Indonesian Warbirds (and Hi from Jakarta)

[ArtS]

Tony,

Thank you for continuing to post. Will any of the OV-10 Broncos be surplused and, if so, are there any restrictions to importing them into the us civil market?

Regards,

Art S.

[Cloud Basher]

Sounds like it was pretty bad. I think two Aussie journalists were killed there about 4-5 years ago.

I believe you are referring to the two Aussie journalists that were killed in October 1975 along with 3 others, A NZer and 2 Brits. Know coloquialy as the "Balibo 5." Another journalists was killed shortly after when he went to investigate the story.

A Dutch journalist was killed in 1999. I don't think there have been any other Western journalists killed in East Timor.

[aseanaero]

Will any of the OV-10 Broncos be surplused and,

Although they haven't flown for a few years and are going to be replaced with Super Tucanos (so various press releases have stated) they haven't been declared surplus yet.

The most likely scenarios is the OV-10s are going to be gate guardians (big demand from various local bases and museums) and the worst of them scrapped but there's a slim chance they may live on. I've been working on this on and off for 18 months with the air force and the US Embassy.

We want to use them for some local utility missions if we can get permission from the stakeholders and the local aviation authority, however the local aviation authority said they want them totally rebuilt before they would consider it which may make the whole project unviable.

From personal experience the disposal process will take between 18 months and 2 years once they decide to surplus them (and they haven't done it yet) so don't hold your breath.

if so, are there any restrictions to importing them into the us civil market?

I don't know , the Indonesians are very careful to follow the conditions of the original FMS agreements , complete aircraft will be difficult , spares not so difficult.

If you look at what's happening in Singapore now all the ex US equipment is being shredded , currently A-4 Super Skyhawks , they are even shredding aircraft specific spares and avionics.

A colleague of mine just picked up 20 S211 jet trainers from the Singapore Air Force but they are made in Italy but he still has a mountain of red tape to get through to export them.

[aseanaero]

I popped up on the wing of this Mustang today , surprisingly most of the instruments are still in place however the radiator is now missing since I saw the aircraft last year.

Corrosion is very heavy in the wings and fuselage.

[Marc]

Tony, last time I had a close look, that was before they moved the aircraft around, there were still some .50 ammo links in the wing compartments.
By any chance, did you spot an ID plate in the cockpit? I wonder if it's the real F-347.

[steve dickey]

Were you even able to pull the canopy open