ADF-SERIALS
Australian, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea Military Aircraft Serials & History

RAAF A76 Boeing Washington B.1

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Boeing Washington B.Mk.1 WW353. C.M.U., Tocumwal, C.1957 via Mike Mirkovic.
 

Boeing Washington B.1 Image Gallery
 
  The serial prefix A76 was originally allocated to the Avro Tudor which was planned to be built in Australia alongside the Avro Lincoln. However, the cancellation of the Tudor contract when the aircraft failed to live up to expectations lead to the A76 allocation became available.

In 1952, two Boeing B-29 Superfortress from the 87 of which were on loan to the RAF as Washington B.1s were planned for transfer to the RAAF for various manufacturers trials on behalf of the UK Ministry of Supply along with a third that was to be added in 1955.

The three Washingtons that were allocated for transfer from RAF stocks to the RAAF were WW349, WW353, & WW354.

WW353 and WW354, were flown to Australia by RAAF aircrews and arrived at ARDU Trials Flight (later Air trial Unit) on 26 September 1952 and 12 December 1952 respectively where they were allocated the serials A76-1 & A76-2 which it appears was never applied to them.

By the end of the trial period in 1956, WW353/A76-1 and WW354/A76-2 had flown a total of 174 hours in RAAF service with WW353/A76-1 completing the majority of the flight time with WW354/A76-2 primarily being held as a spare aircraft.

The third Washington, WW349 (which had been provisionally allocated the serial A76-3) had been engaged on various manufacturers trials including the Blue Boar program and was due to be transferred to Australia in 1955. It was awaiting its test equipment fit out, however, on the morning of Wednesday 20th of April 1955, Valiant WP216 struck and damaged Washington WW349 and Valiant WP203 which were both parked at Wisley. WW349 sustained major damage to the nose area and as a result was struck off charge the same day. No further replacement Washington was allocated for the RAAF.

During 1956, WW353/A76-1 and WW354/A76-2 were placed in storage pending disposal decisions from the UK Ministry of Supply and the USAF.

The engines were later removed and the Washington airframes were sold for scrap in 1957. The remains of WW353/A76-1 were still evident at Tocumwal until mid 1962 and several components still exist in various museums and collections.

  
     
RAAF
Serial... 		RAF Serial  USAF.Serial. RAF Type USAF.Type... C/N Individual Aircraft History
A76-1 WW353 44-62049 B.Mk1 B-29A-60-BN 11526 
25/08/1951 To RAF as Washington B.1 WW353,
To Vickers-Armstrong for modification,
23/09/1952 Arrived in Australia,
Allocated RAAF serial A76-1 not taken up,
26/09/1952 Assigned to Aircraft Research and Development Unit (ARDU) Trials Flight, RAAF Base Edinburgh,
Used for manufacturers trials at Woomera on behalf of the UK Ministry of Supply,
Used by ARDU for Testing/trials, 
16/05/1956 To storage,
05/09/1956 Struck off charge. 
25/09/1956 Returned to RAF Charge,
23/10/1956 Sold for scrap,
A brochure from Aviation Sales Pty Ltd offered the aircraft for sale privately with delivery by air to any suitable airfield worldwide,
09/1957 Scrapped Tocumwal, 27/04/1962 Final scrapping completed at Tocumwal, N.S.W. 
Highlight for Album: Boeing Washington B.1 WW353 (A76-1)  RAAF Form E/E.88 Aircraft Status Card  RAAF Form E/E.88 Aircraft Status Card
A76-2 WW354 44-61963 B.Mk1 B-29A-55-BN 11440 
23/07/1951 Transferred from USAF Charge to RAF,
25/08/1951 To RAF as Washington B.1 WW354,
??/10/1952 To Vickers-Armstrong for modification,
11/12/1952 Transferred from RAF to RAAF Charge,
12/12/1952 Arrived in Australia,
Allocated RAAF serial A76-2 not taken up,
Used very infrequently by ARDU for Testing/trials,
Used for manufacturers trials at Woomera on behalf of the UK Ministry of Supply,
Displayed at the Mallala air show 1956,
This aircraft was primarily used as a reserve for WW353,
Most of its time with the RAAF consisted of infrequent engine runs and systems checks,
18/01/1957 Sold for scrap,
26/07/1957 Returned to USAF Charge,
01/10/1957 Recorded on RAF records as scrapped Edinburgh.

Highlight for Album: Boeing Washington B.1 WW354  RAAF Form E/E.88 Aircraft Status Card  RAAF Form E/E.88 Aircraft Status Card
(A76-3) WW349 44-61968 B.Mk1 B-29A-55-BN 11445 26/07/1951 To RAF as Washington B.1 WW353,
Saw no operational RAF Service,
Served in a test capacity with Scottish Aviation,
To Vickers Armstrong Aircraft for missile trials including Blue Boar,
Allotted for transfer to RAAF,
Provisionally allocated RAAF serial A76-3 (but not taken up),
Located at Wisley, Surrey for fitment of test equipment prior to transfer to Australia,
20/04/1955 Written off in a taxiing accident when Vickers Valiant WP216 struck WW349 and Valiant WP203 at Wisley, Surrey, UK,
Washington WW349 was parked at the time,
Struck off charge same day,
No replacement aircraft was allocated for the RAAF as a substitute.
     

The authors of this page are Brendan Cowan and Darren Crick.

Sources:
National Archives,
RAAF Status Cards,
RAAF Museum Website,
www.joebaugher.com ,
http://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=155196 ,
https://www.rafwatton.info/the-washington-a/,
Accident Report for Valiant WP216,

Emails: Graeme Edwards, Nick Blacow, Tjalling Boelman, Tom McGhee, John Hopton, Dave Richardson, Gordon Birkett, Martin Edwards, Darryl Fell, Ben Dunnell, Bruce Hales-Dutton.

Updated 21st September 2019
 

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