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Scramble 469
built by the Wiener Neustädter Flugzeugwerken and deliv-
ered to the Luftwaffe in early 1944. It crashed on 29 May 1944
near Matzleinsdorf/Melk in Austria, while flown by Leutnant
Schulte of JG 27/I. The identity was the wreck was carefully
recorded and for that reason the fighter is not considered to
be a reconstruction but a restoration project. It was initiated
by Michael Rinner in Austria in 2007 and completed by Meier
Motors of Bremgarten.
Sweden
The Swedish Air Force Historic Flight added another airwor-
thy jet to its already impressive fleet. On 15 May Saab Sk37E
Viggen SE-DXO (37-809) made its first flight. This Viggen is
painted in the ‘splinter’ camouflage of F15-61. It is a welcome
buddy for the SAFHF single seat AJS37 SE-DXN (37-098) flying
in bare metal finish in the colours of F7-52.
United Kingdom
The Shuttleworth Collection has come up with a nice surprise
on the occasion of the RAF’s 100th Anniversary. For this occa-
sion they have had their Avro Anson G-AHKX repainted at
Staverton, changing the usual civilian blue into RAF silver,
white and dayglow. It is now flying as ‘TX176’, the Anson that
was used by RAF Coningsby Station Flight.
Air Leasing’s new Republic P-47 Thunderbolt G-THUN, was the
eye-catcher at RAF Lakenheath on 7 May. The locally based
USAF 494nd squadron organised a wing heritage fundraising
activity for which the ‘Jug’ was invited. A lucky coincidence
was that G-THUN was recently repainted in the wartime
colours of 492 Fighter Squadron as based on RAF Ibsley, and
later in the war on continental European soil. It carries the
squadron code ‘F4-J’ and is named ‘Nellie’. G-THUN is one
of Europe’s most famous warbirds as it was flown for many
years from Duxford as ‘No Guts No Glory’.
Once again, the engineers of the Aircraft Restoration
Company and Historic Flying Limited at Duxford have done
an amazing job: they have literally returned Spitfire PR.XI
PL983 (6S/533723) from the ashes. It made its first post res-
toration flight on 18 May. For the restoration of G-PRXI, they
used whatever parts that remained after the aircraft crashed
near Rouen, Vallee de Seine Airport, France on 4 June 2001.
In the crash the pilot, Martin Sergeant, was fatally injured.
From 1950 to 1975, PL983 has served as a static display at the
Shuttleworth Collection in Old Warden. It was then decided
to restore it to flying condition. It made its first post restora-
tion flight at East Midlands 17 July 1984. It was withdrawn
from use from 1992 to 1998, but then again made airworthy,
flying again on 8 June 2000.
United States
The Planes of Fame B-25 Mitchell N3675G ‘Photo Fanny’ has
headed for Europe. The bomber is 1945 built 44-30423 (108-
33698 ), a JB-25J model, that served the USAAF until 1958. It
had several civilian owners, until being acquired by POF in
1973. ‘Photo Fanny’ going to the UK/Europe is most certainly
for the filming for the new Catch-22 miniseries. These are
based on the book of the same name written by Joseph Heller.
It is an American-British-Italian co-production for which the
filming will commence at the end of May 2018 in Sardinia and
Rome in Italy. Also arriving in Europe for the same miniseries
is TB-25N N898BW from Tri-state Warbird museum, Batavia,
Ohio. This is the former 45-8898. Both went via the UK to Italy
on 25 May.
North American P-51D-25-NA Mustang 44-73656 ( 40196 )
‘Moonbeam McSwine’ used to fly in France as F-AZXS until
owner Frederic Akary decided to sell it in the USA. The
fighter was registered as N51VL on 17 May. The letters VL
in the new registration refer to the late Vlado Lenoch. He
was a well-known American warbird pilot who regularly flew
‘Moonbeam McSwine’ before the aircraft was sold to France.
Lenoch died in a plane-crash on 16 July 2017. N51VL will fly
to commemorate Vlado. The fighter is ex USAAF 44-73656,
N5073K, El Salvador AF FAS406, N32FF, N2151D, F-AZXS.
Grumman TBM-3E Avenger BuNo53337, registered N337VT
(formerly VH-VTB, arrived in the USA in 2017) was probably
destroyed in a crash near Fort Apache (AZ) on 6 May. After
an engine failure over mountainous terrain, the crew bailed
out rather than attempt an emergency landing in what would
probably have been extremely dangerous conditions. Both
crew members were injured upon landing but are recovering
and are no longer with emergency services. The Avenger’s
crash site has not yet been located and its exact condition is
unknown.
Credits: Flypastforum, RSA, WIX, Worldwarbirdnews
Thanks to the recent new legislation by Belgian authority DGL (Directoraat Generaal Luchtvaart), most historic aircraft can now have an unlim-
ited permit to fly. This applies for types designed before 1955, and/or when the production ceased before 1975, and with a maximum operational
take-off weight not exceeding 5700 kgs. Aircraft within this category can now easily apply for a Belgian registration. The new Belgian Spitfire
Mk.XVI SL721/C-GVZB is one of the first to profit from the new rules: it is (not surprisingly) registered as OO-XVI. It is seen here during its first
public outing, the Stampe Fly-In. (Antwerp, 12 May 2018, Walter van Brempt)
