FP_2015_05_

(Romina) #1
May 2015 FLYPAST 13

http://www.fl ypast.com


Caribou trio for sale in Spain
Madrid-based company BDE is selling three de Havilland DHC-4A Caribou freighters. The aircraft are currently being stored at Cuatro Vientos
airfi eld. Spain was the primary European military operator of the Caribou (although Sweden had a solitary DHC-4 for three years), and BDE
originally intended to modify the three former air force machines for use as fi re-bombers. This plan did not come to fruition and the aircraft are
now for sale. ROGER SOUPART

The WW1 Aviation Heritage Trust
(WAHT), based at Bicester Heritage
in Oxfordshire, is to add three new
aircraft to its pair of Royal Aircraft
Factory BE.2e reproductions and is
developing a programme of events for
the remainder of the year.
In late spring an Albatros D.Va replica
from Oliver Wulff’s collection will arrive
from New Zealand, and is destined to
join BE.2e ‘A2767’ at Stow Maries. Both
will operate from the Essex airfi eld at
displays and fl y-ins throughout the

summer, including Armed Forces Day
on June 27.
The other BE.2e, marked as A
from 7 Squadron, will continue to be
based at Bicester and will be joined
by a recreation of a Sopwith Snipe,
which is scheduled to be delivered
from New Zealand with the Albatros.
An RAF SE.5a replica, painted as D3540,
has already arrived in the UK, and
was received at Old Warden, Beds, on
February 17.
The Trust’s provisional programme

includes appearances at Waddington
(for an 8 Squadron centenary event),
Abingdon, Chalke Valley, Old Warden,
RIAT and the Goodwood Revival, along
with several events at its home base. It
will also work closely with the Trustees
of Stow Maries with the intention of
creating an enduring Royal Flying
Corps-style aerodrome with its own
‘operating squadron’.
In order to support its activities,
WAHT has initiated a Kickstarter
funding campaign to help raise the

£11,200 it needs to re-assemble the
new aircraft, service the two BE.2s, and
meet licensing and fuel costs.
The campaign includes various
‘rewards’ in exchange for set
donations, ranging from having a
photo taken in RFC uniform for £15 to
purchasing one of two limited Breitling
Chronomat watches for £6,000. For
more details on how to support the
campaign see:
http://www.ww1aviationheritagetrust.co.uk
VIA DARREN HARBAR

Great War reproductions on their way to UK
Oliver Wulff’s Albatros D.Va reproduction
being painted in New Zealand. WAHT VIA
DARREN HARBAR

RAF SE.5a ‘D3540’ at Old Warden on
February 17. DARREN HARBAR

Yakovlev Yak-3M reproduction D-FLAK is on its way to the UK, where it will join the civil
register as G-OLEG. The aircraft has been acquired by Sussex-based pilot Will Greenwood
from MaxAlpha Aviation of Bremgarten in southern Germany. Having completed an
annual service, the Yak-3M was scheduled to have arrived in the UK by the time FlyPast
is published. Likely to be based in East Anglia, it is expected to make its offi cial public
debut at the Abingdon Air and Country Show on May 3. The aircraft, which is powered by
an Allison V-1710 engine, is painted in the livery of a Normandie-Niemen squadron fi ghter,
as operated on the Eastern Front by Free French pilots during World War Two.

Fantasy of Flight in Polk City, Florida, has opened its new, scaled-down facility to visitors.
“We want to allow the aircraft-loving public the opportunity to reconnect while we
continue to create and design the next iteration of the Fantasy of Flight attraction,” said
FoF boss Kermit Weeks. “While there won’t be a restaurant, restoration tours, aircraft-
of-the-day, or immersion environments, for the aircraft enthusiast there will be as many
planes as we can comfortably put on display.” Housed inside the attraction’s former
maintenance hangar, current exhibits include a Consolidated B-24J Liberator, North
American P-51D Mustang and a 1945-built Grumman Duck. http://www.fantasyoffl ight.com

12-13_News_fpSBB.indd 13 24/02/2015 15:

Free download pdf