Hawker Sea Fury VH-SHF August 2019 update

Warbirds Online recently visited the restoration of Hawker Sea Fury FB.X (10) also known as a “Bagdad Fury” FB.10 Construction No 37723 civil registered VH-SHF. Readers will recall that this aircraft was purchased at auction by an Australian buyer last year at Archerfield in Queensland. In the last few weeks a team from Pays Vintage Fighter Restorations at travelled to Archerfield to dismantle and transport the aircraft to Scone. The aircraft hasn’t flown for approximately 13 years, however it has been stored inside in a secure environment for all of that time so in in very good condition.

The task of dismantling the aircraft was fairly straightforward as a minimum of work was required to reduce the aircraft to a manageable load for the road trip of approximately 700km. The Sea Fury has folding outer wings so these were removed and placed in a shipping container. The huge 5 blade propeller was then removed to allow for a reduction in height of the aircraft and it too was placed in a container. All of the vulnerable openings in the airframe were then sealed such as the cowling intake. However the engine, cowlings and empennage were all left in situ.

With the airframe now ready for transport a large mobile crane was utilized to load the aircraft onto a low ride flatbed truck for its journey with the shipping container full of smaller components loaded on a separate truck for the 24 hour journey to Scone. Upon arrival at Scone the aircraft was unloaded and is in the Pay’s Air Service Museum hangar awaiting commencement of the restoration.

Several important decisions have been made, the Bristol Centaurus 18 18-cylinder twin-row radial engine, 2,480 hp (1,850 kW) (take-off) engine is to be retained. Although this engine was in excellent operating condition when it was last flown the engine will require a “bulk strip” to ensure its condition and replace any worn components and to replace all seals and hoses as required. This is a normal procedure on an engine which has been out of service for this long.

A decision has also been taken to replace the color scheme. The current colors of Royal Navy FB.11 “WJ232/O” flown in the Korean conflict by Lieutenant Peter “Hoagy” Carmichael who shot down a North Korean MiG 15 are now looking a little tired and a fresh look has been decided upon. At present there is no final color scheme choice but a decision will be made prior to the completion of the restoration and it is sure to look stunning.

Work is set to commence within a couple of weeks on this exciting Warbird restoration and it will be great to see another example of the Sea Fury in Australian skies once again. Timeframes as always are dependent on a few unknowns as with any warbird restoration however given the excellent condition of the aircraft it should be back in the air well within 12 months.

Warbirds Online will continue to report on the return of this Historic Australian Warbird to the sky, where it belongs.

© John Parker 2019