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Setter follow the top link.. A great ressource
Type: Bristol/DAP 152 Beaufort Mk. VIII
Con no.:
Registration/serial: A9-555
Markings: RAAF camouflage, coded QH-S
Current status: Restoration
Originality: Original
Built: Beaufort Division, Dept. of Aircraft Production, Mascot & Fishermen's Bend, Australia
Owner/Operator: Bristol Heritage Collection
Location/base: Hassel Field, Clifton, Tennessee, USA
Remarks: A9-555 served with the Royal Australian Air Force, as QH-S with 100 Squadron, based at Tadji, in Papa New Guinea. On 21st March 1945, it crashed on take off from Tadji, and was reduced to components on the airfield.
In 1974 the remains of several RAAF Beauforts were recovered from the former RAAF base at Tadji, and moved to Chino, California. These were believed to include major and minor sections from at least A9-182, A9-210, A9-414, A9-535, A9-555, A9-557, A9-559, A9-574 and A9-637. They were recovered to Chino for David Tallichet/Military Aircraft Restoration Company, and stored in a compound on the airfield. In the years following recovery, sections and parts were used in various Beaufort projects around the world. During the late 1980's, a complete static Beaufort shell was contructed on site, and shipped to the UK for the RAF Museum (qv).
The remaining Beaufort sections were acquired by the Bristol Heritage Collection, based in Nashville, Tennessee, but remained at Chino pending space.
On 20th March 2003 transportation to Nashville began, a 2,600 mile journey across the USA. On arrival in Nashville, the sections will go to Stripmasters Inc. for cleaning 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, where they will be set in jigs prior to the long restoration. It is hoped that the project will result in an airworthy Bristol Beaufort.
As Australian-built Beauforts were powered by Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasps, so sourcing powerplants should be an easier job than for UK-built examples, which were powered by the Bristol Taurus. The Beaufort Mk.I was the only aircraft to use the Taurus, so it is thought that none survive.
The following sections were transported from Chino to Tennessee in March 2003:
forward fuselage section (thought to be from A9-555)
rear fuselage section (from A9-555, marked QH-S)
stern fuselage sections (from A9-182)
The remaining sections will be transported later, and are known to include a centre wing section, outer wings, and another stern section (from A9-574).
Another damaged section, from A9-414, was at Chino, which comprised part of the rear fuselage section, and the front of the stern fuselage section.
Photos: Main photo taken by Graham Kilsby at Nashville in April 2003, after the fuselage sections were trasported to Tennessee. Others were taken at Chino in November 2001, by Andy Appleton, and earlier.
Links:
See also: Other Bristol aircraft in the MARC compound:
Bolingbroke 10073
Bolingbroke 10076
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