14 http://www.aeroplanemonthly.com AEROPLANE SEPTEMBER 2017News September 2017
D
OUGLAS DC-
ZS-NTE was unveiled
in a 1956 Aer Lingus
colour scheme in Hangar 6
at Dublin Airport on 20 July,
having fl own from its base at
Zweibrücken, Germany to
Shannon on 13 June for the
repaint. The machine, which
now wears the registration
EI-ACD and the name St
Gall, appeared at both the
Foynes Air Show and the
Bray Air Display over the
weekend of 22-23 July
before heading back to
Germany.
Aer Lingus has funded and
wholeheartedly supported
the project, and it is planned
to keep ’NTE in the Irish
national airline’s colours for
the next three to fi ve years.
It will return to Ireland next
summer, and is due to take
part in the 70th anniversary
of the start of the Berlin
Airlift in 2018 and the ‘Daks
over Normandy’ event
during June 2019.
The aircraft is owned by
German businessman Peter
Adrian, who is based in Trier
and also owns a North
American T-28 and a Beech- It was fl own to Ireland by
Flippie Vermeulen, a retired
South African Airways
captain who owned the
transport before selling it to
Adrian in 2015.
Aer Lingus originally
introduced the DC-3 to
service during April 1940,
but the war interfered with
operations. The type really
hit its stride with the airline
when nine former USAAF
C-47s were purchased in- Seven of these were
subsequently converted to
DC-3 airliner standard and
two were reduced to spares.
Two new DC-3s were
supplied by Douglas in
February 1946, the type
becoming the core of the
fl eet as the airline expanded
its network of services. The
DC-3s were replaced by the
Fokker F27 Friendship, but
fi ve of the ageing ‘Dougs’
remained in service until
1963-64.
ZS-NTE was built in
September 1943 and fl ew
with the RAF until being
transferred to the South
African Air Force in 1945.
After retirement in 1995 it
was sold to Springbok
Classic Air, and following
seven years in storage was
restored to fl ying condition
in 2009, being modifi ed
from C-47 cargo-hauler to
DC-3 passenger
confi guration.
THE Lashenden Air Warfare
Museum’s rare Fieseler
Fi 103R-4 Reichenberg went
on show in a new display
hangar at Headcorn
aerodrome, Kent on 2 July.
The machine can be seen from
a viewing enclosure in the
building while work continues
to fi t out the hangar with
displays.
The manned V1 is one of
only six survivors from the 175
built. The Reichenberg was
intended for use against
shipping or heavily defended
ground targets, its major
progenitors including test pilot
Hanna Reitsch and SS-
Hauptsturmführer Otto
Skorzeny. Such was the
urgency placed on the project
that within 14 days of the
Reichenberg programme
being authorised, training and
operational variants had been
completed and testing started.
The operational model was
the Reichenberg IV, which was
intended to be carried to the
vicinity of its target beneath aHeinkel He 111 bomber. In
theory the pilot was intended
to jettison the cockpit canopy
and bail out after aiming his
aircraft at the target, but it was
calculated that his chance of
survival was little better than
one in a hundred. At the
estimated target approach
speeds of 490-530mph it is
highly improbable that
jettisoning the canopy would
have proved practical.
The museum’s Fi 103R-4 is
believed to have been
captured at the Dannenberg
V1 factory by the 5th
Armoured Division, US Army.
It was displayed as part of the
German Aircraft Exhibition at
the Royal Aircraft
Establishment at Farnborough
from 29 October-9 November
1945, fi tted with a standard
Fi 103 nose cone as there was
no nose with the Fi 103R-
when it was captured.
At the end of the exhibition
the Reichenberg was passed
to the bomb disposal service
and placed at the JointCAA LIFTS HUNTER GROUNDING
ON 6 July the UK Civil Aviation Authority lifted its
grounding order on British civil-registered Hawker Hunters,
imposed in the immediate aftermath of August 2015’s
Shoreham Airshow tragedy involving Hunter T7 WV372/
G-BXFI. “This action is a result of the CAA concluding there
were no airworthiness issues relating to the Hawker Hunter
aircraft that caused or contributed to the accident”, the
authority said in a statement. “This is based on our own
extensive review and the [Air Accidents Investigation
Branch’s] fi nal accident report. All aircraft of this type will
have to comply with enhanced maintenance and inspection
requirements and, following normal practice, secure all
relevant permits and other approvals before they are
allowed to fl y again.” Ben DunnellDC-3 gets Aer
Lingus scheme
DC-3 ZS-NTE at Dublin Airport on 22 July, wearing what must
be one of the most attractive schemes to ever grace this once
ubiquitous type. GABRIEL DESMONDReichenberg hangar completed
The sinister Fieseler Fi 103R-
Reichenberg at Headcorn, Kent,
an area where its unmanned
brethren made their presence
felt more than 70 years ago.
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