44 | FLIGHTPATH
Owen O’Malley, a former RAAF Wirraway
pilot. The aircraft was restored by Phil
Lloyd and his team at Classic Aviation at
Bankstown and returned to the air on 18
August 1994. The aircraft was registered as
VH-WRX and finished in the wartime train-
ing colours of A20-458, an aircraft that was
flown by syndicate member Owen O’Malley.
The aircraft performed at many air displays
and paraded as a Douglas Dauntless in the
movie The Thin Red Line. Tragically
O’Malley and Lloyd both lost their lives
when the aircraft crashed during a handling
display at an airshow at RNAS Albatross at
Nowra on 30 May 1999.
The first of two Wirraways which were re-
turned to airworthy condition at Sandora
Aero Engineering was A20-81 (C/N 79). Ed
Field and and Paul Lobston purchased the
restoration project from Jack McDonald in
- They organised a syndicate of eight
current or former Cathay Pacific pilots for its
restoration to airworthy condition. The ma-
jority of the work was carried out by Sandora
Aero Engineering at Caboolture in Queens-
land. The CAC-manufactured Wasp engine
was overhauled by Superior Aviation at
Moorabbin. The aircraft was painted in the
colours of A20-176 of No. 4 Squadron, to com-
memorate its efforts in the Buna offensive in
Papua New Guinea in late 1942. The restored
aircraft made its first flight on 25 March 1995
in the hands of syndicate member Ed Field
registered as VH-WWY. Tony Adler bought
out the other syndicate members in 2006 and
the aircraft eventually became part of Steve
Searle’s collection at his facility Wirraway
Station in Beaudesert, Queensland. After
Steve’s demise, the aircraft is now owned by
Paul Bennet and operated on Warbird adven-
ture flights from Maitland.
One of two Wirraways disposed from
RAAF Mallala in South Australia, A20-704
(C/N 1156) was purchased by Ray Causer
and ferried to Bankstown in February 1960
but he was not able to register the aircraft
and eventually sold it to Airfarm Associates
in 1963 for use in training pilots for Ceres
operations. Les Arthur at the Toowoomba
Aero Museum obtained the aircraft in 1974
and he sold it on to Murray Griffiths in 1985.
Griffiths commenced an airworthy restora-
tion in Deniliquin and the work was com-
pleted at Moorabbin. The aircraft finally
flew again on 16 June 1997 registered as VH-
BFO and finished in the overall foliage
green colours of No. 4 Squadron. It was op-
erated from Wangaratta until 2012 when it
was purchased by Kermit Weeks, and was
shipped to join A20-649.Another former Pearce Dunn airframe
which was also restored by Sandora Aero
Engineering is A20-695 (C/N 1147). Dis-
posed by CAC to a scrap metal merchant in
1963 the remains were salvaged by Pearce
Dunn and made their way into the hands of
Jack McDonald around 1982. Ed Field and
David Jones then purchased the aircraft and
commenced restoration work at Point Cook
in the late 1980s. The restoration was com-
pleted by Sandora Aero Engineering and
the first post-restoration flight took place
from Caboolture on 8 July 1997, also with Ed
Field behind the stick. The aircraft is now
owned by Warbirds Pty Ltd who operate ad-
venture flights out of Caboolture.
The most recent Wirraway to fly again
is A20-722 (C/N 1174). Following its dis-
posal from the RAAF at Point Cook it was
recovered from a farm near Horsham by
Borg Sorenson who commenced restora-
tion at his Hallam engine overhaul work-
shop using additional parts from A20-522
(also from the Horsham farm) and A20-- Final assembly was completed at Ty-
abb and VH-CAC made its return to the
air on 8 June 2002 in the hands of Ray
Vuillermin. A20-722 is now a regular at
airshows and displays in its immaculate
RAAF trainer colours.
ABOVE: The Temora Aviation Museum’s Wirraway A20-653
on take-off for a display at the museum. [Rob Fox]A20-719 and A20-652 (VH-WIR) in formation at Mangalore in the 1990’s. -719 was
registered as VH-WRX and painted as A20-458, however, it was lost along with its
crew when it crashed on 30 May 1999 at an airshow at Nowra, NSW. [Rob Fox]LEFT: Really Wirraway A20-704
(registered as VH-BFO and
painted as A20-436) seen here
flying near its home base of
Wangaratta in 2005, this
Wirraway was recently exported
to the USA. [John Parker]RIGHT: A20-674 is shown while
still essentially complete at
Tocumwal in June 1961, after its
sale to R.H. Grant Trading. The
tailwheel has been removed to
stop anyone playing with the
aircraft, and the aircraft was
scrapped shortly after the photo
was taken. See Flightpath Vol.24
No.4 for more on this machine.
[The Collection p1171-0347]