ROD LEWIS' Curtiss P-40C Tomahawk IIb AK295/ ZK-TWK made its maiden flight on 17 April following restoration by Avspecs Ltd in Ardmore, New Zealand. The engineers at Avspecs, led by company owner Warren Denholm, are world-renowned for the quality of their work, and most especially when it involves the Curtiss Hawk line. Denholm said that the most difficult problem his team encountered during the rebuild arose from the lack of drawings specific to the Tomahawk series. They had to rely upon photographic evidence for some aspects of the restoration. John Lamont, Avspecs' regular test pilot, was at the helm for the first flights. Warren Denholm noted that a few minor snags were experienced with the aircraft's rpm controls and aileron trim, but no significant squawks needed rectifying at the time of writing. The aircraft has a brief, but interesting, military history. Curtiss-Wright built AK295 for service with the RAF but, like many other Tomahawks, it joined the Soviet Air Force instead.
No comments:
Post a Comment