UPDATE October 15, 2010

UPDATE October 10, 2010

UPDATE September 3, 2010

As everybody "knows", the Cessna 150 is slow, has limited range and payload, and while it is fine to learn in and fly around the pattern, you can't really go anywhere in one . . . Well nobody told that to Janette Schönburg because in 1980, she flew THIS 1966 Cessna 150, UK registration G-AWAW from London England to Darwin, Australia, solo.

Her trip was amazing and it could not be duplicated today. Janette and G-AWAW had to contend with sandstorms, torrential rains, political problems (at one point she was almost arrested because the authorities would not believe a woman could possibly be the pilot), physical problems (extreme dehydration), running on three cylinders and barely able to hold altitude over the shark-filled Andaman sea and more. The 11,000 mile trip was utterly hair raising but she did it!

Janette and G-AWAW returned to England, Janette to a nursing job and G-AWAW to training student pilots. Subsequently damaged in a windstorm, G-AWAW was slated to be scrapped. At the last moment, the London Science Museum bought it for a static display. Thousands of people sat in the cockpit over the years. After some years, the Museum decided to close the exhibit, and G-AWAW seemed destined for the scrap yard yet again.

Almost at the last moment, and almost by accident, Janette Schönburg and Jennifer Chisholm-Høibråten (a Cessna 150 Club member from Norway) discovered G-AWAW's impending demise, and alerted the Cessna 150 Club in the US.

The Club took ownership of G-AWAW in early June and set about raising funds to ship the aircraft to a member's hangar in Florida where it will be restored to how it looked on arrival in Darwin in 1980. After restoration, it will be displayed at Lakeland (Sun & Fun) and Oshkosh, trailered in at first, with the ultimate goal of restoration to flight status and flown in.

This is "everyone's airplane" and it proves that if you set your mind to doing something, anything is possible.

But we need your help . . . and we need it quickly. G-AWAW has to be GONE from the Museum's storage facility in the UK by September 3, 2010 - just a few short weeks from now. If the spirit of adventure lives in YOU, if you've ever flown a Cessna 150, if you've ever dreamed of flying NOW is the time to step up to the plate and do something to preserve this historic airplane!

UPDATE SEPT 3, 2010

G-AWAW is in transit to Florida for restoration. Cessna 150-152 Club members and volunteers packed G-AWAW in a shipping container on Aug. 31. The container was delivered to the Port of Felixstowe, for loading on the MSC Loretta, arriving in Jacksonville, FL about October 10.

Thanks to many small donations, the shipping costs are paid, but there is still room for your financial help. All donations are going to help move and then restore G-AWAW, and the consumables like paint and sheetmetal are still needed. Please consider a small donation to keep the project moving forward.

UPDATE OCTOBER 10, 2010

After a sea journey from England to South Carolina to the Bahamas to Florida, G-AWAW is resting in a container on the dock in Jacksonville. Florida. After clearing customs and paying the assorted and sundry "fees", the container should be delivered, as scheduled, to the restoration hangar near Gainesville, Florida by October 14. The costs for shipping are slightly over our budget of $5,000, and any new donations, no matter how small, are appreciated.

Next step is Phase 2, the inspection and preparation for the static display at SunNFun 2011. Thanks to a donation of a rebuildable Continental O-200, which is being delivered by volunteers in relays from Kansas to Florida, we have most of the big parts. Phase 2 will no doubt require extensive sheet metal and hardware replacement and then a new paint job to restore G-AWAW to her "Sunbird Amy" look of 1980.

UPDATE OCTOBER 15, 2010

SAFE AT HOME AT LAST! G-AWAW was delivered, unpacked and placed safely in the restoration hangar today in Florida. With lots of help and a sunny day, PHASE ONE is accomplished. Many Thanks to all the Cessna 150-152 Club members and the many other around the world who donated their time and money to save, pack, ship, unpack and store the many parts that will soon be assembled for SNF2011.

Next step is Phase 2, the inspection and preparation for the static display at SunNFun 2011. We'll post more details on the next step after a through inspection and plan of action is complete.