Australian Beaufort nose reconstruction project
Thu Jan 26, 2017 5:56 am
G'day folks,
I've been slowly working on the rebuild of an Australian DAP Beaufort nose rebuild for eventual inclusion in a local history museum in southern New South Wales, Australia.
Starting with a nose glazing section recovered locally, from one of the many aircraft scrapped nearby after WW2, I've traced the history of the section involved, being a 7 Squadron combat veteran. Other components have been located throughout NSW and Victoria. I have access to the restored and unrestored nose sections held by the Australian National Aviation Museum at Moorabbin, which have been very handy in establishing fine detail placement and measurements. A jig is being fabricated to aid the reconstruction. I'm fortunate in having access to facilities where I can have replacement perspex blown.
There's not much to see at the moment, but I'll post pics as the project moves forward. Boxes of parts don't make for exciting photos. Attached is a pic of the aircraft from which this section came, A9-131, Saucy Sue.
I'm on the lookout to acquire or purchase any suitable nose section components that may help bring this project to completion, for display as part of the story commemorating the role of people from the Riverina district of NSW in the Second World War and beyond. I can be contacted here or by private message. Thank you.
Following a suggestion, does anyone have contact details for whomever is administering the collection of the late Mr Tallichet?
Cheers,
Matt
I've been slowly working on the rebuild of an Australian DAP Beaufort nose rebuild for eventual inclusion in a local history museum in southern New South Wales, Australia.
Starting with a nose glazing section recovered locally, from one of the many aircraft scrapped nearby after WW2, I've traced the history of the section involved, being a 7 Squadron combat veteran. Other components have been located throughout NSW and Victoria. I have access to the restored and unrestored nose sections held by the Australian National Aviation Museum at Moorabbin, which have been very handy in establishing fine detail placement and measurements. A jig is being fabricated to aid the reconstruction. I'm fortunate in having access to facilities where I can have replacement perspex blown.
There's not much to see at the moment, but I'll post pics as the project moves forward. Boxes of parts don't make for exciting photos. Attached is a pic of the aircraft from which this section came, A9-131, Saucy Sue.
I'm on the lookout to acquire or purchase any suitable nose section components that may help bring this project to completion, for display as part of the story commemorating the role of people from the Riverina district of NSW in the Second World War and beyond. I can be contacted here or by private message. Thank you.
Following a suggestion, does anyone have contact details for whomever is administering the collection of the late Mr Tallichet?
Cheers,
Matt
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Re: Australian Beaufort nose reconstruction project
Sun Jan 29, 2017 6:56 am
My understanding was that Saucy Sue was one of the ID's recovered but happy to be proven wrong via the identifying features from the glass section of the upper nose piece you have.
Re: Australian Beaufort nose reconstruction project
Sun Jan 29, 2017 6:00 pm
You raise a valid point, Peter. An extension of that it can be difficult to base an identity on a noseart name, particularly when it's a common name, like Shoo Shoo Shoo Baby. Saucy Sue was a prominent English racehorse of the interwar period, so it's entirely possible that it was used a number of times. I have no information about names linked to the Tallichet airframes, which were high-numbered. There may be a Saucy Sue among them.
My three-year process of determining whether the identity of my glasshouse was putative or reasonable was as follows; Corresponding with a Beaufort production historian, and examining the two nose sections at Moorabbin, there are particular production numbers stamped on major sections, the nose glasshouse included. Early on, some of these corresponded with the aircraft serial number, but as issues in production saw various sections failed or removed from the line for rectification, these numbers started to skip one or two, as later sections were fitted to earlier airframes. Among other stamped inspection numbers, the production number is found on this glasshouse, which suggests that it's either from A9-131 or A9-129, depending on whether the number skip had started by this point. I have status cards from both aircraft, showing an identical fate; disposal for scrap from Wagga.
As to the A9-131 - Saucy Sue connection, a 7 Squadron historian pointed me to Kevin Gogler's excellent 7 Squadron history, 'We Never Disappoint'. This book records that 131 carried this name and the code KT-F, and there are references to it in the text, along with a good quarter-angled photo of the aircraft. There are also photos of an aircraft with the same noseart at the Ozatwar website; http://www.ozatwar.com/7sqn.htm . So, there are squadron records linking A9-131 with the name Saucy Sue.
This glasshouse was purchased with two others from Wagga by an ex-77 Squadron pilot (a fascinating man with a very interesting service history, but that's another story), to use as garden hothouses. He used them for many years, and after his death, two were donated to the Australian War Memorial for their Beaufort restoration, and the third one ended up at the tip. This one was recovered from the tip by a gentleman who passed it on to me. That's a reasonable line of continuity, which passes a reasonable indentity ''sniff test'. By virtue of the fact that a nose section recostruction will contain material from any number of airframes, linking an identity to one component has an element of tenuosity to it. There were a number of Beaufort men living locally, and I intend this nose section reconstruction to honour them.
Cheers,
Matt
My three-year process of determining whether the identity of my glasshouse was putative or reasonable was as follows; Corresponding with a Beaufort production historian, and examining the two nose sections at Moorabbin, there are particular production numbers stamped on major sections, the nose glasshouse included. Early on, some of these corresponded with the aircraft serial number, but as issues in production saw various sections failed or removed from the line for rectification, these numbers started to skip one or two, as later sections were fitted to earlier airframes. Among other stamped inspection numbers, the production number is found on this glasshouse, which suggests that it's either from A9-131 or A9-129, depending on whether the number skip had started by this point. I have status cards from both aircraft, showing an identical fate; disposal for scrap from Wagga.
As to the A9-131 - Saucy Sue connection, a 7 Squadron historian pointed me to Kevin Gogler's excellent 7 Squadron history, 'We Never Disappoint'. This book records that 131 carried this name and the code KT-F, and there are references to it in the text, along with a good quarter-angled photo of the aircraft. There are also photos of an aircraft with the same noseart at the Ozatwar website; http://www.ozatwar.com/7sqn.htm . So, there are squadron records linking A9-131 with the name Saucy Sue.
This glasshouse was purchased with two others from Wagga by an ex-77 Squadron pilot (a fascinating man with a very interesting service history, but that's another story), to use as garden hothouses. He used them for many years, and after his death, two were donated to the Australian War Memorial for their Beaufort restoration, and the third one ended up at the tip. This one was recovered from the tip by a gentleman who passed it on to me. That's a reasonable line of continuity, which passes a reasonable indentity ''sniff test'. By virtue of the fact that a nose section recostruction will contain material from any number of airframes, linking an identity to one component has an element of tenuosity to it. There were a number of Beaufort men living locally, and I intend this nose section reconstruction to honour them.
Cheers,
Matt
Re: Australian Beaufort nose reconstruction project
Mon Jan 30, 2017 1:31 am
Many thanks Matt for the excellent explanation.
As you may or maynot know we have also recovered many parts from the Wagga area and have a number of ID and or Mod plates still attached to large sections of beaufort.
There is still plenty of parts around.
Good luck with the project
As you may or maynot know we have also recovered many parts from the Wagga area and have a number of ID and or Mod plates still attached to large sections of beaufort.
There is still plenty of parts around.
Good luck with the project
Re: Australian Beaufort nose reconstruction project
Mon Jan 30, 2017 4:10 am
Thank you very much, Peter.
You're right, there's plenty of material still out there, 70+ years on. The way the movement is going, it sometimes seems that there's more to be found than can be restored, but at least there are those, like yourself, out and about, saving things from scrap. I've kept my particular focus pretty narrow, as I find the Beaufort to be a fascinating part of Australian history. Particularly after I met an old bloke living in an abandoned farm house near Matong, who told me stories of his time as a fitter on 100 Squadron.
The research is another important area, and the mystery of what many of the numbers mean remains to be solved in many cases. Those who knew are leaving us, and many of the records are long-since lost.
It's fascinating to think that Harold Thomas (a man who showed me great kindness, as did Verna and Alan. May they rest in peace) was able to find a complete Beaufighter about an hour from Wagga all those years ago. That would've be something to see!
Cheers,
Matt
You're right, there's plenty of material still out there, 70+ years on. The way the movement is going, it sometimes seems that there's more to be found than can be restored, but at least there are those, like yourself, out and about, saving things from scrap. I've kept my particular focus pretty narrow, as I find the Beaufort to be a fascinating part of Australian history. Particularly after I met an old bloke living in an abandoned farm house near Matong, who told me stories of his time as a fitter on 100 Squadron.
The research is another important area, and the mystery of what many of the numbers mean remains to be solved in many cases. Those who knew are leaving us, and many of the records are long-since lost.
It's fascinating to think that Harold Thomas (a man who showed me great kindness, as did Verna and Alan. May they rest in peace) was able to find a complete Beaufighter about an hour from Wagga all those years ago. That would've be something to see!
Cheers,
Matt