Beaufort restoration progress at Australian National Aviation Museum

The project to restore the oldest surviving Bristol Beaufort, A9-13, for the Australian National Aviation Museum has reached its fund-raising target for the first stage, but is still accepting pledges for the next steps. The Australian Aircraft Restoration Group (AARG) has been using Kickstarter to raise funds to restore the stern frame, with an initial target of 5000AUD, which was reached 10 days before the fund-raising deadline. However, the Kickstarter campaign is still running, and additional funds will go towards the next step, which is to restore the turret.

AARG acquired the partially restored Beaufort  in 2011, for restoration and eventual display in the Australian National Aviation Museum at Moorabbin in Melbourne. Prior to that, the fuselage had been held by the Flypast Museum of Australian Army Flying at Oakey in Queensland. The Museum also has a Bristol Sycamore and Freighter, and one of the best preserved Bristol Beaufighters in the world.

A9-13 was one of 180 Beauforts destined for the Royal Air Force in Singapore. Although allocated RAF serial T9552, the order was cancelled in the early stages, and it rolled off the production line as A9-13 for the RAAF. It was delivered in January 1942, and served with 6 Squadron with code FX-F. It crashed on landing at Tadji in Papua New Guinea in 1945, while transporting fruit and vegetables, the cockpit and wings being damaged by fire in the accident. The remains were recovered from Tadji in the 1970's, and moved initially to Auckland, New Zealand, then Melbourne, Australia. Restoration commenced in 1977 by Monty Armstrong, and includes the forward fuselage from Beaufort A9-210, recovered from Tadji at the same time.

Regular progress reports are posted on the Key Publishing Historic Aviation (i.e. Flypast) Forum.

The Kickstarter page can be found here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/moorabbinairmuseum/raaf-beaufort-a9-13-restoration

New Beaufort project at Moorabbin

The Australian Aircraft Restoration Group, who run the Australian National Aviation Museum at Moorabbin, in Melbourne, Australia, have announced that they are about to start on a Bristol Beaufort restoration project. The Australian-built Beaufort will be built to static condition, and will go on display at the museum, which also has examples of the Bristol Beaufighter, Bristol Sycamore and Bristol Freighter.

The project is based on major components and parts from two Beauforts - A9-501 and A9-230. A9-501 was displayed at RAAF Gove for many years, but it was substantially damaged when an attempt to cut the wings off with an oxy-torch caused residual fuel in the tanks to explode. The forward fuselage was later restored by the Beaufort Restoration Group for the RAAF Gove museum. Although the museum website refers to A9-320, this is thought to actually be A9-230. A9-320 was converted to a Mk.IX Beaufort during WW2, reserialled A9-742, and subsequently scrapped, whereas the cockpit of A9-230 was acquired by The Beaufort Restoration Group from Mildura War Birds in 1985.

A9-501 being recovered in 1999 (courtesy of the Beaufort Restoration Group website)

The project also hopes to acquire the cockpit of A9-150, which has been restored by the Beaufort Restoration Group in Brisbane.

Australian Beaufort step closer to first flight

Beaufort A9-141 coming together at Brisbane, Photo by John Parker

The Beaufort Restoration Group at Brisbane, Australia, made a significant step forward in early December, by assembling the major structural components into one unit. The forward and rear fuselage sections were mated with the centre wing section, and the project now looks a lot more like an aircraft. There is still much to do before the Beaufort (RAAF serial A9-141, registered VH-KTW) can leave the ground, but when it does, it will be the first of its type to fly for many decades. More details on the project can be found at http://www.beaufortrestoration.com.au.

The mated stern frame, rear fuselage and centre wing section, Photo by John Parker

Beaufort rebuild starts in Tennessee

Graham Kilsby of the Bristol Heritage Collection in Tennessee has announced that a Beaufort rebuild project is just about to start. Several Beaufort sections, recovered from Papa New Guinea in the 1970's, have been stored at Chino in California for the past few decades. Transportation of the sections to Tennessee has started, with a forward fuselage, rear fuselage and tail section being trucked the 2,600 miles across the USA on 21st March. The sections arrived at Stripmasters Inc. of Nashville on 25th March. Here they will be identified, photographed etc., before being cleaned by beed blasting, and also blasting with dry ice, a relatively new method that removes the old paint and years of surface corrosion without actually harming the metal.

From there, the sections will be taken to Hassel Field, Clifton, Tennessee home of the new BHC restoration shop to join the Lysander and the Swordfish, where the various sections will be set in jigs prior to the long restoration. As the sections are from Australian-built Mk VIII Beauforts, they had Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp engines, which makes it a little easier to find engines and parts in the US. The Mk.I's built in the UK were the sole users of the Bristol Taurus, and it is thought that none survive. In April the main large wing centre section and outer wing sections will be moved in from California and the same process applied, before starting on moving the Bolingbroke sections into Tennessee. Bristol Heritage Collection is a 501(c)3 tax exempt charity as recognised by the IRS and any help in the form of donations or pledges, especially from Australians in the US would be warmly welcomed. Graham Kilsby can be contacted on (615) 383 9090.

Update: It had been determined that the rear fuselage section is from A9-555, which flew with No.100 Squadron RAAF as QH-S, and the stern fuselage section is from A9-182, which flew with No.7 Squadon RAAF. The forward fuselage has been confidently identified as also coming from A9-555.

Australian War Memorial Beaufort goes on display

The Australian War Memorial, at the Treloar Technology Center in Canberra, has recently completed the restoration of its static Beaufort, A9-557. The preparation of each section has been performed by several organisations, for example the Beaufort Restoration Group were tasked with cleaning up the rear fuselage. The sections were mated together again earlier this year, and the finished example went in display in the ANZAC Hall on 8th March. The official unveiling will take place on 28th March, by the Australian Prime Minister and the Chief of the Air Force.

One Beaufort - two noses

The Australian War Museum are restoring their Beaufort, serial A9-557, with the help of the Beaufort Restoration Group. Although the serial on the data plate of the RAF Museums Beaufort at Hendon, UK, would indicate that they had the nose from A9-557, this is only partly correct. During A9-557's service with the RAAF, its cockpit sustained serious damage from an electrical fire. The design of the Beaufort is such that sections are easily interchangeable, and at the time it was simpler to replace the forward fuselage with one from another aircraft. A9-557 continued flying with its new cockpit until a landing accident on January 20th 1945. The AWM now have all the sections from this aircraft. The original nose is presumed to have been dumped in Papa New Guinea, and this the section recovered from Papa New Guinea to Chino in the 1970's, and used in the RAF Museums Beaufort. The identity of the Beaufort that originally carried the AWM's cockpit is not currently known. The AWM have stated that they expect the restoration of the Beaufort to be complete by the end of 2002.
Update: New information indicates that the second forward fuselage for A9-557 came from A9-461, which crashed at Tadji, Papa New Guinea on 12th November 1944. The aircraft went on display in March 2003 - see later news item.

RAF Museum Beaufort - true identity revealed

Some information has recently come to light about the true identities of each section of the Beaufort on display at the RAF Museum, at Hendon, UK. The data plates of the Beaufort at RAF Museum Hendon have recently been examined, giving the following information:

Forward Fuselage (cockpit section) - serial FF559 dated 4-9-43 (from A9-557, but see other news item)
Rear Fuselage - serial RF557 dated 26-10-43 (from A9-559)
Stern Fuselage - (tail section) - serial SF478 dated 20-7-43 (from A9-478)
Centre Section - (wing root) - serial CR591 dated 14-9-43 (possibly from A9-593)

All of these sections were recovered from Papa New Guinea in the 1970's and transported to Chino, California. The aircraft was rebuilt from restored sections, with no internal fittings, painted in RAF markings and delivered to the RAF Museum in 1991.

DAP Beaufort A9-557 restoration

On 10th April the Beaufort Restoration Group at Brisbane received the rear fuselage of Beaufort A9-557 for cleaning and minor repairs. The work is being done for the Australian War Memorial at Canberra, and they are already working on the undercarriage. The Beaufort Restoration Group are also working on the cockpit of A9-501, and are restoring a complete Beaufort, A9-141, to airworthy condition. The BRG rely on donations, and offer a comprehensive membership package for 25AUD (10UKP). http://www.awm.gov.au