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Post by hairy on Jan 18, 2011 12:17:15 GMT 12
If you look at the derelict state of the registrationless ZK-ARS in my previous post................ ............................and compare it to the condition of ARS in this picture showing the registration........................ .........I'd say the registration was only painted on one side. I also reckon, going by the photo below, that ART flew to Rongotai without the registration applied.
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Post by hairy on Jan 18, 2011 12:22:08 GMT 12
Not exactly. They were shipped into Auckland in February 1948 and assembled by Aircraft Service at Mangere. The plan was to fly them to Rongotai for overhaul by DHNZ. 42-58177/ZK-ART was test flown at Mangere 15Mar48 and then flown Mangere-Paraparaumu-Rongotai by Arthur Hewitt. His report on the flight plus investigation by DH resulted in this aircraft condemned due potential wing spar deterioration and it sat at Rongotai until broken up 13Apr52. 42-58176/ZK-ARS 'Forever Amber' never flew, and was the one derelict at Mangere. Thanks for the clarification Peter. I always thought it was a bit of Whites trickery with the registrations in the photos. ;D
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Post by Peter Lewis on Jan 18, 2011 20:45:43 GMT 12
Right, heres the fake ZK-ART Ken Meehan photoEven from this angle, if you look closely at the nose of the aircraft you can make out the 'Forever Amber'. I've never understood why, in a country which at that time was awash with Ansons and Oxfords/Consuls, they needed to import two second-hand orphan wooden twins from Fiji.
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Post by angels15 on Jan 18, 2011 21:13:42 GMT 12
Great stuff Hairy keep them coming. You can never have too many De.Havilland photographs. Ditto ;D
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Post by Dave Homewood on Jan 18, 2011 22:08:34 GMT 12
I've never understood why, in a country which at that time was awash with Ansons and Oxfords/Consuls, they needed to import two second-hand orphan wooden twins from Fiji. You know how it is, you've had a few beers, it's late, you're surfing eBay, and one thing leads to another.... ;D
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Post by kb on Jan 18, 2011 22:13:09 GMT 12
"Today at 8:45pm, flyernzl wrote:I've never understood why, in a country which at that time was awash with Ansons and Oxfords/Consuls, they needed to import two second-hand orphan wooden twins from Fiji."
Particularly a type which I understand was difficult to fly! BTW can someone please tell me how I can quote previous posts in the small print on the blue or red background.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Jan 18, 2011 22:29:22 GMT 12
Keith, look at the top right corner of the post you want to quote, it has a QUOTE button. Push that and it takes you to a reply box with the quote all set up above where you type.
I wonder if the importer had flown the Crane in Canada in the RNZAF and had an affinnity with it?
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Post by hairy on Jan 18, 2011 22:29:36 GMT 12
BTW can someone please tell me how I can quote previous posts in the small print on the blue or red background. In the top right corner of each post is a "Quote" button, just hit that. Dang, beaten by mere seconds. ;D
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Post by hairy on Jan 18, 2011 22:43:55 GMT 12
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Post by kb on Jan 19, 2011 8:24:40 GMT 12
The C-46 is intriguing. It doesn't appear to have a serial and it seems that the windows each have a hole in the centre. Very unusual.
Rifle defence instead of gun turrets! ;D
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Post by kb on Jan 19, 2011 8:25:50 GMT 12
Thanks for the quote info guys. Typical case of male eyesight?
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Post by b10m on Jan 19, 2011 10:00:32 GMT 12
The Morris car in the photo, is a Morris Eight "Series E"
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Post by hairy on Jan 19, 2011 10:19:59 GMT 12
............ it seems that the windows each have a hole in the centre. Very unusual. Rifle defence instead of gun turrets! ;D Hi kb, the rifle ports in the windows of military transports was common during WWII, it was a case of every little bit helps. It was probably also good for the morale of the troops being transported if they could have a way of fighting back instead of being helpless in case of attack. I wonder if their is any cases of an attacker being downed because of defensive fire from these ports? You can also see the ports in the pictures of the following aircraft in this thread; DC-3 ZK-AQS (reply #26, page 2) C-47 43-48777 (reply #51, page 4) DC-4 NX88895 (reply #45, page 4)
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Post by Peter Lewis on Jan 19, 2011 17:39:34 GMT 12
Looking at that C-46 sets me thinking.
I have seen frequent mention that after SAFE got the Cook Strait freight contract, C-46s from CAT were used to operate this service until the new Bristol Freighters arrived in May 1951.
Now CAT then was a sizable organization, so I assume that more than one C-46 was used. Yet I have never seen any mention of how long they operated here, how many aircraft were involved and their identities. As far as I know, no photographs exist.
It all seems really strange, as they must have been quite exotic at that time.
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Post by kb on Jan 19, 2011 19:36:18 GMT 12
[/quote] I wonder if their is any cases of an attacker being downed because of defensive fire from these ports? [/quote] If I was the skipper I would be more concerned about 18 year old grunts shooting me down unless there was some foolproof method of ensuring they couldn't hit the aircraft they were shooting from! Thanks for the info.
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Post by kb on Jan 19, 2011 19:44:08 GMT 12
Looking at that C-46 sets me thinking. I have seen frequent mention that after SAFE got the Cook Strait freight contract, C-46s from CAT were used to operate this service until the new Bristol Freighters arrived in May 1951. Now CAT then was a sizable organization, so I assume that more than one C-46 was used. Yet I have never seen any mention of how long they operated here, how many aircraft were involved and their identities. As far as I know, no photographs exist. It all seems really strange, as they must have been quite exotic at that time. Peter, I have seen at least one photo but I can't think where. It may even have been on this site.
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Post by kb on Jan 19, 2011 19:45:53 GMT 12
I think one registration was XT840.
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Post by hairy on Jan 19, 2011 20:07:53 GMT 12
Looking at that C-46 sets me thinking. According to Ross Ewing & Ross MacPhearsons, "The History of New Zealand Aviation", page 175. SAFE hired four CAT C-46s and they were here for several months during the 1951 watersiders strike. They made 1300 crossings of Cook Strait carrying 8000 tonnes of freight. CAT (CNRRA Air Transport then Civil Air Transport) was of course a direct descendant of the Flying Tigers in China being formed by Gen. Claire Lee Chennault and was heavily involved with the CIA eventually becoming Air America. When you think about it the US through the CIA supplying the aircraft to help break the watersiders strike sort of makes sense as a conspiracy theory, in that both the police and the government at the time thought that the strike was been orchestrated from Moscow. This conspiracy theory also makes a bit more sense when you consider that the C-46s were pulled from resupply contracts to Korea (operation "Booklift" for the UN) at the height of the Korean war.
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Post by kb on Jan 19, 2011 20:32:45 GMT 12
I am not sure why but I have this aircraft filed as being one of those flying Cook Strait. If it is can anyone identify the airfield. I wish I had been better organised over the years!
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Post by kiwithrottlejockey on Jan 19, 2011 20:38:01 GMT 12
When you think about it the US through the CIA supplying the aircraft to help break the watersiders strike sort of makes sense as a conspiracy theory, considering that both the police and the government at the time thought that the strike was been orchestrated from Moscow. Except that it wasn't actually a strike. It was a lockout. There is a difference — a strike is when the workers take industrial action by totally withdrawing their labour, whereas a lockout is when the employer takes the industrial action and locks the workers out of the site, which is what occured in 1951. The watersiders did take limited industrial action by refusing to work overtime, but they didn't actually go on strike. However, when the employers took industrial action of their own and locked the watersiders, the government called it a strike when it actually wasn't. I guess that was propaganda and due to draconian regulations rammed through by the government, they effectively shut-down all freedom of speech by anyone who would have been capable of correcting what it really was — a lockout! However, back to the Curtis C-46s — the operations of these aeroplanes is covered in the first chapter of the book “ Safe in the skies” by Lester Hope, Joanna Carson, John Wright and Ross Dunlop (published in 2000), including the dates when each of the four aircraft arrived in NZ and when they departed. According to the book, they worked the service for four months, taking over from NAC's DC-3 freighters, then bowing out when SAFE's first two Bristol Freighters arrived and entered service.
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