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Post by baz62 on Aug 13, 2011 18:32:26 GMT 12
EDIT:This thread was originally called "Baz buys an aeroplane", hence the Avenger designed to cause shock and awe. Fail! ;D EDIT: Credit to the Kerr collection for the Avenger photo. ;D Ok this photo is NOT the aircraft I have bought. Not sure who to credit this to and if anyone knows please tell me and I'll do so. This is a nice shot of TBF-1 Avenger NZ2505 and going by the wing tip in the foreground she was parked beside another one. Interesting as you can see the trough in the nose forward of the cockpit for the .30 machine gun. However I have shaken hands on a price to buy this Auster J5F plus a whole heaps of parts from several other Austers! This aircraft was never a "warbird" so am going to resist the temptation to put her in RNZAF markings! I would like to put her in her marking she wore flying with the Canterbury Aero Club and in so doing show respect for her civilian service from 1953 onwards. (She crashed in 1965 but not while with the CAC) Will post some photos of the "Aircraft in a Barn" I took today later tonight. ;D ;D ;D ;D A happy happy Baz! ;D ;D ;D
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Post by aeromedia on Aug 13, 2011 19:37:57 GMT 12
BBZ . . . . . thats a funny way to spell BAZ ;D
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Post by baz62 on Aug 13, 2011 20:49:49 GMT 12
Yeah tempting to put an A in there. Ok here are the photos I took this afternoon. As I said she's in a few pieces and in a barn. First off the wings and fuselage are in one part. As you can see she has a pretty basic panel! Might upgrade that a bit. In this shot the black "arch" is the control column arch which the two control sticks attach to. The workmanship on the fuselage is amazing. The wooden formers or stringers are varnished and carefully tied into place. These give some shape to the fuselage when the fabric is applied. Here are some shots of the wings which are in good condition and close to needing fabric. The white hinge in the picture is supporting the outboard end of the flap on one of the wings, with the aileron position right next door. I'll post some more shots in a few minutes. Just looking after my dial up buddies ;D
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Post by Officer Crabtree on Aug 13, 2011 20:52:10 GMT 12
You are going to have some fun in that, you lucky devil!
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Post by agalbraith on Aug 13, 2011 22:20:08 GMT 12
Aaah, Baz.
Welcome to the sad ole world of Auster owners!
It was great to come along today and see what she was like. The work already done on her is superb. I think you got a great aeroplane and she has gone to a great home as well. It certainly felt like finding the old plane in a barn today, and his spares holding was fantastic. You are well set up now.
It worries me that she will be faster than my T-7 though....... might have to look at some mods to crank some more horses out of her!!!
Thanks again, and congrats
Cheers Anthony
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Post by baz62 on Aug 13, 2011 23:12:48 GMT 12
Ha ha ha Mods to a T7, that will be like fitting supermarket trolley wheels to a tea trolley! (You can tell there already a bit of competition between us Auster owners!) Feel free to post your photos too mate. Heres the last of mine. First there was this old truck and crammed in here were rudders, elevators, the odd oil cooler, oh and the rear seat! The green bag on the left is the bag containing tie-down gear for Auster BCQ (a crashed Auster which has given some parts to this one.) Round the side of the truck was another door. Peering in here we found the engine mounts. Nearby was a open ended box and here we found a few sets of Auster wing struts and we were told struts for a Maule! Also found at the other end were the engine cowlings and a few Undercarriage legs. The red and white cowling displays her last colour scheme and I think is one of the side cowlings . The white object nestled in it is an oil tank and there are more than one of these visible too. And the sad remains of BCQ. Old eagle eye Anthony spied the only useful bit still hanging on her.......the carb heat control. However he also spied a few more in the "box". Actually I'm trying to decide if i have actually bought this fuselage...................................... this fuselage frame is a lost cause as it has a serious case of the moth..........sea water will do that! Having said that the control rod for the flap lever still moves! So far the only problem I have is I have 2 left hand undercarriage legs and no right ones! Before someone says what about the ones she has on the fuselage, they are short legs as used on say the MK 5 0290 Lycoming Auster. To give the Gypsy powered J5 clearance for the prop they put longer length legs on them. Anthony may have to keep an eye on his T7 legs heh heh heh. So next thing to do is pay for the project so will visit the bank (without a gun if possible). Next I plan to move the biggest parts (fuselage, wings, engine) to my wee abode (once I have had a good clean out of the garage!!). Then with the assistance of Anthony (and other willing volunteers) we will go through all the smaller parts and trailer them to a temporary storage unit so I can sit down and cataloge everything. And go through all the current paperwork ready for an engineer to say yep that will be fit to fly! ;D
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Post by shorty on Aug 13, 2011 23:27:59 GMT 12
Whats the engine like Baz?
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fadge
Flight Lieutenant
Posts: 81
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Post by fadge on Aug 13, 2011 23:39:11 GMT 12
The Avenger shot is taken in Te Kuiti, if that's any help.
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Post by Tony on Aug 14, 2011 5:03:17 GMT 12
Well done Baz, I take it someone is going to have lots of fun getting her airworthy.
Re: the Avenger pic. Is is possible that the pic was taken fron NZ2539? 2503 was the only one I knew that had an over-all target towing scheme but that was written off at Hobsonville after its ditching. 2504 and 2527 never carried that scheme as far as I am aware.
Thoughts?
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Post by aeromedia on Aug 14, 2011 6:44:39 GMT 12
The real test of Mrs Baz will be when the bits from your garage make their way into the lounge! Personally, having met her, and read her comments from time to time on here, I think she's up for it !
BTW, the Vincent family are Auster experts so if you need any sounding board re things Auster, cant go past them. They have three examples, one of which is well into what I hear a meticulous restoration at the hands of Andrew Vincent. Baz this is much more practical than a Devon !
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Post by skyhawkdon on Aug 14, 2011 8:48:09 GMT 12
Well well well Baz!! This is exciting news. Auster in a Barn. Classic! Congrats mate.
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Post by baz62 on Aug 14, 2011 8:58:54 GMT 12
Thanks all. Man you buy an Auster next thing your mobile gets a heap of texts! Shorty the engine is disassembled but is in good condition, the crank, rods and crankcase have been NDT inspected and are good. I'll post more photos when the parts get layed out and I'm going "Where the h... does that go?" and "Is this even an Auster part?" The previous owner was a bit optimistic as he has a ASI (Air Speed Indicator) from a P40 for it! ;D
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Post by Gavin Conroy on Aug 14, 2011 8:59:50 GMT 12
Grest stuff Baz, always thought you would end up with an Auster one day.
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Post by agalbraith on Aug 14, 2011 9:01:11 GMT 12
Heh, yes Peter, I think all wives are in the same boat as old plane owners, it is compulsary to bring parts inside! Belynda will often ring me at work and say.......phooowweeee a courier just called and dropped a box off for you from the UK, I am guessing it has Auster bits inside! It's always as I have just left for work, I am guessing the courier wants it out of his van asap! Baz, you can stop staring into space now mate, Baz..........Baz. We thought we had lost him there for a while! She is a nice machine and the work done on the fuse frame and woodwork was fantastic. Most of Baz's pics were similar to mine. Cant wait to get it all out, and catalogue it all with you. Cheers Anthony
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Post by baz62 on Aug 14, 2011 9:40:53 GMT 12
Well done Baz, I take it someone is going to have lots of fun getting her airworthy. Re: the Avenger pic. Is is possible that the pic was taken fron NZ2539? 2503 was the only one I knew that had an over-all target towing scheme but that was written off at Hobsonville after its ditching. 2504 and 2527 never carried that scheme as far as I am aware. Thoughts? Yep I agree with you, most likely to be NZ2539. Looks like NZ2505 was a spare aircraft in storage going by the remains of tape or simialr round all the opening like cowl flaps etc and the fact she hasn't had the later stripe tug scheme applied..
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Post by shorty on Aug 14, 2011 10:28:36 GMT 12
definitely 2539, here is a shot looking back towards it
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Post by baz62 on Aug 14, 2011 11:50:38 GMT 12
(For Anthony's benefit) Just figured out the Auster codes. J-Series: J is for Jaunty. T-series: T is for Trouble (even has 7 letters)
We had a txt flame a few days ago and he tried J for Jalopy and F for Flop. But he has to be nice to me now since I have spare parts heh heh heh.
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Post by agalbraith on Aug 14, 2011 12:58:14 GMT 12
Nice to you................really???
Oh ok you have good parts, er I mean point.
Great to see you join up on the Auster club forum.
Cheers Anthony
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Post by dakman on Aug 14, 2011 14:33:20 GMT 12
May be there is enough interest to start a Auster site ?
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Post by baz62 on Aug 14, 2011 18:20:31 GMT 12
Here in New Zealand? funnily enough I was talking about that with my wife about how there are a lot of Auster owners (and dare I say it Auster lovers) that there should be one. There is of course the IAC or International Auster Club which is world wide.
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