The story of how this inter-war biplane came to be restored — and it’s up for sale
Occasionally you may hear of someone coming across a ‘barn find’ aeronautical treasure in a dark and dusty corner. This is what happened five years ago. New Zealand is known for its restoration experts of world renown, such as Avspecs, famed for its Mosquito projects, Pioneer Aero, likewise for its P-40s, and of course The Vintage Aviator, specialising in First World War aeroplanes. Not to be forgotten is the Subritzky family, with its static array of inter-war, Second World War, jet-age and helicopter airframes. While chatting one day with Steve Subritzky, son of collection founder Don, he mentioned that if ever we needed a project, then Charles ‘Bunny’ Darby was the go-to man. After tracking him down, luckily he was at a place and time of his life where he was prepared to show us a long-hidden gem.
We opened an old shipping container, pulled out P-40 drop tanks and various boxes, and climbed over all sorts of radios and parts. What we revealed were the untouched remains of an all-metal biplane and extra components collected over the 40 years since it was found. Having only a mobile ’phone torch to see with, we struggled with the mangled wing …
