Left to right: Les Munro, King George VI and Guy Gibson on 27 May 1943.
Squadron Leader John Leslie “Les” Munro, CNZM, DSO, QSO, DFC, JP, the last surviving pilot of the “Dambuster raid”, passed away on 4 August 2015 in New Zealand, aged 96.
Munro was born in 1919 and joined the RNZAF in 1941. He made a first tour of operations with No 97 Squadron flying the Manchester and later Halifax, in 1942-1943. He volunteered fo No 617 Squadron and joined the unit at its creation in March 1943. He was part of the famous raid against the Rühr dams on 17 May 1943, but was forced to return home with his anti-dam mine after he was hit by Flak over the Netherlands and lost all communications.
He took part in Operation Taxable, the plan to deceive the Germans into believing the Allied invasion was taking place in the Seine Maritime region rather than Normandy. Continue reading
Another accident occured yesterday in Great-Britain, with more tragic consequences. Kevin Whyman was killed in the crash of Folland Gnat XR538 he was demonstrating at the Carfest North show in Cheshire in the United-Kingdom. Aged 39, Whyman was married and had a young daughter.
He was a city worker and Cambridge University graduate, and one of the founders of the Gnat Display Team 2007.
He completed a flying scholarship with the RAF before studying Economics at Cambridge. He was a cox in the 1996 and 1997 Boat Races against Oxford.
The cause of the accident is unknown at this time.
Our sincere condolences go to Kevin Whyman’s family and relatives.
Supermarine Spitfire Mk IX MK912 (Photo Charlie Jackson (CC BY 2.0))
Supermarine Spitfire Mk IX MK912 was heavily damaged yesterday at Biggin Hill when it lost power shortly after take-off. Its pilot Dan Griffith managed to settle the aircraft down and limit the damage, and was only lightly wounded.
The Spitfire was seriously damaged but its owners have pledged to restore it to airworthiness.
A Junkers F13 at the Deutsches Museum (Photo Nuno Cardoso (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0))
Rimowa, manufacturer of aluminium and polucarbonate luggage, will build several Rimowa F13, based on the famous Junkers F13 of 1919, the world’s first all-metal commercial aircraft.
The first flight and certification should take place in 2016, and it is already possible to place an order for these aircraft. Some safety modifications will distinguish the Rimowa F13 from the original Junkers F13, including changes to the 450 hp Pratt & Whitney 985 engine, braked gear system and improved tail unit.
W5856 in 1993 (Photo Andrew Thomas (CC BY-SA 2.0))
The oldest surviving Fairey Swordfish Mk I, W5856, has returned to the skies after twelve years of absence. The aircraft was mostly restored by the team of engineers on the Royal Navy Historic Flight based at RNAS Yeovilton.
The aircraft, which made its maiden flight in 1941, has been repainted in the colour scheme of 820 Naval Air Squadron on HMS Ark Royal during the attack on the Bismarck in the Northern Atlantic in the same year.
David and Rick Bremner’s Bristol Scout replica flew last week. The replica contains original parts of Scout No 1264, which was flown by the Bremner’s grandfather with No 2 Wing RNAS during World War One.0
WWI aircraft pilot Gene DeMarco was at the controls for the two maiden flights, which went well and lasted five and twelve minutes.
A “Bébé Jodel”. (Photo Aerofossile2012 (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0))
Jean Delemontez passed away on 7 July 2015 aged 97. He was a French air force mechanic during the Battle of France, working on the Morane-Saulnier MS.406. After the war, he went to work with his father-in-law Edouard Joly. The first Jodel (JOly et DELemontez) aircraft flew in 1948: the D-9 “Bébé Jodel” (Baby Jodel).
He later worked with Pierre Robin, and their collaboration gave birth to some of the best French light aircraft: Ambassadeur, Sicile, Sicile Record, DR-253 and later the famous DR-300 and DR-400 series…
Jean Delemontez’s funeral will be held on Friday the 10th of July at 3:00 PM in Saint-Georges des Coteaux, France.
During World War II, the increase in aircraftengine power led to the development of high-octane rating fuels to delay the apparition of “engine knock”. At the beginning of the war, most air forces used aviation fuel rated at 80 to 100 octane, but in 1945 more efficient fuels with octane ratings of 100 to 150 were commonly used.
With the advent of jet propulsion, such fuels became rare, leaving warbird operators to use Avgas 100 which in turn limited the power output of engines.
The polish petroleum company Walter Aviation has announced that it will soon commercialize Avgas 115/145, as the size of the world’s warbird fleet has made such a venture economically feasible.
A Supermarine Seafire on HMS Illustrious in February 1943. (Crown Copyright)
Supermarine Spitfire Mk III PP972 made its first post-restoration flight on Monday, June 15 with Richard Grace at the controls. The aircraft will be presented to the public at the Flying Legends airshow.
Only four Supermarine Seafire are currently airworthy, with several restoration projects underway.
A very interesting video shot from the pilot’s helmet cam, showing the emergency landing of a TBM Avenger seconds before the flyover. What was initially thought to be smoke and fire prooved to be vapourized hydraulic fluid. Nobody was hurt in the incident, and the damage was repaired very quickly. The video also shows the lessons learned by the pilot and the conclusions he made. Well worth the watch!
Permanent link to this article: https://www.worldwarbirdnews.com/2015/05/30/cockpit-footage-of-tbm-avengers-emergency-landing-during-arsenal-of-democracy-ve-day-flyover/
Hawker Hurricane P3351 left the runway and ended on its nose in a landing accident at Dijon-Darois Sunday afternoon. Reportedly, nobody was injured in the accident. The aircraft had taken part in the large airshow in La Ferté-Alais on Saturday and Sunday.
The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight’s Avro Lancaster suffered an in-flight fire on its #4 engine during a training flight on May 7. The crew managed to land the aircraft safely at RAF Coningsby.
The extent of the damage suffered by the aircraft is unknown but it will not be able to participate in the commemorations for the 70th anniversary of VE-Day.
Curtiss P-36C Hawk N80FR at the Planes of Fame Airshow in 2015. (Photo Woodys Aeroimages (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0))
Curtiss P-36 Hawk s/n 38-210 N80FR of The Fighter Collection flew again a few days again and made its first public appearance at the Planes of Fame Airshow 2015. It is now headed for Europe and will be presented at Duxford’s Flying Legends airshow in a few weeks.
This is one of only two airworthy Curtiss Hawk aircraft in the world today, the other being the Curtiss Hawk 75 in French colours, also operated by Stephen Grey’s TFC. The restoration was headed by Matt Nightingale in Chino and lasted 4 years. The first flight was carried out by Steve Hinton.
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