Ethiopian/South African restorations
Ethiopian/South African restorations
I was doing some "lockdown" reading of old magazines and came across a reference in a May 1999 edition referring to a cache of aircraft discovered and retrieved to South Africa from Ethiopia. Among the rarer finds were 2 Saab B17s and 2 Fireflies along with a clutch of Saab Safirs and Globe Swifts. Does anybody know whether they got restored or sold on? The outfit in South Africa was called Justinia.
Re: Ethioupian/South African restorations
Fairey Firefly or Slingsby T67 Firefly ?
Canon 750D & Sigma 150-600 C
Dudley, West Midlands
Shows I'm Attending in 2020:
Well Um.. :rofl:
Dudley, West Midlands
Shows I'm Attending in 2020:
Well Um.. :rofl:
Re: Ethioupian/South African restorations
The B17s were last noted in Lithuania in October 2012. with pictures
Source : https://lae.blogg.se/2013/february/balt ... ers-2.html (In swedish)
Source : https://lae.blogg.se/2013/february/balt ... ers-2.html (In swedish)
Canon 750D & Sigma 150-600 C
Dudley, West Midlands
Shows I'm Attending in 2020:
Well Um.. :rofl:
Dudley, West Midlands
Shows I'm Attending in 2020:
Well Um.. :rofl:
Re: Ethioupian/South African restorations
Fairey Firefly, deffo not T67.
One Firefly ended up in Canada with Shearwater Aviation Museum. It was being restored to fly but was badly damaged during taxiing trials, not sure what's become of it since.
One Firefly ended up in Canada with Shearwater Aviation Museum. It was being restored to fly but was badly damaged during taxiing trials, not sure what's become of it since.
Re: Ethiopian/South African restorations
Shame no-one's gone after the last two Fireflies in Eritrea, after the Canadians took their two out. The ones that came out of Ethiopia were part of a different bunch at Addis Ababa, and at least one of them ended up in France.
Richard Woods
Team leader Avro Shackleton WR963
2009 - 2016
2019 -
http://www.facebook.com/avro.shackleton
Team leader Avro Shackleton WR963
2009 - 2016
2019 -
http://www.facebook.com/avro.shackleton
Re: Ethiopian/South African restorations
Thanks for the replies so far. So to summarise there are possibly 2 in Canada, one in France (?) and others in Ethiopia. Any updates on the one at Duxford?
Re: Ethiopian/South African restorations
No need for a (?) when mentioning the French one, I saw it myself a few months back. A lovely example of the dual-cockpit trainer variant.
Re: Ethiopian/South African restorations
That's good news Mike. Is it airworthy?
Re: Ethiopian/South African restorations
No, it’s completely untouched since recovery by the look of it. It will make a lovely project for someone one day though.
Re: Ethiopian/South African restorations
One of the ex-Ethipoian Fireflies came to NZ in 2004 to be restored for Jerry Yagen. For all I know it's still in one of the containers up at Ardmore...
I can't find any photos but I thought it had been repaired and confined to museum display. Can provide no evidence for same.
Regards, Zac Yates