Warbird Information Exchange

the royal Canadian air force museum received the nose section for theyre Hudson restoration 2 days ago from california they had received the remains of a Hudson from coastal command that had destroyed spars and was in rough shape but had a known lineage from a scrap yard in pei, apparently it had been in the same location since the late 50,s they have also received a good spar section from a location in Alberta.restoration for static display is to commence immediately looking forward to watching this one and perhaps volunteering my self

Do you have any ID information for the Hudson nose section? Where in CA did it come from?

Mike

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Mike R. Henniger
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History of Lockheed Hudson Mark VI – FK466

Thus far, we have been able to determine the following information about this particular historic aircraft:

It is a Lockheed Hudson Mk. VI , with Royal Air Force (RAF) Serial Number FK466, Lockheed Construction Number 414-6942, United States Army Air Force (USAAF) Serial Number 42-47022, and it was built at Burbank, California, in September 1942. It was a Lend-Lease aircraft, with Lend-Lease Requisition Number 7201 and Lend-Lease Contract Number DA-908. It was part of one of the last batches of Lend-Lease Hudsons. The Mk. VI was equivalent to the USAAF Model A-28A.

The A-28A was a contract designation given to 450 Lockheed Hudson twin-engine attack aircraft intended for delivery to British Commonwealth countries under Lend-Lease agreements. The A-28A (Mk. VI) was essentially an improved version of the earlier A-28. One significant difference between the A-28 and A-28A was the upgrade to the Pratt & Whitney 1830-69 radial engine, a more powerful version with 1,200 hp each at maximum takeoff power.

Most A-28As were sent to Great Britain and served in the RAF in various missions. Some also served with the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF). A few aircraft were retained by the USAAF for use as staff transports.

FK466 was ferried from Burbank, California, to Eastern Air Command at RCAF Station Debert, Nova Scotia, on 05 October, 1942 under Transfer Order No. 3263 (30 October 1942). It was first assigned to No. 31 (RAF) Operational Training Unit (OTU) at RCAF Station Debert, a formation of the BCATP. While at No. 31 (RAF) OTU, FK466 was used to train crews to ferry Hudsons to England during WWII.

On 22 May, 1944, FK466 was placed on “Stored Reserve” with Eastern Air Command. On 08 August, 1944, FK466 was then transferred from the BCATP to the War Materials Office as “War Reserve”, at No. 21 Repair Depot, Moncton, New Brunswick, and pending modification to Air Sea Rescue (ASR) configuration.

As part of the ASR conversion, FK466 was equipped with an Uffa Fox, Mk. I, Airborne Lifeboat. These boats, which were mounted under the aircraft’s fuselage, were equipped with two gas engines, one sail and emergency rations.

FK466 was then transferred back to Eastern Air Command on 12 December, 1944, after conversion to the ASR role. FK466 was now attached to No. 1 (Composite) Detachment, which was later re-designated No. 1 (Composite) Squadron on 01 April 1945, and was based at RCAF Station Torbay, Newfoundland. No. 1 Composite Detachment and later No.1 Composite Squadron had been formed to provide target towing, search and rescue, and communications duties as part of Eastern Air Command. No. 1 Composite Squadron’s diary indicates that on 17 April 1945, Flying Officer (F/O) McKay dropped a dummy lifeboat from FK466 over Quidi Vidi Lake, near St. John’s, Newfoundland.

The Air Sea Rescue element of the squadron, which included FK466 and other aircraft and personnel, was transferred to the control of RCAF Station Torbay, when No. 1 Composite Squadron was disbanded on 7 July, 1945. The Air Sea Rescue Flight operated for about two months using Hudsons FK466 and FK495.

The lifeboat system was utilized on 6 July, 1945, when an Airborne Lifeboat was dropped to the crew of a B-24D Liberator, Tail Number 595, which had ditched in the Atlantic off Newfoundland, after experiencing flight control problems. Whether FK466 or FK 495 carried out the lifeboat drop is currently unclear, but we are working on that mystery.

FK466 was flown to No. 1 Reconnaissance and Navigation School at Summerside, Prince Edward Island, by the Officer Commanding (OC) of the Air Sea Rescue Flight, George Webster, after disbandment of the Air Sea Rescue Flight, on 15 September, 1945.

No. 1 Reconnaissance and Navigation School was re-designated as the RCAF Air Navigation School on 16 September 1945, and the school was moved to RCAF Station Greenwood, Nova Scotia on 15 December, 1945. FK466 was utilized by “Station Flight” at RCAF Station Greenwood for general transport duties until 9 September, 1947, when it was placed on Aircraft Pending Disposal At Location (APDAL) at RCAF Station Greenwood, and then transferred to War Assets on 10 November, 1947.

At this point in time, the history of FK466 from 10 November, 1947 to 1980 remains unclear, but FK466 eventually found its way to a scrap yard with a number of B-24’s and other Hudson’s. It existed as a dismantled hulk at L. W. Layton Salvage, in Canning, Nova Scotia, from 1980 to 1988. FK466 was subsequently found by ACAM members and transported to Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1988, where it has remained until October 2010, when it was moved into the restoration shop at the NAFMC.

i,ll see if i can id the nose section

Thought to be s/n 41-23419 , although one of the numbers is hard to read.

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just kills me how roughly the spars were hacked off at the wreckers thank god they have another spar!

Neat don't count when the intent is to turn it into billets, just break out the blue tipped wrench. And scrap yards don't really want aircraft aluminum because it isn't pure aluminum like pop cans are, it's full of alloying metals like lithium, copper, iron and manganese and other chemicals used to make a specific temper of metal and the scrappers have to deal with disposing of the slag from smelting a P-51, lots of extra work that cuts into their profit margins.

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Don't make me go get my flying monkeys-

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45-47=-2

Hi Andyman thank you for correcting where the Hudson came from as PEI is no where near where it came from ,as the person that found the fuselage and arranged its donation to the ACAM it is important to properly record its history ,also Mr Layton in my books saved it from being melted down as he recovered it from a scrap yard in Windamere NS near Berwick,owned by a Mr Pat Murphy,it is where the navigators seat and yagi radar anttennas came from in the fall of 1988.

As for the pics with the cockpit pieces these where recovered from a Hudson that the Museum had bought but didn,t get around to recovering before vandals started to cut it up, those pieces where stolen from the museum yard while in storage.
After the fuselage arrived at the Museum I arranged for a large quanity of parts to be donated by Cox Aviation of Oshawa,and also of the Ventura wing that was recovered in a lake near Country Harbour N.S.

Well doing research on the Hudson I came in contact with a Mr George Webster,and Mr Joe McDermont who where both pilots of it during its service ,and I have photo copies of their log books of the time they spent flying FK 466.As for the new nose section I was told it was coming from Chino and was slated for use in one of Steve Searls projects. Its my understanding that after its restored it will go on display for 20 years then be sent back to Acam.