Volume 26 #4, Issue 122

MESSERSCHMITT MARVEL

“I have always thought while we were building it that the Allison makes perfect sense because the 109 airframe has had the Kestrel, Jumo, Daimler Benz, Hispano and Merlin fitted over the years - so why not install an Allison?”And so it came to pass that the Rolls Royce powered Buchón owned by Jack Erickson went through a transformation prior to a return to the air for the first time since film duties during the Battle of Britain. Whilst conversion of the type to Daimler Benz DB 605 power had been accomplished previously, it was decided that the maintenance and overhaul costs of keeping the rare DB airworthy were prohibitive. However the goal was to present the aircraft with the types iconic lines, as a wartime Luftwaffe Bf109G. Brain storming, the team toyed with the idea of fitting the reliable and proven Allison V-1710.....but with twist. In this article, several years in the making, we describe the marvel of engineering which has seen the fighter presented as a tribute to its famous predecessor. We also look at the reason for the temporary colours, which leads into a piece on the Stigler / Brown incident.

BRISTOL BONANZA

In issue #105 of Classic Wings we produced an exclusive feature on the long forgotten Bristol Fighter replicas that had been built for the High Road to China Movie, eventually released in 1983. However none flew in the final version of that movie, but two were used in the movie ‘Death Hunt’ in 1981. These aircraft were finally tracked down in 2017, stored in containers at Chino, and all were purchased- four coming to the Classic Wings hangar here in NZ. Here we report on progress to return these to the air - two now flying actively, a third about to fly, the fourth not that much further behind, while one remains to be sold. So within a relatively short period, the Bristol quest will have resulted in an injection of five representative examples of one of the finest flying, most attractive looking aircraft of the Great War.

MYANMAR’S MASSIVE MUSEUM

Nay Pyi Taw became Myanmar’s new administrative and political capital in 2006. The sprawling city boasts an impressive Defence Services Museum; a grand collection of buildings on a 604-acre site, far removed from the previous cramped and run down museum compound in Yangon where staff lived on the premises and where it wasn’t unusual to see their laundry hanging from the aircraft’s flying surfaces! The new facility is unique in its design and size (it is a kilometre from the front gate to the main reception area!). The stars of the museum’s aviation section are undoubtedly the Hawker Sea Fury and the Supermarine duo. Here we present an overview of the UBAF’s history and focus on these three fighters.

THUNDERBOLT & LIGHTNING

The Covid pandemic certainly put paid to our usual regular visits to Albion Park, NSW, to visit Rob ‘Jungle Bob’ Greinert and his talented crew at Historic Aircraft Restorations. Regular readers will be aware that the team has been rebuilding a range of very exciting aircraft, mostly combat veterans that served in the Pacific Theatre during WWII and of US manufacture. These include a couple of P-47 Thunderbolts, a couple of P-40 Kittyhawks (one since delivered) and remarkably, no fewer than three P-38 Lightnings, along with several slightly less aggressive types. Fortunately CW Editor Graham Orphan was able to drop in recently and reports on progress on all of the above, things coming together nicely despite the current challenges of shipping, material and labour shortages.

Scone Airshow