Warbird News

Threads about the world of aviation outside of airshows. General aviation, airlines, spotting, etc.
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Post by n33d4sp33d_85 » Tue Mar 02, 2021 4:02 pm

The Royal Australian Air Force(RAAF) No. 100 Squadron will be re-formed as the Air Force Heritage Squadron, operating from two locations RAAF Base Point Cook and Temora ahead of centenary commemorations of the service.
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Post by n33d4sp33d_85 » Tue Mar 02, 2021 10:06 pm

Sad news from MCAS Miramar, California.
The Flying Leatherneck Aviation Museum will close its doors

Due to budgetary constraints The Flying Leatherneck United States Marines Corps Aviation Museum at MCAS Miramar (CA) will permanently close on 1 April 2021.

The annual cost of approximately $400,000 is paid for by MCAS Miramar. The based commander, Col Charles Dockery, unfortunately had to decide that due to budget constraints these funds will no longer be available.

The museum was established in 1989 on the grounds of MCAS El Toro (CA). When this air station was closed as part of the Base Realignment programme in 1999, the museum moved to MCAS Miramar (CA).

Annually about 35,000 people visit the museum. The last ten to fifteen years, the museum was struggling to come to an agreement with the commanders of the air station on absolving the Marines Corps of the overhead. Negotiations failed and now it was announced that the budget is required for higher-priority missions.

The museum staff states that forty historical aircraft and helicopters in various states of preservation are present at the museum. All represent the rich aviation history of the United States Marines Corps from the Second World War to today.

We probably do no justice to the collection by not naming them all, but some of the aircraft on display are a B-25J Mitchell, FM-2 Wildcat, F4U-5NL Corsair, A-4F Skyhawk, TA-4J Skyhawk, A-6E Intruder, RF-4B Phantom, F-4S Phantom, F-5E Tiger II, RF-8G Crusader, F9F-2 Panther, EF-10B Skynight, F/A-18A Hornet, AH-1J Cobra, UH-1N “Huey” Iroquois, CH-53A Sea Stallion, AV-8A Harrier and OV-10D Bronco.

The most recent addition is an EA-6B Prowler which was added to the collection on 4 February 2014. Arguably the most unique aircraft on display is an Iraq air force Bell 214ST which was captured by US Marines during the 1991 Gulf War.

It is not yet clear what will happen to the aircraft and other artifacts on display. In the press statement announcing the closure the spokesperson of MCAS Miramar mentioned that discussions started with the San Diego Air & Space Museum and the USS Midway Museum. Also, the Marines Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego (CA) has expressed interest in putting an aircraft on display at their Navajo Codetalker exhibit. On the website of The Flying Leatherneck Museum itself it is stated that some aircraft are at risk of being scrapped.

The museum started an action asking the public to reach out to members of Congress and Marines Corps leaders in an attempt to overthrow the decision. The chance that this will be successful is very small, but hopefully we can report in the future that this article can be ignored and that The Flying Leatherneck Museum will not close its doors!
https://www.scramble.nl/military-news/t ... -its-doors
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Post by n33d4sp33d_85 » Fri Mar 05, 2021 3:38 pm

The Pima Air and Space Museum, near Tucson, Arizona, took delivery of a former Swiss Air Force Dassault Mirage IIIRS on February 22nd.
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Post by n33d4sp33d_85 » Sun Mar 07, 2021 7:46 pm

New Mustang for Flying Bulls

The Flying Bulls, owned by the Austrian Red Bull company, have added another warbird to their already impressive the aircraft collection.

The Bulls announced on 6 March that they have acquired North American P-51D 44-74427 F-AZSB (construction number 122-409676). This Mustang flies in the colours of the P-51D 44-74622 “Nooky Booky IV” with code "GA-C" as was flown by Major Leonard “Kit” Carson, top ace of the 357th Fighter Group with 18.5 confirmed victories.

The Mustang concerned was originally flown by the RCAF with serial 9592. It was taken of strength in 1958 and soon sold to the USA as N9148R. Two years later it was converted into a Cavalier Executive Mustang and registered as N2251D.

It was bought by North American Rockwell and flown by the famous Bob Hoover. N2251D crash-landed in 1965 and was badly damaged in an explosion in 1970. It was immediately rebuilt on both occasions.

After a number of consecutive owners the Mustang received the livery of 44-74622 “Nooky Booky IV” in 1994. The fighter was sold to Christophe Jacquard/JCB Aviation in France in 1998. Two years later Nooky was registered in France as F-AZSB and sold to Christian Amara.

It was flown for France Flying Warbirds of Melun-Villaroche and, more recently, for the SDPA - Société de Développement et de Promotion de l'Aviation at La Ferté Alais. With Nooky gone, the sole remaining F- registered Mustang has left the country, which surely will be very disappointing for our French friends.
https://www.scramble.nl/military-news/n ... ying-bulls
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Post by n33d4sp33d_85 » Sun Mar 07, 2021 10:09 pm

On 6 March, two Dutch aviation museums have reached an agreement on a historic Sud Aviation Alouette III helicopter. The helicopter concerned is former Força Aérea Portuguesa (FAP, Portuguese Air Force) FAP 9378 (construction number 1820). According to a museum spokesman, this Alouette was acquired in Switzerland, but is disposed of, because it has no ties with the Netherlands.

The helicopter is currently part of the collection of the Alouette Museum Barneveld in the Netherlands, but has now been sold to the Deelen Museum on the grounds of Koninklijke Luchtmacht (KLu, Royal Netherlands Air Force) Deelen airbase.

Owning an Alouette is especially important for the Deelen Museum as it was the homebase of the Dutch Alouette III fleet for more than thirty years. They were used by 298 and 299 squadron. The remaining Alouettes went to Soesterberg airbase in 1995. The first of the 77 was delivered in 1964.

In the coming months the new machine for Deelen will be completed in the Alouette Museum Barneveld. At the Deelen Museum the Alouette will be placed as a monument. It will remind of the important role of this reliable helicopter not only in reconnaissance and transport but even more during international peacekeeping missions like those in Iraq, Cambodia, Croatia and Bosnia.
https://www.scramble.nl/military-news/n ... ouette-iii
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Post by n33d4sp33d_85 » Mon Mar 08, 2021 4:20 pm

Avro Lancaster B.VII NX611 Just Jane is presently under restoration to fly, and here is the latest update on the team's work at the Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Center in East Kirkby, England.
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Post by n33d4sp33d_85 » Tue Mar 09, 2021 3:32 pm

For the first time in 15 years, the Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum will welcome a new aircraft to its collection. An F-117 “Nighthawk” is on his way to the museum.
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Post by n33d4sp33d_85 » Wed Mar 10, 2021 7:54 pm

Update Hamamatsu Air Base Museum

On 30 November 2020, we reported on the plans of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) Hamamatsu Air Base Museum or Air Park for additional aircraft to be put up for display.

Monday 8 March 2021 saw the start of the major re-shuffle in the main display-hall content of the museum. Part of the aircraft and helicopters on display were moved outside awaiting their future place in the museum. The next day two new display aircraft were towed to the museum to take their place in the main exhibition-hall. These are F-4EJ Kai Phantom 17-8440 with a 301 Hikotai badge and Kawasaki T-4 66-5745/3 in Blue Impulse colours. The T-4 will be part of a special, but maybe temporary, Blue Impulse theme area together with F-86F 02-7960 and T-2 59-5111.

Also on 9 March 2021, DH115 Vampire 63-5571 and Sikorsky S-62J 53-4774 were towed in the opposite direction for storage. Wednesday 10 March saw the other five aircraft and one helicopter being towed away for storage. These are: Beech 65 Queen Air 03-3094, Fuji T-1A 15-5825, North American T-6F Texan 52-0010, North American T-28 Trojan 63-0581, Lockheed T-33A T-Bird 71-5239 and Sikorsky H-19C 91-4709.

There was some concern that the eight aircraft and helicopters leaving the display-hall would be stored outside in the open. According to the museum all will be kept inside an on-base hangar until they will be re-displayed again. There are rumours that a new annex will be built but the deadline for such an investment passed in January 2021.

Although it was brought to Hamamatsu in 2020, there is no place yet inside the museum for the Mitsubishi X-2 Shinshin. Another Mitsubishi project, the mock-up of the F-2A will loose its red-white prototype colours and will be painted in regular F-2 camo.
https://www.scramble.nl/military-news/u ... ase-museum
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Post by n33d4sp33d_85 » Sat Mar 13, 2021 3:23 pm

New Canary flown in France

During the first weekend of March, a recently imported warbird took to the air at the airfield of Cerny-La Ferté Alais. It was the first time that this Naval Aircraft Factory N3N-3 trainer left French soil since it was imported from the USA.

The N3N-3 is usually referred to as Canary which could have something to do with its usual (yellow) colours during US Navy usage. The 1941 built aircraft (with code “707”, msn 3060) used to fly in the USA as N44877, which registration was cancelled on 22 October 2020. It was imported by La Ferté based Aero Vintage and assembled there.

The Canary is destined for a new owner (whose identity is unknown until now) living in Reims, France. As far as we know the new N3N is now the second of its kind in France. The first example, F-AZNF, has been at La Ferté since a number of years.

Although the N3N and the contemporary Boeing-Stearman PT-17 series were both flown as primary trainers, the Canary is surely less known. The Stearman was surely more popular and wider spread: almost 11,000 of the Boeing-Stearman PT-17 series were built, against 1000 Canaries.
https://www.scramble.nl/military-news/n ... -in-france
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Post by n33d4sp33d_85 » Mon Mar 15, 2021 6:54 pm

Following the recent announcement about the acquisition of the F-117 Nighthawk, the Castle Air Museum in Atwater, CA had a significant aircraft arrive on Friday, March 5th. The aircraft is a Grumman A-6E Intruder and is the last to have flown in the U.S. Navy.
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