Plane ready to fly home to Australia
Engineer Callum Smith has restored a Beech D-17S Staggerwing VH-BBL at the Wānaka airport, in a dashing blue.
Mr Smith and his team of engineers at Twenty24 Ltd have finished returning the Staggerwing VH-BBL to flying condition for Australian owner Allan Arthur.
The aircraft was originally built for the United States Navy during World War 2 but ended up in Britain as part of the lend-lease programme.
After a few short stints back in the US and Norway after the war, the aircraft was sold to Australia where it remained until it was shipped to Wānaka a few years ago. Following the completion of a major overhaul, the aircraft has been test flown at Wānaka and will soon be flown home to Australia.
Mr Arthur has history with Warbirds Over Wanaka. His Curtiss P-40N Kittyhawk NZ3125 was displayed at the 2006 airshow by legendary New Zealand airshow pilot John Lamont, who has flown at every Wānaka show since 1988.
The restoration team at Twenty24 Ltd has no time to rest on its laurels, as work cranks up on another Staggerwing — Tracey and Cam Hawley's "Antarctic Staggerwing".
This aircraft was taken to the Ice by Admiral Richard Byrd as part of his 1940 US Antarctic Service expedition. It crashed in 1963, and Mr Smith said it was "quite far gone" when it arrived in Wānaka.
The couple own another Wānaka-restored Staggerwing, which has been a regular performer at Warbirds Over Wanaka since 2014.
— APL
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