8 FLYPAST May 2015briefi ngs
NEWS THE LATEST IN AVIATION HERITAGE
Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation
(CAC) CA-13 Boomerang A46-
arrived at Werribee in Victoria,
Australia, on February 23 where it will
be displayed alongside Consolidated
B-24M Liberator A72-176.
The latter belongs to the B-
Liberator Restoration Fund, an
organisation that is gradually
returning the former RAAF bomber
to ground running condition. The
Liberator was built in San Diego as
44-41956 and later modifi ed as a
B-24R with search radar. Having been
ferried to Australia via Hawaii, it fl ew
with 7 OTU before being retired fromservice in March 1946 and sold two
years later.
The Boomerang is on loan to the
group from owner Nick Knight.
Delivered to the RAAF on October 7,
1943, it was allocated to 83 Squadron
and is believed to have been coded
as either MH-E or MH-F. It was placed
in storage just over a year later and
struck off charge in November 1948.
Nick acquired the cockpit and rearframe of the aircraft in 2003, and it is
now part of an ongoing Boomerang
restoration, that will continue at
Werribee alongside that of the
Liberator. The move to its new home
was carried out with the assistance
of local tow truck operator Godwin
Zerafa. The hangar is open to visitors
on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays
from 9.30am until 3.30pm.
http://www.b24australia.org.auCAC Boomerang on loan in Australia
Nick Knight is gradually restoring the Boomerang, a process that will continue at Werribee.
BOTH COURTESY B-24 LIBERATOR RESTORATION FUNDCAC CA-13 Boomerang A46-
arriving at Werribee on February 23.Swedish divers have discovered the
wreck of Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress
42-102597 in the Baltic Sea.
Assigned to the 398th BG, 602nd
BS, the Fortress – named Stinker –
was shot down by a Messerschmitt
Bf 110 on September 12, 1944 during a
raid against German petro-chemical
industrial sites. The B-17, with its
starboard wing on fi re, crashed into
the sea not far from Trelleborg,
Sweden.
Two parachutes were seen, butonly the co-pilot, 2nd Lt Cranston,
survived. He was rescued by the crew
of a Swedish fi shing boat who also
recovered the body of the pilot, 2nd
Lt Fields. The body of 2nd Lt White,
the navigator, was later washed
ashore. Both Fields and White are
buried in Sweden, while the remaining
six members of the crew are still
listed as Missing in Action. The exact
location of the wreck will not be
revealed until a detailed investigation
has been carried out. JAN FORSGRENFlying Fortress
discovered off the
Swedish coast
The French historic aircraft group Ailes Historiques du Rhin has recently acquired Dewoitine D.
reproduction F-PONT. Based at Strasbourg-Entzheim in the Alsace region of France, the group
received the wooden-built replica from previous owner Alain Pontier who constructed it during
the 1990s. The machine has never been fl own. ERIC JANSSONNENew owner for
Dewoitine replica
Part of the rudder from North American
B-25C Mitchell 42-32285 (FR151) has been put
on display at the National Military Museum
in Soesterberg, Holland. Flying with 320
Squadron of the Marineluchtvaartdienst
(Dutch Fleet Air Arm), it was shot down by
fl ak on June 20, 1944, and crashed near the
French village of Moyenville. ROGER SOUPARTThe National Museum of the USAF in
Dayton, Ohio, has recently expanded
its tribute to the Tuskegee Airmen of
World War Two. Visitors can now view
information and new photographs of this
group, alongside new artefacts such as
Col Edward C Gleed’s fl ight jacket and Maj
Charles Hall’s Distinguished Flying Cross.Supermarine Spitfi re XVIIIe TP
(N280TP) has been acquired by the Hangar
10 collection of Heringsdorf in Germany.
The fi ghter is currently in the US, where it
is to be dismantled prior to its journey to
Europe. Once in Germany, the Rolls-Royce
Griffon-powered aircraft will be rebuilt by
a team from Bremgarten’s MeierMotors.8-9_News_fpSBB.indd 8 13/03/2015 16: