82 |FLIGHTPATH
Antiquers at Echuca
T
he 41st National Fly-in of the Antique
Aeroplane Association of Australia
celebrated ‘80 Years of the NAA T-6/
Harvard’. The annual event at Echuca
in northern Victoria, on the New South
Wales border, was held over the weekend of
16-18March.Unfortunatelytheeventonly
attracted three examples of North Ameri-
can’s legendary advanced trainer. The type’s
numbers,aswiththewholeevent,wereaf-
fectedbyanumberoffactors,notleastbe-
ing the appalling wet weather up and down
the east coast of Australia. This kept poten-
tialattendeesonthegroundandtheirair-
craftwellandtrulysecured.Withonlyone
runway at Echuca, the excessively strong
crosswindspredictedforthelastdayofthe
eventalsokeptnumbersdownandforced
numerous early departures on the Saturday.
Further,aCASAAirworthinessDirective
grounding DH.60, DH.82 and DH.83 aircraft
with new-built wing spars from New Zea-
land also served to keep numbers down.
HoweverafewTigers,aHornetMothand
threeDHCChipmunksattendedtoflythe
flag for de Havilland.
Other British-built attendees included Roy
Fox’srareBKEagle,aScottishAviationBull-
dog, numerous different models of Austers,
and Clinton Ashton-Martin’s Avro Cadet.
Standout American classics included a
rarepairingofaStinsonSR-8CReliantand
Stinson 108 Voyager, Cessna C195 Busi-
nessliner, a Vultee BT-13, O-1G Birddog,
PiperL-4andaStinsonL-5.
Vintage Aeroncas, Ryan, Cessnas, Pipers,
YaksandaNanchangalladdedtothecolour
andmovementoftheweekend.Allarehop-
ing for more favourable circumstances next
year.Rob FoxABOVE:Warren Manual on
departure in his Tiger
Moth VH-AKE.
ABOVE RIGHT:The highly
modiied Super Chipmunk
among some
contemporary classics.
RIGHT:Dave Salter in his
Harvard, one of three that
made it to the event.
MAIN:The Stinson 108 Voyager
and SR-8C Reliant share the
display lightline with the BK
EagleandaChipmunk.The
Reliant won the President’s
Choice award.[All images Rob Fox]
RIGHT:Former military types,
Auster (Grand Champion
Warbird), Avro Cadet and Tiger
Moth, bask in the Echuca sun.