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Post by Dave Homewood on Oct 12, 2007 15:54:07 GMT 12
I was told by staff in the early 1990's the Catalina will never be finished in our lifetimes. That was when they had base support too....
The museum is going to extend and the plans show that the Catalina has wings on it, so maybe things have changed.
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Post by vs on Oct 13, 2007 12:11:35 GMT 12
The Catalinas hull looks very straight and looks as though it just needs to be fitted out. Does the museum get RNZAF engineers to work on projects at Ohakea etc or is all work just done at Wigram?
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Post by Dave Homewood on Oct 14, 2007 12:41:23 GMT 12
In the early days certain projects were worked on by various base teams, such as the Mustang was restored at Ohakea, the Spitfire at Woodbourne and the Catalina part-restored at Whenuapai all by RNZAF engineers. These days it's just the Wigram Museum team that does restoration. Most of the aircraft restored on other bases were done that way so that they'd be ready for the 50th Anniversary and the opening of the museum. When I was at Wigram in the early 1990's certain items and components would be worked on by base staff, but now there is no base and it's all up to the museum team. The team does still consist of a few regular RNZAF staff as well as volunteers.
The Catalina is certainly in good condition compared with when it was received as a burnt ex-fire training hulk.
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