Air Classics - Where History Flies! - August 2022

16 AIR CLASSICS/August 2022

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Wegman’s Fighter Enterprises in Florida for a complete rebuild and then

purchased by Hannu in 2020 as work neared completion.

Hannu is from Orono, Ontario, and learned to fly in 1971. Since then, he

has logged over 9000-hours and owned a variety of Warbird aircraft including

a Tiger Moth, Chipmunk, and several Harvards. Hannu wanted the Mustang

finished in the post-war markings of a Royal Canadian Air Force P-51 and he

picked an example operated by No. 424 “City of Hamilton” Squadron and the

results are quite magnificent. The plane immediately became an award winner

at Sun N Fun and Oshkosh.

For the Heritage Flight photos, we used the CWHM Mitchell and it was

flown by Dave Rohrer (pilot), Leon Evans (copilot), Bill Rouw (flight engineer),

and Niall McLaughlin (crewman). The Hornet was flown by Capt. Jesse

Haggart-Smith (who is the CF-18 demo pilot), while, of course, Hannu flew his

Mustang.

The Heritage Flight was very popular with spectators as was seeing the Fairey Firefly back in the air after eight years. Flying duties for the Firefly were divided

between Andy Dobson and Steve McIntosh. Numerous other CWHM aircraft took to the sky for fly-bys during the two-day event. All-in-all, Skyfest 50 was a real

success and will hopefully broaden out to a full-scale Warbird show in coming years.

(continued from page 9)

It is great to see the classic Firefly back in the air. The Royal Canadian
Navy classic was being flown in this photo by Andy Dobson. (CWHM)

The Military Aviation Museum brought several aircraft including the

rare Bell Airacobra. (Doug Fisher)

Arrival of the Flugwerk FW 190 from the Military Aviation Museum.

(Doug Fisher)

The CWHM Avenger is getting close to its

first post-restoration flight. (Doug Fisher)

Fokker D.XXI replica smoothly lifts off.

On 10 May 1940, the Germans launched their invasion of

The Netherlands and 28 D.XXIs were operational and rose

to fight the enemy but by 14 May only eight were airworthy

and that is when the country surrendered.

FOKKER UP AND FLYING

After years of hard work, the Fokker D.XXI replica is up and flying. The project started

back in 2014 when the parties involved realized it was time to create a replica of the

fighter that went aloft during the first few days of the Second World War to meet waves

of incoming Luftwaffe fighters and bombers. Jack van Egmond Sr. and his grandson Tom

Wilps started the process of creating one of The Netherlands most heroic aircraft. Using a

few original parts, the team began to build main wing spars and ribs from original drawings.

A Wright R-1820 was obtained for power. They were joined by Jack’s sons Hans and Jack

Jr. that would eventually put in thousands of hours on the project. Carrying the civil register

of PH-XXI and the Dutch military serial 229, the plane made its first hop on 23 May 2022.

The aircraft is now going through its flight test program with Dan Griffith as pilot and will

soon be on the airshow circuit where it will prove to be a very popular attraction.

The team that recreated the D.XXI.

Captain Jesse Haggart-Smith displays the Hornet. (Doug Fisher)