The Shuttleworth Collection’s Bristol Fighter. (Photo Kogo (GFDL))
From Aerodynamic Media:
Four newly discovered Bristol Fighters commissioned by a film studio will be heading to New Zealand after being acquired by a new owner.
The aircraft were among seven examples of the type originally built for the 1983 film High Road to China, but were subsequently written out of the production, leaving their whereabouts a mystery. However, this changed recently when all seven were located in a warehouse east of Los Angeles.
From Warbirds News: “The Collings Foundation‘s F-4 Phantom II is now the only flying example of its kind in North America. She took to the skies again in the capable hands of former US Air Force ‘Rhino’-driver Harry “D-Day” Daye at 10:50am local time on August 8th, 2017 from Ellington Field in Houston, Texas. Listed on the US civil registry as N749CF, the 1965-built McDonnell Douglas F-4D Phantom II once flew with the USAF as 65-0749. She is currently painted in the markings of 66-7680, a Phantom II flown by Col. Robin Olds’ during Operation Bolo in the Viet Nam War.”
From the Telegraph: “More than 20,000 wartime Mosquito engineering drawings and diagrams have been found in the corner of a wartime factory just days before bulldozers were due to flatten it.
The archive includes what are thought to be the world’s only complete set of engineering drawings for the plane, as well as details of variants that never made it off the drawing board.”
The drawings, on microfilm cards, have been donated to The People’s Mosquito, a charity hoping to restore and fly a crashed Mosquito.
As announced last month, the Boeing B-17G Flying Fortress “Shady Lady” has flown again and departed the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum in McMinnville, Oregon, to join the collection of the Collings Foundation.
On July 31st, the Bolivian Air Force’s Grupo Aéreo de Caza 31 retired the last four T-33 in military service worldwide, thus putting an end to the military career of Lockheed’s iconic jet trainer and light aircraft, which first flew in 1948. The T-33 served an impressive 44 years in Bolivia.
Nelson Ezell of Ezell Aviation and his passenger Dustin Mayfield were injured in an accident involving Hawker Sea Fury N254SF on July 25 near Stephen County Airport in Breckenridge, Texas . Details concerning the accident are unavailable, with conflicting versions being provided by media.
More to the point, Breckenridge American reports the following about the health of Ezell and Mayfield:
Ezell sustained serious but not critical injuries, while Mayfield’s injuries were less serious, according to the men’s wives.
The Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum has reported that the B-17G Flying Fortress “Shady Lady” (s/n 44-83785) recently ran its engines for the first time in 15 years. The bomber was acquired by the Collings Foundation in 2015 and should make its first flight soon. It will then be flown to the Collings Foundation in Stow, Massachusetts, and will join the “Wings of Freedom Tour” where it will replace the B-17 “Nine-O’Nine”, giving the latter the opportunity to undergo a major inspection and likely receive a new livery in the process.
The P-51 Mustang “Baby Duck” in 2016. (Photo JanetanPhil (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0))
Vlado Lenoch and his passenger Bethany Root were killed in the crash of the P-51 Mustang “Baby Duck” on Sunday, July 16 in Atchison county, Kansas. Vlado Lenoch was a respected member of the warbird community and a member of the Air Force Heritage Flight since its creation in 1997. Bethany Root was general manager at the Amelia Earhart airport in Atchison.
Our thoughts and prayers go to the family and relatives of Vlado Lenoch and Bethany Root.
The TF-51D “Miss Velma” made a wheels-up landing during the Flying Legends airshow at Duxford this weekend. It appears the engine failed shortly before landing and the pilot made the quick decision to perform a wheels-up landing in a field. The aircraft suffered damage but the pilot was unhurt.
In a separate incident, the P-51B “Berlin Express”, which recently crossed the Atlantic to participate in the airshow, had its Malcolm hood disintegrate during a low pass, damaging the tail surfaces of the aircraft. Fortunately, nobody was hurt in this incident either.
Permanent link to this article: https://www.worldwarbirdnews.com/2017/07/11/miss-velma-and-berlin-express-damaged-in-separate-incidents-at-flying-legends/
Mosquito TV959, a T Mk 3 of Paul Allen’s Flying Heritage & Combat Armor Museum made its first flight in the US since its arrival in late 2016. Video by Jason Fortenbacher.
John Travolta is donating his historical Boeing 707, part of a batch of 11 Boeing 707 delivered to Qantas in 1964. These were the first jetliners to be used by the Australian company and replaced the legendary Lockheed Constellation.
The aircraft hasn’t flown since last December and will reportedly require some minor repairs before delivery to HARS, which hopes to maintain the aircraft airworthy.
Permanent link to this article: https://www.worldwarbirdnews.com/2017/06/24/travolta-donates-his-historic-boeing-707-to-historic-aircraft-restoration-society/
Our Warbird Shirts have had some success, so we’re now expanding the collection to include more of your favourite warbirds. Our latest addition is the Spitfire F.24 shirt. This shows Spitfire Mk 24 VN489 of the Royal Air Force’s No 80 Squadron which was based in Hong Kong in the early 1950s. You can purchase the shirt on the Warbird Shirt section of the site or directly from Spreadshirt. Continue reading
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