Restauration Projects
B-25J "44-30925"
Years ago, a North American B-25J "Mitchell" has been acquired to be preserved in Belgium. With your help, this airplane will be restored and displayed in Belgium as a memorial to those many Belgians who fought in the B-25 which equipped the 98, 180 and 320 Squadrons during WWII.
Years ago, a North American B-25J "Mitchell" has been acquired to be preserved in Belgium. With your help, this airplane will be restored and displayed in Belgium as a memorial to those many Belgians who fought in the B-25 which equipped the 98, 180 and 320 Squadrons during WWII.
Bendix A-9B upper turret
Most of the B-25 still existing nowadays are equipped with readily available Martin turret of a type never used on the B-25. In order to complete even more our B-25 we did the acquisition of an authentic Bendix gun turret in Australia thanks to a generous donator. As nothing is perfect, this turret was incomplete, but we had a base to start a restoration.
Most of the B-25 still existing nowadays are equipped with readily available Martin turret of a type never used on the B-25. In order to complete even more our B-25 we did the acquisition of an authentic Bendix gun turret in Australia thanks to a generous donator. As nothing is perfect, this turret was incomplete, but we had a base to start a restoration.
VX 950, the last of the Vampire FB5S used by the French air force.
The vampire is an interesting aircraft in more ways than one: one of the first jets, it incorporates both proven and innovative technologies (jet engine). Once restored, it will show how the aircraft was designed taking into account the limitations of the first jet engines. Brilliant design when you consider the number of years the vampire has remained operational! .
The vampire is an interesting aircraft in more ways than one: one of the first jets, it incorporates both proven and innovative technologies (jet engine). Once restored, it will show how the aircraft was designed taking into account the limitations of the first jet engines. Brilliant design when you consider the number of years the vampire has remained operational! .
An article about Willy Clybouw's helicopter has been published in the magazine "Sport Aviation" of the EAA in June 1970. Despite the interest of several companies for mass production, the project was abandoned to allow the design and construction of other projects. After serving as a didactic machine at the VLOC technical school in Ostend, it was donated to BAPA by the builder's son at the beginning of 2021.
Djinn c/n 71 left the factory of Rochefort on 15/10/1959. Received by the ALAT, that attributed it the serial FR-121, it had various assignments, including in North Africa, before finally being reformed in 1972. Stored by a Djinn specialist in Nouzonville before being acquired by a member of the BAPA. Complete machine requiring only a refresh of the cockpit and the installation of new plexiglas. Currently stored.
The École d’aviation civile (EAC), who provided training for the future Sabena airline pilots, used the Cessna 310B from 1958 till 1980 for advanced training. Cessna 310B OO-SEI was donated in August 2020 to BAPA and brought back to the association's premises on 21/1/2021 and restauration work started to put it back to the best complete condition.
Georges Sablier was a french engineer who designed an unbelievable number of gliders and light aircrafts intended for air enthusiasts. He never built them himself but his works were published in books and many magazines. The BAPA machine is a Chanute-style biplane hang-glider that is very easy to build at low cost. One of our member started to build one in the late seventies and finished its contruction in our workshop.
The «Jeunesse» is originally a hang-glider that could be easily be built by any aviation amateur.
The B.A.P.A. example was built by Daniel Pletinckx who modified the «Jeunesse» with a seated position for the pilot and the possibility to fit a small engine on the nose. This one was never fitted.
The B.A.P.A. example was built by Daniel Pletinckx who modified the «Jeunesse» with a seated position for the pilot and the possibility to fit a small engine on the nose. This one was never fitted.
In 1979, Raymond Mossoux, engineer at SABENA, designed an ultralight glider using the tandem wings formula of Henri Mignet. This small glider, very light (28 kg) could be carried by hand if you wanted to take off by running, landing being made on a skid. The “Butterfly” at BAPA workshop is the Mc Cullogh powered prototype, it is being reconstructed using available spare parts.
The Zogling primary glider was designed mid twenties by Fritz Stamer and Alexander Lippisch who worked together at the Aeronautical Department of the Rhön-Rossitten Gesellschaft (RRG).
The remains of the BAPA machine were saved by an enthusiast who gave it free of charge to the association. No information is available about its origin.
The remains of the BAPA machine were saved by an enthusiast who gave it free of charge to the association. No information is available about its origin.
The Slingsby T.38 Grasshopper is a British primary training glider built by Slingsby Sailplanes for the Royal Air Force. The two Slingsby T.38 Grasshopper TX1 in BAPA’s workshop were offered by André Dillien who acquired these gliders from Guy Englebert’s collection. Guy Englebert used them to perform numerous short flights using a car for towing. He also used them as a glider flight simulator with some success.
This machine comes from Ultralight Concept and it is the second tests airframe that survived many heavy loads tests and is not useful anymore. We intend to complete it structurally without fabric covering to show and explain the way its deigned and built.
A few years ago, BAPA acquired a Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp engine that had previously powered C-47 N49AG (Air Dakota). Partially incomplete, it remained stored until a former flight engineer joined the team and launched a long-term restoration project. The goal: to both restore the engine and train members for future work—particularly on the B-25 engines.