Flightpath - May 2018

FLIGHTPATH|

News

Lockheed twin

resurgence

Handsome Anson

A little known restoration project occupies what was once a

RAAF Base gymnasium. Alan Penhall, the curator of the

FriendsoftheAnsonMuseum,isintheprocessofrestoringan

AvroAnsonMk.Itostaticcondition.Heisdriventohighlight

the significance of the former RAAF Base at Ballarat, the An-

son aircraft, and the aircrew who trained in them. The RAAF

formed1WirelessAirGunnersSchoolin1940andBallaratre-

mained an active base for the next 21 years. Post-war, Ballarat

became the RAAF School of Radio until 1961 when it moved to

Laverton. At its peak, there were 72 Ansons operating out of

theairfield.Fifty-twoofthemweredisposedofforamere£

each in 1948.

The museum’s restoration of the Anson has been a long,

drawn out process. It’s been a challenge sourcing parts and

raisingfundsfortheproject.TheAnson’sairframeisfrom

LV284, but the nose belonged to LV298. Ansons and their parts

werescatteredalloverthecountry,inpeople’ssheds,onva-

cantlots,andforgotteninfarmpaddocks.Partsforthisproject

havebeendonated,swapped,barteredorpurchasedfromvari-

ous sources.

Ifyou’dliketovisittheFriendsoftheAnsonMuseum,which

includes a myriad of other RAAF artefacts, it is open on week-

ends from 1:00-5:00pm or via prior appointment. It is worth a

look,andoursupport,andyou’llfindyourselfspendingasig-

nificant amount of time perusing the collection.Phil Hosking

The Stockton Field Aviation Museum, at Stockton Municipal Air-

port,roughly100kilometressouthofSacramento,California,is

quickly becoming a haven for Lockheed’s famous family of twin en-

gine,radial-poweredaircraft.AC-60LodestarandasecondPV-

Harpoon(seepage36)willsooncallthemuseumhome.

TheLodestar(serial2322,NC6166),aModel18-56originally

poweredbytwoWrightR-1820-87enginesandoneofjust36built,

has not flown for several years and is currently sitting at Yolo Coun-

ty Airport, just to the west of Sacramento. It is a Howard 250 con-

version with, among other modifications, an extended nose and a

far more comfortable interior. Taigh Ramey, principal of Vintage

Aircraft, a specialist Beech 18 business based at Stockton (see

FlightpathVol.29,No.2),isleadingthechargetopreparetheair-

craftforitsferryflighttoStockton.

The Harpoon is also being prepared by Ramey’s team for its ferry

flighttoStocktonMunicipalAirport.DeliveredtotheUSNon

December1945,it(BuNo.37524,NL20PV)wassoonretiredand

saw some use as an agricultural sprayer. It was in this configuration

when Ralph Johnson (the former owner of the museum’s other Har-

poon)boughttheaircraftinOctober1986andhaditferriedtoSo-

noma Valley Airport, Schellville, about fifty kilometres north of San

Francisco.ItwasstoredtherewiththreeotherHarpoonsuntil

whenitwassoldtoEarlBenedictandflowntonearbyNutTree

AirportinVacaville.Youcan’thaveenough Lockheed twins!

Roger CainandAndy Wright

HO

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The Harpoon has been displayed outside the Jimmy Doolittle Center for several years.

Post-war, it was stored in Arizona at the same time as the Stockton museum’s restored

and lying Harpoon.[Roger Cain]

Anson LV284 on

display in the former

RAAF Ballarat Base

gymnasium. Note the

lovely, characteristic

cowling hanging on

the wall.[Phil Hosking]