Hi all,
I'm an Australian expat based in Jakarta , Indonesia and I have been working here since 1999 living here since 2000.
I've just joined the WIX forum as I'll be starting on a project.
There's a T-6 sitting on the airfield here that hasn't flown for 4 years and I have volunteered to help supply parts etc get it back in the air rather than continuing to rot. We will be using Indo Air Force mechanics with T6 experience to do the maintenance (the T6 is owned by sport aviation wing of the air force). It was parked due to difficulty in getting avgas amongst other things. It needs a thorough clean, service and the control surfaces will be need to be recovered. I'll do a separate post on this project later.
At 46 years of age after a career in appraising and consulting and the collapse of my employer (Arthur Andersen) I decided this was my last chance to get back to aviation so I guess I am semi retired but working 7 days a week as this is what I love.
I started flying in 1985 and did around 900hrs TT with an Australian CPL and flew the usual Cessnas (172,182,206,210,310,337) as well as some more interesting aircraft such as 150hrs in the Pilatus PC6 Turbo Porter (my first PIC of a warbird as it was ex Australian Army), as well as an S2A Pitts endorsement, aerobatic endorsement, formation endorsement etc. My flying came to a screaching halt when I got divorced 10 yrs ago and now things are coming back together, I'm getting my Australian Licence revalidated this year and then getting my Indonesian licence and hoepfully have a couple of interesting planes coming this year.
My warbird experience includes helping restore a DHC Sea Venom fighter to static display in South Australia plus some flights in the T-6 Texan and Stearman owned by some friends of mine when I was still in Australia.
I run an aviation trading company since 2007 and buy up surplus new old stock for both military and civilian aircraft and helicopters which I mainly export to the USA , Australia and Europe. I also sold 8 Westland Wessex helicopters and spares last year (ex RAF), and Alouette II heli (exported to the UK) and a Cessna 402C (ferried to Australia) . I have started accumulating A-4 Skyhawk parts (Indonesia operated ex Israeli A-4Es) , I have a few items already with the first large package of new old stock arriving next month as well as parts for P+W and Curtis Wright radials as there are still pockets of new old stock of these parts around.
There were a lot of P-51Ds and Cavalier P-51s, Mig 17s and Mig 19s but most of these were exported to the USA by collectors in the mid '80s or have ended up as gate gaurdians or museum displays. As there isn't a warbird movement or historical group here other than the Air Force musuem a lot of the older piston engined military aircraft and more exotic aircraft like the Mig 21 and TU-16 were just scrapped after being left to rot for years.
There are no warbirds flying in Indonesia now so I hope to change that and eventually get one of my own. The local aviation authority has told me if it flew in the Indonesian military I should have no problem getting a permit to fly so that's good news.
PHOTOS
Me , my kids Tim and Natasha and my CJ2A/MB Willys Jeep hybrid
GATE GAURDIANS
AIR FORCE MUSEUM , JOGYAKARTA CENTRAL JAVA
AT WORK
My J20 work truck slightly overloaded with a NOS Ivchenko Ai20k AN-12 4,000shp turboprop engine , it's a bit heavy !
'Zee Check' on a Boeing 737-200 on an airbase in Indonesia Dec 2008 , thats me near the JT8D ... Zee or Z check is aka being salvaged for parts then scrapped, it won't be going back in the air again
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I have a lot of customers in the US so we may actually meet up next time I'm in the US , if anyone is in Jakarta please PM me.
Best regards
Tony