Ron Flockhart's First Mustang

[Fris B. Fairing]

Does anyone have a colour photo of Mustang G-ARKD?

Can anyone confirm the fate of this aeroplane which was last heard of abandoned at Athens in the early sixties?

Cheers

[tinpis]

First and last...

A68-113

On the 12th April 1962, the day was cold and miserable with low cloud hiding the Dandenong Ranges. At Moorabbin, the pilot of this Mustang - Ron Flockhart posed for photographs before starting up. The aircraft was painted gaudily in red and black, with silver external fuel tanks under the wings. It had a British registration G-ARUK and the pilot was a British racing car driver who was flying to Bankstown. Using the Mustang, he intended to break the Australia to England speed record for a single engine aircraft. He was not an experienced IFR pilot and most of his flying was on light aircraft. Fifteen minutes after the Mustang had departed, he flew into cloud near the village of Kallista in Dandenong Ranges.... He never came out the other side.

[Fris B. Fairing]

tp

No, G-ARUK was his second Mustang. I'm looking for the first, G-ARKD.

Cheers

[treadigraph]

So far as i know 'RKD was abandoned at Athens after some sort of fire... I beleive there may be a pic of it in Paul Coggan's Mustang book. I'll try and look it out tonight.

Treadders

[Fris B. Fairing]

Treadders

I didn't think to look there as I never seriously considered it a "survivor". I have since checked the book but I couldn't find a reference to G-ARKD. According to "Mustangs of the RAAF and RNZAF" by Peter Anderson, it suffered a serious cockpit fire at Athens on 7 Sept 1961 and this resulted in damage to the airframe. It seems that everyone assumes that the aeroplane was subsequently scrapped. It would be nice to know for sure.

Cheers

[PLovett]

FBF

I am relying heavily on memory here (you'd think I'd have learned about the dangers of doing that by now :\ ) but I think there is a reference to the aircraft sitting on the ground at Athens, burnt out, in the book by the two gentlemen who flew a Monospar from Sydney to the UK in the early 60s.

I have a copy of the book but not to hand and I cannot remember the title ("The Long Flight"?) or the author's name although I do recall he was a doctor who was later killed in a C182 crash in Australia.

[treadigraph]

There's a reference to the Monospar flight in one of Lewis Benjamin's "Tiger Club" books - prrobably the first volume. Sadly mine's suffered a structural failure; the latter volumes have proved stronger!

Dang, forgot to check my Mustang book last night just in case it's different to yours Frisbee - PC has written at least two.

[Fris B. Fairing]

Treadders

I'm looking at "Mustang Survivors" published by Aston in 1987.

Cheers

[treadigraph]

Ah, mine's more recent, about two or three years old... so might be lucky. I have sent aqn email to remind meself to dig it out tonight. Memory like the proverbial sieve... :}

[Fris B. Fairing]

PLovett

No need to worry about your memory. I am advised that the book was written by John Morris and is titled "Two Men in a Flying Machine" (Robert Hale Limited, London, 1969). It describes the delivery from Australia to the UK of Monospar VH-UTH in 1960. On page 164 it states;
'We passed a burnt-out Mustang....'

The question is; was it burnt out to such an extent that it had to be scrapped?

I am also advised that a Mustang enthusiast visited Athens many years ago and interviewed the airport authorities but they had no knowledge of the aeroplane.

Treadders

Thanks for checking.

Cheers

[Aerohack]

I've been researching Ron Flockhart's flying career for a few years, on and off, and have never succeeded in determining the ultimate fate of 'RKD. I have a black-and-white photo of it at Athens in which it is clearly undamaged, though oddly there appear to be no exhaust stubs at least on the starboard side, which is all that's visible. All sources I've examined say that it suffered a catastrophic cockpit fire while at Athens and the burned-out wreck was abandoned there.
Until recently I'd always understood that two other aircraft abandoned at Athens - the celebrated TWA C-82 Packet spares support ship 'Ontos' and the Paul Mellon Douglas B-23 Dragon - had also 'disappeared' (presumably scrapped?), but the recently published Midland Counties book on the C-82/C-119 says that 'Ontos' subsequently showed up the the USA and is still airworthy with Hawkins & Powers in Wyoming.

[Fantome]

. . . . were indeed scattered across the landscape, as 'tinpis' refers. The day before, I took a photo at Bankstown of Mr Flockhart, head buried in his uncowled Merlin, but did not take the opportunity to say "hello", or bother him with idle chat. (However, mercenary little bugger that I was, needing to finance a CPL, I sold the photo to the 'Daily Telegraph', who published it the following day.)

Another speed tragic I took a few close ups of was Donald Campbell, when he came to WA to attempt a record on Lake Dumbleyung (?) in '65. He lobbed into Guildford in a rented Avis Aero Commander 500, and after attending to the refuelling, I pulled out the Pentax and asked him could I take his picture. He was already on board running through pre-start. The picture shows him smiling out the open side window, with teddy-bear mascot propped up on the dash.

My 'numero uno' Mustang with pilot shot is of the late Chris Braund straddling the engine of VH-FCB at Canberra in 1959, pouring glycol into his mount's throat. QUE HOMBRE!

[treadigraph]

Frisbee,

Yep my book is clearly an update of your's - no mention of either 'RKD or 'RUK. Ah well...

Now, over on the Flypast forum someone else is asking the same question, and there are some b/w photos (last time I looked).

Hi Aerohack, nice to see you!

Cheers

Treaders

[Halcyon Days]

Hi Aerohack
Slight change of thread from the original but in reply to your query about Ontos-I am not sure what years exactly you refer to her being at ATH but I saw her at Santa Monica in 1972.
See picture below.

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b67/Maybee123/N9701FC-119OntosSantaMonica.jpg

[Aerohack]

Hi Treaders!
Yes, been silent for a long while, mostly addressing the need to earn a living. A friend alerted me to this thread, knowing my interest in Flockhart, and indeed in the many other racing drivers of that era who were also pilots, before they got paid well enough to afford professionally flown business jets.

fantome
Coincidentally, I've just finished reading 'My Speed King', Campbell's widow Tonia's account of her turbulent years with him, and there are many mentions of that Aero Commander, and of teddy bear 'Mr Woppit', who surfaced after the disaster on Coniston Water in 1967, while DC did not, until the controversial recovery of the wreck of 'Bluebird' and his remains in 2001.

Halcyon Days
Ah, nostalgia indeed! Aside from the lack of TWA titles and the US rather than Ethiopian registration that picture brings back memories of seeing 'Ontos' at LHR in the '50s. It also confirms that she did escape the clutches of Greek scrappers, because it was in the 1960s that the aircraft was reported 'abandoned' at ATH. I wonder of the B-23 also survived? It seems likely the Flockhart Mustang didn't.

[Fris B. Fairing]

Treadders

Now, over on the Flypast forum someone else is asking the same question

Same question - same person! (I've nothing to hide).

Aerohack

The story goes that Flockhart was held on the ground too long at Athens and the engine overheated and blew a head gasket. This might explain the lack of exhaust stubs in the photo for there is clearly enough engine present to mount the prop.

fantome

I'd love to see your photo of Chris Braund and VH-FCB.

Cheers

[treadigraph]

Ah, I did wonder - your call sign and location differ slighty, Fris! I lurk over there; I have got a log-in but to be honest I've forgotten what it was!

Aerohack, ah yes, I came across your name as Ed of an Aviation magazine of a slightly different genre last weekend... Unfortunately I have now got the kit bug and the Stampes are part of an expanding collection awaiting construction! I'm cutting my teeth on a Harvard at the moment!

Interesting about the Racing Drivers and flying - it seems to have been almost as dangerous an activity for them as their sport; off the top oif my head, apart from Ron Flockhart I can think of David Purley (Pitts off Bognor), Graham Hill (Aztec, Elstree) and wasn't there another Pitts/Racing Driver crash off the South of France a few years ago? Plus also David Coulthard's occurence in a Lear; and wasn't Pete Clark (Firefly, Old Warden) also an ex racing driver?

Cheers

Treadders

[Sir George Cayley]

Isn't the GAL Monospar at Winthorpe Airfield (Newark Air Museum) the one that was the subject of the book?

Sir George Cayley

[Fris B. Fairing]

Sir George

According to "British Museum Aircraft" (Merseyside Aviation Socy) 1977 p.90 the Monospar at the Newark Air Museum is indeed the former VH-UTH.

Cheers