Our plane arrived from Burma!

John re the Macci confirm they made the seats safe, it wouldn’t be the first to get missed considering the time they stored them.

Seem to recall seeing a derelict Piston Provost in the states somewhere that you might stumble across!

Sorry I haven’t been on for a while, but I have been getting used to a new job, buying a house, moving furnishings and such to Las Vegas. I am in the process of moving ZK-PPP up here as soon as I can find a suitable hangar.
It is still in NZ and so are the parts. I have it maintained and it gets a monthly run-up to make sure everything is working. You can send me a message with a return email address and I’ll send my parts inventory. Maybe we can help each other.
Mike Dale here in the US has a source for parts and will almost certainly assist the cause. We do like these old birds.

PM me and we’ll see what we can do. BTW, let me know if you need manuals.

Percival P56 Provost TMk 53: UB232 – PAC/56/451

This is where I most probably get shot down in flames cos the memory ain’t what it used to be (30+ yrs have flashed by since I participated in WW 397’s rebuild to flight).

IIRC, the manufacturer’s plate is on the cockpit rear bulkhead. It probably is covered in paint and may well read PAC/F/451, the ‘F’ is for fuselage, but this fuselage part number was, I believe, utilized as Percival’s production number PAC/56/??? for each aircraft.

As far as I know, production ran to PAC/56/461 d/d 13/04/1960, to the Irish Air Corp[190].

Yep, . . it is indeed UB 232, confirmed to me today by the previous owner.:)

Thanks very much.:)

Provost Identity

Yep, . . it is indeed UB 232, confirmed to me today by the previous owner.:)

Hmmmm…. I was at the museum for a while today and took a glance around looking for identifying marks on our Provost, no luck.

I looked on the engine bulkhead, inside the various fuselage hatches, inside the cockpit.

The are plenty of ‘PAC’ numbers on the wings and empennage as well as the undercarriage parts but these look like that are part specific numbers.

Can someone please tell me if they know where to look on the fuselage?

Thanks.

We have in my image 2228 and 2232. 🙂

Mark

After a little digging around on the ‘net, i think I may have an ID for your Provost T.53:

UB-232 (c/no.PAC/F/451): Delivered to Burma as ‘1058’ later ‘2232’. Sold to USA in 1999. Currently under restoration in New Zealand.

Source: http://www.aeroflight.co.uk/waf/aa-eastasia/burma/burma-af-aircraft.htm#prov

Hunting Percival Provost Mk 53: Forty aircraft delivered in two batches from 1958 onwards. The Provosts supplemented and eventually replaced the Seafires and Spitfires as ground attack aircraft, and the last were withdrawn from use in the mid-1970s. Some survivors were sold to the USA in 1999.

As for our correspondent Captain Bombay, the thread he started about his Provost ZK-PPP can be found here: http://forum.keypublishing.com/showthread.php?t=108969&highlight=Captain+Bombay. He last posted 18 March 2012 and gives his location as “Las Vegas, Nevada, USA” (…a long way from NZ!). Still, you should be able to PM his via the aforementioned thread.

ETA: re-reading the above thread reminded me that Captain Bombay re-located to Nevada earlier this year (Feb 2012) and has applied for ZK-PPP to be re-registered N397WW (see here: http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=397WW&x=0&y=0) although the registration has not yet been taken up/formally applied to the airframe

Probably one of the several that came out of Burma to the US with the three Mk IX Spitfires and the single Seafire XV.

Mark

Cassville Missouri 1999.

It may be, I dont know, this one has been paint stripped but there is enough around the edges to indicate it was once painted green.

John Hill…

You should be able to establish the ID of your Piston Provost from the constructors number, which should should be somewhere on the airframe.

For example, the first Provost T.1 delivered to the RAF was WV418, which has a constructors number of “PAC/56/001”. The last one built (well, for the RAF anyway) was XF614, constructors number “PAC/56/322”

So, if you find anywhere on the airframe “PAC/56/” followed by a three digit number, that is the key to identifying the airframe

Oh, and by the way, there was a correspondent to this forum by the name of Captain Bombay, who flies a Percival Provost T.1, ZK-PPP (formerly WV397). May be worth getting in touch re sourcing of parts. Even if you do not intend to ever fly your Provost, it would still be worth getting in touch, as he may have (or know where to source) the “missing bits” (there’s always bound to be some!)

I have not been personally involved with the Provost and have not taken any real interest in it but as folks here are interested I will make a few enquiries and post what I find.

Thanks for the lead, NZ is not such a big place and I suspect there will be those among our group who are familiar with ZK-PPP but one never knows!:)

Probably one of the several that came out of Burma to the US with the three Mk IX Spitfires and the single Seafire XV.

Mark

Cassville Missouri 1999.

Our Plane Has Arrived From Burma!

John Hill…

You should be able to establish the ID of your Piston Provost from the constructors number, which should should be somewhere on the airframe.

For example, the first Provost T.1 delivered to the RAF was WV418, which has a constructors number of “PAC/56/001”. The last one built (well, for the RAF anyway) was XF614, constructors number “PAC/56/322”

So, if you find anywhere on the airframe “PAC/56/” followed by a three digit number, that is the key to identifying the airframe

Oh, and by the way, there was a correspondent to this forum by the name of Captain Bombay, who flies a Percival Provost T.1, ZK-PPP (formerly WV397). May be worth getting in touch re sourcing of parts. Even if you do not intend to ever fly your Provost, it would still be worth getting in touch, as he may have (or know where to source) the “missing bits” (there’s always bound to be some!)

Is that not the Brendon Deere Provost? If so, it has not been in Burma for a good few years!

Bruce

You are probably right Bruce.

To be frank I must confess I know nothing of the history of the Provost except that I know it has been in New Zealand for many years and the last 15 in this container (which has a rusted out roof). I understand it was delivered new to the airforce of Burma.

To my unpracticed eyes the aircraft does appear to be in quite good condition considering the time it has been stored and although the container leaked (which is unfortunate) it was well packed and prepared for storage.

Our museum does not fly any of our collection, except the DC3, although there are some that were in flying condition when they were put on display, the Beech Skipper and Auster recently flew here and the Spartan has done only a few hours since restoration.

Although there is no intention to fly the Provost (or the Aermacchi) we will not do anything deliberately that might preclude that in the future.

There is very little that can be learnt from the condition of the Provost that has much relevance to the Spitfires .

Is that not the Brendon Deere Provost? If so, it has not been in Burma for a good few years!

Bruce

At the risk of asking an obvious question – as I should really know the answer – what is the id/serial number of this Piston Provost?

Also, you alluded to the much-discussed “buried” Spitfires in Burma. Does the condition of your Piston Provost give any clues as to what state the Burma Spitfires (IF they exist…) may be in once they are unearthed?

Obviously your Provost has been stored in similar climatic conditions, albeit for 15 years and not 67 years; but it would be interesting to see how the heat and humidity of Burma over a sustained period (decades) affects the condition of airframes…

Great additions to your collection.

looks great