P-40 people, The

The skilled craftsmen at Auckland-based Pioneer Aero Restorations Ltd. are quickly turning New Zealand into the P-40 capital of the world. In the last few years, they have restored three P-40s to an airworthy condition and worked on several other examples of this classic fighter.

The company was founded in 1993 by Charles Darby and Jim Pavitt under the name of Pacific Aircraft Ltd. When it was sold to Garth Hogan in 1997, its name was changed to Pioneer Aero Restorations Ltd. Hogan has an experienced staff that includes several engineers who have been with the firm since it started. Their first successful restoration was of a WW II Royal New Zealand Air Force P-40E (41-25158/NZ3009), which is now owned by Ray Hanna. It returned to the skies in 1997 and is now based in Duxford, England. The team restored another P-40E (NZ3039) to static condition for the Museum of Transport and Technology in Auckland.

This has been a banner year for them so far; they completed the restoration of two additional P-40s to airworthiness. The first, P-40N-1 (42104730/A29-448), flew on March 17. Garth Hogan and Charles Darby own this WW II Royal Australian Air Force 75 Squadron veteran, which was first delivered to the U.S. Army Air Corps on May 5, 1943, and later shipped to Australia under the Lend-Lease program. Its first assignment was with the Royal Australian Air Force 75 Squadron based at Turnbull Field in eastern Papua New Guinea. It participated in melees around nearby Milne Bay. For its active duty, its tail surfaces were painted a distinctive white (as were those of all in-line-engine fighters in the Southwest Pacific region), to distinguish it from similar Japanese aircraft.

The fighter remained with the 75 Squadron during moves to Goodenough Island in September '43 and then to Newton Strip at the Nadzab Base in the Markham Valley, Papua New Guinea.

On March 13, 1944, the aircraft ran into a ditch while taxiing but was repaired and returned to operations; it was flown in several patrol and strafing missions, including a search for the crew of a 90th Bomb Group B-24D Shack Rat that had ditched at sea.

In May 1944, the fighter was transferred to 78 Squadron at Tadji, New Guinea, but it was damaged during a landing accident and released for salvage on October 30, 1944. All the usable parts-wings, engine, etc.-were removed, and the battered fuselage lay abandoned until 1974.

Well-known warbird recovery specialist Charles Darby salvaged it and stored it until all the parts needed to restore it had been found; work began in mid-1997. This P-40 is truly an international effort; parts have come from all over the world. Ken Hake (USA) provided some extrusions for the fuselage; the wings from another P-40N fighter were found in New Zealand; and the engine came from a speedboat enthusiast. New fuel tanks were subcontracted in Auckland. The lower and side cowls were made in Australia but were reworked extensively before they could be fitted on the fighter. The cooler core blocks were made by Replicore of Whangarei (NZ) and were fitted into shells by Anglia Radiators (UK). Delays prompted the team to make the tooling so that in future, they'll be able to make the shells and complete the core fabrication and parts at their shop.

Most of the work was done in Auckland: the team made or restored the skins, spars, frames, small fittings and myriad other small systems. They completely rewired the airframe by following the factory wiring diagrams, which fortunately included the wire numbers.

The team decided not to tackle the heat-treating, cad-plating and manufacturing of a few components, but otherwise, they did it all themselves. Furthermore, a retired aircraft armorer overhauled the guns, and a retired Royal New Zealand Air Force technician restored the WW II radios and the IFF.

The only interior modification is the installation of a rear seat where the original fuselage tank once was, but remarkably, this alteration can't be detected from the outside. The fighter wasn't changed structurally, and the second seat will allow people such as WW II veterans to fly once again in their wartime mounts. By the middle of 2000, all the original radio, navigation, IFF and bomb and gunnery systems will have been overhauled and installed.

The fighter now sports its original RAAF 75 Squadron scheme--different markings and serial numbers on either side! According to Darby, they don't know the reason for the differences, but the markings are authentic.

The second P-40 flyer is a rare "K" model, serial no. 42-9733, which took to the skies on April 7 this year and is now owned by Dick Thurman of Louisville, Kentucky. He bought it from the Alpine Fighter Collection (Wanaka, NZ) after it had been severely damaged in a landing accident in October 1997. This particular aircraft was delivered to the Army Air Force on August 31, 1942, and first went to Great Falls AFB. On January 26, 1943, it was transferred to Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, but little else is known of its service history. At Adak AFB on May 12, 1945, it was condemned as "surplus," but 40 years later, collector Bob Sturges rescued its remains just before the area in which it was discovered was to be used as a nuclear test site. It subsequently had several owners before being sold to the Alpine Fighter Collection. After its disastrous landing accident, the collector Thurman sent the wrecked P-40K to the well-known Pioneer Aero Restorations Ltd., who specialize in restoring that breed of warbird. The fuselage was completely rebuilt aft of frame five (behind the pilot); everything forward of the firewall was replaced; and the tail feathers were repaired. The cockpit interior was completely restored, the left wing was stripped and rebuilt from the leading edge up, and the right wing was repaired. The team replaced or rebuilt the wingtips, flaps and ailerons, and Thurman provided an engine. The fighter is finished in a dramatic Aleutian theater paint scheme, and it is currently being shipped back to the United States.