Chapter 11

‘As Delivered.’ No guns. The government furnished the armament, they weren’t included in the purchase price.

“Can I get one each?” He asked.

“An F8F and an SNJ?”

“Yes.”

“Hundred grand and I get first right of refusal,” I said. Then I said... “at your purchase price. No taking advantage of my good graces.”

“I can do that,” he said.

Then it was inspection ... and testing.

“These things are in really good shape.”

“Stored in the Atacama Desert for 40 years.”

The Atacama Desert is the driest place on Earth. No moisture means no corrosion ... the aircraft weren’t flown to storage ... they were shipped dry. And the shipment from Chile to Australia was a ‘Military Readiness’ exercise to ‘See how it Goes.’ When the officers are being evaluated by the competence of their men? Yeah.

40 oversize containers were included. I sold three to a woman who needed a home after a messy divorce. She stuck them together in assorted ways until she had a shape she liked, welded ‘em together and lived in ‘em.

I sent several containers out to the mine and stored tools in ‘em ... theft stopped. Five SNJ’s went to the RANR (Royal Australian Naval Reserve.) And five to the Royal New Zealand Navy Reserves ... much cheaper for training. They loved me ... until they found out AB Austin is a girl.

I’d had surplus hangars bought and assembled on the north side of the old 26 runway and reseeded it. Both aircraft types were built for rough usage takeoff and landing ... turf won’t bother them a bit. However, the Tigercat went into rented hangar space on the east side of the 35/17 runway.

I figured that as soon as I was instructor qualified I’d start my own Air Force. HaHa ... not kidding.

The shipping containers had been ‘sealed,’ wrapped in Sprayable Latex to prevent saltwater intrusion, after each aircraft was readied for shipping. Readying included disassembly on assembly points like empennage ... bolted on tail assemblies, including partial fuselage parts. The wings were disassembled at the join. During readying all old wrappings were removed.

When first sent to the desert the planes were wrapped in cosmoline soaked paper. As newer ... and better ... preservatives were invented, those were applied. Shrink-wrap being the last. The Atacama Desert is colder than would be expected in a desert, corrosion wasn’t a problem.

“Why bother?” you ask.

The aircraft represented a significant investment ... not in currency but in trust. They may be useful in an unknown future. Keeping them reasonably airworthy could come in handy. They were in storage almost 60 years.

As the years passed, the possible enemies, other South American countries ... were purchasing newer equipment ... or the United States was gifting jets that no longer suited the US higher command. Propellers were so ‘last week.’

It was only when the expense of guarding and maintenance was uncovered that the legislature disposed of an asset that was never going to be used.

When I received the containers the contents were in reasonable condition ... if a bit greasy.

Bathurst is isolated from the salt sea-breeze ... being 104 miles from the ocean. So ... for a couple of years, after school, I went to the airport, unwrapped airplanes, chased spiders and washed them ... not the spiders ... the aircraft. About the spiders ... they can get into ANYTHING. I learned a lot about spiders in two years. More than I wanted. It takes me a couple of weeks per container to refurbish the contents. Remember ... Davis Monthan has 550 personnel actively mothballing planes ... it takes me a “few” hours to strip, wash, reassemble and taxi test each airframe. I was amazed at the condition ... most were ‘showroom’ new. Transportation miles only.

I have to admit ... I’m a kid ... I played a lot.