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Scramble 469
Belgium
We have apparently missed the arrival of TWO Hawker Hur-
ricanes in the facilities of FAST Aero in Antwerp. The most
complete of these is KZ321, a unique Hurricane Mk.IV, which
was once part of The Fighter Collection of Duxford, flying as
G-HURY. TFC sold the machine to Vintage Wings of Canada in
2006. It flew as CF-TPM until offered for sale in the summer
of 2017. It was soon sold to an unknown customer, a Belgian
one, as we know now. KZ321 is currently under restoration,
and its Merlin engine is on overhaul at Vintage V12’s in the
USA. The second Hurricane is AM274, a Mk.X, built by Cana-
dian Car and Foundry in 1942. It was shipped to England and
sent to the Russian front as part of the Lend/Lease program.
It served with the Soviet Air Force for approximately five
months before being forced down by a German aircraft over
the Rybachiy Peninsula in Northern Russia. The restoration
of AM274 was started by JNE Aircraft of Burlington (WA), and
will be completed in Belgium. It is expected that both Hurri-
canes will get a Belgian registration, as the type is of historic
value for the country. At the beginning of WW II, the Belgian
Air Force owned at least fifteen Hurricanes.
France
DeHavilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk F-AZNS made its first
flight at Les Mureaux on 26 April, following an eighteen year
rebuild. The trainer is ex Egyptian AF 1655 and has been
painted in its original colours of silver with green-white-
green fin flash and roundels. It is owned by Nigel Stevens who
is a Brit and former vice-chairman of the French RSA organi-
sation. It is still on test and therefore has not yet appeared on
the DGAC website register listing.
On 9 May Vought F4U-5N Corsair F-AZEG of the Casques de
Cuir/ Amicale Jean Baptiste Salis flew again at La Ferté-Alais,
south of Paris, after a ten-year restoration. This aircraft was
built as BuNo 124724 in 1951 and served with the US Navy
before being bought by Honduras as FAH600 and serving
during the ‘Soccer War’. It was later transferred to the US
civilian market and was flown as N49051 and N4901E. It was
shipped through Amsterdam and reached France in 1986.
F-AZEG was flown as USN/12472/P-22 in VC-3 scheme until
2002. Its restoration was taken up in 2008. Its first post-resto-
ration flight was just in time for the well-known ‘Temps des
Helices’ airshow on 19 and 20 May. With F-AZEG now flying,
the total number of currently flyable/active Corsairs in the
world stands at 29.
Only one day before this ‘Temps des Helices’ airshow at La
Ferté Alais, a new T-28 Trojan was taken up in the French
register. Former N73MG, became F-AYVF, owned by Francis
Vital. The trainer is a North American T-28B with BuNo138360
(200-431) that will be based at Persan-Beaumont.
Greece
Our Greek friend Yiannis Mylonas sent us his comment on
the topic about Greek Spitfire MJ755 Spitfire LF.IXc in the
warbird section of Scramble 466. He wrote: ‘I want to make
clear that the reason this Spitfire travelled to England for the
final restoration in airworthy condition it is not the lack of
ability and knowledge in Greece thus the need for a specialist
to do it. It has to do with the lack of funds and the very diffi-
cult economic position that Greece has suffered the last eight
years thanks to our European friends and counterparts.’ He
is one of the restorers of the Hellenic Air Force museum, so
he knows what he is talking about. Sas efcharistó, Yiannis!
Germany
On 24 April, Achim Meier, CEO and chief pilot of MeierMotors
flew a second Sea Fury to his company at Bremgarten. The
flight from the Czech Republic to Bremgarten lasted about
1:40 hours. The aircraft is Hawker Sea Fury NX1954H, which
was resident in that country since 2011. NX1954H was built
for the Iraqi Air Force as a single seat FB.11, with code ‘324’.
It was salvaged from Iraq and rebuilt as Mk20 trainer, carry-
ing the consecutive registrations N585F, N1324, C-GGAT, and
CF-GAT. Reregistered as C-FGAT the machine was flown by
the Canadian Warplane Heritage, of Hamilton (ONT) until it
was sold to the Czech Republic. On request of the aircraft’s
new owner, Meier Motors will soon start an overhaul on
NX1954H. And they have gathered experience with this, as
the company has almost finished the restoration of Sea Fury
Mk20 D-CACE.
Two days later, on 26 April, Messerschmitt Bf-109G-6 D-FMGS
made its first flight from Heringsdorf Flugplatz on the Isle of
Usedom in Germany. The aircraft, Werknr. 440738, with code
‘Black 8’, is owned by the local Airfighter Academy / Hangar
10 collection. During its successful first flight, the fighter was
accompanied by another Bf-109, a G-12 version, D-FMGZ, and
a North American Harvard. The aircraft were flown by pilots
Klaus Plasa, Richard Paver and Rob Davis. This Bf-109 G-6 was
Warbirds
Vought F4U-5N^ Corsair BuNo124724 (F-AZEG) is a genuine veteran of the Korean war. It served in US Navy VC-3 from April 1952 to November
1953, flying from carriers USS Valley Forge and USS Boxer. Its ten year restoration by Casques de Cuir/Amicale Jan Salis was finished just in
time for the annual ‘Temps des Helices’ airshow. (La Ferté Alais, 19 May 2018, Gert Jan Mentink)
