Warbird Information Exchange

A few updates and other recent warbird news:

The Hawker Sea Fury which had been owned by Robin Crandall and based in Blaine, Minnesota, registered as N71GB and known as 'Sawbones' since 2008, was sold back in December to Paul Bennet in Australia. Following its long shipping journey, the aircraft has been undergoing reassembly in New South Wales this past week. The Sea Fury, now stripped of its 'Sawbones' name and racing number, is now registered as VH-HPB. The maple leafs of the Canadian roundels have also given way to kangaroos.

The Rod Lewis & Charles Somers-owned de Havilland Mosquito T Mk.43 NZ2308 is now registered in New Zealand as ZK-PWL (a nod to the late Glyn Powell, who had devoted a great deal of his life to the restoration of this aircraft, and who was integral to the rebirth of the three other Mosquitos completed by Avspecs to-date). The Mosquito is expected to be flying in a matter of weeks and is already booked for the Warbirds Over Wanaka Intl. Airshow, taking place on Easter weekend at the end of March, where it will be flown by Steve Hinton.

The Air Leasing P-51D/CAC Mustang 'Jersey Jerk' is now registered in the UK as G-JERK. This Mustang had previously operated in Australia as 'Snifter', then registered as VH-MFT.

The TF-51D Mustang 44-84847 'Contrary Mary', previously owned by Graham Peacock and operated in the UK as G-TFSI, is now registered with its new owner in Alabama as N151CB. The aircraft has been in the process of reassembly at California Aerofab in Chino, California.

The registration for P-51D Mustang 44-74474 'Old Crow', N451MG, has been transferred from Jim Hagedorn to the Liberty Foundation. Hagedorn had owned the Mustang since 2006.

A couple of updates:

P-40E Warhawk 41-25158 (ZK-RMH) has been sold to an Australian owner (Kennedy Aviation in Gunnedah, New South Wales). Its new registration is VH-AK4.

Hawker Demon K8203 (G-BTVE) has been sold to Kermit Weeks. Its new registration is N1HD.

_________________
Tom

Mosquito T.43 NZ3208/ZK-PWL flew Monday 18th March at Ardmore

And to complete the NZ updates, Curtiss P-40N-1 ZK-CAG "Currawong" (ex-RAAF A29-448) has been sold to the USA. I don't think to who is public.
Leaving NZ without an airworthy P-40, but there are projects underway (plus ones for export).

Spitfire T9 EN570/LN-AOA made its first flight from Biggin Hill yesterday on 22nd April.

Some updates and other recent warbird news:

P-40E Warhawk 41-13570, now owned by Kris Van Den Bergh, flew today with its new Belgian registration, OO-WHK, from Brasschaat, Belgium (home of FAST Aero). It is slated to make its first public appearance this coming weekend at the Stampe Fly-in in Antwerp. This is the same aircraft that was restored by Pioneer Aero in New Zealand for previous owner, Claudio Coltri - the P-40 having made its first post-restoration flight in New Zealand back in November 2021.

Spitfire Mk.IX/T.9 EN570, owned by Norwegian Flying Aces and registered as LN-AOA, will be departing Biggin Hill in the UK (where it was restored and flight tested) tomorrow, May 9th, and will be heading to its new home at Notodden, Norway.

Spitfire Mk.IX/T.9 ML407, owned by Ultimate Warbird Flights, was involved in an engine failure-induced forced landing on Monday, May 6th, resulting in what appears to be minimal external damage (namely prop/spinner).

Spitfire Mk.XVIII TP280, recently acquired the Timmermans' Collection, has now flown in Canada.

Spitfire Mk.VIII MV154, which had been operating on the UK register as G-BKMI, though owned by Max-Alpha Aviation in Germany, has recently been sold to a new owner in Australia and will soon be in a shipping crate heading to that country.

A-26B Invader 44-34769 'Rum and Coke', recently acquired by Dan Friedkin from its previous owner, Tina Fly, was flown from Germany to Bern, Switzerland in late April, where Friedkin has kept two of his Mustangs ('Berlin Express' and 'Hun Hunter ~ Texas') when they haven't been displayed around Europe.

CAC Mustang A68-110, owned by Fighter Engineering and registered in the UK as G-JERK, now painted in the markings of 'Jersey Jerk' of the 356th FG, made its first flight in the UK this past Sunday, May 5th, and made a surprise visit to the IWM Duxford VE-Day airshow the same day.

B-17G Flying Fortress 44-85829, known for many years as 'Yankee Lady', is rumored to be in the process of being sold by the former Yankee Air Museum, now renamed as the Michigan Flight Museum. Nothing yet officially reported.

Cavalier TF-51D Mustang 67-14866, owned by Dan Friedkin, is currently undergoing extensive overhaul at Ezell Aviation. Previously known as 'Bum Steer', the aircraft's twenty-year old paint has been completely stripped leaving the aircraft currently in bare metal.

P-51D Mustang 44-63675 'Sierra Sue II' was sold this past December to Craig Potts (Potts Racing) and is now based in Scottsdale Arizona.

I was wondering if the vague comments I'd been seeing were referring to a potential sale or repaint. Woof. Interested to see how this evolves.

_________________
Matt

Always enjoy reading your posts in general and updates to this thread John, your efforts are appreciated!

Did Sierra Sue II get sold because of the fact that Paul Ehlen was killed in a P-40 crash last year? If so, that means my thoughts about his collection getting sold last year have turned out to be true.

As Kalamzookid said, the situation with B-17 Yankee Lady sounds rather intriguing and I wonder where she might end up if the rumours turn out to be true, and if any other Yankee Air Museum aircraft get sold.

_________________
Tom

A Polikarpov I16 recently flew in Novosibirsk, Russia after restoration with Aviarestoration. Its painted as White 7. Serial number and civil registration unknown at this time.

Edit: The registration is RA-1561G so it's one of the 6 Wanaka I-16's. This used to be ZK-JIO coded Red 34 which was later sold to the Vadim Zadorozhny collection.

Thanks for the update John.

Regarding ML407, I haven't seen or been able to find any info on the forced landing last Sunday.

Did it happen at Sywell, or off the airfield?

Either way, glad to hear damage is minimal and hopefully she'll be back in the air soon!

Cheers

Paul

Sorry, Paul, it actually happened this past Monday, May 6th (I got the wrong day). The forced landing occurred in a field near Sywell. Based on the single photo I've seen, it appears they were able to land ML407 with the gear down (no damage or dirt on the bottom of the aircraft), but it nosed over with the prop/spinner hitting the ground. Only a couple of the prop blades appeared damaged, so there must not have been any power from the engine at that point. I would expect it won't be long before it returns to the air again.

I have updated the Polikarpov list to reflect the I-16 'RA-1561G' now flying again in Russia, following its major overhaul/re-restoration.

Thanks John!

Cheers

Paul

Just an additional note... Although I already had added it to the list of flyers in Australia, the P-40E USAAC Serial No. 41-25158/RNZAF Serial No. NZ3009, which was previously based in New Zealand and registered as ZK-RMH, has now been officially airworthy again in Australia, having flown for the first time in many years back on April 24th, in Brisbane. Now registered as VH-AK4, the aircraft was put back to airworthy status again by the Brisbane-based company Performance Aero.