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Post by Dave Homewood on Nov 7, 2014 14:25:35 GMT 12
Kiwi Black is already the name of the No. 3 Squadron Iroquois helicopter team, isn't it?
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Post by rayo on Nov 7, 2014 15:04:31 GMT 12
I really like Kiwi Black and The Wildcats. Both roll off the tongue easily - like the idea of the cats on the cowls - but I think Kiwi Black for mine. I can hear Kate calling them in right now...... Actually I really like Kiwi Black too buutt en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiwi_Black
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Post by Mustang51 on Nov 7, 2014 15:09:26 GMT 12
I'll get onto Kate and find out ! Still think that Kiwi Black is a great name, cats on the side and perhaps as a recognition of "The Red Checkers" a thin band of red and white checks above the fin flash around the fin and rudder.....
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Post by beagle on Nov 7, 2014 15:18:46 GMT 12
How about we really piss of Helen and call them "The Skyhawks"? hehe dave dave dave
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Post by isc on Nov 7, 2014 21:13:36 GMT 12
Historicaly I think Black Falcons might be the one, 14 Squadron's Aermacchi team went by that name. isc
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Post by baronbeeza on Nov 7, 2014 21:35:18 GMT 12
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Post by Dave Homewood on Nov 7, 2014 22:34:14 GMT 12
Google tells me:
There is an NZDF Exercise Kiwi Black, an annual reciprocal exchange between 1 NZSAS Gp and SASR
Kiwi Black was a call sign for No. 2 Squadron RNZAF Skyhawks
Kiwi Black was a formation team of RNZAF Bristol Freighters at Tengah, Singapore
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Post by Dave Homewood on Nov 7, 2014 23:52:14 GMT 12
Go Wildcats! I have borrowed this photo from the Texan thread to add a nose art as I described earlier in my Wildcats suggestion. I reckon using this great piece of no. 14 Squadron history would rock!
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Post by aeromedia on Nov 7, 2014 23:58:00 GMT 12
Kiwi Black for me too. Stands nicely alongside Kiwi Blue also. Collect the set !!
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Post by Barnsey on Nov 8, 2014 1:50:26 GMT 12
Black Falcons for me.
Falcon was the previous 14 Sqn call sign prefix, and Black was the colour suffix most commonly used (hence why it was the aerobatic team name).
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Post by trimotor on Nov 8, 2014 3:01:10 GMT 12
...and the 'Falcon' comes from the native NZ falcon (forget the local name) on the squadron crest..
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Post by beagle on Nov 8, 2014 6:15:54 GMT 12
Kiwi Black is already the name of the No. 3 Squadron Iroquois helicopter team, isn't it? if it is, it won't be for much longer
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Post by johnnyfalcon on Nov 8, 2014 7:12:45 GMT 12
Kiwi Black for me too. Stands nicely alongside Kiwi Blue also. Collect the set !! ...and a nod to "Kiwi Red" I still līke "Wildcats". Nice pic Dave
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Post by baronbeeza on Nov 8, 2014 8:00:56 GMT 12
We could also go the sponsorship route. Do a deal with Super Black and have some common sponsors emblazoned on the machines for the events. Then again they may be competing with the SB Pipers....
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Post by Chris F on Nov 8, 2014 9:16:38 GMT 12
Personally I like Wildcats.....
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Post by saratoga on Nov 8, 2014 17:13:41 GMT 12
I like the Wildcats too, has a bit of history and doesn't bang on about 'black' this and that(what is this obsession with black?)though Gareth Morgan will probably protest!
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Post by beagle on Nov 8, 2014 19:37:58 GMT 12
whats wrong with just painting some red checkers on the cowlings
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Post by trimotor on Nov 8, 2014 22:11:24 GMT 12
My thoughts exactly - why is there a need for a name change?
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Post by Dave Homewood on Nov 9, 2014 8:12:23 GMT 12
The name change is because this is a No. 14 Squadron team. The Red Checkers, and its predecessor the CFS Wigram Team, were teams run by the Central Flying School of New Zealand. They are completely separate units. And the name Red Checkers referred to CFS pilots. This is from my 2008 article charting the history of the Red Checkers team:
"For the 1966–67 season, Tom Lambert returned as leader of the CFS Wigram team, joined by Roger Henstock, Gavin Trethewey and Don Smith in four-ship formation manoeuvres, while Ken Gayfer took the solo spot. It was after this 1966–67 season that Ken Gayfer suggested the creation of a more memorable “brand” name for the team—the Red Checkers.
Ken recalls how the name came about during a brainstorming session at a restaurant: “The name is the combination of two inputs. The Royal Air Force CFS instructors are—or used to be—informally called ‘the checkers’ because they carry out routine upgrading of flying instructors and random checks on instructors’ standards. From a doodle of mine on a paper napkin of a Harvard box formation with one aircraft in line astern, I saw that with their red wingtips and tail sections, they formed a loose chequer-board pattern. The association of ideas relating to us as RNZAF CFS ‘checkers’ while simultaneously describing the appearance of the aircraft’s red and silver chequer-board pattern seemed like an obvious play on words. It’s amazing what a couple of glasses of red will do for the imagination!”
So there it is, the name no longer applies because it's not a CFS team any more, is it? And they are all over black so no longer resemble chequerboards. Sad to see the old team go but it's time to move on.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Nov 9, 2014 8:17:02 GMT 12
And don't forget that No. 14 Squadron has a long history of aerobatic teams, starting with the three-ship Corsair team they had in Japan, plus they flew teams with Vampires, Strikemasters and Macchis. None of them were ever called The Red Checkers either.
Perhaps when the CT-4E's are sold off to civil hands the Red Checkers can continue as a civil team, in the same way that the warbirds ensured the Red Checkers Harvard tradition continued in civil hands as the Warbirds Aerobatic Team and later the Roaring Forties.
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