MiG-17F moves to Scone NSW

Jack McDonald has kindly made his MIG-17F available to the Hunter Fighter Collection Inc (HFC), a not-for-profit organisation, for display in the new Hunter Warbirds Aviation Centre at Scone NSW. The MIG painted as Polish Air Force “402” in a silver finish with red trim and markings will provide a view of an adversary aircraft in the display of Fighters and Trainers of the RAAF alongside contemporary RAAF Fighters of the time.

Warbirds Online recently participated in a project to relocate the Polish License built version of the MiG-17F produced in Poland by the WSK-Mielec factory under the designation Lim-5 (an abbreviation of licencyjny myśliwiec – license-built fighter). This MiG is an interceptor Lim-5P (equivalent to the Soviet produced MiG-17PF) produced in the mid-1950s. The aircraft, located at Caboolture Airport Qld, about one hour north of Brisbane was reported on in detail in our news article A Rare MiG-17 & Jack McDonald dated May 2021.

On the 6th of December 2021 a team of 6 Volunteers from the Hunter Fighter Collection Inc travelled to Caboolture Qld to dismantle and prepare the MIG for transport. Of course preparations leading up to the move required the team to negotiate the regulations of both NSW and Qld in order to legally move the aircraft due to the COVID requirements of each State.  After completing all the appropriate permits and COVID testing requirements the team was granted the travel permits required.

Once the HFC team arrived, the task of dismantling the MiG commenced immediately with all the access panels and fairings removed from the aircraft. Thanks to the MiG having been stored under cover for decades, the condition of the airframe is very good, with very little corrosion and all the screws and fasteners were able to be removed with little difficulty.  Unfortunately, the MiG utilises some very “different” size screws, nuts and bolts in its construction and finding the correct tool for each task often posed a challenge for the team. The MiG required the rear fuselage to be separated and moved back about 300mm to provide access to the wing bolts. Once all the fuselage attachment bolts were removed a crane was required to lift and support the rear fuselage while it was moved backwards.

With the MiG ready for the wings to be removed a special support and transport cradle was constructed and made ready to support the fuselage. The crane then returned, and the aircraft was lifted whilst the wing attachment bolts were removed – happily without resistance! The wings were then placed to one side whilst the entire fuselage was placed into the support/transport jig which worked perfectly. The upper fin, rudder and horizontal stabilizer were removed, and the aircraft was then loaded on a truck provided by Paul Bennet for the trip to Scone and it departed on the evening of the 9th of December arriving on the afternoon of the 10th of December 2021 in good order. She is now ready to be reassembled for the display early in the new year.

The HFC volunteers that travelled to Caboolture displayed considerable stoicism and dedication in difficult conditions and adverse weather and the team worked long days in the heat, humidity and tropical storms. An excellent result was achieved in true team spirit. The members of the HFC team who assisted were James Bailey, Linton Powel, Chris Priestly, Max Burrell, Rod Taylor, and John Parker. Considerable assistance at Caboolture was also provided by Noel Spalding, Mel Carney, and Jack McDonald. The assistance from HFC Chairman Ross Pay was also invaluable as was the great support received from HFC board member Paul Bennet with transport.

HFC Volunteers at Scone will be preparing the MIG to bring her up to display standard, ready for the opening in the coming months of the Hunter Warbirds Aviation Centre at Scone NSW.

To find out more go to the about Hunter Fighter Collection website.

© John Parker 2021