Bristol Sycamore
Walkaround Gallery

This Sycamore walkaround shows our Mark 3 down at Moorabbin Museum. I am in the process of (slowly) fixing up the interior of this one. It's a slow process as I am not much of a carpenter! It's interesting, though, and I'm learning a lot about how these things were put together in the late 40s and early 50s.

This particular bird, c/n 12894, was originally taken on charge by the RAAF, and served in several units including the ARDU (Aircraft Research and Development Unit) and I believe it served some time at Woomera rocket range.

It went on to a couple of different civilian owners as VH-GVR. During construction work hauling concrete at Falls Creek, in the Victorian snowfields, it was involved in a fatal accident and suffered considerable damage when it crashed and rolled. It was taken on by AARG (Australian Aircraft Restoration Group) at Moorabbin and brought back to static display condition. Some of the damage can still be seen. Note paticularly the cabin roofline and the port cabin door, which no longer opens. There is evidence of the tailboom being rebuilt just forward of the elbow too.

I have a feeling the starboard main undercarriage leg may be from a navy HR-50/51 as it has a fairing attached that I've not seen on any photos of the RAAF machines. We also have a personnel winch kicking around, which the RAN machines had fitted but the RAAF Mk-3 couldn't use as it doesn't have any back doors. Likewise, I haven't seen a photo of A91-1 with the rotor tips shown here, so they may be from a navy bird too. I believe they got swapped around a fair bit.

Anybody got a Sycamore chin bubble lying around in the shed?

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References:

• The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft in Australia and New Zealand. David Eyre. Sunshine Books. isbn: 0 86777 272 7

• The Aviation Factfile: Helicopters. Robert Jackson. Grange Books. ISBN: 1-84013-812-2

• www.adfserials.com.au

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All material © 2007-2011 Graeme Molineux

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