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Post by kiwibeavers on Jan 4, 2010 7:25:10 GMT 12
If it wasn't Bruce then it could have been either Basil Martin or Bill Luther.
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Post by John L on Jan 5, 2010 17:45:16 GMT 12
Also, how many crew members were required to fly one in topdressing? I assume the navigator was dropped, but did they still have two pilots and an engineer aboard? Single pilot operation. Had a mate who cadged a ride in one working out of Ardmore...reckoned it was quite strange to see the pilot doing all his control actions some seconds (seemingly) before the plane reacted...like pushing the wheel in half way up the face of a hill, to maintain optimum height up and over the top...everything seemingly in slow motion. Being used to Tigers and sundry small DH stuff, he initially found it rather...off putting, but the pilot sure knew his plane...and the terrain.....Also the pilot (can't recall who) had a lit cigarette in his mouth continuously from take off to touch down......Myles reckoned he'd need them, flinging the Dak around some of the terrain they were flying through... |
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Post by furyfb11 on Jan 7, 2010 14:10:03 GMT 12
Hi Everyone, Would there be any photo's of Ag-DAKS out there, especially James's aircraft? Would love to see some of AZA if anyone has the odd shot laying around! have searched older threads but could not see anything.. Cheers Woody  AZA at Tauranga Aug.1977 |
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Post by furyfb11 on Jan 8, 2010 9:24:39 GMT 12
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Post by alias on Jan 14, 2010 21:43:02 GMT 12
The first of many from the excellent slide collection of Russ Garlick. I have no information about the pictures, any queries I will forward to him. It is acknowledged that some shots originated from other sources, if the original owner of the picture is known please inform me and I will amend or remove the picture.   |
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Post by Peter Lewis on Jan 16, 2010 1:09:24 GMT 12
ZK-BKD working off Wairoa October 1982. This was the last AgDak I saw actually in operation  We visited the bar at Gisborne about 12 years ago. At that time the place was quite neat, and there were stairs leading up to the Dakota. The interior had been stripped out, and there was a long table fixed to and running down the starboard side of the fuselage inside with bar stools adjacent. You could comfortably sit there and discuss past present and future. Another visit in January 2009 revealed a different story. The whole place had a run down look, the stairs up to the Dakota had been removed and the aircraft was inaccessible. I managed a quick peek through a window, and the inside of the aircraft was just a rubbish dump. Vegetation was growing up around it as these photos show. Sad.   |
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Post by kiwibeavers on Jan 23, 2010 10:57:14 GMT 12
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Post by kiwibeavers on Jan 23, 2010 10:58:32 GMT 12
AOI at Ardmore 1967  |
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Post by kiwibeavers on Jan 23, 2010 11:06:35 GMT 12
APB landing at Oringi with Neville Worsley 1980  APB Loading at Gisborne 1981 with Basil Martin. Basil's famous Morri Thou Van under the starboard wing.  APB Retired at Palmerston North 1988 with APK  |
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Post by kiwibeavers on Jan 23, 2010 11:10:40 GMT 12
APK at Napier 1971 when flown by Bob Allen  APK retired at Palmerston North 1988  |
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Post by kiwibeavers on Jan 23, 2010 11:21:54 GMT 12
AWO at Wanganui when flown by Neville Worsley  AWO at Woodbourne 1982 with Neville Worsley  AWO retired at Palmerston North 1988 with APK  All that's left of AWO, now used for advertising. Rebuilt by Chris Rudge of Lyttleton. Photo taken 2005.  |
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Post by kiwibeavers on Jan 23, 2010 12:15:12 GMT 12
AWP loading at Woodbourne 1973 with Basil Martin  AWP about to load at Gisborne 1980 with Bill Luther  AWP loading at Gisborne 1980 with Basil Martin  AWP in Tonga October 2009 having it's first engine run after laying idle up there for over 3 years. Rescued by Craig Emeny and is the only surviving Ag Dak with over 60,000 hours total time.  |
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Post by kiwibeavers on Jan 23, 2010 13:13:34 GMT 12
AZA at Rotorua when flown by Les Marshall  |
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Post by kiwibeavers on Jan 23, 2010 13:16:00 GMT 12
AZL at Ardmore  |
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Post by kiwibeavers on Jan 23, 2010 13:27:20 GMT 12
BBJ being loaded at Gisborne 1986 with Bruce Thompson  BBJ's last load, Gisborne 5th May 1987 with Loader-Driver Graeme Foley and pilot Bruce Thompson  BBJ now lying derelict in Mombasa, Kenya. Photo 2006  |
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Post by kiwithrottlejockey on Jan 23, 2010 13:40:15 GMT 12
Those photographs of AG-DAKs, particularly at Gisborne, bring back a lot of memories.
I used to see a lot of them while driving trains out of Gisborne. Quite often, we'd get held at the Up Home Signal at Gisborne Airport while an aeroplane was taking off or landing on the main runway and one of Fieldair's DC-3s would be taxiing in and swinging around to line up with the loader, or taxiing away after loading up. We knew all the pilots by sight (just as they no doubt knew us by sight) and we'd always wave to each other, but the only one I knew by name was Bruce Thompson, who I managed to bludge a ride with during the last few weeks of Ag-Dak operation in return for taking him for a ride in a locomotive down to Napier and back. Gisborne Airport was an interesting place back then, especially during the busy super-spreading season when they had three DC-3s working hard-out.
We also used to see a lot of the DC-3 operating out of Wairoa as well while driving trains past there. I'll never forget the time I was driving a Gisborne to Wellington passenger train past Wairoa airport just as a Fieldair DC-3 began its takeoff run. About halfway along the runway, the Dak suffered an engine failure and the result was extremely spectacular as the pilot dumped the load of super out the bottom onto the runway and the DC-3 shot up into the air like a rocket as it lost all that weight. The superphosphate went for miles, right through the boundary fence at the end of the runway and across several paddocks beyond. It left a huge mess on the runway too....they were still cleaning it up when I went past there again on the way home with a freight train a couple of hours later.
Who was the Dak pilot who used to load his Morris or Austin Mini van into the rear of a Fieldair DC-3? I seem to recall he had a pair of portable ramps he used to drive the van into the aeroplane.
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Post by kiwibeavers on Jan 23, 2010 14:43:49 GMT 12
Gerry Kluck , amongst others, put a Bambina and Moris Mini Van in the back. The Morris was easier to manouvre once in as the engine was in the front.  Gerry Kluck with the Morris Van. Gerry is now living in Perth.  More photos coming |
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Post by furyfb11 on Jan 23, 2010 14:49:59 GMT 12
BBJ doing a display in the rain at a Ardmore air show on 25th of January1987  After retiring from ag work it was used as a freighter by Fieldair as seen here at Wellington on Boxing Day 1989  |
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Post by dakman on Jan 23, 2010 15:24:57 GMT 12
Thanks for posting these shots guys a real reminder of the ag flying industry at its peak
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Post by kiwibeavers on Jan 23, 2010 16:04:07 GMT 12
BKD being loaded at Gisborne 1980  BKD at Palmerston North 1988  BKD at Rotorua shortly before being transported to Gisborne where she now sits at Smash Palace  |
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