December 2011
a bit of history
- Krugersdorp classics appear
- 1 December 2011
- By John Miller
- Promising he would one day restore his collection of classic aircraft Martin Vorwerg has realised he has neither the time of funds to complete the work needed to place his aeroplanes in the air again.
Although Krugerdsdorp Flying Club member, Martin Vorwerg's hangar is open for all to see when he pulls out his Piper Super Cruiser for the occasional flip, not many look further inside to see his fascinating collection of classic aircraft. 69-year-old Martin, who has almost fully retired from a career as a specialised industrial chimney engineer, admits to being somewhat of a de Havilland nut and he not only has a pair of DH-82 Tiger Moths, he also owns a Chipmunk and three Siai Marchetti S205s, one of which has been perched atop a container at the back of his hangar. Each of these Italian lightplanes has a story to tell and Martin enjoys sharing their history, even though it's a while since they last flew.
Although much of his flying has been done in a Piper Aztec he once owned, it is the Piper Cruiser that supports his current flying activities. The other aircraft satisfy an interest in tinkering and modifying various mechanical aspects of aviation, including an interest in vintage aircraft restoration. Like many enthusiasts, Martin never misses an opportunity to peer into the darker recesses of the nation's hangars, especially in remoter parts of South Africa. Tiger, ZS-MCJ was discovered in these circumstances when its engineless airframe was spotted at Rand. The subject of a legal dispute, one of the owners was kind enough to give Martin the propeller after his offer to purchase the aircraft had been accepted. The engine had been mostly dismantled and believed spread around various plaintiff's homes as components continued to appear. Swapping an industrial compressor for a Gypsy Major stored for years in a Sasolburg farmer's shed, the engine was eventually re-assembled and started after spraying it with light oil. Helped by flying club member Peter Lastrucci, It started on the second attempt. MCJ appears to be another ex-South African Air Force Tiger and its airframe books claim it carried tail number 3534. Acquired from the previous owners in 1992, the aircraft is currently out of C of A and was last flown some six years ago.
Looking the worse for wear is Tiger Moth ZS-DNW, construction number DX648. This DH-82 appears to have been built in Australia between November 1941 and April 1942. The aircraft was built for the Royal Air Force and allocated to the Rhodesian Air Training Group (RATG) in June 1942. In 1944, the Tiger moved again, this time to join the ranks of the South African Air Force as 4746. After a stint at Baragwanath's 15 Air Depot, it was demobbed by the SAAF in September 1945 and registered ZS-DNW. By the early sixties, the Tiger had moved to Eros in Namibia where it worked as a glider tug and where it was fitted with the elaborate tubing attached to the bottom of the tailpost. It was finally damaged after being allowed to overturn following a start with no one on the cockpit.
Repaired, DNW moved to Port Elizabeth and the East London where it appears to have flown on the Border Aviation Club's fleet. It's condition slowly deteriorating and sold to another owner, this very tired aircraft, still covered in cotton fabric eventually found itself stored in the recesses of a World War Two Queenstown hangar, where Martin spotted it in 1992. Calling in for some fuel in his Cessna 152 on a flight between Krugersdorp and Kei Mouth, Martin had peeped into the hangar. Registered to his son, the Tiger Moth was bought and has remained complete in the same condition as it was discovered and lies peacefully in Martin's Krugersdorp hangar, awaiting restoration.
The third de Havilland type in Martin's hangar is an ex-Nigerian 1953 Chipmunk. Built at the company's Chester factory, the Chippy went straight to the Royal Air Force where it spent five years with 1 Group Communication Flight before taking its place, like so many other RAF Chipmunks, alongside sister aircraft serving the nation's university air squadrons. After stints with Bristol and Hull Universities, it was allocated to Nigeria in 1960 to join the Federal Flying School as VR-NBJ. Within a year it had been converted to Mk.22A specification at famous Hants and Sussex Engineering in the UK and despatched to Nigeria again where it was re-registered 5N-AAF.
With a total time of a mere 1543 hours and following an 11-year period of inactivity, it was sold to Lutz Paap, who owned and flew the Chipmunk until 1995. Martin made an offer on the aircraft without seeing it and sent a R20,000 deposit half expecting to never see his purchase (or his money). In due course, he received a shipping notification from the freight company announcing the aeroplane had arrived in Durban in a container and in 1996 it arrived at Krugersdorp, where it has remained on the ground ever since. Martin starts the engine occasionally and has had the aircraft registered ZS-OME.
Despite their seventies vintage, the Siai Marchettis are not yet considered classics although they were manufactured by the same company and in the same plant as the legendary Stelio Frati-designed SF260. ZS-ESM was recovered from Baragwanath many years ago following what seems to have been a wheels-up landing. The circumstances are not known but Martin has owned this airframe for many years and remembers fetching it from the now closed airfield. Another S205 stored in the hangar is ZS-FZU, which was acquired from a Lowveld owner who had all but abandoned the pretty little Italian aeroplane - Martin fetching it on a trailer. His third Siai Marchetti, ZS-EYT was imported from Italy and assembled by Atlas Aircraft when they attempted to establish a dealer in South Africa. Like all Atlas attempts at entering the civil market, it's management structure was totally unsuited to general aviation products and after assembling two or three airframes from knock-down kits, the agency went to a Pretoria panel beater, Willie Patterson.
The Chipmunk, as well as the Tigers and Siai Marchettis are all on the market as Martin has come to the realisation he does not have the time nor the funds to restore his aeroplanes and return them to the air. •
