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Dick Janitell's newly acquired Centaurus Mk.18 powered Hawker Sea Fury was first
flown at Langley on June 18, 1952 and departed Balckbushe for Iraq the following month where it served
as IAF 303.
Recovered by Jurist/Tallichet in 1979 and stored at
Orlando and Nyack, it was registered as N54SF. Acquired
by Guido Zuccoli, it arrived in Australia in January
1982 and was refurbished at Darwin General aviation.
Stripped down and repainted where necessary, the
aircraft was also returned to Sea Fury configuration,
being completed in November 1983.
Registered VH-HFG, it suffered a forced landing on March
23, 1984, suffering minor damage. During repairs it was
decided to reconfigure the aircraft to include a 'jump
seat', which involved the removal of panels and fitting
an extra long bubble canopy.
The aircraft was sold to Dick Janitell in 2006 and arrived
at the Sanders Aeronautics facility in its shipping
container on January 16, 2007. Utilizing a crane and two
forklifts, the sections of the Sea Fury were removed
from the container and immediately assembled on the
ramp. Over the past few months it was completed and
flight tested before being delivered to its new owner.
The photos below are of Dick Janitell's Sea Fury, being
flown by Dennis Sanders, over Eagles Nest airport in
Ione, CA. on January 13, 2008. Dick and his son arrived
later that afternoon to prepare for their flight home.
Dick picked the Sea Fury up in Mather, CA. on January
14, 2008, and after a few circuits to get familiar with
his new warbird, departed for his home base airport in
Colorado with his son following in the Cessna Turbo 210.
Photo
Gallery
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