Blair was in the league with Lindbergh of aviator explorers. And as such, he had pretty much a free reign when it came to the FAA in the islands UNTIL he decided to use the Sandringham for commercial service. The FAA, from what I was told by some Antilles Air Boat people back in the 80s, clamped down and said no.

Blair's Excalibur III is hanging in the new Air and Space facility at KIAD in Washington.

Question for the knowledgable - could the Sunderland / Sandringham take off & land on hard / grass runways with the bolt-on wheels, or are they purely for maneuvering?

Ta

SD

Doubt the gear was suitable for anything but ground handling. The Martin Marlin (http://home.earthlink.net/~patron40/FlightLine1.jpg) used ground handling wheels which you can see would not be useful on runways.

The actual P-51C Excalibur III is in the National Air & Space Museum's Steven F Udvar-Hazy facility at Dulles - here is ( I hope) a picture I took last week. Their history of the aircraft is at: http://www.nasm.si.edu/research/aero...ft/NAP-51C.htm

http://lh6.google.co.uk/image/philip...223_164539.jpg [ Well, that did not work well, it seems that the urls for images in Picasa's web albums change dynamically, ho hum ]

Saab Dastard: They are just beaching gear, for getting the aircraft out of the water for servicing etc.

The red P-51C replica is still on the top of the Queens Building. It is visible from both control towers :} and also from the walkway from T1 Check-in to T2 Check-in which cuts through the QB.

Glad to hear it is still around Gonzo, it was quite a large model as I recall. Hope a good home can be found for it before redevelopment of the Eastern Terminal area commences. I assume that is still on the cards?

G - Bjhs
 

The stuff one finds in the attic............last week it was Beverleys, this week a Sunderland ! Wonder what I'll find next week ?
Two photos given to me by Geoff Masterton - who sadly died five or six years ago - who was heavily involved in the restoration of the aircraft and preparation for the flight to Florida.
The first one is annotated, "Sunderland 5 G-BJHS July 1993 Calshot airtest in prep for trans-atlantic delivery for Kermit Weeks"
The second one dated 26.7.93 and annotated, " Greenland at 1000ft and 10 miles out"
There's quite an amusing story associated with Geoff's involvement..........he was either asked or said he wanted to be the flight-engineer for the delivery flight. This was agreed providing he got himself properly licenced.
He completed Part 1 of the Flight-engineer's licence and then turned up at Aviation House to sit the "Type" multi-choice exam. Geoff was told this couldn't be done because the CAA didn't have a Sunderland 5 exam paper.
Geoff, who knew a bit about CAA regulations told the young man that since there was a Sunderland Mk 5 on the UK register, the CAA had an obligation to provide the appropriate facilities for personnel to be licenced.
A more mature gentleman from FCL returned and explained that the CAA would prepare such an exam but it would take some time because the exam would have to be created by someone who knew something about Sunderlands. "Who might that be ?" asked Geoff. "It's the chap who's been working on the one down at Southampton.............I think his name is Mr. Masterton."
A short exchange of identities and Geoff was told that if he'd like to return with the appropriate signatures on his Form 1180 and authenticated flying hours, the CAA would be very happy to award his Flight-engineer licence endorsed for the Short Sunderland Mark 5 !
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i2...andairtest.jpg
http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i2...nden-route.jpg

Treads,

'Heathrow East' is on the cards, yes. Whether any room will be found, not sure. If it were anyone other than BAA in charge, of course room would be found! :}

sunderland heathrow fly by
 

hi i just read your article on Kermit weeks sandringham. I was actually on board the aircraft the day we flew down the runway at heathrow. i was one of the engineers that worked with this aircraft . i have been searching every where for a photo of the fly past at heathrow and just wondered if anyone you may know of caught us on film? If there is any pictures out there i would love a copy as i think this was one of the best fly by's we did.
Many thanks

Whilst this does appear elsewhere on the web, I loved this picture enough to pester Caz Caswell in to giving me permission to publish on my site:
Antilles Air Boats VP-LVE Shorts Sandringham
Moored on Southampton Water September 1976
http://www.cue-dih.co.uk/tiam/pix/ca...lve_sou_cc.jpg
Larger Version Here:
http://www.cue-dih.co.uk/tiam/pix/ca...ve_largecc.jpg
Wasn't a major part of the FAA refusing certification being that one of the Antilles Sandringhams - wasn't officially a Sandringham as the conversion had been carried out by QANTAS and they were not the OEM?

Polk City Sandringham
 

Have made several visits to Kermit Week's collection, and had another brief look in the Sandringham, a couple of weeks ago. So, just to say, as of mid Feb 07, It's under cover in the Hanger, and has been for a while now, I think. I was shown around, a similar looking one in Oakland about 10 years ago ( The Solent, mentioned? ) My host, an eng, and Confed AF member, told me that by that stage, huge amounts of money had been spent, but not enough to satisfy the FAA for a permit to fly. He mentioned in passing that they had run the no.4 engine for the film, Raiders of the Lost Ark. He also pointed out the flare shoots in the rear fuselage, the presence of which reflected it's switch from military to civilian at the build stage as WW2 drew to a close.

If anybody wants to check on what film/video/DVD is available, featuring anything in the Weeks collection, the phone no. is 863.984.3500. The vounteers who show you round, always seem knowledgable and helpful. I know nothing of flying boats myself, but remember during crew slips/layovers turning out to watch a Sandringham or similar that operated out of Rose Bay, Sydney.

Just in case anybody finds themselves at a loose end near Orlando or Tampa, Fantasy of Flight is easy to find off exit 44, Freeway I4 between the two places. Nearby, if you want to fly, or take a ride in a Piper Cub on floats, Winter Haven Municipal Airport, set in the middle of a chain of lakes could be fitted in easily on the same day. Phone. 863.298.4551

If you're interested in engines, Kermit Weeks has a hanger full of them from rotarys to the most powerful piston engine ever built. He keeps racks of spare engines and bits for 'swaps'.

<<I was actually on board the aircraft the day we flew down the runway at heathrow. i was one of the engineers that worked with this aircraft . >>

Hi Ross mac.... nice to make your acquaintance after so long. Not many fag papers between the hull and the runway I recall! The fly-by was arranged at very short notice so I don't know of anyone who got a snap; certainly nobody in the tower had a camera or I'd have a copy in my collection.

Imagine doing that now...... feet wouldn't touch the floor!

Was at Fantasy of Flight in November 2005, and got the guided tour. The guys doing the guiding told us that the plan was to build a slipway into the lake that's within the airfield boundaries so that the Sandringham could be towed out of the hangars to the lake and take off and land there. They also were very proud of the fact that Mr Weeks (they called him Mr Weeks, and were VERY respectful!) liked to have all his planes airworthy, even if it meant they weren't 100% authentic. He's not short of a bob or two either! The hangars look the part with their Art Deco design, and he paid for them to be built from scratch. They expected to have some more built in the near future too.
Some of the stuff in the workshops behind the hangars was pretty mindblowing. Racks of engines still in their original crates - US, British, German. And lots of planes still in bits waiting to be restored...from memory they have a Lancaster(?) and a Blenheim amongst others.
And as a bonus there was also a Starliner temporarily parked on the airfield. What a beautiful plane!

what a shame. i think that would have been a great shot. I know it was low by the fact that the shadow disappeared into one dark patch. I think today like you said they would throw the key away. I would like to think out there somewhere there is evidence of that event, one of the plane spotters. Thanks for the reply

ref picture of the southern cross this aircraft is now in the southampton museum

Sunderland beaching gear
 

I've read that trials were carried out using W6075 to taxi up a slipway, but it was considered that there was a risk of airframe damage if not expertly carried out, and no further trials took place

Southern Cross
 

a.k.a. "Beachcomber" is shown moored here, with Kermit Weeks' boat on its take-off run behind (the implausibly long link DOES work!)

http://www.airliners.net/open.file?i...1077978&size=L

southern cross
 

what a great photo

Sandringhams in service
 

If you search on "Sunderland" in the photo search section at www.airliners.net you'll find loads more photographs of those two Sunderlands in service.

I haen't seen a photo of the low pass at Heathrow, but one of the volumes of John T. Evans' series, "Sunderland, the Flying Boat Queen" shows the 'boat doing a low pass down the runway at Gatwick.