In 5 December 1942, Acting Sub-Lieutenant Trevor Keene ( Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve ) was rapidly turning his head as he pointed his Sea hurricane AE977 downhill. Passing through 10,000 feet in very hazy skies over the pastoral landscape of Somerset, England, Keene was looking for another Hurricane. The two aircraft were doing a bit of tail-chasing and during a camera-gun exercise. Racking the Hurricane in a right descending turn, Keene still had not spotted the other Hurricane when his aircraft suddenly felt as if it had hit a brick wall.
The aircraft flicked to the right as Keene pulled the throttle back. A quick check of the controls told him he was in big trouble. What had happened was that he had collided with Hurricane MkI Z4702 being flown by fellow pilot Midshipman John Samuel Bird (RNVR). Instinct and training took over - Keene shoved back the heavily-braced canopy, jettisoned the small wood side door, hit the quick release on this Sutton harness and went over the side as the Hurricane continued its fatal spiral to the ground.
Midshipman Bird was doing the same thing and as they floated down under their parachutes canopies, Sea Hurricane AE977 impacted the ground near the village of Godney at 1340 hr local time. The two aircraft were written off as just more casualties of the long and deadly war and were quickly forgotten on the lengthy road to victory.
CHINO : 17 JANUARY 2002-05-01
A small crowd had gathered at Planes of Fame (Our original name is The Air Museum, stated spokesperson Mark foster, but we want to be referred to in print from now on as Planes of Fame) in the late afternoon. We were all waiting for the arrival of two historic aircraft that would soon be calling Chino home. As the sun began to drop on the western horizon, the distinctive sound of Merlin engines could be heard and two fighter soon flashed overhead before entering the break for landing. One of the vintage fighters was a beautiful Supermarine Spitfire MkIX. The other aircraft was a bit more bulky in appearance compared to the elegant Spitfire. What was it ? It was Sea hurricane AE977! How on earth did this aircraft re-emerge from a pile of World War Two wreckage to become a pristine example of the now-rare fighter ? It's an interesting story.
THE HURRICANE
Hawker Sea Hurricane X AE977 was constructed by the Canadian Car & Foundry Company in Ontario, Canada. During the spring of 1941, the plane was shipped to Britain and went into service with the Royal Air Force as a Hurricane MkI. Its stay with the RAF was short since the fighter was transferred to the Royal Navy where it was modified to Sea Hurricane X specification - albeit without a hook. When built, the aircraft was included in the second batch of Hurricanes built by Canadian Car & Foundry and was fitted with a Packard Merlin 228 powerplant.
When involved in the mid-air collision, the aircraft was assigned to the Fleet Air Arm's 749 Squadron. The wreckage of the aircraft apparently lay where it fell until 1988 when the remains were recovered. AE977 was obtained by the Alpine Fighter Collection at Wanaka, New Zealand and transferred to Tony Ditheridge's Hawker Restorations Ltd in Suffolk during 1996. The company specialises in the complex restorations of the Hurricane airframe and was well suited for the undertaking. Hawker Restorations was created in cooperation with Sir Tim Wallis of the Alpine Fighter Collection and the company started collecting as much information, materials, and equipment related to the Hurricane as possible.
Because of the high cost of such a complex restorations, the company hoped to start work on five hurricane projects. At least 50,000 man-hours and $900,000 worth of parts goes into each aircraft. The Hurricane has thousands of small parts - each made to close tolerances - and this is enough to drive most restorers mad. Hawker Restorations tarts each project with the bare fuselage, engine mount, and center section. The center section spars are complex and very difficult to build since each is a nested twelve-sided roll formed of spring steel with one inserted inside the other. This assembly then clamps onto an inner tubes which then has another liner tube inserted. Obviously, tolerance are very, very critical and this is why there have been so few Hurricane restorations - at least until now.
Guy Black operates another restorations company named Aero Vintage and, rather amazingly, he found one of the original spar-making machines. Once acquired, there was a big learning curve and much research was undertaken into the metals utilized. Several tons of metal were manufactured overseas, heat treated, and then cut to width. Over 120 18-inch diameter rollers had to be designed and manufactured for the spars that went into the center section. Also, the horizontal and vertical tails needed a similar number !
Although the fuselage is steel tube, the formers are wood and required an expert woodworker - especially for the complex and difficult wooden structure that surrounds the Hurricane's cockpit. The outer wing panels for AE977 were sent to Airframe Assemblies who subcontracted the work and attempted to utilize as much original material as possible. However, Hawker Restorations is now manufacturing its own wings. By the end of 1998, the majority of AW977's structure was completed and attention turned to wiring, fitting he engine, etc. An overhauled Merlin 224 was obtained along with a newly-manufactured radiator and fuel and oil plumbing. At the start of the restoration, it was decided to have the cockpit restored as closely as possible to its 1942 condition. Even the gun bays were fully detailed with deactivated .303-inch machine guns, ammunition, and all fittings.
By early 2000, the restorations was pretty much complete and it was decided to paint the aircraft as one flown by Group Captain Douglas Bader (see bottom of this article) when he was in command of No. 242 Squadron in 1940. Stuart Goldspink took the Hurricane aloft on its first post-restoration flight from Wattisham on 7 June 2000 and the immaculate fighter made its first public showing at the big Flying Legends airshow at Duxford that July. The aircraft made several more airshow appearance until November 2001 when it was carefully disassembled and shipped to Houston, Texas.
THE SPITFIRE
The Mark IX Spitfire in the landing pattern at Chino is a very historic aircraft. Built as a clipped-wing Mk. LF IXE ML417, the aircraft was assigned to No. 442 “Hornet” Squadron which was a Royal Canadian Air Force unit assigned to the RAF. The aircraft was soon in action and participate dint he invasion of France. Soon after the invasion, No. 443 Squadron moved to St, Croix Sur-Mer and ML417 was one of the first Allied aircraft to land in France as part of Johnnie Johnson’s Canadian Wing. During the first two weeks of July 1944, the Spitfire was credited with damaging of Bf 109G over Alencon and an FW190 over Falaise. On 29 September, ML417 destroyed two Bf 109Gs over Arnhem. However, the plane was also on the receiving end and was twice damaged by flak and mauled by another 109 during the 29 September action.
After that combat, the Spitfire required repair but after being put back into flying shape it was reassigned to No. 442 Squadron which was part of No. 126 Canadian Wing based in Belgium, After this assignment, the Spitfire was shuffled between the three Canadian Wing units and it once again saw combat with Nos. 401 and 442 Squadrons. In the early part of 1945, it flew with Nos. 411 and 412 Squadrons before being flown back to High Ercall in Britain during August 1945 where it was put into storage.
On 31 October 1946, ML417 was purchased by Vickers Armstrong for conversion into a two-seat trainer for the Indian Air Force. Little is known of its service in India but by 1967 it was in the Indian Air Force Museum compound in Palam. In April 1971, the Spitfire was presented to US Senator Norman Gaar who sent the craft to Darryl Skurich in Fort Collins, Colorado, for restoration. Little work was performed on the combat veteran and in 1980 it was purchased by Stephen Grey.
Stephen sent the Spitfire to Personal Plane Services at Booker, England, where it was magnificently restored back to its original single-seat configuration. The first post-restoration flight took place on 10 February 1984 and the gleaming Spitfire became part of Stephen’s The Fighter Collection and, over the years, appeared at dozens of airshows in Britain and Europe.
BACK TO CHINO
Among those watching the arrival of the Hurricane and Spitfire on 17 January was Tommy Friedkin – the new owner of the aircraft. Friedkin is a well-know vintage aircraft collector and pilot (see bottom of this article). ȁI first met Tommy back in the early 1970s,” said Steve Hinton. 𠇍ve Zeuschel, Jim Maloney, and myself were at Van Nuys Airport where Dick Martin was restoring a P-38 and P-40. Tommy had just purchase the P-38 and he gave us a tour of the project. He is obviously very dedicated about the Lightning. From that point, we became friends and participated in many projects including the filming of Baa, Baa, Blacksheep and I’ve got to say that Tom’s advise made a big difference in my life. Tom was building up an excellent collection of Warbirds at this base in Palomar near San Diego.
“About three or four years ago, Tom and I began discussions about making his aircraft more available to the public. He is really proud of his collection and wants the public to see these historic aircraft. Accordingly, we eventually struck an agreement that would see his collection moved to Planes of Fame.
“ Currently, we have 16 of the Friedkin Family’s Chino Warbirds on display at Planes of Fame – three T-6’s, P-51D and TF-51D Mustangs, two Grumman F3Fs, a T-28, DC-3, Wildcat, Hellcat, Bearcat, Duck ( under restorations ), Skyraider and now the Hurricane and Spitfire. We feel privileged and honoured to be able to display these aircraft – all of which are in flying condition..”
When the Hurricane arrived in Houston this past November, it was moved to Sugarland, Texas, where Tom has a hangar. “ssembly was pretty straightforward,” said Steve. ȁWe had to get the aircraft certificated in the experimental category and put on five flying house. I had flown other Hurricanes in Britain and I really love the plane for all its history. It’s certainly not the hottest of Warbirds but it is a wonderful airplane. The Spitfire arrived around Christmas and Chris Fahey and I returned to Sugarland to help assemble the plane and do the required flying. Chris had never flown a Spitfire but he has flown most of our Warbirds, it s great mechanic, and ex-USAF F-16 pilot, and a current airline pilot so he has a lot of experience in a wide variety of aircraft.
“Once the test flying was done and the paperwork was complete, it was time to launch for Chino. The weather was not the best and you must remember that the Hurricane carries only 100 gallons of fuel so we had to make regular fuel stops. From Sugarland, we went to Kerrville, Ft. Stockton, and then El Paso where we stayed overnight. We were skirting weather and facing 20-30 knot headwinds most of the way. Next morning we were off the Deming, New Mexico, then Avra Valley, Arizona, with a final stop in Yuma before making Chino in the late afternoon. It was a real thrill to fly the Hurricane cross-country with Chris off my wing in the Spitfire. Aviation history doesn’t get much better than that !”
Next morning I was back at Chino to do the air-to-air on these beautiful classics. Camera mount was Ted Itano’s Pacific Princess and Carl Scholl and George Hulett were doing the flying. After a quick meeting with Steve and Chris, we were airborne and headed for our meeting point at nearby Lake Matthews. With pilots of this caliber, everything goes smoothly and in short order we had our photos completed and were on our way back to Chino.
All aviation enthusiasts owe Tom Friedkin a big thank you for bringing these historic planes to America. Also, Tom plans to take the aircraft back to Britain for regular airshow outings so they have certainly not deserted their home country. Both of these planes, along with all the Friedkin Family’s Chino Warbirds will be on display at the big Planes of Fame airshow this May.
DOUGLAS ROBERT STEWART BARDER
Born in North London on 21 February 1920, Douglas Bader spent his early life in India before his parents sent him home for schooling. A good student, he gained a prize cadetship to the Royal Air Force College at Cranwell in late 1928 and after graduation, was posted to No.23 Squadron in July 1930 where he flew Gloster Gamecocks. In 1931, he represented the squadron in aerobatics.
Seriously injured, Bader had both legs amputated and nearly died while in the hospital. Bader survived but was invalided out of the service in 1933. He married and went to work for Asiatic Petroleum Company ( later Shell ) but at the outbreak of World War Two, he appealed to the RAF to take him back as an operation pilot.
Needless to say, the RAF did not particularly like the idea but the was given an air test which he passed with no problem. In November 1939, he was sent to a refresher flying course and then posted to NO.19 Squadron flying Hawker hurricanes. By March 1940, he was made a flight commander in No.222 Squadron and claimed his first victory over a Bf 109E while covering the British Army withdrawal at Dunkirk.
In July 1940, he took over command of No. 242 Squadron. This unit was made up of Canadian pilots who had retreated from the Battle of France. Demoralized, Bader whipped the unit back into operation shape by August. Moved to Duxford as part of 12 Group, Bader began to argue that large formations of fighters could do more damage to the enemy. This led to some intense arguments within the RAF high command but by September Bader was leading a mixed hurricane and Spitfire Wing with five squadrons into combat.
However, the results were controversial and the unit was disbanded in October since the German daylight offensive war starting to decrease. Bader went on to take part in the first offensive sweep over France, led by Wing Commander Victor Beamish.
In March 1941, he was appointed Wing Commander Flying at RAF Tangmere and became one of the first Wing Leaders. All the time, his score over the Germans was increasing. Bader was now flying Spitfires but he insisted he wanted to keep flying the older MkII rather than the new MkV. He insisted that the machine guns in the earlier variant were better than the cannons in the V ( however, he later recanted this statement and said he was wrong ).
Bader was awarded a DFC in January 1941 for ten victories, a Bar to is DSO in July 1941 for 15, and a Bar to his DFC in September for four more victories. On 9 August 1941 he engaged a number of Luftwaffe Bf 109Es near Le Touquet and claimed two shot down. However, he was then shot down by a pilot from JG26. Bailing out of his stricken Spitfire II, his artificial legs were destroyed. He was quickly captured by the Germans who sent a radio message to Britain stating they would allow an RAF aircraft to land and deliver new legs.
The RAF considered this offer but then decided to have a Blenheim drop replacement legs during a bombing raid. After being placed in a POW camp, Bader made various escape attempts so the Germans finally put him in Colditz Castle which was thought to be escape proof. Liberated on 14 April 1945, he returned to Britain and became commander of the Fighter Leaders’ School. He also led the 1945 Battle of Britain flypast over London.
Bader decided to leave the RAF in 1946 and went to work with Shell Oil. He also flew his own private aircraft and eventually became a celebrity, giving much of his time to organizations supporting limbless people. Knighted in 1976, he made his final flight at the controls of an aircraft on 4 June 1979. Returning from a dinner honouring Sir Arthur “Bomber” Harris, he dies of a heart attack on 5 September 1982.
Bader’s final score was 20 and 4 shared destroyed, six and one shared probables, and eleven damaged.
THOMAS H. FRIEDKIN
Tom Friedkin is a long-time Warbird enthusiast and flying runs in his family. His father, Kenneth, trained pilots during World War Two and also flew combat missions with the Royal Air Force. After the war, he started a flight school in San Diego, California, which was an ideal location because of the area’s excellent weather. In 1949, we really went out on a limb and founded Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) with a Douglas DC-3 that he leased for $1000 a month.
Kenneth was sort of an early version of today’s Herb Kelleher of Southwest Airlines. He wore colourful Hawaiian shirts and encouraged the pilots and crew to interact with the passengers. He also was quite smart on the pricing – offering extremely low-cost fairs. For example, it cost just $17.25 to fly from San Diego to San Francisco ( the airline quickly picked up the nickname “Poor Sailors” Airline because of all the Navy personnel that used the flight ). As time went by, the airline greatly expanded and was known for the famous smile painted under the nose of each aircraft.
Unfortunately, Kenneth passed away from a stroke in 1962 at age 47. Just a year later, Tom’s mother also passed away and at age 28 he was not only a pilot with PSA but, suddenly, its major stockholder.
He was also on the airline’s board and continued to fly full time. In 1986, PSA was purchased by USAir and with his share of the profits Tom started several very successful companies. By this time, he was also acquiring Warbirds – about which he has a passionate interest. Among the propeller-drive Warbirds were jets such as a MiG 15, F-86, and Northrop F-5B.
With the majority of the collection ( known as the Friedkin Family’s Chino Warbirds ) now on display at Planes of Fame, Tom has no intention of slowing down. His Grumman Duck is nearing the end of its restoration and he has plans for acquiring several very interesting Warbirds. Stay tuned for details.
Michael O’Leary ©
