Warbird Information Exchange

A rebuld underway at Bankstown airport in Sydney will shortly allow a C-47/DC-3 to take to the skies again.

VH-MMF is been fitted out and rebuilt to handle 15 or so excutive style seating for pax.
This will increase Bankstown Dc-3 population a bit more.

She will be for a first in Australia supposively painted in a USAAF WW2 scheme which is unqiue, as all Australian flying C-47/DC-3 are either civil or RAAF schemes.

Sadly Dakota Natinal Air a DC-3 operator who did charters and flight out of Bankstown since early 1990s and then went out of business in early 2003 and is now back but on a smaller scale, used to have wonderful fllight -- once glamorus fleet total of 6-7 DC-3 and nowdays use only around 2 Dc-3 for flight in Sydney.

Back in 1990s it was common at Bankstown to see at times, up to four DC-3 take off and fly to airshows or charters. Alas those days will never happen again.

Actually the North Queensland Warbirds have the former Malcolm Long C47 under active restoration to fly, that has been in US camouflage as "Jungle Skippers" since its original restoration at Chewing Gum field in the late 1980s?? and flew to Wangarratta as part of the long collection on display at Airworld until @ 2002?



http://www.warbirdadventures.com.au/restoration.html






regards

Mark Pilkington

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20th Century - The Age of Manned Flight
"from Wrights to Armstrong in 66 years -WOW!"

Mark, any updates on the Albury DC-2?

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..defeat is never an option!

for those unaware this relates to the world's oldest surviving DC2, A30-11 s/n 1286 formerly NC13736, one of 8 in the world.



In the 1980's it was externally refurbished and painted as KLM DC2 PH-AJU and put on poles at the Albury Airport to commemorate that aircrafts night landing during the 1934 Centenary Air Race.

It had sufferred from the elements and was taken down from the poles nearly 5 years ago ,with intention to restore it and place it on display under cover in the new airport terminal, but the council baulked at the costs, and looked at other options including cutting it up and sticking "bits" on display.


An EOI or Expression of Interest has been issued by Albury council is for the "disposal" of the aircraft by the council.

The council and the Uiver Trust set up by the council had previously contemplated cutting the DC2 up to mount its cockpit and other selected parts on the wall of the new terminal.

Certainly no way to treat a rare DC2, one of 8 in the world, and this being the oldest of those, and therefore the oldest surviving Douglas Commercial Airliner in the world.

Common sense appears to have prevailed and the Council is now undertaking an EOI in the hope someone will offer to purchase the aircraft, and take it off the Council's hands for restoration and display elsewhere.

Hopefully the aircraft will now be transferred to a bonefide museum, remain in Australia and be restored and placed on display under cover., however a US group associated with Eastern Airlines are apparantly interested (the 10 RAAF DC-2's originally flew with Eastern Airlines in the USA as part of Eddie Rickenbackers famed "Great Silver Fleet")



Far too much of an aeroplane, far too an important type and historic example to scrap and break into bits for an "artistic" display!

regards

Mark Pilkington

_________________
20th Century - The Age of Manned Flight
"from Wrights to Armstrong in 66 years -WOW!"

????

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Those who possess real knowledge are rare.

Those who can set that knowledge into motion in the physical world are rarer still.

The few who possess real knowledge and can set it into motion of their own hands are the rarest of all.