Continuing our focus on some of the more prominate aircraft that attended Old Station Fly-in & Heritage Show 2016, part two features Matt Hall Racing Extra EA300L VH-IOG, North American T-28D-5 Trojan VH-TRO, Yakovlev Yak-52 VH-YBZ and Nanchang CJ-6A VH-XXB.
After spending 18 years as a pilot in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), and most of his military career flying McDonnell Douglas F-18A/B Hornets, Matt Hall now enjoys competing in the Red Bull Air Race Championship, or performing aerobatic displays at selected events.
The most common aircraft Matt uses to perform aerobatic displays is Extra EA300L VH-IOG. Specifically built as a high performance aerobatic plane in Germany in 1999, VH-IOG is powered a very capable Textron-Lycoming AEIO-540-L1B, 6-cylinder engine.
Another common sight at the Old Station Fly-in & Heritage Show is North American T-28D-5 Trojan VH-TRO.
Manufactured in 1952 and powered by a Curtiss-Wright R-1820, 9-cylinder radial engine, this graceful 'ole lady of the skies served for a number of years with the United States Air Force (USAF) as 51-3722 before being converted to an AT-28D and transferred to the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF), and later onwards to the Philippine Air Force (PAF).
After military service, VH-TRO has been noted to have worn a number of civilian markings including operations with Air America in Laos.
Initially intended to satisfy the role as a trainer, the Trojan was also successfully employed as a Counter-insurgency aircraft, primarily during the Vietnam War.
Also a common sight at the Old Station Fly-in most years is a show of force by previous generation basic military trainers built by state owned Russian or Chinese aircraft manufactuers.
Among the sightings at this years fly-in at Old Station Farm was Yakovlev Yak-52 VH-YBZ and Nanchang CJ-6A VH-XXB.
Research indicates VH-YBZ was manufactuered in Russia in 1985 while VH-XXB was assembled in China in 1967. Both aircraft are powered by radial engines.
