An Aeronca C-3, flown to South Africa from Britain in 1936, is back in the air following a 15-year rebuild by owner John Illsley. The aircraft flew for the first time in John's hands on December 20, 2013, following a successful first post-restoration test flight in August. Built in 1935, it initially flew in Britain as G-AEAC. In order to prove the ability of the small aircraft and thereby, it was hoped, secure orders in South Africa, the C-3 was flown to that country by Fg Off David Llewellyn in February 1936. The 9,000 mile (14,484km) flight to Johannesburg took 21 days, much of it in very poor weather. The Johannesburg Technical College ordered four Aeronca C-3s subsequently for its training fleet. Llewellyn's mount joined the South African register as ZS-AGX and was then exported to Mozambique, where it became CR-ABA. Sadly, it crashed in the 1940s with the remains returning to Johannesburg.
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机译:业主约翰·艾尔斯利(John Illsley)进行了15年的重建,一架Aeronca C-3于1936年从英国飞往南非。这架飞机是在8月份进行了一次成功的恢复后试飞之后,于2013年12月20日首次在约翰手中飞行。它建于1935年,最初以G-AEAC的身分飞抵英国。为了证明这架小型飞机的能力,从而希望在南非获得定单,C-3型飞机由Fg Off David Llewellyn于1936年2月飞往该国。9,000英里(14,484公里)的飞行约翰内斯堡花了21天的时间,其中大部分时间都处于非常恶劣的天气中。约翰内斯堡技术学院随后为其训练机队订购了四架Aeronca C-3。 Llewellyn的坐骑以ZS-AGX的身分加入南非登记册,然后出口到莫桑比克,并在那里改名为CR-ABA。可悲的是,它在1940年代坠毁,遗骸返回约翰内斯堡。
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