Earlier SABENA flying....

[dc6tryer]

This wonderful airplane by Stefan Meneghini and Manuele Villa deserves a photo! This one was bought as a wreck by some big wheel industrialist in Sicily and restored at vast expense in Californiya. She now graces the blue skies of that State, but over the years she flew in and out of danger many times.



She flies beautifully, even without the A/P and she'll just carry on once trimmed . An aircraft full of character; so, 'Thank You' to those involved. This comes with the full History, how to Fly and Navigation techniques courtesy of FSAviator who, I think, really cared about this aircraft in FS9 and his accompanying notes show this care and dedication in explaining and detailing a fascinating history. Wonderful stuff...Thank You.

Andy.

[okami]

Lovely, the OO-AGL! ^_^

I quite love the notes in FSAviator on her:

This is not an all metal wonder from Boeing or Douglas. The wing is just bits of dead fir trees stuck together with the sticky bits from a dead horse. We must treat it carefully or it will fall apart. It will start to fall apart of its own accord after about ten years anyway without any abuse from us.

I noticed, though, that the FSAviator notes on "our" S.73s are incomplete - although the author did confirm as such.

Belgium had 12 of them: 5 Italian-built (OO-AGL - P), and 7 Belgian-built (OO-AGQ - T and OO-AGX - Z). The Italian-built were delivered in 1935, immediately replacing the Fokker F.VIIb/3m on the Belgium-Congo service, while the Belgian-built were delivered in 1936-1937. Except for the Brussels-Congo connection, they were also used on European routes: in the former role they were generally configured for 8 passengers, while in the latter role they could carry up to 18, as well as a crew of 4. Eventually, though, they were replaced on the Brussels-Congo route by the more capable (but technically less reliable) S.83, so all ended up serving Sabena's European network.

Unfortunately, the S.73 also accounted for the first accidents with passenger-fatalities of SABENA, with the OO-AGN crashing on landing at Croydon on December 10th 1935 (4 crew and 7 passengers, all killed); the OO-AGR crashing at Oran, Algeria on January 26th 1937 (4 crew and 8 passengers, all killed); and the OO-AGT exploding mid-air over Soest, Germany (4 crew and 16 passengers, all killed). The OO-AGM too crashed in fog at Croydon on November 7th, 1935, but fortunatly nobody aboard got injured in that accident.

The remaining 8 all met their end during the Second World War: OO-AGP when it was abandoned at Haren (the then Brussels airport) and subsequently destroyed during the German invasion of May '40; OO-AGZ which was shot up on the ground, and OO-AGS which shot down by the Germans over Merville on the 23rd of May '40 during the British evacuation of France (Sabena's 7 surviving S-73s had at that point been impressed into RAF service); OO-AGQ which was cannibalised to keep the others airworthy; and OO-AGL, -AGO, -AGX and -AGY which were handed over by the RAF to the French Air Force, and subsequently impounded by Vichy France after the Fall of France and handed over to Italy, where they served as freighters with Squadriglia 605 of Gruppo 148 at Ciampino. If she had survived in the real world, the OO-AGL would certainly have been through a lot...

[dc6tryer]

Hi,

Great extra information on this fine aircraft.
Fascinating indeed....I obviously made that up about Sicily!, but maybe this plane was there at some point.

From the way they crashed it needed a fairly large amount of bravery just to clamber on board!

Andy.

[okami]

Aug 18, 2009 14:10:35 GMT -5 dc6tryer said:

Hi,

Great extra information on this fine aircraft.
Fascinating indeed....I obviously made that up about Sicily!, but maybe this plane was there at some point.

From the way they crashed it needed a fairly large amount of bravery just to clamber on board!

Andy.

Well, considering the circumstances, it had a reasonable safety record for its time. Of course, of the 8 losses, 4 happened under exceptional circumstances. Just as a comparison, here are the accident records for the rest of the fleet - only airframe losses are recorded; inflight emergencies such as engine failures are not.

Fokker F-VIb/3m
Sabena fleet: 1929-1945
Delivered: 30 (28 original order + 2 attrition replacements)
Accidents:
1) OO-AID location unknown, 1930 (accident, 0k)
2) OO-AIN(1) Croydon, UK 11/09/30 (accident, 0k)
3) OO-AIL(1) Melle, B 8/01/31 (accident, 0k)
4) OO-AIE Dortmund, D 22/12/33 (accident, 0k)
5) OO-AII Haren, B 7/12/34 (ground fire)
6) OO-AGK Senlis, F 21/04/35 (accident, 0k)
7) OO-AIF Senlis, F 22/04/36 (accident, 0k)
8) OO-AIU Flandria, BC 9/09/36 (accident, 0k)
9) OO-AIL(2) Lympne, UK 2/06/38 (accident, 0k)
10) OO-AIP Belgian Congo 31/05/43 (accident, 0k)

3 aircraft were struck off charge and scrapped before 1940; another 3 aircraft were abandoned at Haren during the German Invasion in May 1940; 6 aircraft were rendered to the Belgian Military for conversion to "heavy" bombers (1936); 6 aircraft were WFU in Belgian Congo, 1944-1945. The fate of the 2 remaining airframes is unknown.

Junkers Ju 52/3m
Sabena fleet: 1936 - 1946
Delivered: 10 (3 original order, 2 second order, 2 third order, 1 attrition, 1 + 1 for spares taken over from BOAC)
Accidents:
1) OO-AUB Stene, B 16/11/37 (accident, 11/11k)
2) OO-AUA Haren, B 14/03/39 (accident, 3/3k)
3) OO-AUG Central African Republic 1/01/43 (accident, 0k)
4) OO-AGU Costerman, BC 25/03/44 (accident, 0k)
5) OO-AUF Mongena, BC 3/04/44 (accident, 0k)

The 4 remaining aircraft were retired in Belgian Congo in 1946.

Savoia-Marchetti S.73
Sabena fleet: 1935-1940
Delivered: 12
Accidents:
1) OO-AGM Croydon, UK 7/11/35 (accident, 0k)
2) OO-AGN Tatsfield, UK 10/12/35 (accident, 11/11k)
3) OO-AGR Oran, F 26/01/37 (accident, 12/12k)
4) OO-AGT Soest, D 10/10/38 (accident, 20/20k)

The 8 other airframes were lost in the events of May-June 1940 (4), or impounded by Vichy-France and returned to Italy in July 1940 (4).

Savoia-Marchetti S.83
Sabena fleet: 1938-1940
Delivered: 3 (4 ordered, but 1 not delivered due to WWII)
Accidents:
1) OO-AUC Leopoldville, BC 5/05/40 (accident, 0k)

The other 2 airframes were impounded by Vichy-France and returned to Italy in July 1940.

Douglas DC-3-227B
Sabena fleet:1939 - 1940
Delivered: 2 (OO-AUH - I)

Accidents: none during regular passenger service.

OO-AUI was shot down at Arques (F) on 23/05/40 (together with S.73s OO-AGS and OO-AGZ, and Ensign G-ADSZ), OO-AUH was impounded by Vichy France and rendered to Italy in July 1940.