Despite the many hardships we have all endured this past year, 2021 did hold a number of positives for those of us with a passion for vintage aviation; this includes the return of major air shows, not to mention significant progress and even first flights for a number of restoration projects. We at WarbirdsNews have endeavored to keep our readers informed of as many developments as possible, with exclusive reports of major milestones in the warbird and aviation museum community. Although we couldn’t cover everything, it has been a remarkable year of growth for us. We are always looking for new leads, as well as writers/photographers who are able to provide coverage. With your help, we can have an even better 2022!
It has been just over a year since our last report on restoration progress with Claudio Coltri's combat-veteran Curtiss P-40E Warhawk (41-13570), which has been under rebuild at Pioneer Aero Ltd. in Ardmore, New Zealand since 2015. A lot has happened in the interim, with the aircraft recently receiving its Certificate of Airworthiness.
The Military Aviation Museum in Pungo, Virginia has begun what promises to be a fascinating series of webinars covering a variety of subjects varying from the WWII era aircraft in their collection, to significant aircraft elsewhere and aviation-related historical events. These online seminars are bound to be fascinating for everyone interested in historical military aviation and will provide viewers with an in-depth examination of each topic at hand. The webinar series will begin with a close look at the museum’s PBY Catalina this coming Wednesday (April 21, 2021), but subsequent presentations will cover the diverse topics from the Berlin Airlift, to the recovery of the B-17E known as ‘Swamp Ghost’ and the role which Norwegian pilots played in fighting Germany from within the RAF during WWII (and the Norwegian Spitfire Foundation’s restoration of Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IX PL258). Check for details about each of these webinars and how you can sign up to take part at the link