Never achieving the iconic status of contemporary twins such as the B-25 Mitchell, D.H. Mosquito or the Junkers Ju -88, the Douglas DB-7 ‘Boston'/ A-20 ‘Havoc' was nevertheless extremely adaptable and found a role in every combat theater of the war - serving with several air forces in the process. When it comes to surviving airframes it hasn't fared well either, however recoveries from the Pacific Islands have boosted the numbers and prospects are looking better for several airframes returning to the sky. In this article we take a brief look at the type's history and detail the survivors.
Following a ground-up restoration, a magnificent seventy year old Stinson SR-8C Reliant took to the air again recently after spending many years idle in an aviation museum. Current owner Kevin Bailey from Western Australia commenced the stripping down of the aircraft on Christmas Day 2003, meticulously x -raying, bead blasting, repairing and replacing where required over a period of several years. As with most restorations the aircraft begins to look complete well before it actually is, but once those 'hundreds of little jobs' had been worked through, a successful first flight was undertaken on 23 July 2006. The editor describes the journey!
Our last 'mystery aircraft' was the Beaufighter. Outside of Germany little attention was given to the development of a twin engine multi role fighter in the thirties, the thinking of the time being that single engine types could more than adequately cover what was required - for far less expense. This folly was to be exposed with the outbreak of W.W.II when Britain found that the lack of endurance of the Spitfires and Hurricanes meant that standing patrols were severely compromised, and the additional requirements of modern air combat could not be adequately met. This article gives an overview of the type's history, a prelude to a forthcoming look at survivors.
Many years ago the skies over Canada were filled with yellow painted aircraft of various types - from Ansons to Tigermoths. One of the most famous of these was the Harvard, produced by North American Aircraft, Nordyun and Canadian Car and Foundry. The type helped train hundreds of air crew for combat and eventually flew with the RCAF up to the mid sixties, thereafter many were scrapped, but a few survived as sources of spare parts for farmers, soon to be picked bare and forgotten. However, with Canada being such a huge country there are more than few rumours of the ‘old aircraft in a barn' ilk, fortunately some of these have some substance as this story proves!
Never achieving the iconic status of contemporary twins such as the B-25 Mitchell, D.H. Mosquito or the Junkers Ju -88, the Douglas DB-7 ‘Boston'/ A-20 ‘Havoc' was nevertheless extremely adaptable and found a role in every combat theater of the war - serving with several air forces in the process. When it comes to surviving airframes it hasn't fared well either, however recoveries from the Pacific Islands have boosted the numbers and prospects are looking better for several airframes returning to the sky. In this article we take a brief look at the type's history and detail the survivors. 
Following a ground-up restoration, a magnificent seventy year old Stinson SR-8C Reliant took to the air again recently after spending many years idle in an aviation museum. Current owner Kevin Bailey from Western Australia commenced the stripping down of the aircraft on Christmas Day 2003, meticulously x -raying, bead blasting, repairing and replacing where required over a period of several years. As with most restorations the aircraft begins to look complete well before it actually is, but once those 'hundreds of little jobs' had been worked through, a successful first flight was undertaken on 23 July 2006. The editor describes the journey! 
Our last 'mystery aircraft' was the Beaufighter. Outside of Germany little attention was given to the development of a twin engine multi role fighter in the thirties, the thinking of the time being that single engine types could more than adequately cover what was required - for far less expense. This folly was to be exposed with the outbreak of W.W.II when Britain found that the lack of endurance of the Spitfires and Hurricanes meant that standing patrols were severely compromised, and the additional requirements of modern air combat could not be adequately met. This article gives an overview of the type's history, a prelude to a forthcoming look at survivors. 
Many years ago the skies over Canada were filled with yellow painted aircraft of various types - from Ansons to Tigermoths. One of the most famous of these was the Harvard, produced by North American Aircraft, Nordyun and Canadian Car and Foundry. The type helped train hundreds of air crew for combat and eventually flew with the RCAF up to the mid sixties, thereafter many were scrapped, but a few survived as sources of spare parts for farmers, soon to be picked bare and forgotten. However, with Canada being such a huge country there are more than few rumours of the ‘old aircraft in a barn' ilk, fortunately some of these have some substance as this story proves! 
A restoration overview of the TFC recently-flown P-40B is complemented by stunning air to air photos by John Dibbs
Classic Fighters - 'The Magnificent 7' and so much more…