER FOR Saar el ee eat on ae Pesan eres ee See ee at tence on c) FORMER DANISH CHIPMUNKS ARRIVE IN BerSIOn (0n 28 January, a min-Chipmeet comprising two former Royal Danish Ale Force DHC-1 Chipmunk 22s that have recently been added tothe Belgian register ‘was held at Balen-Kelheuvel aril in north-eastern Belgium, The latest Chipmunk ava inthe country, FAZCH, was ferried from France — where it lived for many years at La Ferte-Alais with the late Gerry Marchardier — to @ new home at Kortik \Wevelgem on 7 January. flew with the Royal Danish Alr Force from August 1952 Lunt the end of September 1976, initially as 12-132 and later as P.132, Iwill now be registered OO.VNL. The other example, the former Royal Danish Air Force serial 12-125, AEROPLANE APRIL 2024 later P-125, was registered OO-Cll on 3 Januery, having previously been SE-GRK in Sweden where it was operated in an historically accurate Belgian Air Force scheme. During March 1948 the Belgian Air Force ‘acquired two Chipmunks, srialled C-1 and €-2, to be evaluated for a new primary trainer requirement to replace the air arm's DH82 Tiger Moths. The Chipmunk was subsequently ejected, and a new batch of Stampe SV4Bs acquired. OO-Ci spent its ‘entire, 26-year Danish miltary career — from June 1950 until September 1976 — withthe Fiyveskolen (Fiying School) at Karup in rmig-Jutland, Chipmunk 22 00-cil wearing an authentic Belgian Air Force scheme, with F-AZCH, painted in RAF markings, behind it at Balen- Keineuvel on 28 January. ut 38 wmkeyAero 13—=G=— WORKSHOP In making real its ambition of restoring Lancaster NX611 to flight, the Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre is using three other ‘Lancs’ to help it on its way — and you might be able to fly in the result WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHY: BEN DUNNELL retty much any areraft restoration, whether static or fying, isa collaborative afar to some extent. Even a pri one-person effort will almost Inevitably have t call on help from external quarters, whether Inthe form of advice and expertise, or through obtaining parts. Mote complex projects, like many warbirds, may be carried out by multiple specialist contractors. But while the Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage 14 wonkey Aero Centre's return to fight of Avro Lancaster VII NX611 is being done in-house at East Kirkby, it is taking collaboration toa rarely seen degree. This is down to the way in Which the restoration is being organised and funded. Rather than pursuing any external funding streams, the LAHC decided Just fane should, in effect, pay for itself. This means hhaving the airerat active for the tat rides at East Kirkby that earn good deal ofits keep, before taking it out of service over the winter months to allow work to continue, But haw best todo this ‘while ensuring a efficient a flow ‘of sections as possible th the restoration process?’ ‘where other organisations have The South Yorkshire Aircraft Museum in Doneaster owns the ear fuselage of Lancaster XKB976, the Canadian-built aircraft that was the subject of Britain's last privately owned ‘Lane’ rebuild to flyable status when in the hands ofthe late CCharles Church, The infamous hangar collapse at Woodford in 1987 put paid to that, but while KB976 never tookto the airin clvilian hands, tis now helping NXGII do so Iwas agreed that KB976' rear fuselage could bbe moved to East Kirkby and restored to taxiing condition, allowing NX611 t0 remain ‘operational while its own rear fuselage is made airworthy. As ‘time-saving exercise — this part of Just Jane would otherwise AEROPLANE APRIL 2024have needed to be worked on vert least two winters — the benefits are obvious. ‘With the swap complete, the aircraft quite righly had the serial KB976 painted on itbelow its regular NX611 Identiy. "I's done a full season, andit’s performed well says LAHC general manager Andrew Panton. “Thats proved the system and the process. We've ‘got no set return date for it — obviously the South Yorkshire [Areraft Museum wants it back, but they're not knocking on the door fort We're going to be taxiing coming season with it, soi have done 2023 and '24, We're Into minds about whether we 4do'25, because, obviously, the more times we take a bitoff and puta iton, the more potential damage and wear and tearit causes. I's a question of whether we take the reat fuselage offand putanother one on two or three ‘more times, or whether we put NXBII's on when our mic: section's finished. Ifwe don’t putiton, we've got to store it somewhere! The largest gin the hangar thus contains the reat fuselage of NX611. “I’sin skeletal form now, having the stringers ited Then the skins will be able to go on, so i's nearing the final phase. Hopefully that will be finished this calendar year — fully fitted- ot, ready to be refitted ro the Towards the ‘The eat’s cra of wires that was revealed by removal of NXGHT's nose in early January sin Lane! That jg will then take next piece of fuselage: the rear ‘mid, as we're calling i, from the French aircraft, between the \wingand the rear fuselage” The French aircrafts Lancaster VIENX664, just 53 serials further down the Austin production line at Longbridge than NXS11. Operated post-war by the French naval air arm, the Aéronautique Navale, tis the subject ofa long-term static restoration at Dugny by the Ailes Anciennes Le Bourget group, after which it will end up across the airfield in the Musée de Air etde'Espace. The mutually beneficial arrangement between Ailes Anciennes and the LAHC Pa “removed and placed next tothe aeroplane, The dual-srial number ‘eflacts the fact that Just Jane's rear fuselage Is curentiy that of the South Yorkshire Alreraft Museum's KBS76, 5 AEROPLANE APRIL 2024 va originally elated to NX66's wings, which had not yet been tackled by the Le Bourget team. Ina similar way tothe plan with KB976's fuselage, they would be restored to taxing standard at ast Kirkby in stages, and used ‘on NX611 while iis own wings were made flyable. However, other sections of NX664 are now nvolved, 00. One isthe aforementioned rear micl-fuselage. Andrew Panton says, “That's currently having tailing restoration! being repaired soit’ hopefully able tobe fitted in the winter (0f2024 in order to tax in the 2025 season, along with either urrear fuselage or the rear fuselage of KB976, depending ‘on where we get’ Anotheris the ‘nose, which has just been put ‘on NXGLL. “Ie being fitted-out with all the bits from NX611 tomake itlookrright for those hhaving tours oF rides. The nose of NXG11 is down inthe structural bay, ready to havea jig male, come apart and be restored to airworthiness” Again, there has been alot to discover, "The Lancaster was built in sections at individual factories and brought together atthe transport joints. There is ‘atransport joint between the nose and the cockpit, and we thought, probably naively, that there would be quick-release ‘couplings like on the ear section, Whatwe've actually © wrwuckey.Acro 15WORKSHOP Lancaster Just Jane ac ABOVE LEFT TO RIGHT: At some point during 2024, NXGi"'s rear fuselage will ome out of its ig and be fitted out. The port wing of NXG6A I tla its jig, But painted and almost ready for mounting on NX6M. found is thatthe nose and the cockpit were built individually, and before the cockpit was, fitted-out the nose was put on, so you've got aloof systems that run from the cockpit to the nose tnd back o the cockpit. They don'tadhere tothe rule of having that asa quick-release transport joi “That was abit oflearning curve when we started getting down to the nity-grity of there were alot more systems toremove that don't go with the nose, but with the cockpit. The rudder pedals, for example, are fited in the nase and go with the nose, but not the cockpit. | suspect that ifthere was any damage to the nose, the whole nose and cockpit were taken off and new ones puton than the nose being taken off the cockpit “The port wing of NXO64 was firstto arrive, "We've had a great deal to do to this, both cosmetically and structurally. A lot of skins have been replaced; some of the ribs inside have had. tobe replaced due to corrosion, and some due to damage. But what we've learned by doing the work has paid dividends. We will attack our wing in a different ‘manner to how we attacked this wing because of what we've learned. It was built ina different ‘way to what we expected — all insub-assemblies, rather than inthe jig. the jg, really, was an assembly jig for putting al the different components in, rather than putting the extrusion on. the rib and riveting itin wher was in the jig ‘We've now removed the port ‘wing of NX6II; the port wing of [NX664 has just been painted and in, because the French trailing edge is bent” ‘And now a further Lancaster thas made a contribution towards Just Jane. Tis is none ‘other than the Batde of Britain Memorial lights airworthy MRI, PAATA. “I's had new tailplanes produced’ reports Andrew, “which are being fited this winter. We have been allowed to borrow its old talplanestofitto X11, sowe can have ours off 66 the biggest thing we're doing is getting spars made. We can get them extruded in the USA 99 will come out ofthe jglater this ‘week [in ate February). Then Wwelllbe iting i onto NX611, The port wing from NXB11issitting next to the ‘Lane} and that will go down to structural engineering, The jig for the wing will be adapted, given what we've learned from doing the French ‘wing. Then we ean mount the ‘wing inthe ig and start taking it apart. Our port trailing edge isin its jig That's going to set the jig to rebuild the French railing edge ‘and restore them to airworthy condition, That's another box. ticked. ‘crucial phase ofthe whole projects now approaching With what we have here atthe ‘moment — NX664's port wing, X66 rear-mid fuselage, NX664’s nose/bomb-aimer section and PA474s tailplanes — ‘onceall those items ae cycled, through the ‘Lane; that leaves ‘us with our starboard wing, the ccentre-sections where the main spars come through the fuselage, and the cockpit. Because there are so many systems that run through the cockpitand the cente-section, they may put us ina situation where it costs us as ‘much to restore a donor section ‘as we would earn in the income from taxing, I's only beneficial if we raise more in funds taxing for season, using somebody else's piece, than the cost of restoring somebody else's piece. Itmay well be that when we gett the cockpitand centre-section pars, we have to stop taxiing for two years and do our pieces. Hopefully the port wing is {going to fit That will then prove the wing swap principle. Our pport wing will go in the jig. and welll have new spars extruded and machined. Once thats been done, twill prove our method fof doing the wings. When the pport wing goes back to France, theory the starboard wing will eome back across here. That fone did have a taxiing accident which effectively left the wing bent, but we believe the wing bend is being sustained by the spar web rather than the spar, so in theory, when you remove the web from the spar booms, the booms will go straight again and well justreplace the web, 16 vemkey Aero AEROPLANE APRIL 2024‘The starboard wing would then be fit tose. There's a chance we ray decide to do the cockpit, centre-section and starboard wing atthe same time in that two-year down period, in which case we wouldn’tdo the French starboard wing. It depends on how long it takes us to do our port wing — welll then know hhow long ittakes us to do our starboard wing. I's all in the balance. The biggest thing we're doing Is getting spars made. We can get them extruded outin America, and we've just found a company with a machine bed long enough tomachine them down from the extrusion to what they should be Now we re working on material substitution with the CAA, because we can't get the original material any more. Ideally, what we'te looking forarea cockpit and centre- ABOVE: NX664's rear mid fuselage section Is expected to go onto Just section that are already restored Jane next winter. and fited-out, and which we could borrow. The biggest problem isthe systems. fthe fuselage, so that may represent systemsaren'tinit,we'vegot_ _aloan option. However, Andrew tofind them, orusethe ones _is conscious of the need to start, outofNX6I1.But that would sending restored elements of mean we couldn't then restore NX864 back to France before them to airworthy condition for asking formally whether more fours, so that would lengthen the of it might Find its way to East process’ Different options for Kitkby a cockpit have been explored, What of other key items? “We butso far without success. The have four airworthy engines in centre-section of NXB64isnot__ stores, ready and waiting ogo. currently martied tots forward One ofthe airworthy engines, ‘number four, has been ited to NXGIL, so that will have tocome off and go through a partial overhaul again to reset ito zero time. We've got three airworthy propellers, and having new engine-bearers built is something we're going through. BBME have had new engine bearers made, so we're talking tothe company that did those to ‘work out how we're going to get fours done, Four ofthe six fuel tanks have been overhauled, and the others arein overhaul *Of the four mainwheels we have, two are known to be good. The biggest problem for us is, brakes, which areas vital for taxiingas they are for light. The forged drums that bole into the wheels are known foreracking. We've replaced fone this year due to cracking. Obviously, ifthe drum is cracked, when you expand the brake bag and push the pads tonto the drum you're not getting the same braking ability as i lewere not ‘giving’ with the pressure ofthe brake.” The goal ofa flying NX611 is very much in view, and with it the time has been deemed right toadvance progress on another objective. “We are working with the CAA on processes to be able to take passengers; Andrew reports "These are now active discussions, rather than a ‘concept being thrown around. There should be a meeting fairly soon to look at the aircraft and what we'll need todo in order to perform passenger fights” So, there you have it IF you've ever wanted tofly ina Lancaster, the best thingyou can do is support just Jane. And the brode- Lan comm vwwwulinesaviation co.uk [ABOVE LEFT TO RIGHT: One of PA47A's now redundant tallplanes, which wil further aid the East Kirkby restoration by being restored fr taxing ‘duty: and the port traling edge of NXGH isl AEROPLANE APRIL 2024 wrnwKey.Aero 17PSRs One == FlightLine Recollections and reflections — a seasoned reporter’s view of aviation history savery young lad in the late 1950, lived In Aldershot and had already guined a healthy (unhealthy?) interestin aircraft In those days, there was plenty of aerial activity overhead ‘ourhouse, with local airfields including Farnborough, Odiham and Blackbushe. Farnborough ‘was something ofa secret place. You never knew what you might see fying, but even standing outside the airfield fence at the canal end of runway 07, asit then was, would reliably gain the attention of the military police Odiham had recentiy received the first examples ofthe RAF's newest, twin-jt delta interceptor inthe shape of the Javelin FAWI for No 46 Squadron and there were periods of intensive night flying during the work-up. Far ‘morte friendly was Blackbushe, situated east of Hartley Wint tnd north of the A30 that was then the main trunk route © the West County. Isay‘north ‘ofthe A30; but in fact part ofthe airfield including some hangars ‘was to the south, giving the welcome possibility —for the enthusiast ifnot forthe Devon- bound holidaymaker — of road traffic being topped to allow an airliner, usually a Viking, DC-3 or Hermes, to be towed rom one side tothe other. Blackbushe had been a civil airport from 1947, used primarily by charter airlines inthe bucket and-spade’ trade, although there were a few scheduled Blackbushe visitor indeed: PAM-1@ Mercator BuNo 122209 trom US Navy squadron VO-2 comes int land during September 1956, 9": services including a short-lived Silver City mult-stop car ferry operation to Newtownards with Bristol Freighters, and Eagle routes into mainland Europe. Major airline users in the late ‘508 were Eagle Airways with a fleet mainly of Vikings, Dan-Aix, Airwork and Britavia, the later having introduced a number of its closeness to Farnborough —about 10 miles — there was an influxof military transports ‘and communications aireraft in September for the then annual 'SBAC show, with exotica such as ‘a Royal Netherlands Navy PBM-S Mariner visiting in 1957. ‘The US Navy established a permanent base at Blackbushe 66 Blackbushe was far more friendly than Farnborough or Odiham 99 ‘ultra-madern’ ex-BOAC Hermes ln 1954, Alongside the normal charters, there was good business introoping fights for the British forces In those days, the turnover of charter airlines was rapid, ‘with a number succumbing, to financial pressures every September or October, atthe end ofthe summer season. Given in 1956 withthe construction of ‘ahangar and its own apron. A resident squadron, FASRON 200, flew a variety of transport types, primarily RAD-8 Super Daks! ‘and Beech twins, on transport and communications work. ‘This was the only operational USN squadron based in the UK, and itlooked afer visting USN aireraft too. P2V Neptunes became a familiar sight, uta PAM Mercator was also wo be seen from time to time, fying Inthe clandestine electronic. surveillance role. (On 1 September 1958 XE462, tone of seven Sea Hawks from ‘800 Squadron displaying at Famborough, suffered an engine fire, its pilot hurriedly leaving the formation atthe tp of loop to head for an emergency landing at Blackbushe, Overhead the airfield, he was forced to eject; hhelanded safely, apart froma broken leg, but his aircraft hit the ground in a vertical dive close to ‘hangar. Navy News featured the crash in its September 1958 issue under the uncharitable headline ‘ector Seat Saves Navy ‘Stunt Pilot Forty-six years on, another ‘SBAC show event involving Blackbushe occurred in july 2004, when a USAF B-52H was scheduled to make couple of flypasts at Famborough on the final part of a trans-Atlantic fight from its home base in the State. Despite being announced as ie next item to appear, appear Itdid not, although eagle-eyed spectators could see it in the very far distance, making a low-level pass. Then, the commentator announced, joyously, “He's displaying over Blackbushe” Whatever the reason for the foul-up, this was an unfortunate demonstration of the USAF's vision of ‘Global Reach, Global Power! 18 venukey. Aero AEROPLANE APRIL 2024IMMERSIVE WARBIRD FLIGHT EXPERIENCES FROM DUXFORD AIRFIELD, CAMBRIDGE + ote te ce + a + AERIAL CONTACT AND BOOKINGS COLLECTIVE +44 (0) 1223 653 830 > ux FoR D AERIALCOLLECTIVE.CO.UK= Comment = From RICHARD CROCKETT Cockpit Join the Shuttleworth Collection's latest pilot on his vintage flying journey isplays by vintage sailplanes have formed an integral part of| Shuttleworth shows formany years. Indeed, while nota glider pilot himself, some of Richard Shutleworths close friends were particularly passionate about unpowered Aight, most notably Prince Bira of iam, who himself owned the spectacular 1939 Slingsby ‘T15 Gull I which is currently fon stati display at Lasham’s Gliding Heritage Centre, fall the gliders Shuttleworths fleet, my favourite must be the Fauvel AV-36, the Vin ts designation standing for ‘ale Volante; which is French for lying wing’ In comparative terms, the Fauvelis one ofthe ‘most modern airraft owned by the collection, having been built by the French manufacturer ‘Wassmer in 1955. Iewas brought tothe UK in 1972, but only spent three yeas lying before being confined toa barn. During 2014 itwas discovered by Shuttleworth and relocated to the Booker Gliding Club fora full restoration to be catried out by Graham Saw For those unfamiliar with the type, the Fauvel isa single-seat, i-less aerobatic glider with ‘wo large fins mounted on the trailing edge ofthe wing. The wing itself is 3m in span, and unlike on most traditional gliders — is not removable. Instead, for transportation, the glider is mounted sideways on F Se ey Fauvel AV-36 in the Shuttleworth peer reheated an open trailer withthe rudders folded back so not to stick out to0 fat with relative ease by most slider pilots; indeed, when briefing plots new to the ype, 66 its controls are light and responsive, which allows graceful aerobatics to be flown 99 From a fying perspective, the Fauvel is reasonably conventional in terms of handling and could be flown Toften describe the handling as akin to thatof the Alexander Schleicher ASK-13, Unlike the ASK-13, though, the Fauvel is, somewhat short-coupled, which ‘makes it particularly sensitive Inpiltch, and therefore great ‘care must be exercised s0 as, nnotto initiate whatis known as apilot induced oscillation. ‘The issue is further exacerbated during take-off, thanks to the short, narrow and sprung skid which the glider sits on. On the take-off run behind the tow airraft, even the smallest of ‘bumps can prematurely propel the glider into the air, which, if nothandled well, can lead 0 the unsuspecting plot ‘pogoing’ yemselves down the airfield in ‘a most ungainly manner. Once inthe ar, the Fawvel is ‘delight ts controls ate light and responsive, which allows for graceful aerobatics to be flown, ‘and that's when this glider teally ‘comes into its own. In recent years, hurtleworth's AV-36 has ‘been equipped with a wingtip smoke system, which creates the ‘most magnificent patterns in the sky. To make things even bette ‘musi is often played through the aerodrome’s PA system — when combined with the near- silent nature of gliders, it makes fora highly elegant aerial ballet. Imay not be particularly old, nor indeed averly are, but the Fauvel is definitely distinetive nits own special way. I's lovely ‘oly, and continually brings a smile to the faces of those who come to see it. My only advice Isto attend a display where its being flown by Graham Saw. He's much better ati than Lam! 20 wwrikey.Aero AEROPLANE APRIL 2024-30 MIN FLIGHT (20 MIN AIRBORNE) S ~ PORE BOISE NIE NZ UP IEDF WWW.BWE.ES [alert x RTC ese ert) S 3 , FLY@BwP.ES [al esCrécy ation with ac Aeroplane. Key Publ prea eS In every issue, the writer of our Letter of the Month wins a £25 book voucher to spend with leading military and transport publisher Crécy. Bosing 377 4X-FPY in Israel ir Force service, adecede after its neardisastous livery fight. ici ncocs an nest 13*Wat 11.43, which was way south of track, ‘being 240nm South-west ofits previous estimated position for that time. The crew tated they had drifted right of rack, were YMC on top (visual meteorological condition ‘on op of cloud), and requested wind data or 5,000, 10,000ft and 15,000, saying they needed to proceed to Brest or Bordeaux depending on winds, At 11.55 they confirmed that due to unfavourable winds they would be proceeding to Bordeaux to refuel before continuing to Le Bourget. AAC 12.28 the crew requested an immediate descent to FL90, but Shannon was unsure ofthe aircraft’ exact position in view of the Jarge discrepancy from its Hight plan. twas considered that it was mos likely in the Bordeaux flight information region (FIR), in Which case a descent clearance could not be {sued by Shannon, asaireraf inan FIRis atthe captain’ di firstindication thatthe Stratocruiser was in serious dificlty came at 13.22 when the crew declared an emergency due to lack of fuel, giving their position as bearing 172° from Santander and 180° from Bordeaux at 4550°N 0430°W, maintaining 3,000f, showing, the descent had been carried out. At that stage the crew stated they had 45 minutes fuel remaining and were fying at 153k1 true air speed: this suggested a major error in fuel planning, with the endurance now 1S hours rather than the 17 specified in the flight plan “The flight was advised to contact either Paris ‘on HEF or Bordeauxon VHE but twas unable to establish communications with either, ‘and all comms had to be handled through Shannon and Prestwick. ‘full aircraft in distress situation was activated, and Prestwick alerted the Southern Rescue Control Centre, which scrambled search and rescue aircraft from St Eval and Prestwick, while Paris advised that a French search and rescue airraf, callsign EYEBE (possibly a French Navy Lockheed Neptune), was departing o intercept. At 13.43 4X-FOI said they were now down to ooft with cloud above, and with fuel gauges ‘naw coming close to empty, the possibility ‘of having to ditch was becoming increasingly likely, Preparations were made for ditch and at 14.05 the crew reported they were at ‘400ft and would be ditching in five minutes ‘without the coast in sight. Six minutes later, Paris advised thatthe Stratocruiser was in radar contact with 63nm to run to Bordeaux. AU 14.18 the crew of 4X-FOI said they were now indicating zero fue, and were faced with the choice ofa controlled ditching while the ‘engines were stil under power or continuing ‘on in the hope of making a successful landing in Bordeaux, which ran the risk of ‘complete engine failure prior to reaching the airport with limited options regarding a forced landing, They would endeavour to reach Bordeaux or put the aircraft down on the coast. It landed safely in Bordeaux at 114.29 with two engines shut down due to fuel exhaustion, and it reportedly had Just enough fue to taxi to parking, enabling the distress situation tobe cancelled. Israel Aireraft Industries subsequently sent messages t0 Shannon and Prestwick expressing their ‘ratte fr the help extended to 4X-FOL Twas clearly avery narrow escape for 4X-FOl and its erew, but the alrerat went ‘on to anew career with the Israeli Air Force, ‘where itwas given the serial 097 and code AXCFPY following conversion toa military transport. Itwas struck off charge on 16 ‘October 1975 and preserved at Hatzerim san officers’ club, Interestingly, duringa visit to Shannon on 27 March 1969 I met the captain of X-FOL who was ferrying a former USAF C.97, HB-ILY, for Red Cross rellef work in Biafra, and who still vividly recalled the trauma ofthe May 1962 incident Eamon Power 8 22 wwwkey.Aero AEROPLANE APRIL 2024‘The Mk2 version ofthe 1982 Nimrod bomb sight with an adjustable graticule added and the sight showing the Perspex plate with numbered, etched lines, the fixed wire bar and the adjustable ‘oraticule which was added after the Falklands confit. The radio altimeter is othe left of the air Speed indicator nny article “The Cinderella Service, \which appeared in dhe November 2023 Aeroplane, I shared some memories of the Falklands conflict of 1982, as viewed from the ight deck ofa Nimrod MRP. In the absence of depth charges and because the lightweight, air-launched Mk46 acoustic homing torpedo has no surface capability its steitly an underwater weapon — those ‘Nimrods patrolling the South Atlantic also cartied 1,000 freefall retarded bombs to attack surfaced submatines, These bombs, after a very short forward throw, dropped vertically when released from the Nimod’s cavernous bomb bay to detonate behind the aircraft. This is a very important consideration when dropping bombs from an aireraft at low level! The Nimrods earmarked for South Atlantic duties were also ited with a very simple bomb sight, reminiscent of the one carried by the Lancasters of No 617 Squadron during the famous dams raid. The Nimrod bomb sight isa Perspex plate with numbered lines etched onto it. In front ofthe Perspex plate there's a wire bar painted red. To my knowledge this bomb sight was designed, manufactured and fitted tothe aireraft in-house at RAF Kinloss by the station's engineers and armourers, To attack a surfaced submatini inthe lef-hand seat woud fly the at a00ft across the target; the Nimrod was equipped with a very accurate radio altimeter which was used to calculate local (QNH. This radio altimeter was so accurate AEROPLANE APRIL 2024 that, when there was aswell running, you could see the sea rising and falling below the aircraft! During the run towards the submarine the navigator calculated a correction, or Tudge factor; based on height land ground speed. Using the fudge factor’ the co-pilot inthe right-hand seat, used @ chinagraph pencil to mark the selected line ‘on the Perspex sereen, With the marked line, the red bar and the submarine al lined up, astickof four bombs was released, twas a ‘matter of simple trigonometry, together with atime and distance calculation, and very accurate to. Although a surfaced submarine was never attacked by a Nimrod, those crews posted to Ascension Island to patrol the South Atlantic practised this new skill on the bombing range at Garvey Island, four miles east of Cape Wrath at the north-west comer ofthe UK, with excellent results, On the fight deck you could hear the ‘erump’ of the bombs thoroughly enjoyed the article on the carly days of Harrier field deployments (Aeroplane October 2022). 1 served in the Royal Signals for 22 years and my last ‘Germany posting was to 21 (Air Support) Signal Regiment, where Ispent five years from 1984-89 providing ground comms for the Harrier force. My site was one of three supporting No IV(AC) Squadron. Of course, by chat time we were on to the GR3. Another thing that Wee Skywriters exploding as they hit the Island, below and behind the aircraft Acthe time the article was written, Lwas. unable to track down any reference to the Nimrod bomb sight and there were no remaining examples — nor photographs ‘of the bomb sight — that I could find at Kinloss or at the RAF Museum London fat Hendon, Then, out ofthe blue ater publication ofthe piece, I was contacted by Mark Bannister a volunteer atthe South Wales Aviation Museum at the former RAP StAthan, near Cardiff To my great delight, ‘Mark photographed and then forwarded images ofthe bomb sight that’s fitted Nimrod MR2 XV254, one of the many aircraft which are exhibited at this gem of a collection, This bomb sight must be an Improvement ofthe original 1982 model, aMk2 version with an adjustable graticule ‘added to the etched Perspex plate and the red wire bar still tached at the front. Tony Cowan MBE inementon of Westland Walace T settee ore a) bough bana Nay ehlaiood memory tine at Canwl inthe 1880 he ny aber vescommanant ofthe AP alle One thy abreast uggs hat fad nothingto doth ay shoul le ver tote edge te hon atl where Tn nhac usages topleynMybrother and duly set very eeepc tae famaginative gues, We regal waaaniner squadron runfordlcadete ound the peter othe norte They wee ile ten, 1960-61 dhighted tat one has been preserved tithough doubt would bellowed tio Tom les Te editor reserves the right to ect all letters. Please include your full name and lederess in correspondence thad changed was where the Royal Signals contingent was situated. We always ended ‘up next to the flying.on pad. Ithad a tendency to get alte bitloud whenever an aircraft anded. The highlight of my ‘time with them was my last exercise, when was lucky enough to get a 45-minute flight at low level in a'T4 — the best ‘touring lever did around the German scenery. lan Curril wwekeyAero 23‘COMPILER: BARRY WHEELER. WRITE TO: Aeropione, Key Publishing Lt, 'PO Box 100, Stamford Lincolnshire PES TQ, UK E-MAIL TO: aeroplaneskeypublishing.com, Putting Q&A" in te header Flying boat identity Discovered in the house ofa close relative, John Downey ‘would like to know what type of flying boat appears inthis photograph and what the story is behind the assembly of personnel, some of whom could be members ofthe crew. The ‘damaged windsereens may hold cue as tothe event. Concorde registration To complete personal fil, ill Blacks seeking the registration ofthe British charter through Goodwood ‘Travel, departing JFK at 12.20. Bill says the aircraft was not the ‘Brisfit’ boys Referring back othe November 2018 issue, Neville Miller would like to know the names ofthe personnel seen. inthe photograph on page 29, showinga No 62 Squadron Bristol F2B Fighter at Nivelles, Belglum, just afer the armistice Fortress crash details Knut Skjawveland is hopeful Aeroplane in 1918, The llustrationis credited to C.T, Clarke, and ‘Neville knows the gentleman second from the left is 2nd Lt Alec Bennett who subsequently became a leading motorcycle racing champion on the Isle of ‘Man. Does anyone know who the others are? readers willbe able to identify the remains of weeckage found froma B-17 and. in urn, the identity ofthe airerat terashed in southern Norway in 1943 and the ‘metalic items appear tobe a form of {oot-rest or parts ofa handle, but those {familiar with the internal workings of this famous bomber might recognise them. Airways Concorde which ‘operated a New York-London service on 11 December 1997, It scheduled BA flight, which had departed at 12.09, Can anyone provide the identity of the was flight number BA9094,a machine? THIS MONTH’S ANSWERS British bomber crash in USA American reader Wayne Hilton remembers an incident inthe late 1950s when, as.a 10-year-old, a British bomber exploded overhead at Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan. Parts ell into Lake St Claire and among the items retrieved ‘was an ejection seat. Wayne would like ‘confirmation that the aireraft was an Avro ‘Vulcan and whether any of the crew survived, ‘Weecan confirm that the alrcraft was Vulcan B1 XA908 of No 83 Squadron, which suffered a catastrophic electrical failure of the power controls on 24 October 1958 and is recorded as crashing near Detrolt, Michigan. The co-pilot ejected but drowned in the lake, There were no survivors from the crew of six and four civilians on the ground were injured, Bracebridge Heath nthe November 2023 sue, in Dowse asked if readers could provide ‘some background to the airfield at Bracebridge Heath in Lincolnshire. Further to responsesin the January eatin, John Bulmer adds that part of ‘the site is now in use by Rimmer Brothers, a specialised supplier of lassie car parts for Triumphs, MGs, Rovers and so on. Photos are available in the history section ofthe company's website. CORRECTIONS ANI CLARIFICATIONS -Acaupin of amendments to prot cantons Wovllwaueel Ine aera shown on pape S26 feta Sop up, but Seater WBN © inn wig Seo nd in wg re 26 wwkey.Aero AEROPLANE APRIL 2024SUBSCRIBE TODAY! AND RECEIVE TWO FREE GIFTS potter __ —— PRINT ONLY ONLY £46.99 by Annual Direct Debit v GREAT SAVINGS on cover price As ANOPLANA vy EXCLUSIVE SUBSCRIBER-ONLY usc DISCOUNTS on other great Key Publishing products Please quote: Pannen when ordering SCAN THE QR CODE TO ORDER DIRECT FROM OUR SHOP Aer shop.keypublishing.com/amsubs Ce Cee ey OL aeBf 409 SPECIAL Flying the ‘Emil’ Eberhard Thiesen's AEROPLANE APRIEZO24Warbird pilot Charlie Brown has immense ad Messerschmitt Bf 109 E, and his experiences test-flying the latest example to be restored, a German-owned E-4, have only Ben) A that ViewW WORDS: BEN DUNNELL PHOTOGRAPHY: PHILIPP PRINZING/MPSBf 109 SPECIAL Flying the ‘Emil’ ABove: ‘The end resultof a project that began more than 30 years ‘290, Red T2'is currently the only “Emil ying regularly in Europe, 28 won hare Brown has oplanes duringhis career, but none ‘quite lik this. "I's been elated and enjoyable he says. “I’sutterly slowing reflections? Nothing less wan @ Messerschmitt BI109 4, the return to airworthiness of which was completed by Dirk Bende and his team at Bonn-Hangelar durin 2023, The quality ofthe result has delighted even this highly seasoned \warbird exponent, And, above all it's testament to the immense dedication and commitmentof those behind it More than three decades after the airframe was recovered from Russia, Charlie was given the responsibility of taking ‘Red 12’ back nto the skies Indeed, he's the only person tohave piloted itsince, Weall know the BE109 has a certain reputation, ‘one that can be offputting to the ‘uninitiated, But get to know i, and the most produced fighter in history can prove highly rewarding. So it's bbeen with this one, Werknummer 1983, owned by historic car collector and dealer Eberhard Thiesen — and now up forsale, During the course ‘of 1 flights and some seven hours 0 far, his Emil has shown itself to be among the finest ofits breed. Tn finding that out, Charlie has ‘brought together the sum total of 30-plus years of Bf 109 aequaintan Teall dates back o 1993, when he ‘was invited to fly the famed ‘Black 6 the RAF-owned Bf 109 G-2/ ‘Trop operated by the Imperial War Museum. One ts other pilots, Dave Southwood, gave him some advice: "Ifyou survive the take-off, ‘youre likely to survive the landing While the ‘Gustav isa rather AEROPLANE APRIL 2024different beast when compared with the earlier models, those words have stood Charli in good stead. They did so when he lewhis next example the 'B{109 E-4 restored by Essex-based (Craig Charleston for Davi Price's Santa Monica Museum of Flying, and 0 on through a succession of Medlin powered Hispano HA-1112 Buchéns as wells the Hangar 10 collection’s various Bf109 Gs. There could have been another, but while Chae was inthe cockpit ‘of Paul Allen's BF 109 E-3 for engine [AEROPLANE APRIL 2024 Hees runs at RAE Wattisham, twas decided to conduct its Might-testing inthe USA. That project, too, had been entrusted 1 Craig Charleston, who acts as a common thread running through all the world’s airworthy Emils: Ona visitto his, facility, Charlle sat in Werknummer 1983 when the fuselage restoration had just begun. And, many years later, ie was Charleston who recommended to Dirk Bende that the moustachioed British warbird pilot — now retired as an RAF fying instructor — should be the first man tofly theend product. Builtasa Bf 109 E-4 by the Eela Maschinenwerk plant in Leipzig ‘during 1939, Werknummer 1983 ended up in Luftwaffe service ‘on the Eastern Front with thes Stafol of Jagdgeschwader 5. While there twas the subject of field ‘conversion to E-7 standard, allowing the carriage either of auxiliary fuel tanks, or bombs in order to conduct “Jabo' fighter-bomber missions. On 24 January 1942, while on asortie near Murmansk, the machine took ‘bullet in its engine while engaged in combat with Soviet Air Force HawkerHurricanesand force- © Tor. Walkround checks Prior tothe test fight {nd airtovir photo ABOVE: ofthis dog: a regu ‘anne presence at Dirk Bende's Bonn: Hangelar facility helps escort D-FEML ‘rom ts hanger wwnkeyAcro 29Bf 109 SPECIAL Flying the ‘Emil’ RIGHT: ‘The sole concession the cockpitis the vital addition of just above the left rudder pedal. Charlie Brown says f anyone Want to use moving "when fying the Seroplane, they ccando'so on their ‘kneepad BELOW LEFT To RIGHT: ‘Asa powerplant specialist no wonder Dirk Bende wonders on the DB EOIN engine in preparing the icra for fight. A unit installed Before Bonde was engaged Thad falled during testing. landed at Ttovka From there, the airframe was taken to Mosca, which is where — in the courtyard ofa technical college — Eberhard Thiesen saw itn a 1991 visit to seek out rare historic ears. Having secured a purchase, he set about organising the restoration, which hhas taken Werknummer 1983 back 10 E-4 configuration So itwas that Charleston Aviation Services was contracted to restore the fuselage, the undercarriage and the engine cowling. Hartmair Loiehtbau in Froising, Bavaria, ‘would tackle the wings, while the Daimler-Benz DB 601 engine went to the late ‘Sigg!’ Knoll, Everything ‘came together for final assembly in the Messerschmitt Stitung’s facilities at Manching, where engine runs started in 2017. However, issues were discovered which took several years toaddress. Thus 2019 savy the Bf 109 being transported to Dirk Bende, renowned restorerand powerplant specialist, where the final chapter began. Overthe course ofa month, beginning in early Ma newly estored DB 60IN engine —: higher-compression version of the DBG601A — was subjected to 12 days of intensive ground-testing, Bende and his colleagues followed Daimler-Benz procedures trom 1941, and the unit passed with Nying colours. Installation in the airera, successful ground runs and, of ‘course all the necessary regulatory ‘approvals presaged the next milestone on this long road. The outstanding thing about this whole experience’ says Charlie, “is it’s been hand-in-glove with the LBA [Luftfahrtbundesamt, che German CAA|, Sofly andl gently, the LBA. said, ‘We insist that Charlie comes ‘outand looks atthe aireraft she happy with the aircraft? Is he happy with the airfield?" They wanted a quantifiable report saying L was satisfied withthe setup. Lalso did some taxiing, and setup the brakes. That wasin February 2023, and the biggest snag I had coming away was the fact that the straps the aircraft vas fitted with wouldn't do uptight enough to hold me in the aeroplane, Dirk was very happy about tht, because he hated the modern strap arrangement, so he rustled ‘up one from stores and picked out ‘an original harness that was in the aeroplane, a grey German one. Everything else was working. The eloser you look, the detail’ still there, and it just keeps giving sawa wire coming out ofa terminal, and Hooked at itthought, that’s a clever way of finishing itand puting itinto the terminal, with a sort of top-hat section that you then plug In, Youeeffectively crimp the top-hat section as you put the pinch screw down. They had been made to order. The pipework has modern internals — modern hydraulic pipes and oil pipes — but the outsides are bull {othe original pattern, and they hhave an original-type plastic spiral covering, I's exquisite, and no-one sees it, but that’ the joy oft Because I was there fora couple ofdays, was able to go round and. ‘meet people. Lwent up into the tower and spoke to air traffic, and 30 wwnwkey.Aero AEROPLANE APRIL 2024Italked to Cologne radar and said 500K [of arspace| wasnt going to bbe great ifthe engine topped on the first ght. Could they give me, tactically 6-7/0 They sid yes, because was only going tobe inthe ‘overhead, and itwas easy for them to manage, especially ifthe runway directions marred up. Then they'd spoken to the person who was going tobein the aeroplane come the day, sowhen the day did come they were perfectiy relaxed. also id a fightin ‘Cessna 172 on the moming before Teame home, with ane ofthe local instructors, so Teould havea look at theapproaches o the airfield We ‘went onto the grass as wel, because Twas going to use the grass. “got answers to so many ‘queries in those few days of pure groundwork, without any pressure. “The way Dirk's team does itis hunch islunch’ — the hangarslaid out With benches, and the ladies come in with ll the cheeses and the meats. I’ very nce, and itgave me ‘chance to get to know everybody inslow ime. No ying involved: the biggesttckeritem we did was start he engine. Iwas an excellent ‘way to dot, because when I then went backto fly the aircraft allthe ‘questions had been dealt with. ‘went outwith my helmet and my fying sultand knew I asked all the seemingly unimportant questions, ‘which are distractions when you're actually going to fly” ‘The permitto test for the ‘BC 109 E-4, registered as D-FEML, came through on 28 April 2023, Charlie reurmed to Hangelar tomake the maiden Might on 19 June. “Everything was very straightforward, really. twas lovely day. The LBA had got thelr risk management heads together in ‘practical way, and they said they'd like me to only use runway 29 fr the fire flight. That gets you directly over ‘open countryside in the event ofan 66 The closer you look, the detail’s still there, and it just keeps giving 99 engine failure after take-off scenario. ‘The other end is not so great; i's rolling countryside and there are buildings right, let and centre. But the wind favoured 29, and itwas a nice, gentle breeze. So, offwe went, and it was just ike clockwork, “Every time I've lown the aeroplane, I've had an escort which ‘goes out tothe runway. Every ‘man and his dog gets into the fire engine. Dirkor Wemer Leitner, his right-hand man, cheeks around the aieraft before [take of. I've done the run-up checks, which isthe frst time is had alte bit of power, and they look round to see nothing’s leaking ornothing’s coming of. ‘Then {go onto the runway, with them all lined up at the departure point, Offyou go. “Clearly with the 109 1 keep the tail down until 've gota nice amount of powerin, The tickin any big piston isto open it up until you've got good acceleration, and then do nothing with the throttle while you raise the tal smoothly, slowly and with resolution. Is everything responding? Fine, Once you've gotitup on the step in seaplane terminology, you ean give itthe beans. Airborne, gear up, and isa realy good place tobe ifthe engine fil. climbed up ata nice, gentle cruise climb power setting. The Ts and Ps [temperatures and pressures) and everything else have settled down, ies manual pitch control on the propeller, so you've got to keep the rpm under contro, as you have on the take-offas well To increase pith its the top ofthe rocker switch, to decrease pitch it's the bottom of the rocker switch. What you actually dois judge itby ear You startwith atone from the engine at2,200¢pm And keep the beat the same. Then you can finely tune ton the gaugeif you want to. “Then [flew racetracks Bifectively, everythingwasfine, © Lert Cruising along the Rhine, A regular test fightin the BF 109 routinely proceeds south trom Hangeler tothe former German Army tlifeld at Mendig ‘near Mayen for some manoeuvring and alspace avaiable there AEROPLANE APRIL 2024 wwwekey.Aero 31Bf 109 SPECIAL Flying the ‘Emil’ BELOW: It takes roughly three hours to prepare the aleraffor each of ts ost fights. so Hooked at stalls ~ clean sal, approach stall, I's all holding together, nothing seems to be running away. 1d half the boostin atthis stage and the thing was still going like alittle angel... brought it back down after about 20 minutes, and they opened up the cowlings to see what was what, That's where you start, and you go from there. One step ata time, leaving the high-value items until later” An interesting et of notes on the ‘Emil from an ealier British perspective comes courtesy of RAE Farnborough, which in 1940 evaluated a captured BI109 E-3,, Werknummer 1304, under the serial AE479. “Ihad a copy’ says Charlie, “but Fd never really read them, because what you've got in front ofyou is what you get. make ‘my own mind up, and note my own. numbers. Only later on, when I'd done that, did I cross-check" This proved instructive when it came to the alr speed indicator. ‘We had a fying aeroplane, and there was nothing there that was untoward, But what was extraordinary was that the stalling speeds were incredibly low. They were something ike 100km/h clean and 7okm/h in the approach configuration. A speed’s a speed: it’s justan indicator. Towards the end ofthe testing, having done a few ‘aerobatics and things, I decided to do acalibrated air speed check. That keeps you aitborne fora significant amount of time, fiyinginto wind ‘and downwind. A GPS comesin hhandy.To cut along story short, the air speed indicator was miles out at the bottom end. Itwas 40km/h out ‘at 100kmn/h indicated, What was ‘going on? “The nest time flew, the air speed indicatorhad been changed for another one — a known good ‘one, but nota 109 one. Sure enough, all the speeds made sense. The ‘enemy aircraft evaluation notes ‘were spot-on. Itwas within 2-3km/h of the original, observed stalling speeds. The air speed indicator ‘which went away, and is now back in the aircraft having been fixed, had a very small leakin the capsule hich manifested itself a ow speed. ‘Once you got to about 300km/h, It 32 wwwkey.Aero AEROPLANE APRIL 2024was spot-on, and as you went higher and higher itjust varied alte bit” ‘The DB OLN has lived up tothe faultless performance it showed before Bende fited itto the aeroplane. "Iesall about the engine, as Dirk says. His philosophy is ‘nothing re-engineered, nothing, remanufactured! And the engine is the jewel in the crown, No concerns, no vibrations, no nothing. Oil pressure right where it should be, emperatures where they should be, tsstress-free motoring, and I've flown the aeroplane in temperatures of 37°C, “Dirk gave me a carbon monoxide detector to putin my pocket, and Thad no interest init whatsoever. already flown one trip that day, and it went absolutely mad — ‘beep [AEROPLANE APRIL 2024 beep beep beep beep! — like @ Geiger counter on heat. gave it back to Dit, saying I couldn't live ‘with itin the cockpit, He wafted it about a bit, gave t back to meand it 66 rdhalfthe boost in and it was still going like alittle angel 99 had all quietened down. Ithink the reason it went bonkers is because Fd had the hood down, with the side panels open, and ll the fumes and. things had settled in the bottom of the cockpit. flew with itagain [.] >but there was no carbon monoxide at all during the light, and it was +48.5°C In the cockpit. To be honest, Tdida't notice i but it washot. ‘Outside it looked like the Australian, outback” Expanding the fight envelope of ‘anew restoration i, says Charlie, something you "gently ereep up on. you don't and there's something in there, you'll find itand iewill, bbe most unpleasant. You've got to have a back-up" Documenting that process in depth, he keeps a copy of ‘what he calls the ‘rushes, to borrow a filming term: his inital thoughts, ‘almost minute-by-minut, as jotted ‘down contemporaneously during and after each test light. e Ler: From the outset, ‘Red 25 tying characteristics have been superb, and its reliability exemplary. wowekey Acro 33SPECIAL Flying the ‘Emil’ ABOVE: couple of test points to complete before the Emil whichis up for sale, is cleared to receive its full permit tty. 34 wwwkey Aero So, on the second flight, twas time to look at elevator trim. “At low speed, the tiny im tabs do nothing, Athigh speed, they do everything, learned from my first 109 Experience more than 20 years before that they just need a slight adjustment’ Itwas only 3mm, bu itmeant Charlie still had nose: down tim authority at 500km/h, He wasn’t reaching those speeds yet — the third trip saw an increase to 400km/h, where longitudinal trim was assessed as good — but sradually geting there, "You discover things; he adds. The coolant flaps are ‘man-draulic and have lite indicators which pop up through the wings. Ina Spite, you've ail position on the lever and one more behindit, which isa gun heating position to warm the guns through at altitude. | though fon the 109 that when you fully closed them, they were inthe trail position, but they're not. When you fully close them and the indicator goes lush, they are properly closed. So, when Iclosed up the flaps, the coolant temperature went right up, The It is incredibly docile. I could not make it depart into aspin indicator is about the length of my middle finger and the trail position js abouthalf-way up The sorties take a regular pattern. “My usual run is out of Hangelar, down the Rhine, past the Petersberg — where the great and the good pay £1,000 night, and give them a litle extra frisson from a Messerschmitt fying past with ion crosses on — and Schloss Drachenburg, down towards Koblenz. there's an airfield near there at Mendig, and that’s where [choose to do all my eavorting around and high-ticket value tems. There's unrestricted airspace, and if have an engine problem or anything else lean lob it into Mendig, putting ion the grass there I's where I did my first 500km/h dive on the fourth flight, and it sounds like a jet. Itisincredibly docile. Going up todo the spinning trials on it, during that fourth fight, | could not make itdepart. really couldn't. The only way to make it depart is full post spin control, and then it recovers pretty conventionally. t's largely Tthink due tothe auto-slots. As [AEROPLANE APRIoften say, just imagine slots being like cat's claws. They grab onto the ax Ithangs there, the auto-slots ‘come out, and it buffets about abit and stops turning but the attitude doesn't changeand it doesn't depart. Incipient spin recovery is immediately effective: nose down, increasing speed, increasing attitude. No problem at al “Its notas light and lovely in pitch as a Spitfire; nothing beats a small Spitfire. But in many other respects, isso clever-The reason itlands so slowly isbecause as you put the first 20° of lap down, the ailerons droop ‘as well, so you've got 11° of aileron droop. So, the whole trailing edge goes, and then, past 20 you've just jot the flaps continuing to drop. down” ‘The only snags discovered were orindeed. Aer fight four, Charlie noted a tendency o be “very slightly left wing-heavy; which was ‘corrected on the next sortie using adjustment to the aileron trim. A burning smell on the fith flight was traced toa left bank spark plug ‘coming apart, and the resulting hot ‘gases starting to bum the paint on ‘ separate spark plug access panel. Various small wweaks were made between then, in une, and the next flight during August. The new, temporary airspeed indicator was fitted for October light seven, and Jn excess ofan hour spent airborne ‘on the calibrated air speed checks, While the 1940 RAE notes verified those findings, they do have some idiosynerasies, such as the suggested method for geting the “Emil backon the ground. “Throtle closed, start the round-out higher, ‘and round out and round out and round out until you think, ‘What on ‘earth am I doing?’ Then it comes down like a duck landing on water, sa hell ofa waste of a runway, because you're 6in above the runway at an impossibly high angle, When ittouches down, it’s likea ‘Tiger Moth because i's gotso much drag. [used the same technique and found that itworked a treat.” Charlie's record ofthe firs ight in‘Red 12’ describes how. “Slightly Wheeled, aicraft still ying on the ¢ground. Note to sel: don't rush the ail down, Hold the attitude. Pretty poor lateral control. For the next landing, sithighe, aim for three-point. About 500m of runway used, 80 no need to rush, Brakes progressive and effective! Later he noted that it's best to use 40" of lap ‘unless operating ina crosswind of ‘more than 10K, and that roll-out is better withthe tailwheel locked. Aerobatics were on the agenda for fights eight and nine, with loopi ‘manoeuvres featuring for the frst, time during the latter, as well as timed turns, Now the stalling speeds were pretty much as expected: buffet a 100km/h in the take-off configuration, leting go with a nose drop and a cirea 20° port wing drop atabout 98km/b. In the approach configuration, the corresponding figures are 90km/h and 8aksn/h respectively, with a similar response. Some ignition static breakthrough has been experienced on the aireraf’s radio, and prior to the 10th Aight the front left-hand plug lead contact broke on start leading to ‘a shut-down and some immediate faul-finding, When fixed, the radio reception was much better leading tothe thought that the contacts ‘were the cause. Following that sortie, on which he executed a roll ‘off the top, Charlie wrote, “Very nicely rimmed, directionally and laterally, throughout a broad range ‘of speeds! And completing the test programme with fight 11, the aireraft “performed without faul (On returning soon to Hangelar, ‘weather and all the other usuals permitting Charlie knows exactly ‘what he'll ind. ‘When ITeave the ‘cockpit, nothing's ever changed. I go ack and the chartisin the same place, inthe map stowage on the righthand side; the straps are stil as eft them. I's asifit’s a room that's been left aiter someone's departed.” Two items remain on the schedule. “One of the checks I'm ‘going to donext time I goto fy itis ‘another calibrated airspeed check ‘withthe airspeed indicator it had, and then I'm going toextend the dive speed as well Atthe moment ‘ve gone up to 500km/h indicated at 5,000ft, which is about 550km,/h, T'm planning to get that out to about (670km/h, The LBA has said i award a full permit the moment ‘say, $o when I tell them we're done, done” ‘Smooth, unflustered and enjoyable, with first-class technical back-up and an owner who understands how everything should bedone right this has been a process o enjoy from the word go. Such isthe upshot ofan outstanding restoration involving a remarkable machine. “Iovea 109 says Charlie. “Everybody should love a 109E. 1's the most amazing aeroplane! With thanks to Philipp Prinzing BELOW: Charl Brown in ‘conversation with Werner Leitner betore taking the F109 £4 fora test sorte. [AEROPLANE APRIL 2024 wwwkeyAero 35Cee Retr Caine rig Caen eae Concrete ry MERCY On 17 December 1944, Luftwaffe Messerschmitt Bf 109 G pilot Karl-Heinz Bosse and Ed Cottrell’s US Army Air Forces P-47 Thunderbolt were shot down in the same dogfight. Both survived only because of the mercy of their enemies. Seventy-nine years later, they met once more at the German pilot’s crash site, and parted as friends ANDREAS METZMACHER WITH NEIL MATHEWS ‘ABI 109 6-0 of JG 3"Uset'runs its engine Cea ae eee en eres pecs bn nea Seer ye Soe a oerer te peruremenh myst teers folie 36 wwkey.Aero AEROPLANE APRIL 2024{1s 13 December 2023, almost 79 years tothe day ater the aerial battle in which the Messerschmitt Bf 109 of the now 98-year-old Kar-Heinz Bosse had crashed into afield close tothe German village ‘of Balingen, approximately 20km south of Bonn, There he is reunited ‘with his former opponent, the 101-year-old Ed Cottrell. “'m glad ta see you! says Bosse to Cotte, ‘The American leans down to Bosse, sitting ina wheelchair, and shakes his hand: “I'm glad to See you too “itwas here that | came down’, adds Bosse, his hand stil in Cottell’ grip. "I's nice that we'll ‘get to know each other here" "We are really good friends now’ says CCottell. This one-off meeting ‘was organised by Paul Oechsner, German chaperone for the ‘American veterans’ organisation “The Rlle, which wavels with US ‘ex-servicemen totheir former battlegrounds in Europe, Itwas to prove an emotional encounter. The combat took place on 17 December 1944, one day after the start ofthe German ground offensive in the Ardennes, better known on the Allied side asthe Batile ofthe Bulge. The Ill Gruppe of Jagdgeschwader 3 (IL/JG3) was among the Luftwaffe fighter wings tasked with covering the advancing Wehrmacht from the ais With is four squadrons, IIL/JG3had been transferred to Bad Lippspringe near Paderborn the day before, ‘lier sustaining heavy losses over the invasion ateas in France, IIL/ JG3had been replenished at the beginning of October 1944 with new personnel and aircraft. One ofthese fresh pilots was the then 19-year- ‘old Gefreite (Private) Kar-Heinz Bosse. Within the Ill Gruppe, Bosse ‘was assigned tothe 12. Staffel and flew as wingman to his squadron ‘commander Oberleutnant Eberhard Graf von Treuberg, an experienced x and veteran ofthe Eastern Front, On 17 December 1944 at 10.40hrs, 20-24 BE 109 G-14s and K-ls ofthe 11. and 12. Staffeln were deployed on their first mission over the Ardennes. They were tasked with targeting enemy arillery aircraft in the Eupen-Malmedy area, Karl- Heinz. Bosse remembers, “We flew in squadrons, in formation, always one behind the other, at an altitude of around 4,500m. About ‘30km south-west of Bonn and at an altitude of around 3,500m, we pushed through the cloud co and were unlucky enough to find ourselves among swarm of approximately 20 Thunderbolts, from which we immediately came ‘under fire. [hadn't seen the P-47s because they were behind me once | had regained visibility. But Lsaw the tracer, and noticed the first hit on my leftflankand then on my engine, “Lwanted to get back into the clouds to shake off my pursuer and analyse the situation, but ie wasn’t possible. The engine had been hit, the cabin was full of smoke and the aileron controls no longer worked ‘My BE 109 spiraled downwards without controls oF power. Time to 66 The engine had been hit and the cabin was full of smoke 99 {getout— the emergency handle ‘worked and the canopy flew off Alter turning i, one hit wo the central ‘seatbelt buckle also worked. But | ‘couldn't escape. The airflow pushed me against the back of my seat so hhard I couldn't get out... But in such situations, one can muster superhuman strength. [rolled and forced myself out tothe right ‘and whacked my knee against the tailplane of my Bf109. That was my 10915 farewell kiss “During my now indeterminable ‘movements in frefal, I searched forand found the handle forthe parachute ripcord tothe left of my chest. pulled itand itcame off in my hand with apiece of cord. thought 'd broken it of, bt at that ‘moment there was bang and, ‘with a sharp jerk, my parachute deployed... Fhad secured my cabin clock together with my clipboard ro ‘my leg ust above my left knee — it ‘was showing 11.20hrs, seen @ flash on the ground, probably the [Impact of my BI 108, but without me init? From above a Thunderbolt drew closer to Bosse, hanging defencelessly from his parachute, “that’s when first saw who had shot me down, Now he's going to shoot as I'm parachuting; that ‘was my thought at that moment. 1 ‘wanted to grab my pistol, so T could defend myself bit. Thank God Te lostit— it fll out of my pocket ‘when I bailed out, so Leouldn’t shoot. IT opened fre, Lwouldn’t hhave been able to do anything anyway, and he would have said to |lmself he was going to shoot dawn that parachutist” Luckily the Thunderbolt pilot ‘had no intention of doing so. He cieled Bosse, rocked his wings and flew off. Bosse slowly floated down and, as he recalls it landed {na relatively lat cloverfield. Once hhe had rolled up his parachute, several people approached. Among them Bosse recognised a number ‘of Nazi party members from their thats. They initially stood with rifles atthe ready. “Are you a German?” they shouted over to him, Bosse confirmed he was, and shouted backthat he needed help with his © ABOVE LEFT: Gofreter Karl-Heinz Bosse in December 1944, atthe age of 8, varannennnosse, ABove: 2nd Ut Edwin Cotte, aged 22 AEROPLANE APRIL 2024 woruckey Acro 37Bf 109 SPECIAL ‘Gustav’ versus P-47 oR: ‘An October 1944 ‘group photo of L136 3, taken at Esperstedt during a pause from combat ‘operations. Kar- Hoine Bosse isin the ‘second row, second ‘om right Inthe centre, wearing the white ying jacket with the dark cola, is Oberleutnant ‘Eberhard Graf von Truberg, Statfekapitin of the "2. State agove: Bosse stands alongside his F109 6-14, with is lead technician astide the cowling. ABOVE RIGHT: very few images exist showing late: wor BI 109s of JG 3, ana those that do are ‘of poor quality. Tis fee B1109G44 of 363, 38 wwwkey Aero {injured leg. The locals carted him to the village, from where he was taken to the military hospital in Bad. Neuenab The news that he had been able tobiil out injured did not reach Bosse's comrades, resulting in him being considered lost inaction, This was hs sith and final mission. Due to his knee injury — “the ‘unforgettable farewell rom my 109; fas he dubbed it — he did not return tothe cockpit before the war's fend, Bosse outlived many of his comrades including his squadron ‘commander von Treuberg, who was shot down by flak during the Lutwaffe's ‘Bodenplatte’ atackon ‘New Year's Day He long suspected he was shot dovin by Thunderbolts from the 508th Fighter Squadron. Together with the other squadrons belonging tothe 404th Fighter Group, the 506th and 507th FS, it was detailed ‘on 17 December 1944 to attack Bonn-Hangelar airfield and combat German transport aireraft which had dropped paratroopers over the Ardennes the day before. Howev ‘on the approach to the target the P-47s were met by around 60 Bf 109s and Focke-Wulf Fw 190s of Jagdlgeschwader 27 and engaged in aflerce dogfight. In the unit's batle report, Lt Elton B. Long, who died in 2008, reported damage toa single BT 109 flying south of Bonn. Since Bosse hhad lost contact with his squadron The 109s escorted me back to what I thought was the front line ‘commander and comrades while flying through cloud cover, Long assumed it was he who was flying the single Bf108. Irwas, however, also possible that itwas P-47s from the 493rd FS that shot Bosse down. The 493d belonged to the 48th Fighter Group and was a that time stationed at St Trond airfield in Belgium, together with the 404th FG. Twelve P-47s were sent from there ataround 11.00h#8 on 17 December 1944 to bomb the railway bridges at Honningen and Ahrbrickand attack German supply convoys, One ‘oftheir plots was the then 22-year: old 2nd Lt Ed Cottrell, Within this formation, Cottell flew as part of Red Flight — consisting of four 475 — as wingman to Lt Watson, alongside the commander ofthe 493rd FS, Maj Stanley Latiolais, and his wingman, Lt White. Justafter they had dropped thetr bombs on the bridges, they were surprised by around 20 Bf 109s Which came straight out of the cloud, One flew right at Cotrell from his one or two a'clock and Immediately began to fire at him, “Isaw the cannon flashing’ remembers Cottrell “Suddenly heard abig bang and black oil spread over my windscreen’ The engine cut out and Cottrell’ Thunderbolt started to descend. In nosedive, the engine started again. Apparently, Cottel’s wingman Watson was hit by a Bf 108 as well "I saw he was stil fying and how he tried to rejoin our commander, Maj Latiolais. But he never returned to ourbase..” AEROPLANE APRIL 2024Wi oon he windscreen and no forward visibility, the motor We erentoend| me solucered- Covel tatered PT pl7D es beonging tothe 492nd FS. ‘however, turned out better than _— F expected "Host alte, but, with tinal speed, my engine kept me Inthe le Fchugged alongand suddenly saw somethingeppest tothe ight ofme looked and there was a 108, Hooked lftand there war another 19, They began tecruse behind me and thought they shoot me down, “The nox thin that he 109 tothe sight of mele inclose, sd the one on tele escorted me backto what tought twas the ont ne. Then one ofthe pilots drew cc wid hsm Hata aerate i (OK: Bosh wthdrewand feof” Contel becomes er emotonal as he recalls thee event, Once more, herealiseshow the avo German pilots had spared him and that he scoped with his ite pene SS “Thept chugging along and goton myradio and sted whether anyone was receiving my signal. voice responded and wanted to know ee les wheter! oul sil iy Tsai Teould still move alitde. gave him thenumberof —_thanon that ight. jumped out of opening at around L1.15hrs rightin | BELOW: myairfield, 92, andhesaid,'Now, the aireraf, kissed the ground and his ight path. White made a pass ‘A wintry morning at you're not far away. Turn 90° north —_thanked God that Iwas still alive. close to it, establishing that the man Rice ae Indyoulibehingeowards So, Mytwom-nte ArSommer fewia wasstlaiveand warwestnga | Suita aera ie Ttumedandcontnustchigging afommatonbenindme heatdon, geen Minget Hahaaeaover | an aaa Alongandsoonsawtheendottie theradlotithewasshotdown. A hisradoaboutSommerbelngsbot |. sagy eta runway. Iwasuclytogetbackfelowplltsawhisparachiteanda down andooncdedhekadseen | Innes (base Ihankibecwo Geman plorita gen unio? Nmunderhipeachutebuthad | “UST Pl forescoring mend sing "That tlowplotwar iD note a mylifelI was never closer odeath White, who observed a parachute him clearly. The dogfight had also >Bf 109 SPECIAL ‘Gustav’ versus P-47 asove: A special moment for Ed Cottrell: the visit tothe site near Remagen where his wingman, 2nd Lr'James Watson, crashed fatally RIGHT: Bosse and Cottrell with models oftheir 40 vrvikey Aero been observed from the ground. An American pilot bailing out was noted in German documents, but not immediately located. Another document states Sommer was allegedly arrested by an unknown SS group and later found dead. Sommer’s body was buried ‘on 19 December 1948 atthe cemetery in Adendorf, near Meckenheim. Having subsequently been transferred to an American ‘cemetery in the Netherlands, his father finally took him back home to California in 1949, Itis possible White had not seen Sommer hhanging from his parachute, but rather Bosse, who had indeed been circled by ‘Thunderbolt which had rocked its wings ingreeting him, However instead ofa green ying jacket, Bosse wore the then ‘ypical blue of the Luftwaffe, Sommer's Thunderbolt crashed only around G5km as the crow flies from Bosse, ‘at Meckenheim-Merl, Cotrell’s wingman, 2nd Lt James M, Watson, never returned from this mission either His P-47 collided with the ground just 300m west ofthe famous bridge over the Rhine at Remagen, 1G3' two squadrons suffered their own losses, Apart from Bosse, parachute It is possible f White saw Bosse hanging from his \who was considered missing in action, Unterofizier (Corporal) Karl-Hieinz Bayer! of the 11 Staffel was fatally shot down near Bad Newent Three further BF 109s were damaged but were able to return to base, Two ofthe 11 Stale’ pilots, Uflz Hans Hermann and Gustav Aigner, each reported a victory over a P-47. Local wreck researchers from the IG Luftkriegshistoriker Ahr — a group of aerial warfare historians inthe Ahr region — were able to locate rash site of Watson's P-«7 and took Bosse and Cottrell there. the hhanding-over of several pieces of wreckat from Watson's Thunderbolt and a minute's silence witha farewell salute for his fallen comrades were another Incredibly moving moment for the 101-year-old Cottrell His lunch and subsequent chat with Bosse in a Meckenheim restaurant were all the more relaxed fort. This had been an historic meeting, as well as one that is unlikely to happen again. AEROPLANE APRIL 2024THE DESTINATION FOR Visit us today and discover all our latest releases Atthe end of WW2, aircraft carrier aviation - the art of flying combat aircraft off the deck ofa ship for operations and landing back aboard ~ was a sophisticated business. The arrival of jet aircraft threw it back to square one. Jets brought with them a whole new set of problems, and it took new technologies, techniques, and courage for the pioneers of the jet age to solve them. But once jets found their place aboard the aircraft carrer, it transformed carrier aviation. From the first beginnings through the vast and complex strike carriers of the’60s and’70s, to new frontiers with vertical take-off and landing, carrier aviation came of age. Carrier Aircraft: The Classic Jet Era looks at the machines, people and operations from the brave experimenters in the aftermath of World the pivotal actions in Korea, Suez and Vietnam, to the Falklands and towards the modem era. Pear Cant pot) FREE P&P’ when you order from our online shop... shop.keypublishing.com/thejetera Call +44 (0)1780 480404 (onday to Friday 9am - 5.30pm GMT) *Free 2nd class P&P on all UK& BFPO orders. Overseas charges apply.Bf 109 SPECIAL Yugoslav ‘Gustavs’ aia The Yugoslav battlefield in the Second World War was unique in many ways, one of them being the use of combat aircraft by Partisan guerrillas. Among the Axis aeroplanes flown by insurgent pilots was the Messerschmitt Bf 109, the great fighter also seeing long service in post-war Yugoslavia — albeit marred by a constant stream of accidents worbs: BORIS CIGLIC Setar aat pra frame teenie Hn eee ae Peet aaa wenn ma tare Sierra aman caeecet ert ry ACRE OR terra attestrman forces and thele allies in Yugoslavia were Lnderimmense pressure bythe autumn of 1944, Easter pars ofthe county had been liberated by the Soviet Red ‘Army and the Partisans ed by Tosip Broz Tito the later also holding, large swaths of land behind the Au lines.On 4 October advancing Partisans found seven Bf 109 G-6s ‘and a BF109 6-8 abandoned by 13,/SG 151 atKovin aerodrome in Serbia, Several were made airworthy and in January 1945 sent to Zemun, where they were assigned tothe Eskadrila za veru (Liaison Squadron), Two were soon lost inaceidents, one in the hands of kapetan (hap, o fight lieutenant) Mato Dukovac, former 15(krot.)/ JG52commander and a44-kil ace ‘on the Eastern Front. With plenty ‘of Soviet airraft to hand, there was lite interest in the BF 109 Gs, Their engines were started fom time to time, hydraulies and equipment checked and a est Might or wo made. “Te fist‘Gustavs' to see combat with the Partisans were Bf 109 G-10, “black and G-14"Black5; flown to Jasenica near Mostar by Croat AirForce defectors major (mj, oF squadron leader) Josip Helebrant and vodnik (sergeant) Vinko ‘Tatarevic on 20 April 1945. Both men and their airraft were incorporated into the Mastarskaeskadrila (ME, Mostar Squadron), which operated ‘colourful flock of booty aircraft. ‘Their earliest known sorties took place on 7 May against rereating CChetnik forces in Bosnia. While the rest of Burope celebrated VE-Day ‘on May, Helebrant and Tatarevic few to Rajlovac near Sarajevo. ‘The following day they went on ‘amission over the Zelengora ‘mountains, They got lost in heavy overcast, Helebrant belly-landing in the vicinity of Vinkovci and Tatarevic crash-landing near SlavonsKi Brod. 66 Ithoughthow potent this machine was compared with my old Emil’ 99 “The ME was still engaged in fighting as of late May, now against Croat forces entrenched inthe Posavina region, when potporuenik (ppor, or pilot officer) Zvonimir Spolar and staijvodnik (fight sergeant) Dragutin Zauhar went to “Zagreb to pickup further BI 109s. ‘The later crash-landed a BI 109 K-4 near Semizovac during its erry light due toa lack of fuel Spojar reached Rajlovac and isthought to have flown atleast one combat mission. Shortly thereafter, Helebrant collected another Bf 109 at Borongaj near Zagreb and completed asmall ‘number of operational sorties with ‘tas part ofthe final batles around ‘Modrica, before the ME ceased ‘combat activities on 31 May. ‘More tan 20 BE109s were seized atliberated Yugoslav airfields in May 1945, Atleast nine were brought back co flying status, includinga [BF 109 K-4 found at Boronga It was al-tested bya seasoned ex- Royal Yugoslav Air Force Bf 103E pilot, namely poruenik (por. or flying oficer) Boris Cijan: “While being introduced to the machi realised how much engineering had advanced during the war, and this, forced me to study it thoroughly, he recalled, “During start-up and taxiing I thought how much more potent this machine was compared {othe old ‘Emil; but also many other fighters from the period. “Took off without any difficulties, cevenif the runway at Borongaj \was pretty demanding, and to ‘my suprise I quickly reached an altitude of 2,000m, which I then ‘maintained throughout the fight. quickly set course towards the ‘Karavankas mountain range and ‘my home town of Maribor, which I circled several times before taking the same route back to Zagreb. performed some aerobatics on ‘the way, and the highest speed I reached was 650km/h, although © BELOW: Partisans infront ‘of one of the to [Bt 109Gs which were flown by. ‘detectors to Jasenica (0n 20 April 1945 and Incorporated int the Carrer Group. [AEROPLANE APRIL 2024 wwwKey Aero 43