WIX Archives
Great to have you hear Mr. Grey! N/T
Posted by Tim Savage on Thu Feb 14, 2002 01:19:57 PM
In reply top P51D ex Swedish AF posted by Stephen Grey on Thu Feb 14, 2002 07:37:24 AM
: My attention has been brought to the postings on the inter
: esting controversy surrounding P51D ex SwedishAF serial 26
: 158. I may be able to shed some light on the a/c.
:
: Many years ago, I helped some Swedish friends - who were l
: ooking for an ex Swedish AF P51. I traced a potential cand
: idate to Col. Israel Itzahki &, after close inspection in
: Israel, concluded from a Swedish AF data plate located in
: the tail cone, that it was J26158. Checks with the Swedish
: AF confirmed that identity to be registered as US serial
: 44-63864 in their contemporary records . Col. Itzahki was
: a fine upstanding Officer in the Israeli AF & was certainl
: y unaware of the significance of that Swedish stainless pl
: ate & totally unconcerned as to its US serial data - being
: very bemused by my meticulous researches. I established t
: hat the a/c had much earlier been registered with the Isra
: eli Civil Aviation Authority & inspected by them on the ba
: sis of its Military records & physical evidence. Having ta
: ken it around the patch & struck a deal on behalf of my fr
: iends, I asked for an Export Certificate of Airworthiness
: & an Export Licence. All of these Documents with the relev
: ant identity marks were produced after due examination by
: the relevant Government Bodies.
:
: The Israeli AF had delisted that Aircraft and sold it to a
: scrap dealer. It is important to note that the Swedish Ai
: rcraft were not clandestinely purchased by the Israeli Gov
: ernment & were not stripped of Identifying Marks (as were
: many of their combat aircraft, often acquired in a covert
: manner via Agents & dealers.
:
: Itzahki purchased this a/c (largely complete & undamaged)
: and set to work on its restoration to flight with very mea
: gre resources. Certainly, there were potentially airworthy
: parts donated to the a/c from various delericts, possibly
: including #41 (later recovered by the esteemed Robs Lampl
: ough & subsequently stripped of the best parts for his cho
: sen restoration, prior to being sold on).
:
: After I received permission to fly the a/c out of the coun
: try, it was ferried to Sweden (an eventful story all of it
: s own) and submitted to a strip & IRAN. During the process
: its original Swedish AF paint scheme was found, under the
: Israeli AF markings, those being beneath very rudamentary
: civilian markings.
:
: Whilst I have no doubt as to the authenticity of this a/c'
: s identity, I cannot speak for the Bill Lear a/c (which wa
: s on an FAA ferry permit, had never been inspected by the
: FAA & never was civilian registered in Israel, having been
: purchased from a disposals organisation . Unfortunately t
: he aircraft was totally wrecked in a fatal accident in Ice
: land on its ferry flight and the mystery of how it came to
: be US registered with the same number has died with Bill
: Lear & the unfortunate pilot - I understand the few smashe
: d parts recovered cannot support claim to be an a/c, let a
: lone help furnish an identity. My guess is the number was
: transposed or selected "out of a hat", being one of those
: 25 which were a matter of record as being officially impor
: ted, as opposed to those without US traceable identity.
:
: I hope these ramblings provide some inight.
:
: I recently checked that there had been no potential transp
: osition of nos. with the Swedish AF Museum, whose outstand
: ing Director was adamant as to the liason between 26158 &
: 44-63864.
:
: I have been priviledged to have known & flown this a/c ove
: r the years - it is ratty but pure North American and nobo
: dy involved in its recovery, restoration & subsequent civi
: lian history can have had the slightest interest in 'count
: erfeiting' during the formative periods of its civilian re
: gistration.