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Showing posts with label douglas A-20 Havoc. Show all posts
Showing posts with label douglas A-20 Havoc. Show all posts
2016-03-09
2015-08-14
[wrecksnwrelics] Douglas A-20 Havoc first air-to-air pictures! [4 Attachments]
Thx Bob for sharing
Forwarded message - From: Glidingbob
Posted by: Steve Link
From: wrecksnwrelics
What a beauty!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This just in from TAH contributor, leading aviation photographer and Editor of "Air Classics" Michael O'Leary. The full story of the aircraft and its restoration, plus lots of exclusive photographs, will be in the October issue of "Air Classics" (see http://www.challengeweb.com/air-classics.html for more info).
Please share this post freely, but it would be much appreciated if you would mention "Air Classics" and "The Aviation Historian" when doing so, in order to give due credit. Thanks!
Here's the story to go with the pictures:
On 15 July, 2015, test pilot Stewart "Stew" Dawson gently pulled back on the control yoke and made aviation history as a Douglas A-20 Havoc took to the air for the first time in nearly a quarter-century. Impeccably restored by Aero Trader at Chino Airport, California, the aircraft is A-20G 43-21709. Owned by Rod Lewis of San Antonio, Texas, the Havoc served with the 46th Bomb Group — an Operational Training Unit (OTU) — located at Morris Field near Charlotte, North Carolina. It remained in the training mission until May 1945 when it was flown to Hill Field in Utah. At this time, the entire A-20 fleet was deemed to have little significance for the post-war USAAF and, with the end of the war, overseas examples were blown up at their bases while Stateside aircraft were flown to Reconstruction Finance Corporation fields scattered across the country for storage and disposal.
Havoc 43-21709 was at Searcy Field near Stillwater, Oklahoma, and it was part of 475 aircraft purchased by famed "Hollywood pilot" Paul Mantz. The aviator intended to scrap the majority of the aircraft (and make a large profit), but he kept a core of former warplanes, reasoning they would be useful in post-war Hollywood films. The Havoc was the only example of its type in this group and it was made airworthy and flown to Paul Mantz Air Services, Lockheed Air Terminal, Burbank, California, where it was registered NX67932.
On 28 November 1951, it was purchased by Glenn J. McCarthy — a self-made millionaire — who started working in oil fields as a roughneck at the age of 14 and worked his way up. McCarthy sponsored several aircraft at the post-war Cleveland National Air Races and had the Havoc converted as a fast personal transport with an executive interior and the registration N22M. Larger than life, McCarthy built a huge new hotel in Houston, Texas, named The Shamrock (an 18-story monument decorated in 63 shades of green) and then purchased Howard Hughes Boeing 307 to fly his more wealthy guests to the opening party. McCarthy inspired the Edna Ferber novel "Giant" and the movie of the same name.
McCarthy sold the Havoc in 1954 to Valley Hail Suppression association of Nebraska who apparently wanted to convert the plane for weather modification. This did not happen and the aircraft began to go through numerous ownerships, its condition constantly going downhill, before winding up with the irrepressible Isaac Newton "Junior" Burchinal of Paris, Texas. At the time Junior was operating the Flying Tiger Air Museum and flight school and giving ratings in Warbirds. Owner of the largest truck stop in Paris, as well as being the local preacher, Junior never got around to using the Havoc before he was nailed for drug running.
The aircraft went to William "Willy" Farah of El Paso, Texas. A wealthy clothing manufacturer, Farah had been a bomber pilot during World War Two and he brought the machine back to flying condition as N3WF, which flew again in 1974. This was not a restoration to today's standards, but a reasonable effort at making an airworthy Havoc.
Willy got into trouble with the IRS and donated the Havoc to the National Air and Space Museum. However, the IRS stepped in and grabbed the A-20 so it could be sold to benefit creditors. The aircraft became the property of the Lone Star Flight Museum in Galveston. It was purchased by an Australian buyer and moved to Aero Trader. Unfortunately, the Australian died and that is when Rod Lewis stepped in and purchased the A-20 and contracted Aero Trader to bring it back to complete authentic World War Two condition. This was a huge job since all military equipment had been stripped and the interior and structure modified for the executive role. It took six years, but Aero Trader got the job done, with an operational Martin 250 turret installed, working bomb bay, full armament, and all original wartime fittings.
As of 13 August, the Havoc had made four flights. Currently a Tokyo tank is being built to extend the type's limited range. Rod Lewis commented, "From what Stewart is telling me about the first flights, I am going to enjoy the flight characteristics. The A-20 represents to the collection [Lewis Air Legends] one the absolute jewels of what I am taking care to pass on to the next generation in order to show the world these amazing aircraft and to honour those that fought for our freedom."
The above article is by Michael O'Leary of "Air Classics", in association with "The Aviation Historian".
__._,_.___
View attachments on the web Posted by: Steve Link
2015-07-20
[Vintage_and_Warbirds_Pictures] A-20 flew yesterday
Forwarded message - From: Steve Link steven_
Posted by: Steve Link
This A-20 flew yesterday after coming out of the paint shop. Will be going to Rod Lewis to join his other beauties! I think they are going to try to make Oshkosh….
__._,_.___
Posted by: Steve Link
Aircraft of Australia Aviation Photography:
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Vintage and Warbird Aircraft of the World: http://www.vintageandwarbirds.com
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http://www.aircraftofaustralia.com
Vintage and Warbird Aircraft of the World: http://www.vintageandwarbirds.com
We hope that you enjoy these photographs, but please respect the photographers copywrite and don't re-publish or post these photographs without first asking the photographers permission.
Please limit your daily postings to 2MB or less to prevent problems for those with smaller mail box limits.
2014-06-27
Video Lorraine Group Medium Bomber Group
|
2014-05-09
2012-10-22
[vintage-and-warbirds] Out from the cold: 70 years after crashing in Canada, WWII plane finds its way to Casa Grande
Another miracle from Canada
Forwarded message From: SIRIUS
Out from the cold: 70 years after crashing in Canada, WWII plane finds its
way to Casa Grande
By SHELLEY RIDENOUR
Assignment Editor
Casa Grande Dispatch
Thursday, October 18, 2012 8:21 am
A new beginning to a 70-year-old story unfolded last week in Casa Grande
amid a crane, tugs, forklifts, and lots of moving parts.
Exactly 70 years to the day that a Douglas A-20 Havoc crashed as members of
the U.S. Army Air Corps were flying over Labrador, Canada, two semitrailers
loaded with that disassembled A-20 pulled up at the GossHawk Unlimited shop
and hangar near Casa Grande Municipal Airport.
"It's taken 70 years to get this here," said Bob Mester, a director of
Underwater Admirality Sciences, as he watched parts being unloaded from the
trailers and hauled inside the giant building owned by Dave Goss, president
of Goss Hawk.
The A-20's nearly 3,000-mile journey to Arizona was filled with bumps,
probably like those experienced by the pilot who was forced to crash-land it
on Oct. 10, 1942.
The World War II bomber ran out of fuel on that fateful day, on a mission
that no one associated with the recovery effort has been able to pin down.
The pilot, known only as Capt. Secord, crash-landed the plane. The crew was
rescued three days later by personnel from the Royal Canadian Air Force Base
at Goose Bay, but the plane had to be abandoned. No available records
indicate how many people were on the plane, but Mester and Mark Allen and
others have speculated no more than three crew members were aboard, and
possibly only two, because the A-20s were flown by a single pilot.
It's believed the plane hit tail-first, based on damage to the underbelly.
The nose of the plane was torn away and much was embedded in the bog where
it landed, according to a report written by Michael Deal of the Memorial
University archaeology department.
The plane sat largely undisturbed for almost 70 years until Mester and his
business partner, Allen, learned of it in 1998. It took six years for the
men to get permission to remove the plane.
Mester and Allen gained ownership of the aircraft after the U.S. Air Force
waived ownership and subsequently secured permission from Canadian officials
to recover it.
While that process was far from simple, there were still plenty of
challenges ahead, Allen said.
The plane was 85 miles from Goose Bay in Labrador, in a remote portion of
the Little Mecatina River. It was about 600 miles north of Maine. There are
no roads in or out, Allen said. The nearest is 120 miles away. The site was
accessible only by helicopter.
As Allen and Mester began contacting private helicopter companies in Canada
about their recovery effort, they faced two big stumbling blocks -- the
going rate to rent a helicopter was $6,500 an hour and essentially no firm
was interested in the job.
"We couldn't get anyone to call us back," Mester said.
Fortunately, the Canadian Air Force literally came to the rescue.
"Had they not come to the rescue, the plane would still be there," Allen
said.
Leaders of 444 Combat Squadron, 5 Wing Goose Bay, heard of the recovery
effort and told Mester and Allen they found the project "interesting and
would help us out if we weren't on a time schedule," Allen said. "We said,
'Great.' "
The squadron treated the operation as a training exercise.
Allen and Mester were eventually able to hire some private companies, too.
In all, 56 helicopter flights were made during four years to get the parts
out.
The soggy bog where the plane was sitting prevented the helicopter pilots
from setting the aircraft down because of potential damage to its skids. So,
the pilots figured out a way to haul in pallets and build a landing spot for
the chopper, Allen said.
The A-20 was in such good shape it could be taken apart fairly easily,
Mester said. "It had spent 66 years in a deep freeze up north and that
maintained it well."
But, it wasn't as simple as grabbing parts of the plane with a forklift or a
crane, the two men said, because none of that equipment could be hauled in
for the recovery effort.
Everything had to be disassembled into pieces small enough to move around by
hand, some with the assistance of giant inflatable bags, and then loaded
onto the helicopter or dangled from a wire from the helicopter and hauled
out.
Then there was the bog. Workers stood in water and muck that was mid-calf to
knee-deep all day long.
"It was like spending 12 hours on a StairMaster," Mester said. "When I tried
to get up on the second day, my legs said, 'go ahead, we're staying in
bed.'"
The "first lift", of 44,000 pounds, occurred on Aug. 21, 2004.
Work occurred for the next five years, as weather allowed, with the final
piece -- the starboard wing -- flown out in November 2009.
One of the last flights out, on Aug. 27, 2009, was a day Mester won't soon
forget. It was snowing and the temperature was 28 degrees.
The weather was less than ideal on many days, the two men from the Seattle
area said. The first year of the effort, the river didn't thaw out until
early August and by Sept. 1 it was snowing again, leaving a super-short
window to work in.
Mester also remembers a day one October when the wind was blowing between 50
and 55 mph as they tried to take the tail feathers apart.
"We had to tie them down to disassemble them," he said.
Then there were the bears.
At least they weren't grizzlies, Mester said.
For whatever reason, black bears liked congregating around the plane, he
said. So much, in fact, the bears had created two trails in and out of the
remote site.
Daily, the workers had to shoo the bears away before starting their work, he
said.
The parts were ferried out of the bog and stored at the Air Force base in
Goose Bay until earlier this month, when the items were hauled to Casa
Grande.
For now, the parts will sit in Goss's shop until a buyer is found to finance
the restoration effort.
Whether Goss will do the restoration will be determined by the buyer. The
new owner may end up hiring Goss or another contractor. In the latter case,
the plane would be hauled to another site for repairs.
Goss specializes in restoring antique aircraft. His firm, which he moved
from Mesa to Casa Grande in 2006, doesn't do regular aviation work, "just
history," he said.
Mester and Allen found their way to Goss's shop by recommendations from
other clients.
It's tough to guess how long the actual restoration effort might take,
Mester said. But, a safe bet is four to eight years from the time the new
owner gives the go-ahead.
While Mester and Allen are passionate about finding and recovering planes
and ships, restoring their finds is not their goal. They get the items out
and let experts take over the restoration efforts.
"That's an art form," Mester said, especially when the plane is 70-plus
years old, as is the A-20.
Recovery projects don't pay the bills, Allen said.
"It's done out of respect for history and a sense of adventure," he said.
About the only thing Mester and Allen ask of the new owner is to get a ride
on the plane once the restoration is completed.
There are no A-20s flying now. One other A-20 is in the process of being
restored. Fewer than 10 are in museums around the world.
The planes were heavily used in the Pacific Theater during WWII. About 7,000
A-20s were built in the 1930s. This particular plane was one of 63 A-20s
ordered by the U.S. Army Air Corps from Douglas Aircraft Co. in 1939. It and
two other planes were modified as prototypes of reconnaissance aircraft.
This is believed to be the No. 2 unit of the three, based on the discovery
of "F-3 #2" markings painted on the interior sides of the speed rings from
the No. 2 engine.
See also
http://www.trivalleycentral.com/casa_grande_dispatch/area_news/out-from-the-cold-years-after-crashing-in-canada-wwii/article_8ea2055e-1937-11e2-88e3-0019bb2963f4.html
way to Casa Grande
By SHELLEY RIDENOUR
Assignment Editor
Casa Grande Dispatch
Thursday, October 18, 2012 8:21 am
A new beginning to a 70-year-old story unfolded last week in Casa Grande
amid a crane, tugs, forklifts, and lots of moving parts.
Exactly 70 years to the day that a Douglas A-20 Havoc crashed as members of
the U.S. Army Air Corps were flying over Labrador, Canada, two semitrailers
loaded with that disassembled A-20 pulled up at the GossHawk Unlimited shop
and hangar near Casa Grande Municipal Airport.
"It's taken 70 years to get this here," said Bob Mester, a director of
Underwater Admirality Sciences, as he watched parts being unloaded from the
trailers and hauled inside the giant building owned by Dave Goss, president
of Goss Hawk.
The A-20's nearly 3,000-mile journey to Arizona was filled with bumps,
probably like those experienced by the pilot who was forced to crash-land it
on Oct. 10, 1942.
The World War II bomber ran out of fuel on that fateful day, on a mission
that no one associated with the recovery effort has been able to pin down.
The pilot, known only as Capt. Secord, crash-landed the plane. The crew was
rescued three days later by personnel from the Royal Canadian Air Force Base
at Goose Bay, but the plane had to be abandoned. No available records
indicate how many people were on the plane, but Mester and Mark Allen and
others have speculated no more than three crew members were aboard, and
possibly only two, because the A-20s were flown by a single pilot.
It's believed the plane hit tail-first, based on damage to the underbelly.
The nose of the plane was torn away and much was embedded in the bog where
it landed, according to a report written by Michael Deal of the Memorial
University archaeology department.
The plane sat largely undisturbed for almost 70 years until Mester and his
business partner, Allen, learned of it in 1998. It took six years for the
men to get permission to remove the plane.
Mester and Allen gained ownership of the aircraft after the U.S. Air Force
waived ownership and subsequently secured permission from Canadian officials
to recover it.
While that process was far from simple, there were still plenty of
challenges ahead, Allen said.
The plane was 85 miles from Goose Bay in Labrador, in a remote portion of
the Little Mecatina River. It was about 600 miles north of Maine. There are
no roads in or out, Allen said. The nearest is 120 miles away. The site was
accessible only by helicopter.
As Allen and Mester began contacting private helicopter companies in Canada
about their recovery effort, they faced two big stumbling blocks -- the
going rate to rent a helicopter was $6,500 an hour and essentially no firm
was interested in the job.
"We couldn't get anyone to call us back," Mester said.
Fortunately, the Canadian Air Force literally came to the rescue.
"Had they not come to the rescue, the plane would still be there," Allen
said.
Leaders of 444 Combat Squadron, 5 Wing Goose Bay, heard of the recovery
effort and told Mester and Allen they found the project "interesting and
would help us out if we weren't on a time schedule," Allen said. "We said,
'Great.' "
The squadron treated the operation as a training exercise.
Allen and Mester were eventually able to hire some private companies, too.
In all, 56 helicopter flights were made during four years to get the parts
out.
The soggy bog where the plane was sitting prevented the helicopter pilots
from setting the aircraft down because of potential damage to its skids. So,
the pilots figured out a way to haul in pallets and build a landing spot for
the chopper, Allen said.
The A-20 was in such good shape it could be taken apart fairly easily,
Mester said. "It had spent 66 years in a deep freeze up north and that
maintained it well."
But, it wasn't as simple as grabbing parts of the plane with a forklift or a
crane, the two men said, because none of that equipment could be hauled in
for the recovery effort.
Everything had to be disassembled into pieces small enough to move around by
hand, some with the assistance of giant inflatable bags, and then loaded
onto the helicopter or dangled from a wire from the helicopter and hauled
out.
Then there was the bog. Workers stood in water and muck that was mid-calf to
knee-deep all day long.
"It was like spending 12 hours on a StairMaster," Mester said. "When I tried
to get up on the second day, my legs said, 'go ahead, we're staying in
bed.'"
The "first lift", of 44,000 pounds, occurred on Aug. 21, 2004.
Work occurred for the next five years, as weather allowed, with the final
piece -- the starboard wing -- flown out in November 2009.
One of the last flights out, on Aug. 27, 2009, was a day Mester won't soon
forget. It was snowing and the temperature was 28 degrees.
The weather was less than ideal on many days, the two men from the Seattle
area said. The first year of the effort, the river didn't thaw out until
early August and by Sept. 1 it was snowing again, leaving a super-short
window to work in.
Mester also remembers a day one October when the wind was blowing between 50
and 55 mph as they tried to take the tail feathers apart.
"We had to tie them down to disassemble them," he said.
Then there were the bears.
At least they weren't grizzlies, Mester said.
For whatever reason, black bears liked congregating around the plane, he
said. So much, in fact, the bears had created two trails in and out of the
remote site.
Daily, the workers had to shoo the bears away before starting their work, he
said.
The parts were ferried out of the bog and stored at the Air Force base in
Goose Bay until earlier this month, when the items were hauled to Casa
Grande.
For now, the parts will sit in Goss's shop until a buyer is found to finance
the restoration effort.
Whether Goss will do the restoration will be determined by the buyer. The
new owner may end up hiring Goss or another contractor. In the latter case,
the plane would be hauled to another site for repairs.
Goss specializes in restoring antique aircraft. His firm, which he moved
from Mesa to Casa Grande in 2006, doesn't do regular aviation work, "just
history," he said.
Mester and Allen found their way to Goss's shop by recommendations from
other clients.
It's tough to guess how long the actual restoration effort might take,
Mester said. But, a safe bet is four to eight years from the time the new
owner gives the go-ahead.
While Mester and Allen are passionate about finding and recovering planes
and ships, restoring their finds is not their goal. They get the items out
and let experts take over the restoration efforts.
"That's an art form," Mester said, especially when the plane is 70-plus
years old, as is the A-20.
Recovery projects don't pay the bills, Allen said.
"It's done out of respect for history and a sense of adventure," he said.
About the only thing Mester and Allen ask of the new owner is to get a ride
on the plane once the restoration is completed.
There are no A-20s flying now. One other A-20 is in the process of being
restored. Fewer than 10 are in museums around the world.
The planes were heavily used in the Pacific Theater during WWII. About 7,000
A-20s were built in the 1930s. This particular plane was one of 63 A-20s
ordered by the U.S. Army Air Corps from Douglas Aircraft Co. in 1939. It and
two other planes were modified as prototypes of reconnaissance aircraft.
This is believed to be the No. 2 unit of the three, based on the discovery
of "F-3 #2" markings painted on the interior sides of the speed rings from
the No. 2 engine.
See also
http://www.trivalleycentral.com/casa_grande_dispatch/area_news/out-from-the-cold-years-after-crashing-in-canada-wwii/article_8ea2055e-1937-11e2-88e3-0019bb2963f4.html
_
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