What happened to the RAAF's Macchi's? [Archive]

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Warped Wings

25th Jun 2006, 12:40

Can someone tell me what ever happened to all the RAAF Macchi airframes when they retired? I know they were suffering airframe issues (wing fatigue?) but am curious as to why they never had a life beyond the RAAF like many other jet warbirds.

Thanks,

WW

Woomera

25th Jun 2006, 18:30

There are a few at Wagga:oh:

tinpis

26th Jun 2006, 00:56

Not Macchis but was nice to hear the bellow of a Caribou here this week along with the unmistakable WUP ! WUP! of a Huey.

Takes me back to Country Joe and The Fish

And it's one, two, three,
What are we fighting for ?
Don't ask me, I don't give a damn,
Next stop is Vietnam;
And it's five, six, seven,
Open up the pearly gates,
Well there ain't no time to wonder why,
Whoopee! we're all gonna die. :ok:

Fris B. Fairing

26th Jun 2006, 00:59

Warped Wings
Most of the surviving Macchis were parted out and the usable parts sold to Brazil. Apart from the training airframes at Wagga, this left only a handful of gutted airframes without even an undercarriage to support them. A lot of museums missed out and those purchasers who were successful are struggling to assemble a complete aeroplane. In heritage terms it wasn't much of an improvement on the Mirage debacle.

Warped Wings

26th Jun 2006, 01:52

Thanks for the info. Sad to hear about their fate :(

pall

26th Jun 2006, 02:23

The museum at Pt Cook has a Macchi on display. Probably one of the sexiest AC I have ever seen. Beautiful lines, a joy to see. Don't know what they flew like. Love to hear from pilots who have flown them.

Pinky the pilot

26th Jun 2006, 08:05

A bloke I know (now a retired Air Commodore) once described them to me as
having an engine with
"constant thrust, variable noise"
Other than that I hear that they handled ok. Never had the pleasure m'self.:{

Pass-A-Frozo

26th Jun 2006, 08:10

Could be a noisy little beast. I remember one particular person coming through initial slow, then selecting max power and the air brake to create as much noise as possible, for as long as possible over Pearce / Bullsbrook.

funny bugger

Tiger 77

26th Jun 2006, 09:22

Any ideas what will happen to the Caribou's when they retire? Any chance they could be sold to the general public? I would definately be keen to buy one for use on freight runs and scenic flights. Awesome machine!

Cheers,
Tiger.

Woomera

26th Jun 2006, 10:11

I would definately be keen to buy one for use on freight runs and scenic flights.

So was Ansett all those years ago. It was a dismal failure, thanks to the Regulator, amongst other factors.

Sunny Woomera

tinpis

26th Jun 2006, 10:16

So was Ansett all those years ago. It was a dismal failure, thanks to the Regulator, amongst other factors

Even with free engines supplied courtesy of Ronny RAAF from a fine Pogera boi haus :rolleyes:

Swingwing

26th Jun 2006, 10:37

I would definately be keen to buy one for use on freight runs
Freight Runs?!?!?!?
Tiger, the poor old girl was lucky to get airborne on a hot day at Pearce with two beefy blokes on board (that's probably why the runway is 8000' long)- but as for freight, forget it!! :}
You could take the front fairing / nosecone off and stuff a pair of going out shoes on either side of the ADF set,and a shaving kit next to some other nameless box that I never learnt the function of. If you had the luxury of being 1-up (solo), a suit bag could be hung over the the rear ejection seat. If you were dual, you were in trouble - more than one bloke wore the green party suit out on an trip away due to lack of room to store a proper overnight bag!
Come to think of it, the F-111 was the same - a forty-ton Mach 2 weapon of war with room for 35000lb of fuel and 4 GBU-10 laser guided bombs - but no space for a change of clothes, let alone a set of golf clubs!
These aircraft designers want to have a look at themselves - what do they think these jets are for, after all?

[Edit to acknowledge the fact that I completely failed to notice that we'd switched from talking about Macchis to Caribous half way through - sorry Tiger 77! :confused: Still, brought back some nice memories of the Italian sports car for me anyway....]

SW

grusome

26th Jun 2006, 10:46

pall,
Macchi memorable to me for outside loops and peculiar fuel distribution when spun with large tip-tanks. [Edited to say that maybe this explains the spar problems!!] Otherwise, much preferred the Vamp as a training airframe.

Swingy
Think you've got your wings folded wrt your response to Tiger. Have another look at what he wrote! On the other hand, maybe I missed your little smiling face. Anyway, didn't you put the golf clubs in the RHS, F111 wise?

yowie

26th Jun 2006, 11:53

Is the frame at Point Cook Trappos old ride,bent nose and all?:8

Richo

26th Jun 2006, 12:01

1 very nice example on show at the RAAFA Museum at Bullcreek WA, ex 25 25SQN and previously 2FTS.

2 at 25SQN in the hanger, 1 of which is destined for a pole in front of the Officers mess AKA the Vampire which was removed some time ago.
This could change due to the works at PEA in which there is a chance the O's mess will go (as well as the airmans) to be combined into an all ranks mess. ??
The other airfame may be destined for a Museum somewhere.

A lot of the ex 2FTS and 25SQN (79SQN) airframes were stored at Notham army camp, before the sale to (insert third world airforce here). Between the local AIRTC cadets and the Army guys there should be enough parts "Stored" up there to complete an airfame at some time in the future.

Richo

Rocket Rob

27th Jun 2006, 04:42

Pall

Hey Pall ask your man the treasurer in the club he flew em.

pall

28th Jun 2006, 00:37

Thanks Rob. Wasn't aware of that. I'm sure he will wax on. Have always found him to be very willing to talk. I asked him some specifics about Vietnam and he was fine to talk about them

Worked with a VV once who was shot in the head. One eye always looked away from ya. He used this to his advantage. A very creepy guy. Locked me in the mortuary of a Melbourne hopital and turned off the light. All the bodies on the trolleys were illuminated by th UV glow of the fly killer on the wall. Pall is screaming while the VV looks in laughing from the viewing window.:uhoh:

Zigzag

28th Jun 2006, 12:50

Richo

28th Jun 2006, 15:22

Thanks Zag

A truly interesting web site. A labour of love,I would guess.

Richo

inxs

29th Jun 2006, 17:26

Arm out the window

29th Jun 2006, 22:33

What was the go with the Ansett story, Woomera? I had a few years on Caribous, and would be interested to hear what happened with an attempt to use them as a money-making machine, if you'd like to tell.
Would be good for some operations, but a few drawbacks that spring to mind would be:
Maintenance intensive
Loud - inside and out
Uncomfortable as - down the back with the whole rear fuselage rotating around the fairly stationary cockpit area.

There was the sad case of the loss of one being used for civil ops in PNG with an antirotation bracket failure and subsequent failure of the good engine, I believe, but I didn't know there were attempts to get them going in GA in Australia.

Re the Macchi - only flew them on course, but have fond memories still of the 240 / 300 kt low navs, form, aeros and the dubious 'pleasures' of limited panel IF under the bag (plus the cheery messages written inside the IF bags like 'a peek is worth a thousand cross-references'!.

Warped Wings

30th Jun 2006, 09:15

Zigzag,

Thanks for the link. Great site.

WW

Ex Douglas Driver

30th Jun 2006, 23:39

Why would you want a -326, when you could have a -339CB? They're going cheap... get in quick before they're turned in to Coke cans!!

http://www.adf-serials.com/nz-serials/gallery/albums/Macchi/IP_NZ6461.jpg

http://www.kiwiaircraftimages.com/images/main/01_whenuapai/W01MAC56.JPG

A great little jet, care-free handling, exceeds Vne straight and level and will sustain a 6.5g turn at sea level, advanced avionics (but not too advanced), HUD in both seats. What more could you want?

OK... the engine reliability left a little to be desired!!

I'll even do the test flying!:ok:

Inbound On Descent

1st Jul 2006, 07:16

Fris B
What was "...the Mirage debacle.." ?

Ex DD
Nice Pics - how much ?

Inbound

pall

2nd Jul 2006, 11:42

:) The museum at Pt Cook has a Macchi on display. Probably one of the sexiest AC I have ever seen. Beautiful lines, a joy to see. Don't know what they flew like. Love to hear from pilots who have flown them.

Rocket Rob cannot understand what I see in the Macchi. All I can say RR is that beauty is in the eye of the beholder!!

At least he didn't make a similar comment about my wife. :=