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Post by ZacYates on Jan 8, 2022 18:17:13 GMT 12
After my recent "jolly" with Darren Luff in ZK-BEF, I was wondering if anyone can offer a potted history of that airframe? Going by NZDF Serials she wasn't an RNZAF machine but the fuselage of NZ810 was used in a 1971(?) rebuild. Peter Wheeler just sent through these two photos. They are from the collection of the late bomber pilot Allan Mayfield, kindly made available by his daughter Kristin Post. He went topdressing postwar. Looks like ZK-AOC. ZK-AOC was a James Aviation aircraft and crashed at Whakamaru on 06 August 1955 seriously injuring pilot Colin Hale. Looks like a really nasty crash. Those are quite startling photos Dave, I'm surprised Colin survived.
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Post by madmax on Jan 8, 2022 23:23:56 GMT 12
Hi ZacYates, The story with BEF is that it crashed near Te Awanga HB while being flown by the owner Bill Shaw. I'm seem to recall it spun in during a low level turn and the accident may have occurred on Bill Shaw's farm. Bill obtained an ex RNZAF fuselage from someone in Blenheim and BEF was rebuilt including a couple of new wings by Temp Martin. The deal was that the rebuild was exchanged for Bill vintage Model T Ford car.
I purchased the original airframe from Bill, the front frames were beyond repair and were donated to MOTAT. I commenced building a Tiger using the rear fuselage frame from BEF and front frames from an ex Hawera Aero Club aircraft, I cannot recall the registration, which I had obtained along with a quantity of other Tiger components from Ivan Strathern, Hamilton who owned or had owned at that time ZK-ATM. I planned to use a Gipsy Major engine from Auster BWH, however circumstances changed and the project was sold. I'm unable to recall who bought the airframe and other components except the engine was sold to Tom Williams at Masterton.
Bill later purchased DHA from G F Scobie at Omaka so possibly the fuselage for the rebuild of BEF came from him also.
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Post by ZacYates on Jan 9, 2022 15:46:36 GMT 12
That's fascinating, thanks so much for sharing! Was it a civilian import post-war?
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Post by madmax on Jan 9, 2022 17:29:11 GMT 12
Hi ZacYates, If you're referring to the original BEF yes, it was imported in 1954 having served the RAF as T5625 then the Herts and Essex Aero Club registered G-AIDR. That would explain the fuselage anti-spin strakes seen in photographs taken prior to the 1971 rebuild. It was one of the few Tigers imported during the early 1950s which escaped being used for topdressing.
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Post by ZacYates on Jan 10, 2022 16:57:53 GMT 12
Hi ZacYates, If you're referring to the original BEF yes, it was imported in 1954 having served the RAF as T5625 then the Herts and Essex Aero Club registered G-AIDR. That would explain the fuselage anti-spin strakes seen in photographs taken prior to the 1971 rebuild. It was one of the few Tigers imported during the early 1950s which escaped being used for topdressing. Thank you, I appreciate the background info.
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Post by Antonio on Jan 10, 2022 17:42:19 GMT 12
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Post by ZacYates on Jan 12, 2022 16:09:05 GMT 12
Thanks Antonio, much appreciated!
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Post by ZacYates on Mar 20, 2022 9:08:25 GMT 12
Who has photos of ZK-AZY? I've found a couple on the NZCA blog - I'm particularly keen to see any from its time with Wanganui Aero Work up to 1954.
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Post by Peter Lewis on Mar 20, 2022 21:57:51 GMT 12
Here is ZK-AZY in t/d config at Dannevirke in 1956 while with Aerodress. Presumably it looked similar during its sojourn at Wanganui.
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Post by ZacYates on Mar 21, 2022 15:39:41 GMT 12
Here is ZK-AZY in t/d config at Dannevirke in 1956 while with Aerodress. Presumably it looked similar during its sojourn at Wanganui. Thank you very much, Peter! Does anyone have suggestions as to what colours these may have been? Red and silver perhaps?
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Post by ZacYates on Mar 28, 2022 12:07:32 GMT 12
ZK-AIL (ex. NZ661) at a Waikato Aero Club pageant, 27 September 1947. Under restoration. Does anyone else have photos of ZK-AIL to share?
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Post by Peter Lewis on Mar 29, 2022 17:52:35 GMT 12
ZK-AIL, probably taken when with the Hawera Aero Club 1946-58. There is a second photo, almost certainly taken at the same time, straight side on but of lesser quality. This Tiger never became a topdresser.
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Post by ZacYates on Mar 31, 2022 11:36:36 GMT 12
ZK-AIL, probably taken when with the Hawera Aero Club 1946-58. Thank you Peter, I appreciate it. I'd not been able to find any via a Google image search or the NZCA blog.
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Post by ZacYates on May 23, 2022 10:01:16 GMT 12
After RNZAF service Tiger Moth NZ1472 was Dec.surplus 28Jun56. Sold by tender Aircraft Engineering Co of NZ Ltd., Rongotai, for £355. Converted to civil status for R J & J K Harding, Wanganui as ZK-BRM from 17/10/1956 it first flew as a civil aircraft on 15/4/1957 with Wanganui Aero Work Ltd. Passing into private ownership, it lives on the Coromandel. ZK-BRM, looks to be at OmakaPeter, do you have a date for this image? Additionally, have you (or anyone else) anything to add/correct with this history?
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Post by Peter Lewis on Jun 2, 2022 20:22:35 GMT 12
The registration on 17Oct56 was to R J & J K Harding, not to Wanganui AW. I have photos dated 1958-59 taken at Wanganui showing it as a two-holer aircraft, was it ever actually an agTiger?
I note also that Janic does not list it in 'The Topdressers' as being used operationally by WAW.
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Post by ZacYates on Jun 6, 2022 7:51:10 GMT 12
I have photos dated 1958-59 taken at Wanganui showing it as a two-holer aircraft, was it ever actually an agTiger? I know that, as you mentioned earlier, AIL was used by WAW as a hack and never converted so it’s entirely likely that was the case here. That ownership chain is based on information from Air-Britain’s DH.82 production list.
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Post by thomarse on Jun 6, 2022 10:22:44 GMT 12
The AIL project was last known (to me anyway) as being with the late Keith Trillo.
Anyone know where she is now?
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Post by Dave Homewood on Jul 18, 2022 22:58:40 GMT 12
This Tiger Moth does not seem to have ever been mentioned in the stash thread - an article from the Wanganui Chronicle dated 9 January 1950:
Missing Tiger Moth Plane Has Been Found; Both Occupants Safe; Their Arduous Tramp Out
Aircraft Crashed In Upper Waitotara Valley; Men's Rough, Foodless Journey
After spending 10 days in heavy bush country, with very little food, the two survivors of an Auckland Aero Club Tiger Moth, ZK—UHX, which went missing on a flight from Wanganui to New Plymouth on the afternoon of December 29, arrived at the Kapara sheep station, eight miles above Ngamatapouri, in the upper reaches of the Waitotara Valley, at 2.30 p.m. yesterday afternoon.
The two men, Mr. Oswald Palmer, aged 48, of Victoria Street, Onehunga, Auckland, and his son, Mr. lan Palmer, aged 19, a cadet-pilot on leave from the R.N.Z.A.F. station at Wigram, and pilot, of the plane, were safe and well, but exhausted after their arduous experience.
The aircraft left Wanganui at 2 p.m. on December 29 and experienced thick weather with heavy rain and a very low ceiling. It crashed at the top end of the Waitotara Valley, in hilly country covered with thick bush, and is believed to be a total loss.
Mr. Palmer and his son scrambled out with minor injuries and started following a stream which they believed must lead them to civilisation. In ten days the two men travelled about 25 miles over extremely rough country. There was ample water to drink, but for the first days they had no food of any kind.
In spite of wet weather, cold nights and fatigue, they struggled gamely on, and after six days reached a small hut in a bush clearing. Here they found one piece of toast left by a pig hunter or bushman a short time previously. They shared the toast and continued their journey, still using the stream as a guide.
From this stage onward, however, the food position improved, because the men found plenty of wild apples. They subsisted on the fruit and ate apples roasted, boiled and fried after lighting fires with matches found in the hut.
Clothes In Rags When they reached the Kapara sheep station, 60 miles from Wanganui, yesterday afternoon their clothes were in rags, their footwear slashed to ribbons after the hard going, and their feet were sore. They were given a warm welcome by the manager of the station, Mr. George Bodell, who attended to their immediate needs and communicated with the Waitotara and Wanganui police.
Arrangements were made with the R.N.Z.A.F. station at Ohakea for transport to bring the two men to Wanganui, but because of their exhausted condition there was a possibility that they would spend the night at Kapara station.
In a telephone interview with the “Chronicle," Mr. Oswald Palmer said that both he and his son were well, in spite of their arduous experience. “It was the weather that beat us," said Mr. Palmer, referring to the crash. “There was heavy rain and thick cloud which was very low.”
Mr. lan Palmer, in an interview, said that the ceiling was about 1500 feet. The motor of the aircraft stalled when he was trying to fly over the top of a ridge. The machine had insufficient height and after crashing into a tree fell down the side of a cliff into a ravine.
Minor Injuries. Mr. Palmer added that he received a cut across the bridge of his nose. His father also received a shoulder injury when the harness in the cockpit broke. Apart from these, however, they were not injured.
Continuing his story, Mr. Palmer said that by the time they scrambled out of the plane the rain had ceased, but it was very misty. From the wrecked plane they obtained an emergency first-aid kit and after washing their wounds under a waterfall, dressed them properly before starting out on the long trek to civilisation.
“We started out 24 minutes after the crash and followed the stream,” Mr. Palmer added. “The going was very tough through heavy bush country. We had a lot of trouble following that stream. In some places we had to swim and at others we had to make a detour to avoid waterfalls which were impassable.”
For the first six days the two men had nothing to eat, and when they found the hut in the bush clearing 166 hours had elapsed since they had eaten their most recent meal.
‘“At the hut we found a piece of toast, which we shared, and it did us a lot of good," Mr. Palmer added. “I estimated that the hut was 15 to 20 miles from where the aircraft crashed.
LIVED ON APPLES. "It is four days ago since we had the toast and since then we have lived on apples boiled, baked and fried till we were heartily tired of them.”
Mr. Palmer explained that after the crash he and his father had matches in their own pockets, but the matches were ruined when they were forced to swim the stream. After a period of rain the weather improved, but the nights were very cold. It was impossible to keep warm and the best they could do was try and protect themselves from the cold at night with scrub and fern.
"We both feel very well, but we are glad to get out and get it all over,” Mr Palmer added. “We got that way when we could not be bothered keeping a track on the number of days we had been in the bush."
THE PUBLIC PLEASED Almost every other ring on the “Chronicle" telephones last night was from people who were keen to express feelings of joy that the two men in the missing plane were safe. Each one who rang marvelled at the endurance the two had shown. It was pointed out that water probably saved them, water and the fact that it is the summer season of the year. In winter the journey would have been almost impossible. Mr. Oswald Palmer is a brother of Mr. C. A. Palmer, racing editor of “The Chronicle," who is on annual leave.
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Post by planewriting on Jul 18, 2022 23:22:12 GMT 12
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Post by ZacYates on Jul 19, 2022 16:25:12 GMT 12
I read somewhere (last 6mth?) that the wreckage of ZK-AHZ survived in the area for some time, possibly to the present day. I don't have my record to hand though.
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