Eden Park Springbok Test Cessna

[mumbles]

I just watched 'Patu' on The Maori Channel about the Springbok tour, and was wondering about the Cessna that buzzed Eden Park. The more I wondered the more questions I came up with. I was only 4 when the tour took place, so while they may have been answered at the time I wouldn't have been aware of it.

What was the registration and what happened to it? Is it still active and flying? As an arguably historic airframe it is a good candidate for preservation I think.

The footage shows at least one helicopter in the vicinity as well. Anyone know what and why (news/TV coverage/crowd management etc)?

Disclaimer: I'm starting this thread to discuss the aircraft only. I know this can still be a sensitive subject, so please keep any replies on topic.

[Andrew Hamilton]

I believe the A/C was from the North Shore Aero Club?

[Peter Lewis]

Cessna 172M ZK-DXI of North Shore AC.
Remained with NSAC until DBR in f/l Brynderwyn Hills 20Jan03.

At Ardmore 10Jul1976



Helo was probably a police presence, as there was a 'no fly' zone around the area for duration of the event.

[Naki]

I remember a RNZAF Sioux over the game I went to at Rugby Park in New Plymouth...the helicopter may of been a Sioux?

[Chris F]

Naki I was in form 1 at Highlands Intermediate at the time (feeling old now) and it was an RNZAF Sioux that hovered over that mid week in New Plymouth.
They had a role as light observation as well as a training platform back in those days.
I have been trying for along time without success to get a photo of the Sioux in action during this event without success.
Of note there was only a small protest(peaceful) in New Plymouth during this game and was a non event compared to the rest of New Zealand.
Mind you we love our rugby in the Naki.
1981 was a big year as the Falkland War was on aswell.

[mgmike]

DXI was with NSAC until 2003 when it was written off. I don't know what happened to the remains. NSAC have another DXI which is a PA-28.

[flyjoe180]

1981 was a big year as the Falkland War was on aswell.

The Falklands War took place in 1982.

[Chris F]

Stand corrected on that...my mistake.

[johnnyfalcon]

I flew the original DXI while doing my flight training at North Shore. The club has a framed newspaper clipping with a black and white photo of "Dixie" in action over Eden Park. Anyone got a copy of said pic?

[graemewi]

We did a flight with NSAC over to Great Barrier in DXI, it had a little logo of a TV cameraman (I think) with a flour bomb. It was in 82 or 83 I think. Too many years ago!

[baronbeeza]

[Dave Homewood]

Shit, that is pretty low! Did the pilot lose his licence for this stunt?

Massive crowd too, or it may be an optical illusion as back then the stands were tiny compared to now.

[flyjoe180]

I have a news cutting on the story of this pilot reported on his death. Ex-RNZAF fighter pilot. Can't scan right now but I'll find his name etc.

[flyjoe180]

Woops, right action wrong game, wrong pilot. Pat McQuarrie, WWII Hurricane and Spitfire Pacific pilot flour bombed a softball game in Papakura from the air when an all-white South African team played in 1976, and made the officials cancel the Hamilton All Black 1981 game when they feared he would fly a converted aeroplane into the stadium. He did not flour the Eden Park match, my error.

[flyjoe180]

The Hamilton game (Sth Africa vs Waikato)
www.nzhistory.net.nz/media/video/game-cancelled-in-hamilton

Reports were also coming in that Pat McQuarrie had stolen a light plane from Taupo and was heading for the stadium. While there was confusion as to his intentions, the police decided that the situation was getting out of hand and cancelled the match for security reasons.

The Eden Park game (third test):
www.nzhistory.net.nz/media/video/the-third-test-auckland

While security around the ground was the tightest of the tour, the battle was taken to the sky above Eden Park. The actions of Marx Jones and Grant Cole in their hired Cessna aeroplane probably made the abiding memories of the game. Jones and Cole buzzed Eden Park and dropped flares and flour bombs in a bid to halt the game. In surreal conditions, befitting the nature of the tour, the game continued. All Black prop Gary Knight was felled by a flour bomb, and the South African captain asked 'whether New Zealand had an air force or not?'

[mumbles]

Jun 7, 2011 16:39:23 GMT 12 Dave Homewood said:

Shit, that is pretty low! Did the pilot lose his licence for this stunt?

And then some, went to prison for 6 months I understand. I read he was using a practice force-landing approach to get down to the stadium, angled diagonally across the pitch to avoid the goalposts.

Thanks for the replies and background everyone .

[Dave Homewood]

It could easily have gone very wrong and with thousands in the stadium it could be very messy, so I think prison is a reasonable reaction. Especially bad as he did not own the aircraft either. It reminds me of the guy who flew low over downtown Auckland trying to buzz the Sky Tower.

[beagle]

negative ghost rider, the pattern is full..

[Dave Homewood]

Jun 7, 2011 17:49:04 GMT 12 flyjoe180 said:

Woops, right action wrong game, wrong pilot. Pat McQuarrie, WWII Hurricane and Spitfire Pacific pilot flour bombed a softball game in Papakura from the air when an all-white South African team played in 1976, and made the officials cancel the Hamilton All Black 1981 game when they feared he would fly a converted aeroplane into the stadium. He did not flour the Eden Park match, my error.

I found these cuttings in The Press, this one 16 FEBRUARY 1976:

Plane swoops on softball

(New Zealand Press Association) AUCKLAND, February 15.

The Citizens’ Association for Racial Equality has defended the actions of the pilot of a light plane who flew low over Papakura yesterday as part of a demonstration against the visiting South African softballers.

The Cessna aircraft came as low as 40ft over Prince Edward Park while games were in progress between South Africa, Counties, and Waikato.

During the afternoon the plane made about 40 passes over the field, dropping several flour bombs and showering players and spectators with leaflets. At times, the plane had to bank and climb suddenly to clear nearby trees, and power and telephone wires. Soon after the plane began its passes over the field, the police, under the command of Detective Inspector R. P. Dallow, contacted civil aviation officials at Ardmore aerodrome.

The control tower at Ardmore asked the pilot to stop low flying, but he refused, and continued his runs. When he landed the police questioned the pilot, and later arrested him and charged him with offences under the Civil Aviation Act and Transport Act. Further charges were probable, said a spokesman for the police today. 

Mr T. O. Newnham, the president of C.A.R.E., said he had no foreknowledge of the pilot’s actions, although the pilot was a member of C.A.R.E.

C.A.R.E. supported the pilot, and was opening an appeal to raise money for the man’s defence. Mr Newnham said the actions of the pilot were probably dangerous, but apartheid was 10,000 times more dangerous. A spokesman for the Ministry of Transport’s Civil Aviation Division said today that the normal height restriction for planes over built-up areas was 1000 feet.

Thirteen other people were arrested as a result of the demonstration. Eleven males and two females face a total of 19 charges, including willful trespass, disorderly behaviour, and assaulting and resisting the police.

Mr Newnham said that although the pilot’s act might be considered dangerous by some, the pilot was most experienced, and knew exactly what he was doing. The pilot had flown Spitfire and Hurricane fighters during World War II, said Mr Newnham, and had later spent 18 months in Africa as a flying doctor.

[Dave Homewood]

Another from The Press, this one 17 FEBRUARY 1976:

Protest pilot in court

(N.Z. Press Association) AUCKLAND, February 16.

The pilot of the aircraft which allegedly "buzzed" a softball match in Papakura on Saturday was remanded without plea to March 1, when he appeared in the Papakura Magistrate's Court today. The charges were not read.

Sergeant A. Paul said the police were making further inquiries. The man appeared on two charges and was allowed bail in two sums of $150.

Spectators in the packed courtroom clapped after the man stepped down from the dock, but Mr T. R. Fillies. S.M., warned them that the court would be cleared if the clapping continued.

Mr T. O. Newnham. the president of the Citizens' Association for Racial Equality, Today denied that the association supported the action of the pilot. “We share his convictions, but consider that his action was unquestionably dangerous,’’ he said.

Earlier, the Prime Minister (Mr Muldoon) criticised statements reported to have been made last night by Mr Newnham — that C.A.R.E. supported the pilot and was opening an appeal to raise money for his defence. “That kind of statement makes it impossible to treat the groups as responsible protest groups,” Mr Muldoon said.

Mr Newnham said he was on the verge of trying to "talk the pilot down," when the pilot landed. He had been asked by Inspector R. P. Dallow, of the police, to go with him to the Ardmore tower. “We were just leaving when we heard he had landed”

Mr Newnham said he was able to recognise the pilot of the aircraft while he was flying. “I recognised him as chap who had asked us a few hours earlier for a bunch of pamphlets,” he said. "I had no idea that it was his intention to scatter them from an aeroplane.”

Thirteen demonstrators arrested at the park on Saturday also appeared in the Papakura Magistrate's Court today. Charges included willful trespass, disorderly behaviour. and assaulting and resisting the police

One man who pleaded not guilty to disorderly behaviour, was remanded to March 25. Another man, who pleaded not guilty to resisting a policeman, assaulting a policeman, and willful trespass, was remanded to March 25. Ten other demonstrators were remanded without plea to March 1 and an eleventh was remanded without plea to February 18. All were remanded on bail.