FlyPast 12.2018

December 2018 FLYPAST 17

http://www.fl ypast.com

Lansen fl ies again in Sweden

World’s only

Burnelli

CBY-3 under

restoration

in US

Staff at the New England Air Museum
are continuing to work on the
attraction’s unique Burnelli CBY-
Loadmaster, an aircraft built by the
Canadian Car and Foundry company
in 1944.
The restoration project at Windsor
Locks in Connecticut has focused
mostly on repairing and sanding the
exterior, attending to both pre-
existing damage – caused by a 1979
tornado – and corrosion. Although
eight prototypes of the unusual, twin-
boomed machine were developed
between 1923 and 1945, none gained
acceptance from the aircraft industry
or entered production.
The museum’s example – N17N – is
the sole remaining airframe, and was

acquired from Friendship Airport in

Baltimore in 1972. It had been in a

state of disrepair for around ten years

• engines, engine mounts and cowls
  had been stripped from the aircraft
  along with cockpit instrumentation.
  Returning the Burnelli to its former
  glory is inevitably a challenging
  process, but it’s one the museum is
  determined to rise to. http://www.neam.org
  TONY SACKETOS

The unique Burnelli CBY-3 Loadmaster is under

restoration in Connecticut. TONY SACKETOS

Mauboussin Corsaire M-125 F-PCES returned to the air on August 1. Built in 1938 as an

M-129, it was upgraded to an M-125 (with a more powerful Régnier engine) in 1957. It fl ew

with various owners in Romilly-sur-Seine, France, until it was bought by Mauboussin Aéro

Collection boss Robert Collin in 2006. A restoration was carried out in Troyes, where it is now

based. MICK BAJCAR

Rare French

Mauboussin fl ies again

The Swedish Air Force Historic Flight’s Saab Lansen is now fl ying again after being grounded

for a few years. The jet has joined the Swedish civil register as SE-RME and fl ies alongside

several other restored jets, including a Viggen, Draken and Gripen. LENNART BERNS

The London Mint Offi ce’s Justin Robinson

recently presented Porthcawl Museum

with a commemorative Operation Chastise

Mission Pack and limited edition coin. The

museum also received a small piece of

wreckage from the 617 Squadron Lancaster

fl own in by Gordon Yeo, the only Welshman

to participate in the 1943 Dambusters raid.

Signifi cant parts of Supermarine Spitfi re LF.IX MK997 were recovered from Samsjøen lake,

west of Trondheim, Norway, on August 13. It had crashed into the lake in February 1950,

while operating with the Royal Norwegian Air Force’s 331 Squadron, claiming the life of its

pilot, 2nd Lt Finn Thorstensen. In 2009, warbird owner Øyvind Munch Ellingsen received

permission from the Thorstensen family and the RNAF to recover the aircraft. The bulk

of the fuselage is remarkably well preserved, with codes and livery clearly visible. It’s

hoped the remains will form the basis of an airworthy Spitfi re restoration, to be operated

by Notodden-based Norwegian Flying Aces.