Pieces of Australian aviation history restored in central Queensland

[FlyingVizsla]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-07/ross-smith-aeroplane-collector/7307752?section=qld

 

An impressive collection of aeroplanes sits locked in a hangar beside an airstrip in the remote outback town of Rolleston, three and a half hours drive south-west of Rockhampton.

 

 

 

With World War II training aircraft and the first all-metal plane to ever fly into Australia, this unique garage is filled with history.

 

 

 

Proud owner Ross Smith said his passion for planes had been inspired by his father, who was in the Royal Air Force.

 

 

 

After being taken for his first ride at 16 years old, he said he had never looked back.

 

 

 

"The following weekend I was at Bundaberg learning to fly," Mr Smith said.

 

 

 

His interest in restoring old planes came later, when he bought his first Tiger Moth in about 1986.

 

 

 

"I thought I'd love to have a Tiger Moth and I went looking for one, and finally found one in pieces in Victoria and started restoring it," he said.

 

 

 

"And it just sort of grew from that."

 

Ross has a number of planes including a 1947 Tiger Moth and a 1941 Boeing Stearman Kaydet & Lockheed Electra Junior. See the article for photos and more.

 

 

[pmccarthy]

Strange, the Lockheed Electra Silver City VH-ABH was in perfect gleaming condition fully restored when I last saw it on display at an airshow in Ballarat about 35 years ago. Must have gone downhill since.

 

 

[FlyingVizsla]

Here's the history of the Lockheed Electra now VH-ABH

 

http://www.adastron.com/lockheed/electra/vh-abh.htm

 

 

[pmccarthy]

Here's the history of the Lockheed Electra now VH-ABH

http://www.adastron.com/lockheed/electra/vh-abh.htm

1978 restored in original livery would be about right, how the years fly. Thanks.

My late father in law was mates with the original pilot when it was the Zinc Corporation company plane pre war.

 

 

[FlyingVizsla]

Ross often took the Lockheed to the Birdsville Races. I have been in VH-ABH. The cockpit is all original with the exception of some GPS kit and necessary bits to allow it to continue flying, mostly tucked away. Rolleston is the next town to Springsure.

 

 

[kaz3g]

I'm sure it's the same aircraft I saw at the old Dragues hangar at Wangaratta the other day when I peeked in the door.

 

Kaz

 

 

[kasper]

Ah Google maps - look up Drage Airworlds old hangar on the Wangaratta airport and low and behold there is a DH Vampire sitting out on the apron when they took the pic !

 

Started me reminiscing about chasing the PBY catalina on Mag research flights around Tatura/Dhurringile in the early 80's on a bike ... got to love 1:1000 fall flat lands with 1 mile grid roads ... off for a coffee to remember some more

 

And forget the fact that riding for 6 hours flat out around the place to watch a plane would quite literally kill me these days

 

 

[Oscar]

Kasper - chasing a PBY isn't THAT hard. I caught up to the AHRS one returning from the Canberra air show day several years ago, while maintaining legal speed on the Hume Highway!.

 

When Dick ( Sir Richard, later) Kingsland took 53 people out of Dutch New Guinea on board his Cat. as the Japanese advanced, he had to fly in ground effect all the way back to Australia, and it took him nearly 5 NM to get off the water. He reckoned he was most worried about bird-strike on the rudder...

 

Was that the Cat with the geomag set-up strung around it? I remember crawling through it at Essendon, years ago..

 

 

[kasper]

Kasper - chasing a PBY isn't THAT hard. I caught up to the AHRS one returning from the Canberra air show day several years ago, while maintaining legal speed on the Hume Highway!.When Dick ( Sir Richard, later) Kingsland took 53 people out of Dutch New Guinea on board his Cat. as the Japanese advanced, he had to fly in ground effect all the way back to Australia, and it took him nearly 5 NM to get off the water. He reckoned he was most worried about bird-strike on the rudder...

 

Was that the Cat with the geomag set-up strung around it? I remember crawling through it at Essendon, years ago..

Ummm I was on BICYCLE - 1 tubby teenager powered one at that ... but yep it was the stinger in the tail one based out of Essendon that was flying up n down all day working across the Goulburn Valley

 

 

[Oscar]

Well, yes, on a bicycle, you'd have to pedal pretty damn hard. Not beyond the realms of possibility, if the Cat was flying into a decent headwind, though.

 

A Cat is my ultimate 'escape machine' - if I had the resources to set up and run a Cat. as my floating motel room and tour the world's fabulous places, I'd do it in a heartbeat.

 

 

[Garfly]

I suppose you've seen The Last African Flying Boat, then, Oscar. Sounds like an adventure for you.

 

 

(By the way, I met Dick Kingsland [his daughter is a friend]. He had many other amazing flying boat stories. He flew bombing missions over Japanese held Rabaul in Cats. They flew all night from Port Moresby. As they got close they had to go down to wave top level before climbing again over the target using the Catalina as a kind of dive bomber! Then there was the amazing story where he and his Sunderland crew were captured in Vichy controlled North Africa on a special diplomatic mission out of Britain that went wrong. They overpowered a guard, shot their way out of jail, highjacked a launch and returned to their aircraft at anchor in the harbour and hastily took-off pursued by the enemy. I think he said they knocked off one of their wing floats during that getaway but amazingly they managed it. What a war he had. )

 

 

[Oscar]

Garfly - all of that re Dick Kingsland is amazingly true - and the finale to the Sunderland trip with Gort was, he radioed ahead to Malta that they had a float missing, so they organised a PT Boat with some mattresses stuck on top of the cabin, which came up under his wing as he landed it and kept the thing from tripping on the wing when it slowed. Amazing stuff, and he and Ki were the most wonderful people to know.

 

Also, his brother ( I think it was) was sent to Rabaul after the war, to repair the wharf he 'mined' by dive-bombing it, and wrote back to tell him that the rumours (there were a few) that he'd missed the wharf were completely wrong, he'd blown it to buggery!.