Post by Dave Homewood on Dec 30, 2009 12:59:52 GMT 12
What's with that yellow and white one in the Palmerston Nth. 5/2/71 photo with all the side missing??
I never knew there were so many topdressing Dakotas. Did they ever use them for spraying in NZ as well as topdressing? 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?
Post by Dave Homewood on Dec 30, 2009 13:31:31 GMT 12
To answer my own question I have dug out and begun to rewatch the awesome footage of the last agricultural Dakota flying filmed by Louis Forhecz in the 1980s, which someone here kindly sent me on DVD. It seems only Bruce Thompson was aboard - surely the Dakota would be quite a handful to fly low kevel with just one crew member? Were they modified in any way to make sole pilot flying easier?
Further question - as topdressing is (I believe) seasonal, did the Dakotas fly in other roles such as freight carrying when there was no topdressing happening? Or were they laid up for the winter, etc?
Post by Dave Homewood on Dec 30, 2009 13:36:28 GMT 12
Also, did Country Calendar ever do a feature on the Ag Daks? It would be nice to see some footage done by professional TV crews of them flying in the hills.
And did other countries fly Dakotas as topdressers? Was NZ the first place it was done?
Last Edit: Dec 30, 2009 13:38:39 GMT 12 by Dave Homewood
Dave, that is ZK-CAW,a Viewmaster operated by SPANZ.It had black plastic sheeting over the windows.Photo taken shortly before it was converted to a topdresser.The most Daks I ever saw outside Airland/Feildair at Palmerston was ten.Fourteen were converted to topdressers plus another couple reduced to parts. AZL was the first aircraft and was flown by a two man crew but was later modified to single pilot,as far as I know all others were modified when they were converted to topdressers.
Several controls had to be modified including the undercarriage levers,flaps,and controls to feather the starboard propeller in the event of engine failure.
More amazing stuff! Absolutely spiffing. With regard to the photo taken from the NZAIL Cafeteria window; if Woody 99 wants to know who owned the cars in the photo, I can provide most of the owners names! The paint scheme on DAH was the result of an NZAIL staff competition. The scheme chosen by the judges was not that generally favoured by the staff, so we called it Yukky Dah! This was because it was more like pink puke than puce! OJ
Ex ag-Dak ZK-APK at Mangaweka has recently had a change of colour scheme - losing the chocolate chip pattern it has worn for several years. The new schem of blue and cream looks really smart, and someone has paid attention to detail. The signage on the tail describes it as a Skyliner, which is correct as it has the large NAC cabin windows. The new "owners" of the business have branded it as Mangaweka Adventure company, and if you look closely you will see the old NAC insignia on the side, cleverly ammended to MAC! I took this photo on my way down to Wellies on Sunday (Sorry it was a bit cloudy by then...)
It still has the hopper openings in the belly...
If it was supposed to be easy. everyone would be doing it...
