Page 19 - Aviation News - September 2017

Trislander

Arrives at

Duxford

Guernsey-based airline Aurigny has
donated its last Britten-Norman Trislander
to the Duxford Aviation Society’s British
Airliner Collection. The distinctive three-
engine aircraft type entered service with
Aurigny in July 1971. Victor-Tango was built Trislander G-BEVT arriving at Duxford on June 21. Justin Ward
in 1977 by Britten-Norman at its factory at
Bembridge on the Isle of Wight and spent One of 23 Trislanders operated by the over 86,000 flights and spent 28,000 hours
its entire commercial ‘career’ with Aurigny. company. This particular aircraft completed in the air.

Sea Vixen Latest

Navy Wings is urgently seeking what it when the primary hydraulic pump failed in XP924 to flying condition will cost £2-3m
describes as a ‘white knight’ to help restore flight, the secondary pump did not go to full and will take between three and four years
its unique de Havilland Sea Vixen XP924 stroke as it should have done. The result was to complete. Navy Wings is hoping to
(G-CVIX) to flying condition once again. that it did not provide the pressure required to attract a major sponsor to underwrite the
After displaying at Duxford on May 27 it was put the undercarriage and flaps down.” considerable sums involved.
not possible to lower the undercarriage and It added: “We have now suspended The release stated: “The Sea Vixen
flaps and its pilot, Cdr Simon Hargreaves, the aircraft from maintenance procedures Appeal will remain open for those who wish
was forced to land the fighter ‘wheels- while we continue to investigate plans for to contribute, but it must be noted that if we
up’ at RNAS Yeovilton. Cdr Hargreaves complete restoration.” do not find a way to fund a re-build, then
was subsequently awarded a Green Sadly, the airframe’s overall condition this money will be used to support other
Endorsement by the head of the Fleet Air is more serious than first thought, as the Navy Wings aircraft, primarily the Swordfish
Arm, Rear Admiral Keith Blount. incident caused extensive damage to the and the Sea Fury T.20 now that the latter
A press release on the Navy Wings belly and structural frames of the centre has been re-built following her forced
website on July 25 said: “We now know that fuselage. It’s estimated that returning landing in 2014.”

Hunter Grounding Douglas A-20

Rescinded Found off Finland

The CAA has withdrawn the Safety Directive that grounded all An almost complete Douglas A-20 Havoc of the Russian Air Force
Hawker Hunters on the UK Register. This follows its findings that was recently discovered at a depth of around 330ft (100m) off
there were no airworthiness issues relating to the type that caused or western Finland. The light bomber was used by the Soviets under
contributed to the tragic Shoreham airshow accident, on July 6. the Lend-Lease programme during World War Two.
All Hunters will have to comply with enhanced maintenance and Following an assessment by marine archaeologists, it is described
inspection requirements and, following normal practice, secure all as being largely intact. The aircraft was discovered by a company
relevant permits and other approvals before they are allowed to fly undertaking scans of the seabed in preparation for laying underwater
again. The restriction on aerobatic manoeuvres by ex-military jet pipelines. The Havoc’s future remains unclear – although a salvage
aircraft, now including the Hawker Hunter, at overland airshows operation has not been ruled out, there are no plans to begin one.
remains in place. This means they continue to be restricted to Roger Soupart
flypasts and associated manoeuvres only.
P-40 From

The Deep

The wreckage of a Curtiss Warhawk was
recently recovered from the bottom of the
Black Sea by construction workers building
a bridge across the Kerch Strait. Described
as “substantially intact”, the P-40 is believed
to have been lost in 1943 during the Kerch-
Eltigen landings, one of Russia’s biggest
amphibious offensives of World War Two.
Recently recovered from the bottom of the
Black Sea, this P-40 is believed to have
crashed in 1943. via Roger Soupart.

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