"Country GP" Auster

[mumbles]

Does anyone else remember the TVNZ "Country GP" series from the 80's?

www.nzonscreen.com/title/country-gp-1984/series

One episode featured the above GP being involved in a plane crash, said plane being an Auster. A wrecked looking Auster featured in the relevant scenes. I remember seeing the remains of the aircraft during a tour of Avalon Studios in the late 80's, and was wondering about it's history. From memory it was white/cream with red trim, but it was a long time ago.

[agalbraith]

Hmmm interesting.....would like to know more. I wonder what her rego was??

[Dave Homewood]

The other night I watched the excellent Ian Mackersey documentary Network New Zealand, on nzonscreen, which was filmed in 1984 and covered all the activities in a day in the life of TVNZ. In that there was quite a bit of coverage of behind the scenes of A Country GP being made.

Also there was a little bit of aviation in it too, such as an Alpine Helicopters Jet Ranger, and one of the many people around the country they visited to see how they were watching TVNZ was one Warren Russell, lighthouse keeper on Dog Island (author of two very popular RNZAF books). Also an interview was down by the Network News team with Dr Bruce Faris of Auckland Hospital who was calling for the banning of the Dukes of Hazard on NZ television, He was a squadron doctor in the RNZAF in WWII and was among the first party of Allies to land at Rabaul at war's end, in an RNZAF Catalina.

Overall it is a very interesting documentary. Well worth watching for the good old days of NZ, before this country started going completely to pot.