.

Is the 1995 Canadian yard that of Wes Agnew? of Bolingbroke and Lysander fame?

regards

Mark Pilkington

Another interesting bit of information which graham told me was that there is a near complete Martin Mariner Fuselage some where near Lake Boga however they memorial isnt able to locate it at present, a number of visitors have told them of its existence as a shed! Does anyone know any more?

I have seperately heard of this item existing in Victoria, while pursuing leads on PBY parts, but it was’nt supposedly nearby to Lake Boga.

Interestingly the source of my information apparantly knew where it was, and was concerned? that the Lake Boga Museum was pursuing it, so there seems to be some correlation in the stories?

Given his concerns over the Lake Boga interest in “his” Mariner, I didn’t bother showing any interest myself given his apparant possessive attitude?, however I don’t believe he held any “ownership” other than it was in his locality, and didn’t want it recovered and removed elsewhere.

There is a lot of Mariner remains still surviving in Australia, two cockpit sections as caravans, a large section of rear fuselage in SA, the wing outer panels and fin at Moorabbin, a rudder at Ballarat? museum?, and this apparant large surviving fuselage section.

It would be nice if Lake Boga could bring them all together and create a composite outcome similar to their Catalina effort.

Regards

Mark Pilkington

Ross_McNeill Moving forward on a broad front.

The Anson nose now means that the T.21 is forging ahead of the Mk.I, behind the Mk.II with the Mk.IID still in the starting grid in the garage.

Ross

What exactly have you got of each Ross?

& does anyone know the future owners plans for the dissected winged Anson sold at the auction?

Regards

Mark Pilkington

As said by Dave, its nice that we are so readily div’ing up and allocating Mr Jackson’s replica Lancasters smiles, but two purposes that may have merit to extend the representation of the Avro type are:

1. A “Mark II” modified replica at YAM,
would require rework of the narcelles, cowls and engine/props for Hercules mock-ups, but YAM would seem capable of that in their stride? and would see a “Halifax” and “Lancaster” displayed together in only two places in the world.

2. A “Manchester” modified replica at East Kirby,
would require re-work of the wing outer panels to delete the outboard engines and rework of the remaining inboard engine and cowls, but would allow it and “Just Jane” to provide the types evolution story.

While Dave is correct that the owner will decide their fate, it is hoped they will have some lasting and valuable role beyond the film making? even if put on loan to appropriate museums for undercover display, and available for relocation and re-use in future film work?

regards

Mark Pilkington

Why though do we not hear much said about the Valiant?
1,475 fine flyers passed out on type, but it had been procured as Interim, crew and Units to roll into “proper” Medium Bombers. T.660 was deleted early in MoS’ June,1947 Bids Appraisal as no better than the funded Interim, Short Sperrin. Early delivery was unwanted as Blue Danube was in hand for 1956 deployment, matching (to be) Victor/Vulcan.

On 3/4/48 first Marshall Aid (ERP) $ arrived in UK, just as Berlin brewed (Blockade from May). On 14/4/48 Govt. Tasked Chiefs to arrest a Red thrust on the Luneberg Plain – till then we had no enemy. RR and V-A, at that time idle or worse, resurrected T.660+Big AJ.65 (the little one not then working) and committed (reputation, not money – such ideas had not then reached UK) to deploy within 1955. On 16/4/48 Attlee gave them some of our ERP windfall, for development, not production, to re-insure the already-insured “real” Medium.

Korea, November,1950. AWA still building (Abraham) Lincolns! US gives us B-29 Washingtons and, 9/2/51, half the money to order 25 Valiant B.1 NOW please! Good job done by industry: last of 107 delivered 27/8/57…but because it was a truck. Wynn (RAF Strategic Official History),P.371 has recognition that the type was vulnerable to MiG-17 (deployed 1953). It could even be intercepted by early non-reheat, blind Javelins. Its version of NBS had problems finding Suez airfields where brass had been based until a few months earlier (Wynn, P.131/2).

It remained in service after proper types arrived because:
– P.R (to be) S.R had been neglected, and: – K had been invented, so this platform could serve; and:
– Saceur came up with money and Bombs for it to replace TBF Canberra B.6. Fatigue did for it 9/12/64, because it had never been designed to fly low or often.

sticks a babel fish in my ear, reads it out aloud to myself but alas its still largely gobbledigook and RAF service/departmental jargon that I cant recognise? but I think theres a translation in there somewhere that it was an interim design ahead of the Vulcan and Victor, that unfortunately was easily intercepted, had poor navigation/weapons systems? and then suffered fatique due to use in a low level role it was not designed for?

smiles

Mark Pilkington

That’s realy not possible, because the only airworthy DC-2 is our Uiver DC-2 in Lelystad, The Netherlands. And if i may recall correctly.. It’s still in a bit of maintenance now.

Grtz.

TG1984

Unless it was this one > http://www.rbogash.com/dc2.html which was fully restored to airworthy condition for the Boeing Museum in 2007.

Regards

Mark Pilkington

I don’t think in the bigger scheme of things the aircraft is vastly important to the U.K . Anyone keen to see the type in the U.K can make the pilgrimage to
the Graham White building or South Kensington which are within a fairly short distance of Brooklands.

smiles,

if its not wanted in the UK, please post it to:

Mark Pilkington
PO Box 176
LARA 3212

But its real value is if it can be kept operational,

Regards

Mark Pilkington

Ross,

I think Lang was an integral part of the creation of the project, but obviously not the owner, and in anycase it moved on from its original purpose in anycase.

Rather than relying on third hand information and memories, there is a Vimy website that seems to answer all our questions?

http://www.vimy.org/vimyinfo/index.html

The British Vickers “Vimy” fully operational biplane replica shown here has endured some of the Earth’s most forbidding terrain and inhospitable climates — flying 30,000 miles across five continents and more than thirty countries. The Vimy was originally designed as a bomber for World War I. Just after the war, Vimys made three historic “first flights,” inspiring the development of long-distance aviation for a skeptical world:

The First Transatlantic Flight in 1919
The First England to Australia Flight in 1919
The First England (London) to South Africa (Cape Town) Flight in 1920
The Mission
The Vimy project has been created to inspire the pioneers of tomorrow by providing a vivid reminder that only the brave and imaginative being about progress — never the critics and skeptics! Our not-for-profit organization has a dedicated team of volunteers to not only keep this magnificent machine in the air, but to give lectures and slide shows to thousands around the world.

Without financial support from many individuals and corporations, this “galleon of the skies” would still be trapped in the dusty drawers of history. We hope you’ll help us continue this remarkable and historic spirit of adventure and exploration across the Atlantic and on to a lead role in the 100th anniversary of flight celebrations in 2003.

Movers & Shakers
Here’s a quick look at the movers and shakers who make the Vimy fly.

Peter McMillan: Founder, Managing Director
Peter, adventurer, businessman, history buff, pilot, aviation addict and loving father of 3, has been Vimy’s founder, sponsor, pilot and impassioned soul since 1992!

Where Vimy goes, goes Peter, often because of Peter – definitely a spiritual marriage of mutual need!

Lang Kidby: Vimy Atlantic Project Assistant
Peter McMillan was an entrant in Lang Kidby’s England to Australia Vintage Air Rally in 1990 where he and Lang became good friends. The pair came up with the outrageous scheme to build a 1919 Vickers Vimy and fly it across the world. With Peter managing the overall business and Lang the operational aspects, the Vimy flew only one year later!

Lang did the initial test flying, then he and Peter flew 14,000 miles from England to Australia. In 1999, he had an opportunity to fly the Vimy again in South Africa before disassembling it and sending it back to its home in USA.

Since then – Lang has kept himself busy with running UN convoys in Iraq, Road Rallys in Australia and in 2004, a memorial road trip from Jordan to Normandy in a 1940 Dodge Staff car. In 2005 he is embarking on a Beijing to Paris road rally, hopefully to hook up with Vimy in early summer, after its hoped for Atlantic crossing.

Building the Vimy
In 1992, Peter McMillan and his team organized a worldwide effort to build an authentic Vimy replica to relive the pioneering adventures of 1919-1920. Construction of the Vimy replica was led by John LaNoue. The project required thousands of pages of new drawings and more than 25,000 man hours of labor. Completion took 17 months from start to FAA certification in August 1994 — a remarkable testament to the team’s dedication and resourcefulness.

On these pages…
On these pages, you can learn the whole story about how the Vimy was built, along with other tidbits of information about building models of the Vimy. Click an article link on the left side of this page to view the story that interests you

Building the Vimy:
Part I: In the Beginning
by Miles McCallum

The genesis of the Vimy replica started when Peter McMillan, a young investment broker from San Francisco, entered the 1990 England to Australia Vintage air rally. Organised by Lang Kidby, an ex-Australian Army air corps pilot (with an RAF instructor rating), he was talking to Peter after he had “won” the rally in his Harvard.

“Wouldn’t it be nice,” mused Lang, “to do the flight again in a really historic aeroplane like the Vimy flown by Ross and Keith Smith in 1919…”

This caught Peter’s imagination: “I wanted to build a time machine and experience the world as a larger place, while reminding others of the debt we owe to the forgotten pioneers of the air who deserve a place alongside Magellan, Columbus and Captain Cook. They inspired the world to the possibilities of air travel, and should remind us that risks will always be involved in transforming dreams to real progress.”

The first step was to obtain a set of original drawings for the Vimy, so a worldwide search was started. That came up trumps in January ’93 when Bill Whitney of Aeronautical Designs Australia produced a full set on microfilm. He was commissioned to design the required stress analysis for a replica using modern materials and powerplants.

In effect, the Vimy replica is a new aeroplane, the world’s largest (and almost certainly the most expensive) homebuilt. The fuselage is made from 4130 steel tube instead of a wire braced wood truss, and is powered by a pair of geared-down Chevrolet big block V8s of 454cu in (7.4 litres) apiece. The wings and tail are much as designed by Vickers during WW1. What wasn’t changed, of course, was the external shape; in fact, extreme pains were taken to make it as authentic as possible.

By March ’93, the basic design was finalised and construction began on the tail and PRSUs (propeller speed reduction units), in Australia. By May, the wing design was completed, and a 15,000sq ft building obtained in Sonoma, California. A crew was assembled from the Scenic Artists Guild – craftsmen and women who usually build sets for the movie industry.

Like Lang’s rare Avro Avian restoration, the Vimy has moved on to other owners and outcomes, and the time to have kept it in Australia was when it was here.

Regards

Mark Pilkington