Tony Harmsworth
Last operational Belgian Starfighter on display at B&B
At Bilzen, Belgium, 20-odd miles north of Liège, Luc Degens has completed restoration of the last Lockheed F-104G Starfighter to fly with the Belgian Air Force, serial FX99 (c/n 9172).
Demoiselle replica goes on show in Finland
A full-scale replica Demoiselle No 20 recently went on display at the Tuulonen shopping centre, between the cities of Tampere and Lahti, next to the historic Douglas DC-2
Spitfires leave UK for Australia and Turkey
The only single-seat Spitfire VIII in the UK, Maxi Gainza’s MV154/G-BKMI was flown from Duxford to Sywell on 4 May for dismantling ready for export to a new owner in Australia, where it is understood it will be repainted soon after arrival.
Curtiss P-40E Warhawk makes public debut in Belgium
Curtiss P-40E Warhawk OO-WHK made its first public flying appearance in Belgium during the annual Stampe Fly-in at Antwerp-Deurne airport on 11 May.
New Lufthansa visitor centre to house L-1649 Starliner and Ju 52
The Lufthansa Group has begun construction of a new conference and visitor centre at Frankfurt Airport, where Junkers Ju 52/3m ‘D-AQUI’/D-CDLH and Lockheed L-1649 Super Star D-ALAN will go on display.
Jaguar roaded to Gatwick
SEPECAT Jaguar GR1 XX967 arrived at the Gatwick Aviation Museum at Charlwood, Surrey on 18 April from RAF Cosford, where it had been in use as an instructional airframe with No 2 School of Technical Training.
Last PBY built will fly again
During mid-April, Consolidated PBY-6A BuNo 64107/N9825Z made the 104-mile journey east along the Interstate 90 freeway from Moses Lake, Washington State to Spokane, where it will be restored to airworthy and seaworthy condition by Vintage Aircraft Restorations at Felts Field.
RNZAF Orion back together at Wigram
At Wigram, near Christchurch on the South Island of New Zealand, the Air Force Museum of New Zealand’s Lockheed P-3K2 Orion, NZ4203, has been reassembled following its 283-mile move by road from RNZAF Base Woodbourne during September 2023.
Painting progress on Pima projects
The spray booth at the vast Pima Air and Space Museum complex in Arizona has been kept busy recently as several exhibits have been repainted before going on display.
New Helicopter Museum hangar nearing completion
At Weston-super-Mare, phase two of construction of The Helicopter Museum’s new exhibition hangar is now approaching completion, with the walls and doors installed.