Volume 27, Number 2 November 2015 – January 2016
The latest issue of Flightpath magazine is now out! On the cover is the Historic Aircraft Collection’s Hurricane Mk XIIa 5711 (G-HURI). For the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain it was repainted as P3700 a Hurricane MkI of No 303 (Polish) Sqdn. Picture: Philip Makanna, GHOSTS.com
What's inside?
“We are lost”
Michael Claringbould tells the tragic tale of the disappearance of a Free French Air Force Blenheim in the desert of North Africa.
Victorian & Interstate Airways Ltd
From the archives of the Aviation Historical Society, Roger McDonald’s story of the Essendon-based airline formed in 1936.
Freda Mary Thompson
Neil Follett’s story of an Australian aviation pioneer who in 1933 became the first woman in the British Empire to hold an instructor’s rating.
Recovering Lacy Smith and his Spitfire
Alf Batchelder and Andy Wright pay tribute to Henry Lacy Smith and examine the RAAF Museum’s conservation of his Spitfire.
Avro Cadet
Mike Shreeve looks at Kermit Weeks’ ex-Australian Avro 643 Cadet II at his Fantasy of Flight facility in Florida.
The last Metalplane
Philip Makanna of GHOSTS .com presents a pictorial portrait of the last flying Hamilton Metalplane
Wildfire Bombers
Roger Cain looks at some of the modified old military and propliner aircraft used to help control the wildfires in North America.
Martian Twilight?
James Kightly brings us up to date with the Coulson Group’s Martin Mars water bombers in Canada, including an interview with Wayne Coulson.
Hercules and Thor in Australia
James Kightly outlines the current use in Australian bushfire fighting of two historic, rare versions of the perennial Hercules family.
A Fateful Ferry
Andy Wright details a WWII flying accident that would continue to affect the pilot for decades to come.
Unwelcome Intruder
Michael Claringbould reviews Rikujoh teisatsu-ki, an obscure type that scoured Australian skies from Katherine to Cairns in WWII.
Fly low, fly fast, turn left … in a jet
For the past fourteen years, the fastest aircraft around the Reno pylons have been from the Jet Class. Editor Rob Fox reports on the Australians that have been in the thick of it.
‘Hoot’ Gibson wins at Reno
Roger Cain reports on the 52nd National Championship Air Race, won by retired NASA astronaut, Robert ‘Hoot’ Gibson in the P-51D Strega.
And the regulars
News
Poster
Personal Effects
Airshows