Archive for January, 2007
Here’s Your Chance to fly a Real Messerschmitt Me-262
January 5, 2007 3:51 pm
Originally posted in Flight Journal Magazine
The Collings Foundation of Stow, MA, the flying museum that operates, among other things an F-4 Phantom, B-24 and a B-17 has announced that they are not only adding a Messerschmitt Me-262 to their fleet but we get a chance to fly it. There is, of course the minor stipulation that we have to make a sizeable donation to the procurement and support of the faithful reproduction of the famous German jet. In effect, we become one of its owners. It goes without saying that this is a once in a lifetime chance for pilots to experience the historic aircraft from the cockpit! Flight Operations Director Rob Collings explained, “The Me-262 embodies all the characteristics expected of an aircraft that changed aerial combat forever. The mere sight of the Me-262 struck terror in the hearts of all Army Air Corps aircrew that saw it in the sky; it was just so far ahead of its time! Never before has anyone had a chance to fly this legend and now they do!”
Training will take place in the dual control Me-262, an aircraft recreated to exacting standards from an original Me-262 trainer. This continuation aircraft offers all of the originality of the groundbreaking Me-262 with updated engines and safety equipment. The Me-262 carries a continuation of the original Work Numbers assigned during the war.
According to official Colling’s information releases, the Messerschmitt Flight Program will present academic sessions on the aircraft, including safety training and cockpit orientation, before participants take to the air in the revolutionary WWII jet fighter. The flight itself will be tailored to each student’s interest and capabilities. In addition to the thrill of flying the Messerschmitt, there is the possibility of fighter runs on the Collings Foundation’s B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24 Liberator. Each offers a perspective that no one has seen since WWII.
The Me-262 Project’s Sales and Marketing Representative, Gordon Page, explains “We have seen amazing interest from around the world bringing the Me-262 back to life. Now, a limited few will have the chance to participate in a collaborative effort of the Me-262 Project and the Collings Foundation. We are thrilled with the interest level that we have seen so far; people really want to experience flight in this legendary German fighter!” The Collings Foundation is offering tax-deductible donor positions for involvement into the ME-262 project. Only donors to the Collings Foundation’s Me-262 project will receive flights. They warn that positions are limited.
Page further says, “We already have donors lining up to get 30 hours of instruction for a type rating in this historic aircraft- a feat that few will ever have a chance to add to their pilot’s license”. For more information on how to participate in this historic program, please visit www.collingsfoundation.org or to secure a donor position please contact Rob Collings at 617.510.5237
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Fantasy of Flight: New in 2007
3:38 pm
Fantasy of Flight in Polk City, FL sent a little blurb about some new attractions and events for 2007:
“New and exciting events for 2007 at Fantasy of Flight will include “The Fun with Flight Center” for the kid in all of us, a new tram tour of the attraction (a guided journey of their otherwise restricted areas) and a brand new Audi Tour to begin in 2007 which will be an educational and entertaining look at 20 aircraft from their collection. New stories from new angles to engage the casual observer and enthusiast alike. There is also the New Wood Shop, Machine & Engine Shop and Sheet Metal & Assembly Tours where one can see where restoration specialists disassemble, restore and rebuild aircraft and engines. Highlights include an Original 1918 DH-4 B. Airmail plane, Seversky P-35, Grumman Hellcat F6F-3 and a Lockheed P-38L Lightning. Fantasy of Flight’s 10th Annual Mustangs and Mustangs Event-Legends Havin’ Fun will take place on April 14, 2007. This is the ONLY Mustang event that features both beautifully restored P-51 Mustang fighters from WWII and Ford Mustang automobiles in Florida. http://www.fantasyofflight.com/ 863/984-3500″
Posted by Ryan Keough
Originally received December 11, 2005.
Vintage Wings of Canada Press Release
Date: 11 December 2006Vintage Wings of Canada (VWC) in Gatineau, Quebec, is pleased to announce the acquisition of three airframes to the collection; a De Havilland DH-83 Fox Moth, a Curtiss Kittyhawk Mk IV and a Vought F4U-4 Corsair. These follow the Swordfish which arrived on October 31st.
The Fox Moth has been acquired from Sir Tim Wallis of Wanaka, New Zealand. It is construction number 4033 and is currently registered ZK-AEK. Originally built for the Prince of Wales (who later became King Edward VIII) in 1932, 4033 was later used in commercial service in New Zealand and was abandoned in Fiji in 1957. The aircraft was recovered and restored by Colin Smith from 1998 to 1993 in the authentic colours it wore as the Prince of Wales’ airplane. It won the award as Reserve Grand Champion Antique at Oshkosh in 1993. Wallis bought the DH-83 soon afterwards and took it back to New Zealand. The DH-83 Fox Moth has special Canadian interest since many DH-83Cs were built in Toronto after war production came to an end and before the DHC-1 Chipmunk started full production in 1948. The DH-83Cs were used extensively as bush planes in northern Canada. The aircraft is currently being shipped from New Zealand and is expected in the VWC hangar shortly after Christmas. There are no plans to change the paint scheme.
The Kittyhawk was built as a P-40N and is currently under restoration with Pioneer Aero in New Zealand. It is RAAF s/n A29-414, USAAF s/n 42-104827 and construction number 28589. This airframe was operated 78 Squadron RAAF. A29-414 crashed on landing in poor conditions at Tadji in New Guinea in 1944 and was abandoned. A29-414 was recovered and shipped to Pioneer Aero in 2001 and the restoration commenced. The project has been acquired by VWC and the restoration, now well underway, will be completed Pioneer. VWC estimates the arrival of A29-414 at the hangar in 12 to 16 months. VWC has decided to paint the aircraft in the markings of 260 squadron to recognize the remarkable exploits of Stocky Edwards who was a Flight Sergeant at the time and is now the highest scoring World War II fighter ace among living Canadians.
The Corsair is a F4U-4 with Bureau Number 97359, construction number 9513 and is currently registered N240CA. In civilian life this Corsair was used in the filming of the television series “Ba Ba Black Sheep”. It was restored by Pacific Fighters in Idaho Falls, Idaho, from 1998 to 2002 and won the Grand Champion award at Oshkosh. The aircraft will spend this winter at Atlanta and Palm Beach and arrival at VWC is expected in the spring of 2007.
Editors Note: This is the first of a weekly series we will be featuring to highlight special dates in military aviation history. We would like to welcome Tom Kwiatkowski of Rochester, NY as our special contributor for this series. Tom comes to us from the 1941 Historic Aircraft Group where he is the moderator of forum and message board there.
January 6, 1911
750,000 Indians watch a flying display at Calcutta by Henri Jullerot in his Military Biplane.
January 7, 1911
Lieutenant Myron Sydney Crissy of the United States Army, drops the first live bomb from an aeroplane when he conducts a test drop on a target in San Francisco from a Wright biplane piloted by Philip O. Parmelee.
January 6, 1913
The United States Navy (USN) uses aircraft on manoeuvres for the first time off Cuba.
January 6, 1931
The first formation flight across the South Atlantic, from Portuguese Guinea to Brazil, is made by ten Italian Savoia seaplanes led by General Balbo.
January 4, 1939
The German Air Ministry circulates a top secret paper, ‘Preliminary technical guidelines for high-speed fighters with turbojet propulsion’.
January 6, 1944
Lieutenant General Carl Spaatz assumes command of the United States Strategic Air Forces in Europe and Major Generaa James H. Doolittle takes command of the 8th United States Army Air Force (USAAF) in the United Kingdom.
January 1, 1945
Operation Bodenplatte: the Luftwaffe’s last major attack attempts to destroy the maximum number of Allied aircraft on the ground. 800 Luftwaffe aircraft are involved in this surprise attack and a total of 465 Allied aircraft are destroyed or damaged. More than 220 Luftwaffe aircraft are lost during the operation.
January 1, 1954
An Air Weapons School is established in Florida by the United States Navy (USN).
January 2, 1954
A new coast to coast record in the United States is set by Colonel Willard W. Milliken of the Air National Guard, flying a North American F86 Sabre jet and covering 2,530 miles from Los Angeles to New York in 4 hours 8 minutes.
January 1, 1956
The 5th Allied Tactical Air Force is established under the Allied Air Forces and includes American, French, Greek, Italian and Turkish airmen.
January 6, 1979
The first General Dynamics F16A fighter is handed over to the United States Air Force (USAF).
January 7, 1983
Marine squadron VMFA-314 at El Toro in California, becomes the first American unit to become operational with the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18A Hornet.
January 5, 1989
Two United States Navy (USN) Grumman F14A Tomcat fighters shoot-down two Libyan Mikoyan MiG23s over international waters. Libya claims that the aircraft were on unarmed reconnaissance duty, while the United States claims that the aircraft were potentially hostile.
January 5, 1995
Ben Rich, the designer of the Lockheed F117 Stealth Fighter, dies in Los Angeles aged 69.
Posted by Tom Kwiatkowski – 1941 Historic Aircraft Group
Thursday Night at the Movies: Awesome Wings of Freedom Music Video
January 4, 2007 7:32 pmComing to us from the Flight Coordinator for the Collings Foundation Wings of Freedom Tour, Jim Harley…
A little bomber action with Pink Floyd adding some ambiance…
[youtube]3tugXcJygow[/youtube]
Posted by Ryan Keough
How About a 1:1 Model Warbird?
4:57 pm
The Hornell Evening Tribune in Hornell, NY reports this week on George Lucas (not the Star Wars director) of Nunda, NY and his passion for building model warbirds… FULL SIZE MODELS! Mr. Lucas has been building these “works of warbird art” for the past 35 years using only basic materials like wood, masonite, and some creative uses for common household items.
His latest aircraft, a Japanese Yokosuka MXY-7 “Ohka” (nicknamed “Baka” or “stupid” by the allies) took a little less than a year to build. Using original drawings and plans and much as possible, as well as photos and illustrations, his replicas are very accurate on the outside, but are meant to be only accurate from that view. Inside, other than the cockpit, the replicas are nothing like the original, but still they look amazing.
Several of George’s planes are on display at the Planes of Fame Air Museum including a ME163 replica (click this link for photos), and his first aircraft, a Bf-109, is on display at the San Diego Aerospace Museum.
So if you are looking for an affordable warbird suitable for your living room, you might want to give George a call!
Posted by Ryan Keough
Enter to Win an F-4 Phantom?
11:31 am
A curious raffle was found by some astute readers at the Warbird Information Exchange (WIX). It seems that a McDonnell Douglas F-4C Phantom is being raffled off by an organization in Alamogordo, New Mexico, but it is a static display plane only. Take a look at the discussion at WIX to learn about the history of the plane and its curious story. From the looks of the website, the only way you can enter to win is by buying some F-4 merchandise… and a “travel voucher” of some kind.
There are some catches though… if you win it, you have to bring it home from NM yourself! And don’t think of flying it back either… this plane is for static display only and it is sufficiently demil’ed to assure it stays that way! I apologize to our readers in Florida and New York… you aren’t eligible… shucks!
Posted by Ryan Keough
Coming up this Saturday, January 6th, the Planes of Fame Air Museum will be holding its first monthly event of 2007 in celebration of the 50th Anniversary of its founding. Started on January 12th, 1957 in Claremont, CA by Ed Maloney, the Air Museum “Planes of Fame” has grown from a humble roadside attraction to one of the leading warbird museums in the world. Now located on the warbird-famous Chino Airport in Chino, CA, the Planes of Fame museum posesses a collection of nearly 150 aircraft at the Chino and Arizona facilities.
The January 6th event will also celebrate the dedication of its newest display hangar as well.
The event starts at 10:00 AM at the Planes of Fame Museum in Chino and will conclude with a warbird demonstration flight.
See more information in the Highland Community News article of January 4th.
Posted by Ryan Keough
In the Wilmington Star today, an article appeared announcing a new initiative by North Carolina that allows an assortment of non-profit organizations to offer special license plate designs highlighting their cause… and it includes the Carolina’s Aviation Museum as one of the over 150 that can be purchased now. The plates cost $10-$30 more than standard plates, but $10 of the cost goes to the NC Parks and Recreation fund and the remaining amount goes to the organization sponsoring the plate.
Already known for the “First in Flight” license plates, North Carolina is proving to be a bit more progressive in allowing people to show support for their favorite cause! Perhaps readers should consider lobbying their state to introduce the same kind of program… imagine Yankee Air Museum plates, or Planes of Fame plates, or even CAF Diamond Lil plates (because WIX members have shown how popular she is!). Now your support for an aviation museum can be shown with more than just a window or bumper sticker… because if you are like me, you are running out of room in both of those spots!
Posted by Ryan Keough
B-17 Aluminum Overcast Starts Tour in March
January 2, 2007 3:55 pm
The B-17 “Aluminum Overcast” operated by the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) will begin its nationwide tour in March, starting in Las Vegas, NV on March 30th.
Flight experiences are available aboard “Aluminum Overcast” during each visit. Discounts are available to EAA Members.
For more information, visit the EAA “Fly the B-17″ website and schedule at http://www.b17.org/tour/
Posted by Ryan Keough
Photo: EAA
