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Post by shorty on Sept 10, 2011 8:28:55 GMT 12
Interesting Dave, that well known shot of Gloria is also captioned as being at Torokina (NZ Wings February 87 Page 27)
So is Bouganville or Guadalcanal?
The photo with the roundel sign, which I have listed as Kukudu, I wonder if that was the traditional red/white/ blue roundel (which it seems to be) or Blue/white/blue? I see it has "No 1 SU RNZAF" marked on it
That tail marking you mention is also on Gloria. My guess is they sprayed the fins without the fairings being fitted.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Sept 10, 2011 13:26:12 GMT 12
Where was Kukudu? I have not heard of it before.
It does indeed look to be red-white-blue on the roundel, I thought that.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Sept 10, 2011 13:34:41 GMT 12
By the way if these photos had been Keith's brother's, or official ones he'd picked up from others then I think he can be excused for having the wrong placenames in his album. I guess in the olden days the RNZAF may have considered Torokina to be in the Solomons?
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Post by shorty on Sept 10, 2011 18:58:20 GMT 12
I wonder if it was a typo on the original caption I saw and the writer meant Kukum?
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Post by Dave Homewood on Sept 10, 2011 20:58:52 GMT 12
Although a Google on the word Kukudu does bring up some hits on a place of that name in the Solomon islands, so who knows?
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Post by buffnut453 on Sept 12, 2011 1:57:28 GMT 12
 Note the dark stripe where the white fins meet the fuselage on the two foreground P-40's. Were they deliberate markings or co-incidental repair points? Dave, I think the darker area you're seeing is actually shadow and that the aircraft both wore the camo on the lower segment of the fin. Don't know why that should be, unless the fuselage contours visible at the front of the fin on the nearest aircraft resulted in an awkward masking job if the white extended lower down. Cheers, Mark |
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Post by curtiss on Sept 12, 2011 20:13:38 GMT 12
Agree with Shorty on this one. The white does not extend on to the fairing. It is quite obvious on other "white tail P40 aircraft as well.
On the P40 N ( and other long tail P40's), the vertical is set about 3 inches higher. The vertical is the same as earlier aircraft but there is a spacer between the horizontal and the vertical. This extra height is covered by larger fairings.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Sept 12, 2011 20:22:48 GMT 12
Ah right, so basically the darker strip is the spacer and it's paint is obviously fresher than the rest of the olive drab below it I guess. Cheers.
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Post by curtiss on Sept 12, 2011 20:28:33 GMT 12
Its the fairing that covers the spacer.  |
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Post by Dave Homewood on Sept 12, 2011 20:31:44 GMT 12
Now I get it. Cheers.
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Post by angelsonefive on Sept 12, 2011 20:36:41 GMT 12
Although a Google on the word Kukudu does bring up some hits on a place of that name in the Solomon islands, so who knows? As you say, there is a place called Kukudu in the Solomons. It is on Kolombangara Island, which is between New Georgia and Vella Lavella and was bypassed in the Allied advance up through the Western Solomon islands. The Japanese eventually evacuated Kolombangara. |
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Post by Dave Homewood on Sept 12, 2011 21:24:34 GMT 12
Kolombangara was a common target for our bombers and I have a feeling the Japs had airstrips there that the Allies were targeting, so maybe it is a captured Japanese airstrip?
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Post by angelsonefive on Sept 13, 2011 8:47:44 GMT 12
I make it " Failed to keep proper lookout and collided with a ? ".
I see on the NZ Archive site an accident report for NZ3058. Taxy collision with Harvard NZ1064 at Ardmore 3/4/44.
Hope this helps.
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Post by errolmartyn on Sept 13, 2011 10:48:45 GMT 12
I make it " Failed to keep proper lookout and collided with a ? ". I see on the NZ Archive site an accident report for NZ3058. Taxy collision with Harvard NZ1064 at Ardmore 3/4/44. Hope this helps. From respective accident cards: NZ3058: Pilot commenced to taxy to runway and failed to observe NZ1064 in his path. He immediately applied brakes but propeller struck main plane of of other a/c. Underlying cause - insufficient lookout. NZ1064: While taxying to tarmac pilot observed NZ3058 taxying towards him and immediately stopped. To avoid head on collision he opened throttle and applied left brake to swing a/c round, causing tail to rise and propeller to strike ground. Propeller of other a/c struck mainplane. Underlying cause - Carelessness of other pilot. NZ1064 was being piloted by NZ432111 Sgt (later Fg Off) Donald Simmons Barker, who just three days earlier also had the misfortune to receive a log book endorsement for carelessness, having landed Harvard NZ1069 with undercarriage retracted! Errol |
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Post by Dave Homewood on Sept 13, 2011 11:19:12 GMT 12
Great stuff, I wonder if photos exist of this collision or Barker's wheels up.
Isee the Commanding Officer's signature seems to be Wing Commander Jack Busch, but he was a bomber pilot earlier in the war. Was there another W/C Busch?
And who was Ardmore's CO there, W/C L. Campbell?
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Post by flyjoe180 on Sept 13, 2011 11:38:20 GMT 12
That's a whopping great endorsement certificate to have in the logbook. How embarrassing that must have been!
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Post by errolmartyn on Sept 13, 2011 11:46:41 GMT 12
"Was there another W/C Busch?"
No.
Errol
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Post by Dave Homewood on Sept 13, 2011 11:51:12 GMT 12
I have seen in English based pilot's logbooks where they glued in a little green tag for a good endorsement or red tag for a bad endorsement so anyone inspecting the logbook could go right to it to see the comments. May Calvert was showing me the logbook of her late husband Roy Calvert DFC** and she became very upset because the three green endorsement tags received for getting stricken bombers home had been stolen by the last researcher she had shown it to. Poor lady, and what an arsehole that guy was.
Skip Watson was very proud to show me his endorsement page, the first being a bad one for taxiing into a drain at Ohakea in a P-40E and writing it off. The second a good one for getting his bruning P-40 down safely after a long ferry flight at Waipapakauri. He seemed equally proud of both!
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Post by Luther Moore on Sept 13, 2011 14:29:48 GMT 12
Thanks Errol and Angelsonefive.
Thats way more information than I thought I would get about it.
Interesting stories about the other pilots Dave.
What that guy did is so wrong it's not even funny,who would do such a thing?
love the part about Skip Watson being proud of both.
Did the Pilots get a fine with the endorcement forms?
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Post by John L on Sept 13, 2011 17:12:05 GMT 12
What that guy did is so wrong it's not even funny,who would do such a thing? It's a sad fact of life that people do do this... I was talking to an ex FAA pilot, many years ago, and he was showing me his photo album from the early 50's. There were gaps where a supposedly reputable researcher and enthusiast had helped himself to some photos, a year or so earlier.....it still pissed him off, and he would only show the photos to people he knew and kept his hands on the album the entire time. |
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