Fouga Magister 216 is back

[Tony Kearns]

Hi GttC,
It's fine when an aircraft is given/donated or purchased to and by a responsible person/group as in the case of the 177 and 178. The five Spitfires are other examples. In the case pf Dublin Airport it was vandalism by the suits. I was involved with a number of serious enthusiasts at the time and we were treated like little boys (go away and play with your airfix models ). I am sure short finals can confirm some of what I say. It is interestiong to follow the career of Vampire 185, this went to the French Air Force museum but now is in the collection of a private museum, now how did this occur? This is what happens. Luckily the aircraft and artifacts were recovered from DAP.
Regards
Tony K

[Irish251]

Tony, any idea what happened to the Aer Lingus Viscount nose/cockpit section (EI-AOH?) which was the centrepiece of the museum when it was housed in the terminal at Dublin?  

I also recall a sizeable section of the wing of a Dutch Sea Fury which was fished out of the Irish Sea and ended up at Castlemoate - did that disappear also?  Maybe it was just too far gone to be worth preserving.

I do think however that we have made advances in terms of preservation over the last decade or so and this should be recognised.  There is a greater awareness of the value of preserving our aviation heritage and at least it looks like one example of each significant Air Corps type is likely to be preserved - unless of course it has a resale value on the civilian market.

[GoneToTheCanner]

Hi Tony
I agree,but I am always wary of Government interference.If you look at how the US Navy have mishandled their relations with the collection/restoration community in the USA,with regard to wrecks being retrieved from Lake Michigan,then I believe that aircraft should be given out without spar-cutting or onerous conditions.If a civvie retrieves a pile of junk, at his cost,then he should be allowed to restore it without conditions being imposed.If an AF wants to keep something because it's rare,that's fair enough.(Anson/Maggie) but the world is not running short of Fougas or Chipmunks.
Apart from all that,I'll join you in the Museum for a spot of restoration work any time you like!
regards
GttC

[John K]

Hi Tony,
I'm not disputing your knowledge, but are you sure of the date for 221 arriving? I remember the Transalls arriving to take the Vampire away (I've got photos similar to yours taken on my 110 Kodak!-a bit faded now!) It's just that as an apprentice from '77-'78 I was specialising on the Fouga and we put the perspex panels over the air brakes, etc. only we had to drill out all the screws as we were told our seniors had overtightened them to give us something to do when it was our turn! That means they must have been taking 221 apart from '76-'77?
As for the ex RAF Vampire, that was 6 of us from my apprentice class who re-built it from a load of bits-it's still got my initials painted in the wheel well! OOps! 'hope they don't paint over them and wipe out a bit of history!

[Tony Kearns]

Pilatus asked about aircraft in the museum .
Chipmunk 168 and 164,
Vampire 198 but going to Collins Bks. later. 191 dismantled
Miles Magister 34 also going to Collins Bks. later
Provost 183
Fouga Magister 219, (216 just arrived back)
Marchetti SF260 WE 229 (don't know for how long)
Wright Flyer replica
Alouette III 202
Alouette III instructional airframe
Avro XIX 141
Chipmunk fuselages 172 and 199
Fouga (221) 3K-E instructional aircraft dismantled
Provost wings for Provost 190
Chipmunk wings
Engines;
Leonides
Cheetah
DH Gipsy Major
Gipsy Queen
Napier Dagger (Hector aircraft)
RR Merlin 66
Goblin
2 Bofors AA Guns
Timony Fire engine
Radar Vehicles
Cessna used for charity push
2 Link trainers
and lots of exhibits of aeromilitaria
What have I forgotten??? must not forget Mick Whelan
Tony K

[Irish251]

I saw two French Transalls together at Baldonnel on 30 July 1976 - were those Magister-related, perhaps?

[Tony Kearns]

Hi John,
 Hands up! You are quite correct.I was about 6 months out ,it was actually delivered by Noratlas on  18 Sept 1975.
Got this photo of  Noratlas just after it landed.
Now where is the Dixie???
Tony K

[Tony Kearns]

Noratls image

[Fouga]

Goblin? Cheetah?

[pilatus]

that noratls looks like an iai arava.is that were the idea for the arava came from?

[GoneToTheCanner]

Hi Fouga
The Goblin was the engine fitted to the Vampire. The Cheetah was fitted to the Avro Anson.
Pilatus, the Noratlas was probably a copy of the Fairchild C-82 and C-119.The Noratlas had Bristol Hercules engines.
regards
GttC

[pilatus]

i would say this aircraft is were IAI got the idea for the shape of the arava.look at the similarities!

[pilatus]

you would think the same company built them!except the arava is a little shorter!

[GoneToTheCanner]

Hi Pilatus
You could well be right.It is simpler to build a twin-boom structure than a ramp-in-tail structure like the Casa, the downside being that it leaves a short cabin structure and requires seperate ramps.
regards
GttC

[RMR]

The Israelis did use the noratlas so they probably did take the design from it.The arava is similar in looks....it uses similar engines to the pilatus  p&w  pt6a's...