I last flew MFU in June 1990. Memory fails but I guess it was crashed at Morehead shortly after.

P2-AWM was exported in '84 to a cane farmer in Ingham and was registered VH-AWM. VH-AWM was imported back into PNG and registered P2-AWM in August 1991 (by me) and was fatally crashed in June 1992 by Dean Hanna (nephew of Ray).

Yes they had 2 Islanders P2-BAC and P2-BAY as I recall.

Islanders - only 1 when I was there & I don't recall the rego.:)

Tinny,

Sorry for my absence! Been celebrating daughter's 30th in another place.

Now, it's certainly NOT OMK!! If you turned a Boo in the parking bay at the top of the hill there, the wing-tip would gouge the hillside!:eek:

All my being says it's Chimbu prior to the runway works and perhaps the gravel layer which used to create spectacular enveloping dust cloud in full reverse. That's a best guess if the slope behind and the ridge in the top l/h corner is where the Waghi turns around to flow past OMK. However, still some doubt. The fuselage would have to be hiding the Leslie's house on the eastern side of the strip.

Best I can do. All my PNG slides were lost in a recent house-flood!!

G'day ;)

OWZ mystery resolved
 

The Armidale owner referred to had OWZ registered for 01915 (P2-MFU) and has now cancelled such, as a result of the sale to myself. I was'nt aware that a heap of components was actually registered. VH-MFU is now reserved for the 185, back to it's original status in Feb 1972.

01915 should be back on its wheels this week. Will post some new pictures when available ... I guess you guy's would like to see them.

Feather #3 I always name strips i cant identify as OMK :hmm:

I agree with your asessment of the picture. Im trying to remember Chimbu with the gravel would that be prior to 1970?

Recent view taken looking towards Omkalai

Damn mate, lost your slides?:( Mine are mostly faded and in the half frame format so are bloody useless to scan


http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y15...G/IMG_1755.jpg

Hey I can see my haus:ok:

The Bou aint parked on Chimbu - too much slope to be Chimbu. I woulda said Omkalai too.

Y'know looking at that picture of Chimbu Im reminded of watching Sharpie in Patair Navajo 310 take off and turn left an go straight up hill on track to Goroka
Man, I wouldnt even take a Chieftan 350 in OR out of Chimbu the difference in performance was that great (yes i did take a brand new Chieftan on a tour of PNG)

Was in Bensbach the other day and happened upon this pristine 182 stashed away in a storeoom... apparently P2 RHO and lots of history with both aircraft and pilot...

http://i746.photobucket.com/albums/x...n/BSB032-1.jpg

Did it belong to Duke Elegant? :E

Bensbach
 

Tinny, the late Brian Brumley's aircraft. Famous Fred kapset it on one of those small strips along "the Western Development Road". I took a Filipino engineer from POM and BB met us with the tractor and trailer, then t'ported it back to Bensbach.

P2-MFX
 

I believe it is "For Sale" for those who may be interested. It is currently owned by an ex PNG CAA airworthiness inspector who is now back in NZ. There has been one interested buyer although I think the deal may have fallen through.
The aircraft itself is still in the Government Flying Unit's hangar at POM,it isn't airworthy as it's under restoration and I don't think it's damaged either.

I haven't got the owners contact details,although I'm sure someone would be able to pass the details on privately in the know. I'd buy it myself if the missus would let me !

P2-MFX

I heard that the owner was taking MFX (reregistered as MAZ) back to NZ with him. Can anybody confirm that happened or is it still languishing in the GFU hangar?

Its still in the GFU hangar coated about five inches in dust. Mike was going to take it home but I believe its still for sale. wheels and brakes are off it and its sitting on the stubs. Pod is on the ground next to used as a rubbish bin. I believe the engine had a Kero overhaul after a prop strike. Sad to see it sitting there rotting away........ very much like the CAA B200 doing the same thing next to it.

I recon you could get it for a good price if you paid cash for it and obviously the deal would be "as is were is".

The most logical thing would be to pop it into a container and send it south, and spend the bucks on it.

Any idea what he want's for it ? Could be a good investment especially given the fact they are rare as hens teeth. Not to mention that it would be one hell of thing to take out on weekends with the kids in toe. :ok:

MFX did have a prop strike at Moresby when Mac Lee was first getting to grips with the old girl in the early 90s. I was asked to hop in and do some remedial circuits with him by DCA - which I did. He went on to fly it successfully up until his death.

Memory dims but maybe 7 years ago, not long after Mac was killed in his 402, MFX was put up for sale and I believe the asking price was PNGk50k (about Aud30k) and she was airworthy, well flyable, at the time! A mate who was still in PX rang me and told me about it suggesting I should buy it. I had my Bonanza 3 years already so certainly didn't have the cash nor inclination to buy a C185...well being a C185 tragic I had the inclination:ok:

Being half way through a nuts and bolts restoration of my Bonanza (which was airworthy before I started - for how much longer was the question) I have a keen insight into what these old birds are worth in the condition MFX is in now.

Approaching zero

If you could gain legal title for <10k and ship it south by the time you had it back flying in perfect 'as new' condition it would 'owe' you at least 250k, unless you're a LAME or the employer of one, maybe over 300k. That is not to say it wouldn't be superb value at that price - what would you pay for a new C185 if they still built them? A damn site more than that. But you wouldn't get 250k for it the day after you finished restoring it.

Someone should absolutely do exactly that - but you need to get it for next to nothing.

Chimbu said:
"Someone should absolutely do exactly that - but you need to get it for next to nothing."

And therein lies the rub as they say. The price asked is not "nothing" however. The fact that it has not gone south already would probably mean that the price probably has!
There is room for someone to get a good C185 - and I think for a bit less than some of the figures quoted - although I agree there is a lot of work required, not to mention the engine.
Sad to see something like that going nowhere. The fact of where it is located is a big drawback to most likely restorers though.

I think you might be shocked by the final number.

The bits you'd need to buy are the cheap part.

New engine/prop/engine control/flight control cables/pullies/ALL new wiring/new instruments/new radios/all new hoses/windows/tyres/wheels/brakes. $100-130k easy.

New interior $8k.

Sheet alluminium to reskin large areas, maybe all, of the fuselage and wings - not sure - maybe 15k?

Paint job - $15-20k.

We're over 170k and haven't spent a cent on labour nor actually bought the aeroplane - and believe me labour is the REALLY big part of restoring an aeroplane. $90-100/hr shop rate for a LAME near any decent size city and 1000-1500hrs of labour could slide into that airframe very easily if there is significant lap joint corrosion. And there WILL be corrosion - MFX has been sitting in an open hangar several nm downwind from Bootless Bay for a decade with 20kt Tradewinds blowing salty air at it for 6 months in 12.

I am really surprised MFX is still in POM - I thought it had been moved south some years ago.

What is happening at Bensbach these days? Old Brian Bromley was a good mate and he was having dramas with the locals when I used to frequent the place in the early/mid 90s.

Chuck is correct.

The former P2-TAC was purchased by a couple of blokes in Sydney and had a ground-up restoration. I saw it just after they got it flying, and it went on the market soon after (I think because the GFC had interrupted their plans). From memory the asking price was A$260 or 270k, and after doing a few mental calculations (not easy for an old fart!), I concluded that this represented all of their hardware expenses, but returned little or nothing for their effort (they did most of the work themselves, and did a magnificent job).

That is why "project" aircraft in the US often sell for $10k or less, because the simple reality is that the cost of restoring an aircraft is huge. In Oz or NZ (especially NZ), people trying to sell projects frequently seem to believe that their offering is valued at about 90% of what an equivalent flying example sells for.

Dreamers.

So 10k would be a reasonable price, IMHO. :ok: