Flightpath - May 2018

4|FLIGHTPATH

News

Wirraway lies into preservation

The Nhill Aviation Heritage Centre (NAHC),

aftertwoyearsofintensivefundraising,has

acquired Wirraway A20-722. Borg Sorensen

restoredtheformerRAAFCA-16Mk.3train-

er after recovering its remains, along with

remnants of A20-512 and A20-73, from a

farmnearHorshaminwesternVictoriain

1984.Anexactingrestorationculminatedin

theWirraway,registeredVH-CAC,flying

againon8June2002.

The NAHC’s community liaison officer,

John Deckert, said, “The centre launched its

fundraising appeal in May 2016 with the

hopeofraising$300,000fortheWirraway’s

purchase. A very successful ‘Wheels for the

Wirraway’eventwasheldattheNhillAero-

dromeinMarchandalthoughthefinaltar-

gethasnotquiteyetbeenreached,the

NAHCBoardhasagreedthatthetimeis

right to bring the Wirraway to Nhill. This

new addition to the centre’s collection will

help show people what a training base was

like during the war. We will have the three

aircrafttypesusedinhereaspartofthe

W.W. I I E m pi r e A i r T r a i n i n g S c he me – t he

Tiger Moth, Avro Anson, and soon the Wir-

raway.”JohnhasalsoinformedFlightpath

theWirraway’senginewillberunatleast

monthly, and in future on ‘special days’ it

willbepossibletoseebothitandtheAnson

taxi under their own power.

Tentative arrangements are in place for

the Wirraway, the youngest surviving ex-

ample, to fly from Tyabb on Saturday 28

Apriltobecomepartofthehistoricdisplay

a t t he for mer N h i l l W.W. I I R A A F a i r f ie ld.

This will be the final flight for the aircraft

andtheNAHChopealargecrowdwillbein

attendance to take part in this historic

event.Rob Fox

ThePBY-6ACatalina(VH-PBZ,‘Felix’)

fromtheHistoricalAircraftRestorationSo-

ciety(HARS)wastobethestarattraction

attheRathminesCatalinaFestivalinOcto-

berlastyear.However,itexperienceden-

gine problems en route with the crew mak-

ingaprecautionarylandingatRutherford,

near Maitland. The incident led to an ex-

tendedstayfortheaircraftastheteamfrom

HARS began the long and difficult task of

changing an engine far from home. Finally,

on10February,allwascompletedandthe

Catalina and its crew made their way down

thecoastbacktoAlbionPark.Ifyoulovethe

type,seeourcolourfeatureonpage44fora

look at eighty years of the venerable Cat.

Rob Fox

Felix Heads Home To HARS

ABOVE:Restorer Borg Sorensen takes a break from

workingonA20-722.Herestored it over a period of

eighteen years.[Rob Fox]

Pilot Nick Cauldwell, who will make the inal light in the

Wirraway, takes of during the 2016 Tyabb airshow.[Rob Fox]

‘Felix’ the black Cat on its way home following the engine replacement.[Darren ‘Motty’ Mottram]