VLADO LENOCH KILLED IN P-51 ACCIDENT
Highly regarded Chicago-based warbird pilot Vlado Lenoch and passenger Bethany Root died when P-51D Mustang N251PW Baby Duck crashed on 16 July after departing from Amelia Earhart Airport in Atchison County, Kansas. Lenoch, 64, began flying in 1970 when he was 17, and was noted for his P-51 displays. 34-year-old Root was the Amelia Earhart Airport manager.
GO-AHEAD FOR BIGGIN MUSEUM
On 19 July the executive of Bromley Council approved plans for construction during the autumn of the Biggin Hill Memorial Museum on the site of the St George’s RAF Chapel of Remembrance. The museum was awarded just under £2 million by the Heritage Lottery Fund on 3 July, ensuring that the £5.325-million project can proceed.
NELSON EZELL HURT IN FURY MISHAP
Hawker Fury ISS N254SF made an emergency landing in a field on approach to Stephens County Airport, Breckenridge, Texas on 25 July following engine failure during a test flight, seriously injuring the pilot, well-known aircraft restorer Nelson Ezell.
WELLINGTON ‘BACK HOME’
Vickers Wellington Ia N2980 was moved from its temporary ‘tent’ accommodation into the recently refurbished Wellington hangar at the Brooklands Museum in Surrey on 25 July. The hangar has now been given a wartime camouflage paint scheme, based on a still from a Movietone news clip dating from 1946. It is due to open to the public in mid-to-late October.
