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Scramble 449
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 fly again. The restriction on aerobatic manoeu-
vres by ex-military jet aircraft, now including the Hawker
Hunter, at overland airshows remains in place. This means
that they continue to be restricted to flypasts and associated
manoeuvres only.
Around Flying Legends 2017 at Duxford two incidents occurred
in which a P-51 Mustang was involved. During a rehearsal
flight before the show, the canopy of P-51B 43-24823 ‘Berlin
Express’ (N515ZB) shattered when the perspex cracked.
During Flying Legends TFC’s Mustang G-TFSI ‘Miss Velma’
made a forced landing in a corn field, details on which can be
found in the Dustpan and Brush section.
United States
It is more than 72 years ago, on 8 May 1945, that Republic
P-47D Thunderbolt 42-29150 struck the surface of Lake Traun-
see, Austria, and sank to the bottom. The pilot, Lt. Harry Kuhl,
escaped from the airplane without injuries. In June 2005, the
fighter was salvaged by the Sandy Air Corp. of Innsbruck and
shipped to the USA.
There, Brian Kenney and Trojan Aircraft Services of Chino
(CA) started the restoration of the aircraft and reserved the
registration N328FA. In 2008 the project was taken over by
Jack Croul/Air Corps Pursuit LLC of Newport Beach (CA).
Their restoration started in Rialto (CA), but within one year it
moved to Caldwell (ID) where the airframe stayed until 2011.
Then Allied Fighters of Sun Valley (ID) got involved and they
finished the job.
Registered as N47DM, the Thunderbolt took to the air again
on 22 June. It is finished in its original markings of 42-29150
assigned to the 511th FS/405th FG, with code ‘K4-S’. It again
proudly wears the original nose art of a woman in ‘Santa’
costume with the name ‘Dottie Mae’, named after the wife
of its pilot.
Have you ever heard of the Counter Invader? The type is the
‘K’ version of the Douglas B-26 Invader. Since 8 July a unique
example of this type is flying again after more than six years
of restoration at Fort Worth (TX). The bomber is registered
N4988N and named ‘Special Kay’.
The story of the Counter Invader begins in the Sixties when
the U.S. Air Force wanted to develop an effective counter
insurgency (COIN) aircraft for use mainly in South East Asia.
The B-26K was developed by On Mark Engineering in Cali-
fornia. With stronger, rebuilt wings, 2500hp R-2800 engines,
wingtip fuel tanks and reversible props the A-26’s perfor-
mance was greatly increased. The addition of under-wing
hard points (the aircraft could carry 4000 lbs of bombs inter-
nally and 8000 lbs of stores under the wing) and eight .50
calibre machine guns in the nose made the Counter Invader
a powerful ground attack aircraft.
On Mark built 39 of the B-26Ks and thirty of them were
deployed to Thailand under the 609th Special Operations
Squadron flag. Between May 1966 and November 1969 these
aircraft flew night interdiction missions over the Ho Chi Minh
Trail. It was a high risk assignment: twelve of the 30 aircraft
were lost in combat. The aircraft in Fort Worth, 44-34198, is
the last On Mark B-26K built. After Vietnam, it was sold to
the Georgia Forestry Commission (N269G), then to Air Spray
Limited in Canada(C-GXTG) and on to Lynch Flying Service
in Montana. In January 2010 N4988N was flown from Billings
(MT) to Fort Worth where the Greatest Generation Aircraft
group and the A-26 Legacy Foundation began its restoration
project.
You could call it a ‘retro-conversion’, that is what happened
to Sea Fury T Mk20S NX85SF. From two-seater it became a
racer and from a racer it is now back to a two-seater. It made
a first flight in its new (old) shape from Auburn to Ione and
back on 1 July. Originally built as WE820 by Hawker-Siddeley
Aircraft Ltd, Langley, it was converted into a T Mk20S target
tug in May 1958 and delivered to the Deutsche Luftfahrt Bera-
tungdienst as D-COTE.
After its service life, the aircraft was obtained by Eric Lor-
entzen in 1984 and rebuilt as a highly modified Sea Fury racer.
Named ‘Blind Man’s Bluff’ (Lorentzen owned a window-blind
company, hence the name) NX85SF, race # 88 was one of the
most radically modified aircraft to appear on the 1987 Reno
ramp. Fitted with an R-3350 designed to run on alcohol, with
a cowl from a Douglas A-26, the plane had a set-back cockpit,
a vertical tail increased by 14 inches, and cut-down outer
wing panels that reduced with span to 34.5 feet.
It went through several owners and a belly landing before
being purchased by Tom Dwelle, an ex-Skyraider pilot. He
rebuilt the aircraft at his Auburn (CA) facility and returned it
back to the ramp at Reno in 1993, renamed ‘Critical Mass’ and
renumbered race #10.
At the 2003 National Championship Air Races at Reno,
Nevada, Tom Dwelle flew ‘Critical Mass’ to a third place
finish with a speed of 446.9 mph in the Unlimited Class before
retiring from air racing. It was by that time that the Dwelle
family decided to have ‘Critical Mass’ restored and converted
back into a stock T Mk20 two-seat Sea Fury. Sanders Aero-
nautics, known for their expertise in the field of Sea Furies
and aircraft restoration was chosen to do the job. They have
stripped and rebuilt the fuselage back to its original two seat
dual control configuration, the wing centre section and also
the complete outer wings. Final stage will be the paintwork
in a Royal Navy scheme from her time at Lossiemouth with
738 Sqn FAA.
Following its restoration at Ezell Aviation, Hawker (Iraqi)
Fury FB.10 N254SF made a successful first flight from Ste-
phens County Airport in Breckenridge (TX) on 18 July. Unfor-
tunately, one week later on 25 July, the aircraft made a crash
landing during a test flight. It came down, following a loss of
engine power on approach, in a pasture one mile north from
the airport. On impact the Fury broke in two. Pilot Nelson
Ezell was seriously wounded in the crash.
For many years the prototype North American NA-64 Yale
NX13397 ( 3464 ) was collecting dust in the barn of former
WWII pilot, Braniff captain, and CAF pilot Ray Kirkpatrick.
He passed away a few years ago before any restoration on
the trainer was carried out. His family recently decided to
sell the aircraft and it has been acquired by Mark Cyrier. He
has trucked the Yale to his workshop in Fort Worth where
he intends to restore this unique early NA-64 to airworthy
condition. It still carries its original code ’64-P2’.
Credits: Flypast, Foxalphazoulou, G-INFO, Hangar 10, War-
birdsnews, WIX.
