Meanwhile, in the West Island....

[kiwithrottlejockey]

Or CLICK HERE to watch the video-clip in a larger-sized format.

[Dave Homewood]

What a Dick!

Haha, good on him, great bloke, and a legend of aviation adventures.

[delticman]

Dick Smith is an A1 Australian as far as I'm concerned and wouldn't be surprised if he was on this forum, a real aviation enthusiast.

[kiwithrottlejockey]

[shamus]

The Dick Smith of the Dick Smith electronics store chain is dead and buried on Malolo Lailai island in Fiji, so I was told in Fiji last year. Was I wrongly informed?

[Dave Homewood]

Um, yes I think that is untrue.

[Dave Homewood]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Smith_(entrepreneur)

[Dave Homewood]

Reading through that Wikipedia page it's quite astonishing how many amazing achievements Dick Smith has made. A real adventurer and hero!

Does anyone have any photos of his trans-Tasman flights - in the balloon NZ-Australia, and from Australia to Hari Hari in NZ by plane?

His documenturies he made himself of his first round the world helicopter flight, and his Into The Interior solo flight where he took the Jet Ranger into the outback were both excellent. i wonder if he filmed his other flights too?

I hope you're right Ray, I hope he is a reader here. I'd love that. He's been a hero since I was a kid, I watched his round the world helo flight doco many times back then.

[shamus]

Have just been told that the Dick Smith buried in Fiji was a different guy who was famous for sailing and built the Musket Cove Resort and also the Malolo Lailai airfield. You learn something new every day.

[strikemaster]

You guys don't mind him call Kiwi food, shit product and wants to stop it being sold in Australia?

I have got less and less respect for him the older I get. He may be a great adventurer, but he has as much sense for politics as Rob Muldoon had.

[kiwithrottlejockey]

Jan 30, 2013 14:36:18 GMT 12 strikemaster said:

You guys don't mind him call Kiwi food, shit product and wants to stop it being sold in Australia?

Who cares? I KNOW Aussie tomatoes are watery, tasteless crap that are but a mere shadow (quality-wise) of our NZ tomatoes, so Dick can blather on all he likes....I know the truth.

And it isn't just tomatoes either....many Aussies foodstufffs are inferior to NZ products. So let the West Islanders remain ignorant about their rubbish food compared to us, and we'll simply enjoy eating more tasty stuff than them!

[strikemaster]

But maaaaaatteee. I can buy re-badged Griffins bickies and they crap on Arnotts bland products. Kiwi chocolate is general heaps better and don't get me started on the Ice Cream... damn I'm hungry now. I shall have to have a toffee pop. Its saving me a fortune, I can buy Kiwi stuff locally. I don't have to fill a suitcase with goodies when I fly back. I can even buy my beloved L&P and Arataki honey here. Don't get me started on the Moro debacle either.

What's odd is I have yet to find decent fish and chips here either. Even in Melbourne the fish is frozen and the chips... well.... not sure what they are supposed to be. Maybe I just got spoilt on bay of plenty fresh fish as a kid?

Lunch time.......

[kiwithrottlejockey]

Ooooooh, bugger. “Piss in the bottle time” for somebody!



Train derails in Brisbane, ploughs into station

Fairfax NZ News | 1:39PM - Thursday, 31 January 2013



A TRAIN has derailed in the east of Brisbane and slammed into a suburban station.

At least eight people have suffered minor injuries and are being treated by paramedics at the scene.


Emergency services were called to Cleveland Train Station, on the outskirts of Brisbane,
after the Queensland Rail train derailed.

Staff at a nearby business reported seeing the front of the train lift into the air before it hit the station.

The Department of Community Safety said the train was unable to stop at the end of the line at Cleveland.

"It has gone into the station," a spokeswoman told AAP.


The train slammed into the Cleveland Train Station, in the south east of Brisbane.


Damage after a train went off the tracks at Cleveland Station.


The destroyed bottom of the train.


Emergency services help the injured passengers.

]Live wires were down and emergency workers are yet to access the scene.

One woman was reported to have head injuries but details of the other injuries were not known.


The crash as seen by Troy Harper from outside the station.

• Story: Brisbane Times and AAP.

www.stuff.co.nz/world/australia/8246630/Train-derails-in-Brisbane-ploughs-into-station

[corsair67]

Dick Smith: the 'great' Aussie who was caught on television here stating that he was just waiting for a serious air accident to occur so that he could say "I told you so" to CASA during his campaign against changes to the air traffic control zone system here several years ago.

Dick by name - dick by nature.

[JDK]

I would just point out that I've eaten very well in New Zealand, Australia and quite a few other countries. To generalise about the food of one anglosphere country being absolutely better than another is meaningless.

It's as pointless as to say that curries are 'better' than pad thai, or burgers.

As to claiming to intimately be familiar with all the tomatoes on a continent...

New Zealand has a lot to be proud of. Natives claiming superiority in areas too diverse to be realistic is not one of them.

Regards,

[JDK]

I don't particularly agree or disagree with Dick Smith's views. However I note he's chosen to leverage his fame and fortune for a number of things he feels passionately about, and aims to make a difference to the society he works in. That puts him ahead of a lot of other rich celebrities for me.

We (just like New Zealanders) are regularly sold various products as being iconic national brands, when, as Dick highlights, they are in fact foreign owned or manufactured. If he's prepared to support making a locally made alternative, then good for him. There's much to be said for globalisation, but also damn good reasons to support your local economy. Thus the noise Dick makes about these things keeps it in the agenda, something others who should be doing so aren't bothered with.

There are issues with Australian air traffic control (according to conversations with air traffic controllers and airline pilots I've talked to about it). I neither know nor feel particularly able to judge whether Dick's views are meretricious or flawed, but again, he's raised an awareness by the noise that is otherwise absent - civil aviation regulation needs to be held to account and rarely is, globally.

I've never had any dealings with Dick Smith myself, but I know from personal, firsthand accounts he has been supportive and generous to a couple of individuals in tough situations without any publicity and to a degree of personal commitment. It's not something I am prepared to go into detail on, so you can take my word for it or not.

He has been Australian of the Year, and more significantly has set and held a significant number of aviation world records, and unlike, for instance Richard Branson, those records needed a great deal of personal skill, training, logistics and persistence as well as taking a risk or two.

I'm no fan, and I think he's said some things I do disagree with, but at the end of the day he puts his money and effort behind his mouth, and he is prepared to be unpopular when he thinks it's more important to be (as he sees it) right.

IMHO, he's a damn sight more important than a value-free feel-good celeb with no actual achievement or commitment - even if he may be wrong.

As ever it's a bit more complex than some would like it to be.

Regards,

[corsair67]

New Zealand milk is pretty bloody good..........

[obiwan27]

and JDK, have you tried our apples.... ;-)

[Mustang51]

Not trying to be Solomon here but I seem to agree with both sides. JDK is right in what he is saying about Dick and in the past I have had dealings with him on aviation matters but like evry coin there are two sides to people and I guess we all have the "Dark Side". I also believe that he was responsible for funding the entire Vietnam Huey exhibit in the Australian War Memorial out of his own pocket due to his love of helos. He is passionate about his brand and I for one get angry every time that one of my childhood 'brands' is taken over by some American, British, Indian or more recently, Chinese, conglomerate. He certainly can polarise people but you have to admire his personal achievements.

On the other matter......... I have not had a greeat tomato here since dad grew them in our backyard when I was younger and had a great deal more hair ! Nowdays hothouse grown in speed manufacturing process, cold stored and when cut they may as well be anything - tasteless and without that beautiful tomato perfume. NZ milk is like our cream and Theo's has the BEST fush and chups..... I can thank my great Kiwi friend Sharron for putting me on to that one! Georges River Oysters in the "SHIRE" where I was born, bred and still live, were beautiful and possibly the best on Australia's east coast till the developers came in upstream and over time managed to cause enough pollution to see the radical decline of that industry. Bluff Oysters............... mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm !

[corsair5517]

Jan 31, 2013 19:46:59 GMT 12 corsair67 said:

New Zealand milk is pretty bloody good..........

I'll bet it's not as good as the milk sold up here which is bottled on the farm where it's made; it's like the milk I remember inn NZ as a kid and I was most pleased to find it!!

If tomatoes and apples are all you blokes can come up with, then I think you're in trouble!! ;D

Dick Smith seems, at my remove, to be passionate about keeping jobs in Australia and is putting his money where his mouth is; good on him! It's nice to see the kiwi knocking machine is still alive and functioning....