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Post by Dave Homewood on Aug 26, 2010 23:07:08 GMT 12
For some time we've had an excellent thread on the forum running called The Harvard Pile with photos of Harvards in NZ throughout their long careers.
I thiought it would be great to get a thread about the Harvards in Australia. Who out there has photos and stories of the Harvards that have flown in Australia, or are still active there, or in museums, and the Harvards flown by RAAF pilots, etc.
I know that the RAAF had at least one Harvard attached to No. 3 Squadron in North Africa. There must have been others with active squadrons I guess. And there would have been hundreds of RAAF pilots who flew the type in Canada and Britain.
So, there must be photos out there from the war as well as the current warbird and museum examples.
One special request is I'd like to see what NZ1034 looks like now. It was donated by the RNZAF to the RAAF for their museum.
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Post by yak2 on Aug 27, 2010 10:06:11 GMT 12
The other NZ Havard with the RAAF Museum was 1060 which was unfortunately bent by a senior RAAF officer. Not sure of its current status. Nice resto of an ex NZ T6. One of Judy Pay's 2 Havards. The other being ex SAAF. Pic credit Rob Bolt.  |
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Post by NZ1009 on Aug 27, 2010 11:45:05 GMT 12
As far as I know NZ1034 has not flown since 1972 at the latest. I think the Harvard that was damaged was NZ1060 (painted as NZ934). The photo below shows NZ1034 stored at Pt. Cook.  NZ1034 Mk IIA 88-12033 Previously EX589. From RAF/FAA lend-lease allocations. Shipped to New Zealand on "Vessel 27" in April 1943 and assembled at Hobsonville. BOC 20 April 1943. With CFS, Tauranga early 1944. With No.2 OTU Ohakea 1944-1945. With No.4 (TAF) Squadron 02 November 1950-08 October 1951. With No.3 (TAF) Squadron 08 October 1951-07 July 1952. Eighth Mk IIA to be converted to Mk 2A* between August 1954 and May 1957. Stored at Woodbourne from August 1972. Converted to INST210 with No. 4 TTS Woodbourne in 1976 and transferred to Ohakea. Issued to RNZAF Museum Ohakea August 1977 in complete but unflyable condition. Presented to RAAF and flown to Australia in RNZAF Hercules for presentation to RAAF Museum on 12 December 1988. Displayed in Pt.Cook Museum, Victoria as NZ947.  NZ1060 Mk III 88-14493 Previously EX867. From RAF/FAA lend-lease allocations. Shipped to New Zealand on "Cape Florida" in September 1943 and assembled at Hobsonville. BOC 06 October 1943. With No.3 (TAF) Squadron 10 April 1952-29 February 1956. Twelfth Mk III to be converted to Mk 3* between May and November 1957. To storage at Wigram July 1962. Presented to RAAF and transported to Australia by RAAF Hercules 23 November 1977. Restored to flying condition by Winrye Aviation and registered to RAAF Museum, Point Cook on 28 September 1988 as VH-SFY. Airworthy and flying in Australia painted as NZ934 in wartime colours. Believed to have ground looped on landing on 02 December 2004. |
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Post by Dave Homewood on Aug 27, 2010 12:06:10 GMT 12
NZ1034 is in fact a MkII now, noit a MkIIA. It was restored and modified right back to its original wartime MkII status by a team at Ohakea lead by Flt Lt Mike Nicholls when it was prepared for the RAAF Musuem. They took it back to wartime MkII status as it beter represented the Harvards flown by RAAF pilots in the EATS scheme in Canada and Britain.
Great photos by the way. I normally hate it when warbird owners put that unrealistically high polish on their aircraft but Judy Pay's Harvard looks superb like that.
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Post by baz62 on Aug 27, 2010 15:00:54 GMT 12
NZ1034 is in fact a MkII now, noit a MkIIA. It was restored and modified right back to its original wartime MkII status by a team at Ohakea lead by Flt Lt Mike Nicholls when it was prepared for the RAAF Musuem. They took it back to wartime MkII status as it beter represented the Harvards flown by RAAF pilots in the EATS scheme in Canada and Britain. Great photos by the way. I normally hate it when warbird owners put that unrealistically high polish on their aircraft but Judy Pay's Harvard looks superb like that. Well the paint job is a MK II but externally she's a MK IIa with the differences being different rear canopy shape, exhaust(long one on the MK II), bulge forward of the windscreen (.30 machinegun position on MK IIa and and III). All minor really and a very nice representation of the breed. |
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Post by Dave Homewood on Aug 27, 2010 16:12:23 GMT 12
Really? RNZAFA News states in its Autumn/Winter 1989 edition that "Nine Ohakea personnel under Flt Lt Mike Nicholls worked 1130 man-hours on de-modifying it to a Mk II Model."
It goes on to say, "Certain Mk II* items removed, such as aerials, the gunsights and fin lights, were traded for Mk II parts. Components that could not be found had to be made from scratch, including the dual venturis, the tail light on the rudder and the long exhaust. Finally it was painted in the yellow colour scheme as used in Canada. It was given the markings of NZ947 which served 18 years in the RNZAF as an advanced training aircraft before being sold as scrap."
It does note that it is not idential to the Harvards the RAAF pilots flew in Canada, but by the sound of this they put the effort in to make NZ1034 look like a Mk II Harvard. I wonder if Mike Nicholls is out there and can comment? He's a member here.
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Post by baz62 on Aug 27, 2010 16:24:42 GMT 12
Ooops apologies Dave I was looking at the picture of NZ1060! Looks like its just the rear canopy that has been left as you can't see the exhaust in that shot but you can see the tail light on the rudder.
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Post by Peter Lewis on Aug 27, 2010 17:06:18 GMT 12
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Post by mit on Aug 27, 2010 18:16:47 GMT 12
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Post by NZ1009 on Aug 29, 2010 21:23:55 GMT 12
Two photos of NZ1060 from the Auction website - looks like a wheels-up landing from the damage to the wings, under the nose and the bent prop on the ground beneath the rear fuselage.   |
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Post by Dave Homewood on Aug 29, 2010 21:49:45 GMT 12
It doesn't look too bad damaged. Maybe it could come back to NZ and get a better paint scheme.
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Post by strikemaster on Sept 23, 2010 23:57:10 GMT 12
Here's a pic of NZ1075 from the Point Cook Pageant, March this year.  And with its 3 other stable mates.  My understanding is that 2 or 3 (inc NZ1075) of these are ex-RNZAF, tho I could be wrong. I also thought they were based at Tyabb. I often see them fly over here. |
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Post by Barnsey on Oct 20, 2010 23:43:20 GMT 12
Did NZ1060 sell at auction - and anyone know how much for? This article put me off the idea of trying to repair and import it!! www.australianflying.com.au/news/raaf-point-cook-museum-wares-up-for-auctionREADERS PLEASE NOTE: While the auctioneer claims that the NZ1060 Harvard 111 that will be a part of this auction is only “slightly damaged”, Rob Fox, Editor of Australian Flying’s sister publication Flightpath, informs us that the damage to the aircraft is actually quite major. The damage stems from a well-known accident at West Sale that the Harvard was involved in. Regarding the extent of the damage to both the body and engine of the aircraft, Rob reports that, “the damage was assessed as Category 5; that is, 'Uneconomical to Repair'. The aircraft has sustained major damage to its centre section, including the primary structure of the centre section, fuel tanks and main landing gear. The RH main landing gear was ripped completely out of the centre section during the accident. The outer wings have also sustained major damage. The engine has been damaged and will require at minimum a bulk strip, including the replacement of a number of cylinder assemblies, and to repair any other damage found during the bulk strip. The engine mount and engine cowls are also damaged.” The aircraft’s airframe hours were 9078.4 plus approximately two hours before the accident, while its engine hours were 423.7 plus approximately two hours before the accident. These hours are Time Since Overhaul (TSO). |
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Post by corsair67 on Nov 1, 2010 0:41:44 GMT 12
Apparently HARS have purchased the wreck, but I'm not sure what they will do with it.
I don't think they have any other Harvard airframes in their collection, so who knows.
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Post by planecrazy on Nov 4, 2010 19:07:03 GMT 12
I believe this machine now lives in South Australia, I spoke with Steven Death the pilot and he told me she was quite rare as she had a fold down rear canopy and a swiveling rear seat, I presume to fit a rear mounted machine gun. Did many RNZAF Harvards have this? Note rear canopy folded in this shot   |
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Post by Bruce on Nov 4, 2010 19:20:37 GMT 12
1099 is one of my old charges from my days as a tradesman at Gulf Aeronautics. The accuracy of fittings on this machine can be explained by simply stating that Charles D'arby was one of the owners! it was very authentic, including the correct satin finish on the paint (Most other Yellow Harvards have got this wrong).
99 is a gunnery trainer Harvard and has mounts for 3 guns (Cowl, wing and rear Cockpit) and on one occasion at least when I was at Gulf, Charles brought out the .30 cals and fitted all 3, plus under wing bomb racks, and it was flown for a photo sortie by Jim Pavitt With Garth McGerty manning the rear gun. As most of the weapons fit was not required after WW2, very few Harvards retained the fittings, but Charles having "the knack" of finding such bits managed to collect virtually everything. At one stage we even had a couple of 25lb Practice bombs sitting in our store, until we realised that they may contain some Pyrotechnic material! When it was flying here, it had the forward Antenna mast, but it appears to have been removed in these pictures. Definitely still my favourite ex-RNZAF Harvard!
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Post by Dave Homewood on Nov 4, 2010 19:22:54 GMT 12
NZ1099 was one of my favourite Harvards when it was on the NZ circuit, it looked so sharp in those wartime colours, plus it had the SNJ style gun cockpit which was way cool.
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Post by yak2 on Nov 4, 2010 20:56:37 GMT 12
NZ 1099 currently being rebuilt at Old Aeroplane Company Tyabb following an accident.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Nov 4, 2010 21:40:03 GMT 12
That's a shame. It was a thing of beauty in the yellow colours. A great restoration done at the time.
I wonder if there are any kiwi Harvards still on the warbird scene here and in Australia that have not had an accident. They seem prone to groundloops and mishaps.
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Post by NZ1009 on Nov 4, 2010 21:56:34 GMT 12
I think this is the accident - at Jamestown, SA  |
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