Warbird Information Exchange

Dakota news down under, ZK-AWP is currently at Essendon (Melbourne) en route to Darwin where it will operate tourist flights. ZK-DAK will join it once it's engine is reinstalled.

https://rnzaf.proboards.com/post/325910/thread
https://www.gooneybirdadventures.com/

ZK-DAK waits for its other P&W R-1830 by Errol Cavit, on Flickr

Some recent warbird news items that are or are not reflected by the list:

- Goodyear FG-1D Corsair BuNo.67089 (N83JC), which had been owned by Ron Lauder and based in New York, was sold late last year/beginning of this year to James Bohannon Jr. and is now based in Houston, Texas.

- Cavalier TF-51D Mustang 67-14866 (N20TF), owned by Dan Friedkin and based at Eagle Pass, Texas, returned to the air earlier this year following overhaul and repaint at Ezell Aviation. Previously painted as 'Bum Steer' of the 84th FS, 78th FG, coded WZ-Y, the all-new paint features no name/nose art, and the new fuselage code WZ-L.

- Beech AT-7 42-2509 (N79MB), has been acquired by Charles Somers and was flown to its new home at the Sacramento McClellan Airport in early April.

- The P-51D 'Six-Shooter' (N2580), which had been owned by Chuck Hall for the past 30 years and based in California, was sold earlier this year and is now registered to XP Services Inc (Rodney Allison). The aircraft is now/currently based with Bob Bull's American Honor Foundation collection at Jumbolair in Ocala, Florida.

- Flug Werk FW 190A (N190DK), previously owned by Dan Kirkland and based in Arizona, has been acquired by the M.S.Ö. Air & Space Museum (Ali Ismet Öztürk) based in Turkey, and will be returning to flight painted in Turkish AF markings.

- The F8F Bearcat 'Blue Angels #1' (N68RW), which had been owned by John O'Connor and based in Illinois, was sold earlier this year to Red Bull/The Flying Bulls, and will be relocated to Salzburg, Austria.

- Percival P.56 Provost T.1 XF914 (N435WV) was acquired in March by Timmermans Legends of Flight, located at the Chatham-Kent Airport in Ontario, Canada.

- The Military Aviation Museum's replica Me 262 'White 3' (N262MF) returned to flight on March 29th, following ten years spent mostly in storage. It is planned to fly the aircraft to AirVenture Oshkosh this summer.

- Avro Anson Mk.1 MH120 (ex ZK-RRA), which had operated in New Zealand since 2012 and sold last year to the RAF Station Czechoslovakia organization, has arrived in Europe and will now be undergoing reassembly, certification and test flights. It is expected to be ready to fly to its new home in the Czech Republic by mid-May.

- Spitfire Mk.1 P9374 (N92SQ), which had been owned by Ron Lauder and based in New York, has been sold to Walt Bowe and is in the process of being relocated to California. Bowe has also recently acquired the Curtiss A-22/CW-22 (N500G) that has been displayed at the Evergreen Aviation Museum, as well as the Curtiss Jenny (N2975) that has been owned by Fagen Fighters.

- The replica Yak-3 'Full Noise' (ZK-VVS), owned by Graeme Frew, returned to the air on April 9th following an intense restoration/repair program carried out by JEM Aviation, to have it ready in-time to participate in the Classic Fighters Omaka Airshow taking place Easter weekend. The aircraft had been substantially damaged in 2023 as a result of an aborted takeoff.

- The Chariots of Fire Flug Werk FW 190A (ZK-RFR), based at the Omaka airport in New Zealand, was returned to flight status by JEM Aviation and was flown for the first time in two years, this past Wednesday, April 9th. It too will be participating in the Classic Fighters Omaka Airshow taking place Easter weekend.

- AD-5W Skyraider BuNo.135178 (N62466), which had been owned by Eric Downing in Missouri for over two decades, has recently been acquired by Vintage Flying Machines (Tim Savage), and will be headed to Indiana soon.

- Grumman F7F Tigercat BuNo.80425 (N909TC) has been acquired by Rod Lewis of Texas, making it the third Tigercat in his collection.

The CAF Invader Squadron's Douglas A-26B 'Night Mission' (N240P) returned to flight this week, at Fort Worth, Texas, for the first time since 2021.

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That's very cool news!


Sadly due to weather the show has been cancelled. It's been great to see and hear these two up and about.

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Zac in NZ
#avgeek, modelbuilder, photographer, writer. Callsign: "HANDBAG".
https://linktr.ee/zacyates

"It's his plane, he spent the money to restore it, he can do with it what he wants. I will never understand what's hard to comprehend about this." - kalamazookid, 20/08/2013
"The more time you spend around warbirds the sooner you learn nothing, is simple." - JohnB, 24/02/22

Spitfire Tr Mk.VIII MT818 (G-AIDN) returned to flight today at Biggin Hill in the UK, following a winter spent undergoing an airframe overhaul, which included a wing re-spar, as well as new paint. It is now finished in the color scheme of 'Lady Ellen III' of the USAAF 31st FG, 309th FS, flown by John E. Fawcett.

I might have missed it but the FJ-4 Fury is now registered to Spitfire Ventures LLC (Rod Lewis).

Spitfire I P9372 flew from Biggin Hill today on its maiden flight post-restoration.

Pete Kynsey performed the test flight of Spitfire Mk.I P9372 (G-CLIH) at the Biggin Hill Airport in the UK, just a couple days following having also done some test flying of Hawker Sea Fury VZ365 (N1954H), this past weekend, at the Bremgarten Airport in Germany, where it has been receiving work at MeierMotors.

It was rumored for some months now, but confirmed this week, that FG-1D Corsair BuNo.88297 (G-FGID), which had been owned and operated by The Fighter Collection at Duxford for nearly 40 years, has been sold to an individual in the United States. It has now been undergoing disassembly for shipping to the US.

Any numbers of PT-22 (or civil STAs)?
Also N3Ns?

Two friends have restored one of each. I 'm not sure about the Ryan, but I know the N3N is new to the civil register.
It was disassembled in '46 and sold several times before finally being restored and flown.
I believe the Ryan has a similar tale.

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Note political free signature.
I figure if you wanted my opinion on items unrelated to this forum, you'd ask for it.

I'll have to keep an eye out for the Mk1 Spit doing further tests out of Biggin Hill. I hear Peter Monk's team are also busy assembling the former Vlado Lenoch P-51D Moonbeam McSwine which has now arrived in a container following her acquisition last year. I imagine Pete Kynsey will be doing her test flying too in due course.