VenomArrives atBruntingthorpeFormer Swiss Air Force Venom FB.50,
G-DHVM/‘WR470’, has been transported
to its new home of Bruntingthorpe. It
had previously been based at Coventry
Airport, Warwickshire and was a regular
performer at airshows across the UK.
The Venom is currently being rebuilt to
ground-running condition, with the Cold
War Jets Collection team hopeful that
work will have been completed before the
new year ready for Bruntingthorpe’s irst
open day of 2019.Society Formed toGet C-54 Back inthe Air
A group has been created to get long-term
North Weald resident Douglas C-54Q,
56498, airworthy again. The C-54 Skymaster
Society is currently raising funds and is keen
to talk to corporations and individuals about
investment opportunities and partnerships.
As a registered charity, the society also
aims to forge links with local educational
institutions and technical colleges to offer
an apprentice-type programme. Drawing its
membership and expertise from across the
aviation world, it wishes to share its wealth
of skills with younger generations. A target of
£800,000 has been set for the irst phase of
the return to light project.
The C-54 was built in 1944 and initially
assigned to VR-11 as part of the US Navy’s
Naval Air Transport Service. Operated by the
US Navy and Marine Corps, it was used in
World War Two, Korea and Vietnam.
http://www.savetheskymaster.orgBlack Mike Heading to South Wales
McDonnell Douglas Phantom FG.1,
XV582, Black Mike is being prepared
for a move from RAF Cosford to MOD St
Athan, South Wales. The aircraft has spent
12 months at RAF Cosford, during which
time it was reassembled and restored for
temporary display by the British Phantom
Aviation Group (BPAG).
BPAG has managed the famous jet
since it was purchased from the MOD by
Gary Spoors, owner of GJD Services, in- Black Mike was transported from
RAF Leuchars, Scotland and prepared for
static display at the RAF Cosford Air Show
in June. Once at St Athan, restoration
efforts can continue.
BPAG chairman Paul Wright said: “The
facilities GJD has at St Athan are ideal
and we look forward to starting work at
the earliest opportunity. At an appropriate
point during the restoration, we would love
people to come and see what we’ve been
up to. This will be subject to the health and
safety situation on site and will be at the
owner’s discretion. So, watch this space.”
http://www.facebook.com/bpagofficialThe Swedish Air Force Historic Flight’s Saab J-32D Lansen has returned to light having not
been airworthy for several years. The aircraft has been added to the Swedish civil register
as SE-RME and will now ly alongside other former Swedish Air Force jets, including a Saab
Tunnan, Draken and two Viggens. Lennart Berns
A Messerschmitt Bf 109G-2, identiied as
Yellow 3 of JG 5, has been recovered from a
lake in northern Russia and could be set for
restoration. The aircraft is believed to have
made an emergency landing on the frozen
surface of the lake during the winter of 1944,and was partially salvaged before it sank,
settling with its nose in the lakebed.
The operation in June was led by
members of Russia’s Wings of Victory
Foundation and specialist recovery group
IKAR using inlatable air bags to bring the
ighter to the surface so that it could be
towed to shore. Yellow 3 has since been
transported to Vadim Zadorozhny’s Vehicle
Museum in Arkangelskoye, Moscow,
potentially with a view to being restored.
Zadorozhny’s collection already includes a
1930s Sharov Sh-2 amphibian and several
Polikarpov types including two I-15s, an I-
Rata and an I-153 Chaika.Messerschmitt Bf 109G-2 Yellow 3 emerges
from the lake during the recovery operation.
IKAR/Boris OsetinskyLansen Back in the AirMesserschmitt Raised from Russian Lakebedhttp://www.aviation-news.co.uk 15
Mosquito Comes AliveTony Agar’s Mosquito NF.11 HJ711 ran
an engine in public for the irst time on
September 22 at the Lincolnshire Aviation
Heritage Centre, East Kirkby. The event, which
marked the attraction’s 30th anniversary,
included two taxi runs by resident Avro
Lancaster NX611 Just Jane.
Only three days prior, the team had started
the Mosquito’s port engine for the irst time
since restoration work began. This marked a
milestone in the almost four-decade project,
which it is hoped will eventually see HJ
capable of ground-running.
It is more than 70 years since East Kirkby
last heard the sound of a Mosquito, and is the
irst time a running Mosquito has been heard
in the UK since 1996. It had been a long-term
resident at Yorkshire Air Museum, Elvington
until being transported to East Kirkby by road
in 2017.