WIX Archives

Re: DH 103 HORNET's

Posted by Graham O on Fri Feb 06, 2004 08:58:25 AM

In reply top DH 103 HORNET's posted by Mick on Wed Feb 04, 2004 01:43:39 AM


Hi Mick,
While I don't believe there was ever a "Heap of Hornets" aywhere in Australia, your reference to the Hornet in Woomera is based on some fact. Even in Leslie Hunt's 1973 edition of Vintage and Veteran Aircraft (4th and final edition) he mentions a Sea Hornet F.Mk.20 at Woomera and interest back then in securing this (or whatever was left of it) for the Mosquito Museum at Salsbury Hall. The aircraft i.d. quoted was TT213.

As for the Mustangs, I was an eight year old living in Adelaide when Tony Schwerdt flew Mustang A68-1 out of Emu Strip and all the way to Parafield with the gear down. The Mustang really did look like an aeroplane that had been found sitting in the desert and just flown out. It still had a shattered side windscreen which I assume had been done by some jackaroo looking for something different to shoot at but in the child's mind there was no question that this had been caused in combat with a Japanese or German aircraft (limited grasp of history at the time). Tony used to take the Mustang out onto the tarmac and run it up from time to time. It had 'Desert Rat' painted on the nose in recognition of its time at Emu Strip. Since I had been growing up on a steady diet of Airfix kits of WW-II fighters, having a real live Mustang fly out of the past and take up residence at our local aiirport was a dream come true. It broke my heart when it left, to reappear marked incorrectly as A68-1001 (which was a different aircraft) with Wiley Sanders in Alabama. With a childhood like this, it is little wonder my full time work is dealing with vintage and warbird aircraft. Yahoo!

Cheers,
GMO


: There was a heap of Hornets used in the Bomb tests at Mara
: linga.They must still be there.

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