Volume 21 #5, Issue 98

ATHENIAN AVIATORS

Little is known about the Classic -Warbird scene in Greece, and there is a very good reason for this, as such operations are not encouraged by authorities and therefore rules and regulations have stifled any growth in this area. Fortunately there is one organization that is making some headway and it is fair to say that the Athenian Aviators Collection is a beacon of hope in an otherwise barren landscape. This article takes a look at that struggle and reveals how passion by a small group of individuals has resulted in a superb collection of vintage machines which literally fly in the face of bureaucracy.

AUSSIE EINDECKER

Anthony Fokker’s Eindecker of the First World War, which introduced the ‘interrupter gear’ to fighter aircraft which allowed a huge increase in shooting accuracy proved such a success that it led to what was known as the ‘Fokker Scourge.’ A number of flying reproductions have been built, however only two are faithful to the original, Javier Arango’s California based example and the subject of this article which is operated by the Caboolture, Queensland based TAVAS. Here founding director and test pilot Andrew Carter details the effort to achieve this and describes the thrill of flying such an early bird of prey.

THE LAST MIG

The sleek MiG-3 was the standard fighter of the PVO (Air Defence) for the Moscow region during 1941 and as German troops approached Moscow that October the MiGs frequently flew combat missions supporting IL-2 Shturmoviks and tactical bombers in the desperate effort to stem the enemy advance. It was during one of these sorties that a MiG flown by Junior Lieutenant Krapivko was shot down into a swamp following combat with Bf109s. Some 60 years later the wreck of the aircraft was extricated by a team from the Novosibirsk based company Avia Restoration and rebuilt to fly. Boris Osiatinskiy describes the effort to return their third, and final, example of this aesthetically pleasing Russian fighter back to the skies of the Motherland.

Our last Mystery Aircraft was a ...PWS 26

The PWS 26 was arguably the premier training aircraft of the late 1930s and was the result of the development of a long family of trainers initiated in 1929 by designer Augustyn Zdaniewski. Following a series of improved airframes an example of the PWS-16 was rebuilt in 1934 to account for the increased stresses of being tasked with gunnery and bombing training. Designated the PWS-16bis, further structural strengthening and a revised fuel system followed in 1935, which saw the aircraft able to perform full aerobatics and have the capacity to be armed to enable advanced combat training -the PWS-26 was born. Here we take a look at the type’s history and focus on the only known survivor.

THE SINGAPORE AUSTER

Way back in Issue Seven Colin Bridgman described how his aeroplane dreams came true, when he purchased an ‘Auster in a Barn.’ At the time he was able to track some of the aircraft’s prior history, but much of it was a mystery, at least to him. Over the intervening years much more information has come to light, and given that its journey has been an interesting one, it is only appropriate that the story is updated. This is a fascinating story of improvisation, determination and perseverance which saw a battered and incomplete airframe rebuilt and modified to take on the daunting flight from Singapore to Australia.

TARGET FOR TODAY – NORTH ATLANTIC!

The historic 1937 Lockheed Electra A10 once owned and operated by Jan Antonin Bata, the founder of the Bata Shoe Company, has returned home following an epic Trans Atlantic flight for new owner Ivo Lukacovic. In this article both of the aircraft’s pilots describe the journey, which although had the potential for disaster, went relatively smoothly, some anxious moments aside – the team arriving to home to a hero’s welcome nine days after setting out. Complementing the trip diary are spectacular images which feature the Lockheed over hostile but magnificent scenery.

AIRSHOWS

Skyfest, Canada
Flying Legends, UK