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Gentlemen,
Regarding the Hurricane aircraft, it was the exception, being an excellent rebuild. The late Ormond Haydon-Baillie, when stationed at RCAF station Gimli, Manitoba, often visited the Hurricane rebuild and assisted with this work.
It was the only Hurricane used in the film, Battle of Britain, that performed the aerial aerobatic scenes. The RAF placed limits on their Hurricanes, therfore, the Diemert Hurricane filled this role.
When Dick Richardson of the Strathallan Collelction, Scotland, visited Manitoba for Fairey Battle parts, I asked him about the rebuild performed by the workers at his organization. He replied that except for one piece of questionable tubing that was replaced, the Hurricane was in excellent condition. They replaced the engine, a Merlin 224 from an Avro York, with a more orignal model Merlin engine, and added a wooden prop in place of the metal prop. Except for these minor items, Dick said the aircraft was in excellent condition.
By the way, I managed to help Dick obtain the cockpit canopy for a Fairey Battle to help with their rebuild, and also some hydraluic hand-pumps for this aircraft.
The P&W engines Diemert bought in Calgary, Alberta. The RCAF sold their B-25s surplus and a company was scrapping numerous B-25s at Vulcan. Diemert bought four of the engines and hauled them back to Manitoba.
The Fairey Firefly, arrived in Canada from Australia with no engine. Diemert installed a Merlin 224 obtained from a scrapped Avro York and flew the aircraft on numerous occasions. He traded it to a fellow in Massachusets for a Sikorsky S-51 helicopter. He later sold this via Trade-A-Plane, and an American arrived to retrieve it. He fired up the engine and took off, flying low over the ground across the US border to an unknown destination.
Diemert sold the remains of one Zero to a local Carman company. They used the parts as templates and began manufacturing brand new Zero aircraft. One airframe went to North Dakota for engine and instrument installation, and is currently flying, I believe?
Yours very truly,
Norman Malayney
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HE CREATED WAY MORE WORK FOR ANYONE THAT WOULD TRY TO MAKE IT AIRWORTHY.IT WAS ASSEMBLED USING POP RIVETS,AUTO WIRING,T-6 TAIL,R-2600,LOTS OF BONDO,ECT.HE DID THE SAME THING TO A HAWKER HURRICANE,2OR 3 ZEROS,A 5 SEAT MUSTANG COMPLETE WITH A T-33 CANOPY!ONE OF THE ZEROS WAS ALSO POWERED BY A R-2600(BOTH REMOVED FROM A B-25 THAT HE HACKED UP)IT WAS SO OUT OF C.G. THAT HE WAS LUCKY TO MAKE IT BACK TO THE AIRPORT WERE IT CRASHED TEARING OF THE LANDING GEAR AND CAUSING LOTS OF DAMAGE TO THE A/C.HE ALSO HAD A FAIRY FIREFLY.I WOULD LOVE TO GET A COPY OF THE DEFENDER TAPE IF POSSIBLE ,IVE HEARED ALOT ABOUT IT AND WOULD LOVE TO SEE IT I HEAR ITS A REAL CLASSIC!!LETS HOPE SOMEDAY THE DAMAGE DONE TO THE VAL BY THE FAILED RESTORATION ATTEMPT CAN BE REVERSED AND IT CAN RETURN TO THE AIR.THANKS MIKE
