FlyPast 03.2018

10 FLYPAST March 2018

NEWS THE LATEST IN AVIATION HERITAGE

New Mexico’s War Eagles Air

Museum is set to restore and

repaint its rare Tupolev Tu-2, based

at Dona Aña County Airport in Santa

Teresa.

Believed to be one of only seven

on public display around the world,

and the only one in the US, the

Russian-built Tu-2 was previously

stored in a cave in China. Its unusual

home was being used as a makeshift

hangar. It is among approximately

2,500 Tu-2s produced between 1941 and

1948 – just under half of these were

built during World War Two, and served

as multi-role bombers.

Records indicate that the museum’s

Tupolev last fl ew in 1981, when it was

used to ‘bomb’ and break up ice jams

in northwestern Chinese rivers. After

being acquired by its current owners,

the airframe was dismantled, crated

and shipped to Santa Teresa via the

port of Houston, Texas.

http://www.war-eagles-air-museum.com

TONY SACKETOS

Russian bomber to be repainted in US

The War Eagles Air Museum’s Tupolev Tu-

is to be repainted in New Mexico.

BOTH TONY SACKETOS

Another view of the museum’s rare Russian bomber.

Goodyear Corsair project

under way in Ohio

Paul Redlich and his team at the Tri-

State Warbird Museum in Cincinnati,

Ohio have begun restoration work on

Goodyear-built FG-1D Corsair 92132.

Paul has been collecting parts for the

project, including a pair of 150-gallon

external tanks and a rare 275-gallon

centreline tank. Various other items

including ammo boxes, instruments,

and control surfaces have also been

acquired and are currently in storage.

“We want to make this the most

authentic 1950s-era Corsair that we

can,” said Paul. “We’ve started to

change the hardware in the wings, and

we’re looking for the 1950s radio set

and antennas the US Navy would have

used at the time.”

The project retains the Corsair’s

original Pratt & Whitney R-2800-

8A Double Wasp radial engine and

propeller, and it plans to leave the

powerplant as untouched as possible.

The team is currently repairing panels

and manufacturing new ones to replace

those that are missing or damaged

beyond repair. When complete, the FG-1D

will be fi nished in the colours it fl ew in

during its last assignment at Naval Air

Station Columbus, Ohio. STEPHEN CHAPIS

The rear section of Goodyear FG-1D Corsair

92132 under restoration in Ohio.

STEPHEN CHAPIS

Veteran visits Kent Battle

of Britain Memorial

One of the fi rst women to work

underground in the Filter Room at

Fighter Command headquarters at

RAF Bentley Priory in 1940 has visited

the national memorial to the airmen

she supported.

Gladys Eva received a warm

welcome when she visited the Battle

of Britain Memorial at Capel-le-

Ferne in Kent, home to the National

Memorial to the Few which this

year celebrates 25 years since its

unveiling.

Gladys, now 97, was just 19 when she

began working in the bunker at Bentley

Priory, plotting the positions of German

aircraft as they headed towards Britain.

Her visit to Capel-le-Ferne included

a tour of The Scramble Experience,

an interactive audio-visual guide to

the Battle of Britain which features

interview footage with Gladys.

After leaving Bentley Priory in May

1941 as a Flight Sergeant, Gladys was

posted to Watnall near Nottingham,

where she helped plot the ‘thousand-

bomber raids’ as they set off from

Lincolnshire and East Anglia.

http://www.battleofbritainmemorial.org

WITH THANKS TO MALCOLM TRIGGS

Veteran Gladys Eva during her recent visit to

the Battle of Britain Memorial.

COURTESY MALCOLM TRIGGS