I had never heard of this chap until today and I am glad of the introduction to the story of John "Jeff" Hawke... (if the poster who knew this character wants to elucidate here, I would be delighted).
Nicknamed after the cartoon character Jeff Hawke Jeff Hawke Cartoon John "Jeff" Hawke appears to have been a real character and looking at the cartoon he fitted his moniker to a tee until he disappeared to be found strapped in his aircraft in the Aegean Sea some months after his disappearance.
John "Jeff" Hawke...
http://www.users.waitrose.com/~g8jan/ht ... m%202.html
More photos and tell of Mr Hawke can be found here...
https://forum.keypublishing.com/showthr ... Jeff-Hawke
[bbvideo=560,315]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoYi8da6yD0[/bbvideo]
Illegal A/B-26 Invader sales
The need for a replacement for the Portugese bomber and close air support fleet in Africa during the Colonial War, composed of the PV-2 Harpoon and of the F-84G Thunderjet, led to the procurement by the Portuguese Air Force of a new bomber in the mid-sixties. But it would prove difficult to acquire new aircraft because of the United Nations arms embargo then in force against Portugal, so special methods had to be used. In late 1964, with the decision made to acquire the B-26 Invader a contact was established with an arms broker in order to try to obtain 20 B-26 Invader aircraft.
The arms dealer, Luber SA in Geneva, signed an agreement with Aero Associates of Arizona to supply 20 aircraft that would be refurbished by Hamilton Aircraft. The first B-26 would be delivered by 30 April 1965 and the last one by January 1966. Besides the aircraft, a lot of spare parts and accessories would also be included in the purchase.
It is not clear how the export licenses were obtained, but in May 1965 the first aircraft, piloted by John "Jeff" Hawke, was ferried from Tucson to Tancos, Portugal, through Rochester, Torbay, Canada, and Santa Maria, Azores. By August 1965, seven aircraft had already been delivered.
In September the U.S. Customs arrested Hawke and other people involved in the arms deal and prevented a C-46 transporting spare parts to Portugal from leaving the United States.
The way it entered the FAP inventory was to say the least, unorthodox, and its service was not only short but full of difficulties and incidents.
When in the mid-sixties the FAP realized the need to replace the bomber fleet being used in Africa, represented by the faithful but tired PV-2 and in some way by the F-84G Thunderjet, immediately arrived to the conclusion that the task would not be easy, mainly due to the United Nations arms embargo then in force against Portugal.
So it soon became apparent that "special ways" would have to be used to obtain the necessary aircraft. As the choice fell on the B-26 Invader, contact was established in late 1964 or early 65 with an arms broker in order to try to obtain 20 B-26. The succession of events that finally led to the arrival in Portugal of 7 B-26 is well told in the books "The War Business" and "Foreign Invaders", so we will only resume the story here.
Incidentally, it is a rather amusing fact that the writer (L.Tavares), although more or less aware of what was happening to the FAP in the sixties, only knew of the deal after reading (in the American Library in Lisbon), the report published in "The Saturday Evening Post" in the sixties.
Reverting to the facts, the search for aircraft started by Luber SA in Geneva (the arms dealer) ended with an agreement with Aero Associates of Arizona to supply 20 aircraft that would be refurbished by Hamilton Aircraft. The first aircraft should be delivered by April 30, 1965 and the last one by January 1966. A lot of spare parts and accessories would also be included.
Until today is not very well known the way that was used to obtain export licenses but in May 1965 the first aircraft piloted by John Hawke ( who received 3,000 USD for each flight), was ferried from Tucson to Tancos in Portugal through Rochester, Torbay (Canada), and Santa Maria (Açores). As soon as he arrived in Tancos, the pilot was immediately transported to Lisbon Airport to take the first plane back to the USA.
John Hawke was a colorful type as he already had in his logbook of RAF pilot, a chase of an U-2 that had over flown Cyprus when he was based there... In 1968 he participated in the filming of the movie "The Battle of Britain" piloting the B-25 used as the camera ship, and finally some years later disappeared without trace when flying over the Mediterranean.
Some sources say that when he was delivering the second aircraft he was forced to land in Washington, and almost arrested, but when mentioning the code name "Sparrow" was immediately released. By August 1965, When the seventh aircraft had already been delivered, the US Customs finally went into action and in September Hawke and other people involved were arrested in Florida.
Read the full story here http://napoleon130.tripod.com/id817.html
I like the cut of Mr Hawkes jib and I am sorry that he went west.
Caco