Convair 580 Joins Cape Town Museum
The Wijnland Auto Museum near Cape
Town, South Africa, has added Convair
580 ZS-LYL to its impressive vehicle
collection. The propliner was built in
1952 as a 340-38 and made its rst ight
on December 24 of that year. Originally
registered N4803C, it ew with Delta Air
Lines before being sold to North CentralAirlines in March 1962. After being
upgraded to 580 speci cation, it was sold
to the Bolivian Air Force and began service
with the air arm at the end of 1974.
After being withdrawn from military use
in 1979, it re-entered commercial hands,
rstly ying with Gulf Air as N511GA. In
April 1988, it was acquired by regionalcarrier Air Cape, operating from Cape Town
as ZS-LYL.
Air Cape was taken over by Safair in
October 1988, with the aircraft remaining a
familiar sight on regional routes along the
South African coast. Its last operator was
the Titan Helicopter Group, from December- Steve McLean
Hawker Siddeley HS 748 Series 2 serial
number 60301 has joined the Royal Thai Air
Force Museum at Don Mueang, Bangkok.
First own at the end of 1964, it was
acquired by the RTAF early the followingyear and served its entire life with the RTAF.
The turboprop was withdrawn from use in
2016 and rst arrived on site the last year. It
is now on external display at the museum.
Gerry ManningHS 748 Series 2 serial 60301 on display at the Royal Thai Air Force Museum. Gerry ManningClassic Propliner Goes on Show
Both Hawker Hunters operated by the
Dutch Hawker Hunter Foundation (DHHF),
Mk.F.6A ‘N-294’ (G-KAXF) and T.8C ‘N-
321’ (G-BWGL), took to the air for the rst
time in more than 30 months on February- DHHF pilots Jan Dam and Patrick Tuit
made two ights in the T.8C during the
morning and ew both aircraft together in the
afternoon.
Flying from the group’s home at
Leeuwarden Air Base in Royal Netherlands
Air Force colours since 2007 (T.8C) and
2009 (F.6A), the classic jets were subject to
the grounding order for all UK civil-registered
Hunters issued by the Civil Aviation Authority
(CAA) immediately after the tragic accident
at Shoreham in 2015.After the CAA lifted the ban on July
6, 2017, technicians from DHHF and St
Athan-based Horizon Aircraft Services
prepared the Dutch Hunters to return to
ight. Both aircraft are expected to be
ferried to St Athan, South Wales, soon for
scheduled maintenance by Horizon, before
returning to normal operations including
airshow appearances later this year. Kees
van der MarkPRESERVATION
16 Aviation News incorporating Jets April 2018Dutch Hunters Back in the Air
Hunter T.8C G-BWGL taking off from
Leeuwarden on February 16, for its rst ight
since August 2015. Kees van der MarkSabre to Fly
Again in the US
The Classic Fighters team are making
good progress in the restoration of Doug
Matthews’ North American F-86F Sabre 52-
5116 in Titusville, Florida. When completed,
Doug hopes to display the jet at airshows
across America. He already operates F-86F
53-1201, currently painted in Skyblazers
aerobatic display team colours.
When the overhaul is nished, Doug’s
latest F-86 will represent 51-
Beauteous Butch II, the mount of Captain
Joseph M McConnell, who served with the
39th Fighter Interceptor Squadron of the
51st Fighter Interceptor Wing at Suwon
during the Korean War. He is credited with
shooting down 16 Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-
jets, making him America’s highest scoring
jet combat ace.16-17_preservation_newsDC.mf.indd 16 02/03/2018 11: