WARBIRDS GATHER ON THE NIAGARA FRONTIER

Flight Journal, Dec 2004 by Raftus, Michael

NEAR NIAGARA FALLS, ONTARIO, CANADA, ON WHAT used to be an auxiliary landing field, are a newly constructed hangar and office building that Ontario architect Ed Russell plans to turn into a WW Il warbird museum. He recently purchased four magnificent, flyable WW Il aircraft: a Supermarine Spitfire IX (MK912) and an NAA Harvard Il (FE 992), formerly based in Duxford, England; and a Hawker Hurricane II (N678DP) and Messerschmitt Bf 109E (NX 81562) from the recently closed Museum of Flying in Santa Monica, California.

The Spitfire served with RAF No. 312 (Czech) Squadron in 1944, and the Bf 109 was flown during the Battle of Britain, serving with Luftwaffe (J) LG2. Legendary Luftwaffe ace Hans-Joachim Marseille flew it as "White 14" and crash-landed it in France. After repairs, it later flew on the Russian front.

Russell is currently taking local flying lessons; he visits England to fly in Harvards and, eventually, in a Spitfire TR.9. In the meantime, qualified guest pilots from the UK and Canada fly his planes. Russell is preparing a 2,500-foot grass runway, and he plans to pave a 5,000-plus-foot runway and possibly build a WW Il fighter-station replica.

Warbird buffs are excited to have these airplanes in Eastern North America. A grand opening was planned for Saturday, September 11, 2004.

-Michael Raftus