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Scramble 467
The fighter is owned and operated by the Shuttleworth Trust
at Old Warden. It is back in the air, now its full restoration
has been completed. This aircraft was acquired by the Shut-
tleworth Trust in 1961. Initially it was stored dismantled,
but became one of the Spitfires restored and flown for the
Battle of Britain movie production in 1968. It was then put
into storage again, but once again rebuilt to airworthy condi-
tion in Duxford during 1973-1975. It has been one of the most
popular attractions of the Collection’s displays at Old Warden
ever since.
Coming as a complete surprise, Supermarine Walrus Mk.I
W2718 (2S/5591) arrived at Duxford on 23 March. It was
trucked from Vintage Fabrics at Audley End where it has
been under restoration since 2009. According to Vintage
Fabrics, The previous owner decided late last year that he did
not want to continue with this substantial project and it was
put up for sale. The new owner has decided to go for another
restorer, most likely the Aircraft Restoration Company. One
thing is discouraging: the project’s registration, G-RNLI, has
recently been cancelled.
United States
In March 2002, Commemorative Air Force’ Republic P-47N
Thunderbolt 44-89136 was involved in a serious accident.
The freshly-rebuilt engine caught fire shortly after take-
off, forcing a hasty, and heavy, forced landing. Thankfully,
the pilot survived, although not without injury. However,
the aircraft sustained significant impact and fire damage
though, necessitating an expensive rebuild. The P-47 has
already undergone a significant amount of work since the
accident, although there is much still to do. The CAF Head-
quarters have now selected the Southern California Wing in
Camarillo (CA) to complete the aircraft’s restoration. Due to
financial constraints, the project has been on hold for some
time now, but the aircraft has received renewed interest in
recent years, with a series of fund-raising efforts. Thunder-
bolt 44-89136 is not a WW II veteran as it arrived too late to
see service overseas, but it does have a fairly interesting post-
war service history with the Guatemalan Air Force. From
1954 to 1961, the fighter was flown by the F.A. Nicaragua as
GN-71, and then (in 1962!), sold to the Confederate Air Force.
Initially registered N478C, it later received its current regis-
tration N47TB. Its last colours were those of Thunderbolt ‘146
/ Lil Meatles’ Meat Chopper’.
Pat Rodgers, owner of Aircraft Restoration Services at French
Valley Airport in Murrieta (CA), offers a very rare Martin
B-26 Marauder for sale. Advertised through Platinum Fight-
ers, it is one of the rarest of US WW II bombers, with just a
handful of complete survivors in the world. So it is all the
more remarkable that a substantial project has become avail-
able for restoration to flying condition. The project is based
around the fuselage and wing components of combat veteran
B-26 Marauder 40-1370, with additional components from
B-26 40-1381. An additional cockpit section, believed to come
from B-26B 41-31748, is also included in the project. Compo-
nents of ‘1370 and ‘1381 were recovered by the Hill Aerospace
Museum in Ogden (UT) from their wartime dump site in King
Salmon (AK) in 2000. They had planned to rebuild a whole
B-26 from the components. After sitting on the project for
sixteen years, they decided to part with it in 2016 and sold it
to Pat Rodgers. Both of the Alaskan Marauders served with
the 73rd BS of the 28th Composite Group, and were lost at
the same location, on the same day. Currently, there are no
flying examples of the Marauder, although Kermit Weeks’
long-dormant B-26 40-1464 (N4297J) at the Fantasy of Flight
Museum in Polk City (FL) is potentially airworthy.
The Air Mobility Command (AMC) Museum at Dover AFB
(DE) has received the last parts of a newly acquired KB-50
Superfortress. The new exhibit is 49-0389, which was origi-
nally built by Boeing as a B-50D bomber and delivered to the
USAAF around 1949. During its service life it was converted to
a KB-50 variant carrying auxiliary fuel tanks and a hose pod
under the wings. In 1958 it was again modified, this time to a
KB-50J refuelling tanker which included the addition of two
turbojet engines. In 1965 it was flown to Wright-Patterson
AFB in Dayton, where it became part of the USAF Museum
collection. It remained at the museum until 1996, when it
was loaned to MacDill AFB in Tampa (FL) With the arrival of
the KB-50 tanker, the AMC museum has filled another gap in
their collection.
Very soon, the American Airpower Museum will welcome its
latest stablemate, North American P-51D 44-63542 (N51HR).
The legendary Mustang ‘Jacqueline’ will soon head east from
California and be taking to the air over the skies of the New
York Metro area. It will carry a temporary paint scheme,
representing an aircraft flown by the 339th Fighter Group,
until more of its WWII history is researched. N51HR used to
be flown as ‘Sizzlin Liz’, a P-51D Mustang as was flown by
Major Gerald Emerson ‘Monty’ Montgomery He flew a P-51D
Mustang with serial 44-14119 with the 334th Fighter Squad-
ron, 4th Fighter Group, USAAF. Montgomery destroyed 17.5
Luftwaffe aircraft (3 aerial and 14.50 ground) This spring
the American Airpower Museum will decide on a new paint
scheme for N51HR.During an expedition in the Coral Sea, the long missing
wreckage of the American carrier U.S.S. Lexington has been
found. Using a remotely controlled submarine, the Petrel, the
ship was discovered on the bottom of the, at that point, three
kilometres deep sea. The carrier had disappeared after it was
bombed by Japanese aircraft and sank on 8 May 1942. The
Lexington was carrying 35 aircraft when it went down. The
search team said that eleven planes had been found including
Douglas TBD-1 Devastators, Douglas SBD-3 Dauntlesses and
Grumman F4F-3 Wildcats. The project was founded by well-
known warbird collector Paul Allen.
credits: Flypast, WarbirdsnewsThanks to David Whitworth we can show you how Supermarine Walrus G-RNLI looks like. It is seen here shortly after its arrival at Duxford on
23 March. It surely is the first appearance of a Walrus in Scramble ever!