12 FLYPAST January 2018
briefi ngs
NEWS THE LATEST IN AVIATION HERITAGE
Stallion 51 look back on a stellar year
US fl ight training school and
warbird experience specialists
Stallion 51 have been looking
back on a successful 2017, fi lled
with adventure, awards and
anniversaries.
The year started with Lee
Lauderback, president and chiefpilot of Stallion 51, becoming a
member of the Society of Experimental
Test Pilots – an exclusive group of
exceptional airmen, such as R A
‘Bob’ Hoover and ‘Hoot’ Gibson, who
nominated Lee for the honour.
April marked Stallion 51’s 30th
anniversary, commemorated by invitingalmost 200 of its North American
Mustang graduates to a homecoming
before and during the annual Sun ’n Fun
airshow in Lakeland, Florida.
Seventeen of the graduates brought
their Mustangs to help celebrate
Stallion’s three decades of aviation
excellence, fl ying in formation duringthe show. At the same event, Lee
was honoured with the FAA Wright
Brothers Master Pilot award for his
50 years of safe fl ight operations
and his many contributions to
aviation safety.
In the summer, Lee was asked to
fl y Mustang P-51B Berlin Express to
Duxford for July’s Flying Legends Air
Show. The epic 5,470-mile aviation
adventure started in Texas and took
in Greenland, Iceland and Scotland
before arriving at its fi nal destination.
A total of eight legs were fl own in
seven days. This historic Atlantic
crossing was followed by millions of
enthusiasts via social media.
Stallion 51 certainly had a
memorable year. Those visiting its
Kissimmee, Florida, base can book
a passenger fl ight in one of its dual-
cockpit, dual-control Mustangs. Each
experience includes the opportunity
to take control and steer the P-
around the sky. For more information
see: http://www.stallion51.comMustangs belonging to Florida’s Stallion 51.Wellington crew remembered
in Belgium
A plaque was unveiled at Tildonk near
Leuven, Belgium, recently in memory of
the crew of Vickers Wellington III X
of 156 Squadron, which crashed there on
August 12, 1942.
The aircraft was returning from araid on Mainz, Germany, when it was
intercepted by an enemy night-fi ghter
and shot down in fl ames over Belgium.
Three crew members, Flt Sgt F J D’Arcy, Flt
Sgt J B T Weaver, and Flt Sgt E K Morrison
(RCAF), successfully baled out and spent
the rest of the war as prisoners.
Pilot Flt Sgt F V Harker and wirelessoperator Plt Off C Lenover (RCAF)
perished in the crash, and were buried
at Tildonk cemetery with full military
honours.
The memorial ceremony was attended
by Ken Morrison’s daughter who fl ew in
from Canada. Also among those present
were Olivier Nicoloff, the Canadian
Ambassador to Belgium, representatives
of the British and Belgian military and
many local people. WITH THANKS TO
HENDRIK BAELEThe new memorial plaque at Tildonk in
Belgium. HENDRIK BAELEPhantom restored for
display in Spain
McDonnell Douglas RF-4C Phantom CR12-55/12-64 has been restored to static display
condition at Torrejón, Madrid. The jet was taken on charge by the Spanish Air Force’s 123
Escuadrón in 1995 to reinforce its reconnaissance fl eet. Ala 12 operated 18 RF-4Cs between
1978 and 2002, and 12-64 has been put on display near its headquarters. ROBERTO YÁÑEZThe South Dakota Air and Space Museum at
Ellsworth AFB has been preparing a HGM-25A
Titan missile (pictured) for public display.
It’s expected to have been completed by the
time FlyPast is published. The museum has
also honoured the late Lt Col Grove Rathbun
by adding his name to the nose of A-7 Corsair
II 74-1739. PHOTO-TONY SACKETOSPZL Mielec-built Antonov An-2R LV-GWW has
been acquired by Alberto Pol in Argentina.
It’s only the second An-2 to be based in the
country after Alberto’s previous aircraft,
CX-CAP, was destroyed in a 2010 crash, and
originally fl ew with Aerofl ot. It was moved
to Uruguay in May and assembled by staff
at Aerotecno’s workshop. ESTEBAN BREA