It is sad to see this discussion end in such an acrimonious way.
Nevertheless, I must take issue with;
...I would point out that nobody has contacted me..
.
Cooda Shooda,
You should be able to turn up and confirm receiving:
...(My reply to you 16.6.15.):
It is good to hear that someone is trying to resurrect a flyable one, but it won't be easy. As you say, most of the survivors will be from the Mk.IVs that came out at the end; it is hard to imagine that there will be much left of the Mks.I and II, (the only ones which we and, I believe, the RAAF) went on 'ops' with in the War). We got Mk.IIIs in India when it ended, but they only did odd jobs. I don't think you got any IIIs at all.
The only useful reference book I know is: "Vengeance!" The Vultee Vengeance Dive Bomber by Peter C. Smith, Airlife Publishing, 1986. The Brazilian River has one at £7.49 (your $15.05) at the moment.
Wiki (and the Museum) still says that the Camden Museum one is a MkIA (US A-31), but I think it's a Mk.IV (US A-35), as it has that massive 0.50 "cannon" at the back, which is the hallmark of the Mk.IV (all the others have 2x 0.300/303s).
The clincher would be if your warbird mag chap could check the wing: if there's a 4° Angle of Incidence, it's a IV: if zero, not! - and the airframe No. on the fuselage is a fake (although the paperwork may be genuine, this is not) # EZ999. [EDIT: # I flew EZ993 on 24.2.44, it was the end of the VV, but we, fortunately, lived to tell the tale]. Be that as it may, it looks all there and should be capable of getting into flying condition. The test pilot will have no trouble, it's just a big old pussycat.
Good luck with it ! Danny...
and
...Cooda Shooda,
I've decided to follow up the Narellan Vengeance in an attempt to settle its identity once and for all.
It is now (17 July 15) a full calendar month since I sent a message to the Camden Museum on their website Message Pad, querying whether they had got their Vengeance exhibit (the last one of its kind remaining in the world) correctly catalogued as "EZ999, a Mark 1A", whereas I believe it to be a Mark IV. I told them that, if I had a reply from them within a month, I would put it out on open Post on this Thread: but if they did not, I would put my query to them out on Post anyway.
(This may seem a pettifogging point to some, but as it is the only one left, and I am possibly the only man left alive who flew them operationally, I think it is incumbent on me to try and get the Museum story right).
Of course I had a copy of my query tucked away safe on a Notepad file and Flash Drive (or so I thought). But a fortnight ago I had a Senior Moment (Mental Aberration !) which resulted in my irrevocably losing it (and a lot more - don't ask me how I managed to do it !) As always, I had been scrupulously polite to them first time, so I ate humble pie, explained what had happened and asked them to email me back a copy of my query. This fell on stony ground, too, which is rather surprising as their current website says:
"The Camden Museum of Aviation will be temporarily closed for maintenance until further notice — watch this site for details of our re-opening! Until then, enjoy viewing our website and please feel free to contact us if you have any comments or suggestions"... This implies that they will reply to messages, but it seems not to be so. So I'm reliant on memory alone now, and here goes....
Time to lay this to rest, I think.
Danny42C.