News

News

Wright in Italy

THE 76TH ANNIVERSARY of the Italian Air Force was celebrated at the Centocelle Airbase in Rome on April 30. Among the aircraft on show were the Italian Air Force Museum’s Macchi M.29 fl oatplane racer from Vigna di Valle, and Giancarlo Zanardo’s Wright Flyer replica, below, which was built in 1989 and has been on show at the San Siro racetrack in Milan since 1991.

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B.E.2 gets wings

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Tel: 020 3148 4104 E-mail: newsaero@ipcmedia.com Write: Aeroplane, Blue Fin Building, Southwark Street, London SE1 0SU

Lizzie to fl y in June

STORY LABEL

Test pilot Bob Erdos taxies the

CWH Lysander during the

summer of 2008.

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TARGET TUG REBUILT

NEARLY 27 YEARS after restoration work began, the Canadian Warplane Heritage (CWH) Westland Lysander IIIA is expected to fl y again during June at Hamilton, Ontario. The former Royal Canadian Air Force target tug, RCAF 2363/C-GCWL, was recovered from a farm in Saskatchewan during the

1970s. The rebuild began with the The Friends of the CWH at Niagara Falls in 1982. It moved back to Hamilton in late 1996.

The pilot for the fi rst fl ight will be Rob Erdos, who regularly fl ies the Vintage Wings of Canada (VAC) Hawker Hurricane IV at Gatineau, Ontario. The VAC’s own Lysander, RCAF 2365, is also expected to return to the air this year.

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For more news and extras go to: www.aeroplanemonthly.com

Lewis bags his fi rst bomber

B-25 CHANGES HANDS

TEXAS-BASED WARBIRD collector Rod Lewis recently added North American B-25J Mitchell N43BA to his growing collection. It is his fi rst bomber, and was formerly based at the Tillamook Air Museum in Oregon. The aircraft is now at Chino with Aero Trader for Inspection and Repair As Necessary (IRAN) work. The bomber will be fi tted with authentic military equipment, and a unique paint scheme is currenly being planned.

EXACTLY 40 YEARS after it was originally rolled out, Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2c replica G-AWYI was trial-rigged at Sywell Airport on March 24. The Gipsy Major-powered machine was constructed by Charles Boddington for fi lm work in 1969, and achieved fame in the mid-1970s in the BBC TV series Wings. Charles’s son Matthew Boddington and Steve Slater are restoring the aircraft, and hope to have it fl ying by the end of the summer.

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Transalls cut

EIGHT FORMER SOUTH African Air Force (SAAF) Transall C-160Z freighters were being scrapped at Waterkloof AFB, Pretoria, during early April. The SAAF retired the type in 1995, and all attempts to sell them to civilian operators have failed.

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Wanted, new blood! Steve Slater discusses the clear and present danger facing the historic aircraft world — the lack of qualifi ed young engineers

IT IS PERHAPS inevitable that heritage activities principally attract people of more mature years. Thankfully there is no shortage of younger pilots who are keen to convert on to older aircraft types, often as a diversion from their chosen career path with airlines.

However there is a ticking timebomb. Just as in the earliest years of the Historic Aircraft Association, the amount of new engineering blood being attracted — and, more importantly, being properly trained — to work in historic aviation is at an all-time low.

In the past, the HAA challenge was to ensure that “fi rst generation” skills gained in the original operation of types were handed down or properly recorded. However the second generation that was thus trained is also now maturing and the aircraft restoration industry is fi nding that fewer younger engineers are now available to take over.

Armed Forces legacy A signifi cant number of historic aircraft engineers learned their core skills while employed in the Armed

ABOVE The HAA’s chairman, Capt Wally Epton.

ABOVE HAA press offi cer Steve Slater.

Forces. Top-class apprenticeship schemes proved capable of taking young people of all backgrounds and moulding them into roles ranging from electricians, engine fi tters and airframe riggers to, as in the case of ex-“Halton Brat” HAA President Cliff Spink, the rank of Air Marshal. He, of course, now continues to display iconic aircraft such as the Spitfi re and F-86 Sabre.

The RAF today offers far fewer trade opportunities, subcontracting much of its maintenance to outside civilian operations. As these contracts are usually relatively short-term, there is little incentive for the contractors to offer old-style apprenticeships.

Likewise, despite Sir Alan Sugar’s recent TV advertising campaign, the traditional fi ve-year engineering apprenticeship is now almost impossible to fi nd. Even industry names such as Rolls-Royce and BAE Systems offer only limited opportunities.

Now the good news . . . At a volunteer level, organisations such as the British Aviation Preservation Council (BAPC) offer a selection of courses in the skills required to restore and conserve historic aircraft. Initiatives

AEROPLANE JUNE 2009