Rotary wing 'war birds'

I remember that from 2009 and the sign said something about it possibly flying this year??

I think one prob was lack of an Engineer, they had one but sadly he passed away, Although I worked on them, have licenses( none rotary) it was sooo long ago it wrote me out of it. I could if needed point someone in the right direction 😀

I’m surprised that no-one has mentioned what must be the smallest warbird in existence – namely a particular WA-116 autogyro, G-ARZB also known as Little Nellie.

In other words, US governmental aviation regulators are following the lead of British & European governmental aviation regulators, correct?

How much money and how much fun you can miss out on by buying an ex- military chopper.

Makes my head go around.

http://www.aircraftowner.com/magazine/read/can-you-rely-on-the-faa-provided-paperwork_107.html

The FAA is getting nuttier all the time.
I don’t know if it’s an anti-aviation push by the current administration or whether it’s just a bunch of bureaucrats trying to justify their jobs, but there have been other recent policies and proposals that are wel intentioned and probably okay for the air carriers but could severely damage the “little guys” general and historic aviation efforts.

How much money and how much fun you can miss out on by buying an ex- military chopper.

Makes my head go around.

http://www.aircraftowner.com/magazine/read/can-you-rely-on-the-faa-provided-paperwork_107.html

Yes..yes..it was a typo!!! I meant OH-6 of course.meanwhile G-MASH has just gone up for sale for a cool £85,000!!!!

Quite right, the info under the image states it is a Kawasaki 369HS. Also note the tall rear door openings, a true Cayuse has shorter doors and larger windows above. Miss Clawd was the mount of Hugh Mills, whose book Low Level Hell is apparently a darned good read.

… An outfit in Tauranga operates a Bell 47 in US Army colours and a Hughes 500 painted as Cayuse “Miss Clawd IV” (see here: http://www.airliners.net/photo/Kawasaki-500C-(369HS)/1539987/L/).

Interestingly enough, the markings are a combination of the Italeri OH-6 Model kit (right down to the 17340 and ‘Outcasts’ emblem) but missing the shark’s mouth…. not sure where ‘Miss Clawd’ came from… oh, and it’s obviously a civil Hughes (or Kawasaki) 500 – the long legs are the give-away.

OH-56

???:confused:

I’m sure its a simple typo 😉

Here in New Zealand we also have few ex-military choppers happily flying in civil hands and in military garb. We did for a while have a couple of Scouts still in camo, as well as an OH-58C Kiowa with the same sort of weathering you see on “professional” plastic models (some shots of ANOTHER Kiowa I was unaware of here: http://www.airliners.net/search/photo.search?regsearch=ZK-HPW&distinct_entry=true). An outfit in Tauranga operates a Bell 47 in US Army colours and a Hughes 500 painted as Cayuse “Miss Clawd IV” (see here: http://www.airliners.net/photo/Kawasaki-500C-(369HS)/1539987/L/).

However the RNZAF Historic Flight is set to receive a UH-1H and Sioux upon their retirement late this year/early next, so that’s a point for we “rotorheads” amongst the Kiwi airshow crowd.

G-MASH is a lovely looking thing….even though it’s markings and model are not correct for a true MASH-era machine.

I’d love a late model 47 with supercharger, wide cabin, the works.
It would be fun to play with in the nearby mountains.

…. but not the Cobra which may not make it if the State Dept refuses an export certificate. ( Flyng Bulls also has a Cobra ).

A very good candidate almost anywhere, as the former US Army -F and -S models are being civilianized – some already operate in Chile combating forest fires and the like.

I was under the impression that the problem with Skeeters was gearbox realated. Probably wrong but…

Iirc, the Shuttleworth collection were trying to get their Avro Rota autogyro flying but failed because of the unavailability of an airworthy rota head, I believe it was eventually sold to Kermit Weeks?

Some time ago I cheekily actually proposed that the Collection look at restoring their Rota to fly. It had of course been restored beautifully to static display condition. The Collection management carefully considered the idea, and I received a very nice letter after the next meeting. Without digging it out, there were several issues with an airworthy restoration, including the nature of the metal tube, wooden rib and fabric covered rotor blades, the difficulty of settling on one kind of rotor head with certification (the design having many ‘improvements’ over time) and that the Rota’s safety record with ground resonance etc was not of the best.

Some years later they restored it to ground running condition, and it was taxied at several shows, before, as you noted, it was sold to Kermit. It is currently suspended in the Fantasy of Flight buildings.

The Spanish Air Force Museum built a replica C-30 using the RAF Museum’s example on loan as a pattern, and for which the RAFM got a CASA Jungmann. The Spanish C-30 flew for a while and is now grounded in the Spanish Air Force Museum. That would have been the oldest active rotary-wing warbird type, albeit a modern built replica.

It would be nice to see a Sikorsky R-4 flying from there!

I’d also love to see an airworthy R-4. As John Boyle rightly points out the CAF’s R-4 is currently under restoration to static display as part of a youth education program.

http://www.warbirdinformationexchange.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=38532

The coordinator sent me some photos of the initial work, and while not an airworthy restoration, it’s good to see it under rebuild and great to see young people getting involved.

Regards,

Probably a little guilty of Thread creep here, but thought this would emphasise that Westland were in at the beginning, when it came to armed helicopters (Warbirds?)

OH-56

???:confused:

Probably a typo for:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_OH-58_Kiowa

It couldn’t be a typo for AH-56, as all 4 survivors are displayed at US Army forts:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_AH-56_Cheyenne

The Jim Wilkie Whirlwind 7 G-AYXT was flown on a couple of occasions by her former owner Graham Hinkley in Norfolk . He acquired the former Queens Flight HCC.12 but on inspection corrosion was found on the tailboom which despite the best efforts couldnt be resolved. Due to the difficulty in finding spares for the type and the possibility of them ending up with an unsuitable owner I entered into negociations with Elphan which resulted in the two Whirlwinds joining the museum with Scout XV123 and Wasp XS463 leaving . Transport was provided very generously by Bristow Helicopters.

Thanks Heli1, good to know the Sycamores have found a good home and that one might yet fly again. 🙂

[QUOTE=heli1;1668321] OH-56 QUOTE]

???:confused:

Ok plank wings….The Swiss Sycamores are in Austria now with Flying Bulls,with at least one being restored to flying condition,the Skeeters are all grounded due to the CAA wanting fatigue data (that doesn’t exist) on the main rotorheads ,Roger Windley’s Whirlwind 12 went to a consortium and then to Elfan ApRees who has loaned it to the Helicopter Museum,Wilkie’s Whirlwind 7 went the same route ,The Weesex 2 at Biggin is one of several thre but the CAA wont give it a permit to fly, and Phil does have the OH-56 and Huey in country but not the Cobra which may not make it if the State Dept refuses an export certificate. ( Flyng Bulls also has a Cobra ).