10 FLYPAST January 2018
NEWS THE LATEST IN AVIATION HERITAGE
Staff and volunteers at Grissom Air
Museum near Peru, Indiana, have
fi nished repainting Convair TB-58A
Hustler 55-0663.
It was built as a YB-58A prototypein 1959 and the machine is now the
world’s oldest Hustler. Having originally
been used for armaments trials, it was
later taken on by NASA to perform
sonic boom testing. It then fl ew withthe 305th Bomb Wing at Grissom
(then known as Bunker Hill) following
modifi cations to TB-58A trainer status.
A cockpit fi re appeared to have ended
the jet’s ‘career’ in 1969, but fortunatelyit was retained at Grissom as a ‘gate
guardian’. It was later installed
as one of the fi rst exhibits at the
museum.
http://www.grissomairmuseum.comRepaint complete on museum’s Hustler
Newly painted Convair TB-58A Hustler
55-0663 gleams in the sun at Grissom Air
Museum. TONY SACKETOSLockheed F-104G Starfi ghter 33643
‘FG-643’, a former Hellenic Air Force
machine, has been transported
from Greece to Torrejón, Spain, for
restoration. It left Agrinion on October
5 by road and arrived at its new home,
the headquarters of Spanish Air Force
unit Ala 12, four days later.
The jet was originally operated by
the Spanish at Torrejón and Ala 12 will
restore it in the markings it wore at
the time – serial number C.8-12, and
the 104 Escuadrón code ‘104-22’. It
was one of 18 F-104Gs operated in
Spain. On retirement in the early 1970s
they were sold to Greece and Turkey.
Built by Canadair and fi rst fl own on
November 30, 1964, it was handed
over to the USAF on January 27, 1965for transfer to Spain. It offi cially
became C.8-12 on June 6, 1965, when
it arrived by ship at Rota. It joined 161
Escuadrón (part of Ala 16) at Torrejón
on July 25, 1965, by which time it had
accumulated just 16 fl ight hours.
It was recoded ‘161-22’ in 1965,
then ‘104-22’ when the unit was
renumbered as 104 Escuadrón on
November 29, 1967. In 1968 it was
recoded again as ‘104-12’ and on May
31, 1971, it joined 122 Escuadrón (under
Ala 12). Withdrawn from use on May 31,
1972, it still had only 676 fl ight hours,
and was handed over to Greece via the
USAF on June 14, 1972. It was based
at Araxos until retirement in 1991, and
was in storage at Agrinion by 2001.
KEY-DAVE ALLPORTStarfi ghter to be
refurbished in Spain
Lockheed F-104G Starfi ghter 33643 is
unloaded at Torrejón on October 9. SPANISH
AIR FORCE VIA DAVE ALLPORTThe Facebook group ‘Spitfi re, Britain’s
National Treasure’ (SBNT) has raised
money through the sales of a Spitfi re
T-shirt designed and produced
by Flyingraphics, featuring the
photographic work of Rose Atkinson,
for the restoration of de Havilland
Mosquito NF.II HJ711.
For every shirt sold, £5 was addedto the fundraising efforts of the
group, which is led by Ady Shaw and
Andrew Perkins. Ady and Flyingraphics’
Scott Sullivan were pleased to hand
over a cheque to Mosquito owner
Tony Agar and his colleague Elaine
Wilcox during a recent visit to East
Kirkby’s Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage
Centre where the aircraft is now
based (see From The Workshop, last
issue). The SBNT group is continuing
its fundraising efforts and always
welcomes new members. Visit
Facebook/Spitfi reBritainsNationalTreas
ure or http://www.fl yingraphics.comSBNT and Flyingraphics
donate to Mosquito project
A group from SBNT and Flyingraphics with Mosquito HJ711. WITH THANKS TO TOM SULLIVAN