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Post by kiwithrottlejockey on Feb 1, 2018 19:13:33 GMT 12
I meant to post this a week or so ago, but it slipped my mind.
The December 2017 edition of “AEROPLANE” (currently in the magazine racks at bookshops in NZ) has a couple of interesting feature articles about V-bombers.
One of those articles in particular may be of interest to you people. Written by Squadron Leader Bill Turnill, it describes a 'round the world Avro Vulcan flight he commanded in February and March 1971 in order to carry out a flying display at an airshow in Nelson. They were based at Ohakea while in New Zealand.
The other V-bomber article is about operations with Handley-Page Victors while they were still carrying nuclear bombs, including an exercise to Malaysia.
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Post by horicle on Feb 3, 2018 15:39:14 GMT 12
1971 is a while ago and I hope my memory is working correctly. This would be the Vulcan (only one on this visit) that had the RAF red centre on the fuselage roundels changed to the RNZAF Kiwi. It was done professionally by our S&S guys and the crew loved it. So much it stayed on the aircraft until it got home.
We then heard that some Group Captain blew a fuse and the cow backed well and truly into the fan.
A nicer story was when the aircraft stayed at Christchurch for a day or two. One day on the tarmac one of the crew chiefs was approached by some deep freeze American Servicemen and asked “How long have you guys had these?” The chiefie told me he looked back at the Vulcan and worked out that they were taking him for a Kiwi and looking at the Kiwi roundels. (we all look the same to them), so using his best Kiwi accent he told them “it’s the first of one hundred and eleven”. Partly true.
On that southern excursion the crew apparently beat the crap out of the Kingston Flyer which resulted in a telegram from the driver to Base Ohakea. The gist of it was thanks for the flyby and “You are big and beautiful but you have a fly spot under your left wing”.
When it left Ohakea the farewell beat up was a sight to behold (except of course such things never happen). I had been pre warned and was standing on the tarmac outside the tower. The Vulcan approached the tower from the direction of the CRDF hut which meant he would have passed over the runway intersection. Before the aircraft had passed the intersection it was into ground effect and under half a wingspan off the ground. As it was flying directly towards us, (me and one of the CAA radar techs) I could see it nodding gently in pitch and turned to explain to him about ground effect and short coupled pitch stability. Only to see his back end as he ran inside the tower to the safety of his equipment room. At about 150 yards (pre metric) from the edge of the grass the vulcan rotated and poured on the coal. The anemometer on the top of the tower recorded an over-speed.
I wonder what the Vulcan did over Nelson?
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Post by kiwithrottlejockey on Feb 3, 2018 15:47:19 GMT 12
When I first saw the article in Aeroplane, the thought crossed my mind that it could be that Vulcan.
However, there is no mention of it whatsoever in the article, which was written by the pilot of that 'round the world Vulcan flight.
Somewhere in this group is a thread devoted to the incident of the “re-branding” of the Vulcan while it was at Ohakea. I just did a quick search but was unable to locate it. However, I might undertake a more detailed search later and see if I can find it and compare dates.
Taking another quick look at the magazine article, the Vulcan (B2) in question was XM606 from No.50 Squadron and the pilot (and author of the article) was Squadron Leader Bill Turnill.
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Post by delticman on Feb 3, 2018 17:03:14 GMT 12
1971 is a while ago and I hope my memory is working correctly. This would be the Vulcan (only one on this visit) that had the RAF red centre on the fuselage roundels changed to the RNZAF Kiwi. It was done professionally by our S&S guys and the crew loved it. So much it stayed on the aircraft until it got home. We then heard that some Group Captain blew a fuse and the cow backed well and truly into the fan. A nicer story was when the aircraft stayed at Christchurch for a day or two. One day on the tarmac one of the crew chiefs was approached by some deep freeze American Servicemen and asked “How long have you guys had these?” The chiefie told me he looked back at the Vulcan and worked out that they were taking him for a Kiwi and looking at the Kiwi roundels. (we all look the same to them), so using his best Kiwi accent he told them “it’s the first of one hundred and eleven”. Partly true. On that southern excursion the crew apparently beat the crap out of the Kingston Flyer which resulted in a telegram from the driver to Base Ohakea. The gist of it was thanks for the flyby and “You are big and beautiful but you have a fly spot under your left wing”. When it left Ohakea the farewell beat up was a sight to behold (except of course such things never happen). I had been pre warned and was standing on the tarmac outside the tower. The Vulcan approached the tower from the direction of the CRDF hut which meant he would have passed over the runway intersection. Before the aircraft had passed the intersection it was into ground effect and under half a wingspan off the ground. As it was flying directly towards us, (me and one of the CAA radar techs) I could see it nodding gently in pitch and turned to explain to him about ground effect and short coupled pitch stability. Only to see his back end as he ran inside the tower to the safety of his equipment room. At about 150 yards (pre metric) from the edge of the grass the vulcan rotated and poured on the coal. The anemometer on the top of the tower recorded an over-speed. I wonder what the Vulcan did over Nelson? In their later years of service, Vulcans would come out for the summer and appeared at RNZAC airshows at Hamilton, Nelson and New Plymouth. Some reseaching by the AHSNZ in the last couple of years found there was many more that came on various exercisers. I have seen a listing but I think the project has stalled unless I missed publication somewhere.
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Post by kiwithrottlejockey on Feb 3, 2018 17:22:10 GMT 12
I still cannot find that thread, but a bit of searching using Mr Google has turned up THIS WEBPAGE (which I have seen before). The re-branded Vulcan was XH562 and it occured in 1972. So it would appear Avro Vulcans visited NZ at least twice during the early 1970s.
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Post by delticman on Feb 3, 2018 21:34:43 GMT 12
I still cannot find that thread, but a bit of searching using Mr Google has turned up THIS WEBPAGE (which I have seen before). The re-branded Vulcan was XH562 and it occured in 1972. So it would appear Avro Vulcans visited NZ at least twice during the early 1970s. Around sixteen came to New Zealand.
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Post by kiwithrottlejockey on Feb 3, 2018 21:52:36 GMT 12
I can remember the Vulcans at the opening of Wellington Airport. I was just over 5½ years old at the time, so my memory of much of the airshow is a bit dim, but I can remember the Vulcans and I can definitely recall one of them almost coming to grief. I got taken to the airshow by my Mum's cousin. He did the radio installations at the new airport as well as installing the radar up on Hawkins Hill. I can remember him taking me into the control tower at one point during the airshow and telling me to sit quietly and just watch. It was while I was in the control tower that the Vulcan almost came to grief and I got hustled out of there quick smart.
I did see a Vulcan at a later date in NZ skies, although I cannot recall exactly when and where.
However, I was at the Napier Airport opening in 1964 when a Handley-Page Victor put on a flying display (I was ten years old at the time). For many years afterwards, I was under the impression it was a Vulcan that had displayed at that airshow, but I was corrected in another thread at this group a few years ago. And just last year, I was at a funeral in Hastings and went to the home of an old school mate afterwards. I attended the Napier airshow with him and his Dad (his father used to be a flying instructor at Hawke's Bay & East Coast Aero Club) and he was showing me photographs his Dad had taken during that airshow, and they confirmed that it was a Victor which displayed at Napier.
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Post by horicle on Feb 4, 2018 10:20:20 GMT 12
Brilliant research folks. The Kiwi Roundel Vulcan was the 1972 visit. Also I have to confess my one hundred and eleven is the product of inflation. That event is still my favourite Vulcan visit. So much so that any other singleton Vulcan visits seem to have fallen off the memory shelf. The ravages of age.
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skyman
Flight Lieutenant
Posts: 82
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Post by skyman on Feb 4, 2018 16:59:03 GMT 12
Searching through my photographs taken during my almost 20 years at Ohakea I find I have photographed visiting Vulcans on five different occasions. Two Vulcans came for the opening of Auckland International Airport in February 1966, one Vulcan (I believe) on each visit in February 1971, March 1972 and November 1972 (there may well have been more than one each visit). Four Vulcans came for an exercise in April 1973.
During one memorable, dreary, overcast day (date not recalled) I heard loud aircraft engines approaching, so I looked out of the nearest window. Approaching for a low flyover of the base was a buddy-store equipped Skyhawk with its refuelling hose and drogue deployed - and close behind, as if to plug into the drogue, was a Vulcan! Wow, what a sight, and me without my camera!
Al
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Post by kiwithrottlejockey on Feb 5, 2018 12:50:28 GMT 12
Several years ago, I purchased a copy of “V-BOMBERS — Valiant, Vulcan and Victor” by Barry Jones (Crowood Press, 2001) from Capital Books in Wellington (sadly no longer with us — I really miss that bookshop), but I've never got around to reading it from cover to cover. However, the articles in the December “Aeroplane” magazine and the subsequent discussion in this thread has motivated me to dig the book out and read it. I was staggered to learn that there was actually 329 V-bombers produced for the RAF, made up of 107 Valiants (including 3 prototypes), 136 Vulcans (including 2 prototypes) and 86 Victors (including 2 prototypes).
A total of ten squadrons and one OCU operated the Valiant, nine squadrons and one OCU operated the Vulcan, and eight squadrons and one OCU operated the Victor; making up a total of twenty-seven operational squadrons and three OCUs in the RAF's V-bomber force.
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Post by steveh on Jul 10, 2019 16:19:29 GMT 12
Apologies for bringing this to the top again, I'm surprised that no one has chipped in who was at the 1971 Airshow in Nelson. The Vulcan display was bloody awesome, even nearly 50 years later, as an impressionable 16 year old, it was off the scale. Lots of fly-bys, both clean & dirty, including one in the later state along the run way, quite low but not as low as I was told years later that it did a touch & go, no it didn't but it wasn't for lack of hoping. The whole subject of V-bombers visiting NZ has always interested me, as a 3 year old I had the crap very nearly literally scared out of me by Grp Cptn Len Trent in a 90 squadron (I think) Valiant doing a low run over Nelson to buzz his old school (Nelson College) we lived just below the flight path. Some years later, while at primary school, an airminded teacher took us outside to wait for a Victor to do a fly over, it did, much higher that Trent though. Its is this latter I'd love to find out more about, I know the identities of the Valiant & Vulcan & have the kits to model them. I'd love to know the ID of the Victor, whether a B.1 or 2. This thread rnzaf.proboards.com/thread/5897/handley-page-victor likely has the aircraft in it but nothing I can see to positively link it to Nelson though the 1963 date seems about right. Steve.
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Post by oj on Jul 10, 2019 22:31:38 GMT 12
There is a great photo of a Vulcan at about a 70 degrees bank at fairly low level in one of Southlands sounds. I have not seen it for over 40 years, but I have asked before on this forum for someone to show it to us. Any chance?
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Post by steveh on Jul 23, 2019 22:08:10 GMT 12
Looking again on this thread about Victor visitors to Ohakea, in early 1964, & having found nothing else to indicate other Victor visits to New Zealand, I'm leaning toward it being one or other of the two aircraft xm715 & XM716 from 100 squadron that visited at that time. Is anyone aware of any other Victor visits before I head off to the local musem & see if there is any mention in the Nelson Mail of the day(s). As recorded on this page, one of them was at an Airshow in Napier a week before the Ohakea show , 15th & 22nd Feb that year, the March Gisborne Photonews recorded a Victor flying over that city, hard to be exact as to the date of that but possibly on the date of the Napier airshow, so a Flight over Nelson in that week between the shows seems likely if my memory of being at school holds up. Any help appreciated. I've thought too of asking on a UK forum if the 100 squadron ORB would record such flights. Steve.
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Post by conman on Jul 24, 2019 9:29:13 GMT 12
I remember a Vulcan doing a fairly low level flight over Auckland in the early 70’s (might have been 73) , lots of step banking covered quite a bit of the city, I saw it quite clearly from my house in Mt Roskill, it may have headed to Whenuapai images.app.goo.gl/LB4GPwjLLxmWq8CE9
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Post by snaphead on Jul 24, 2019 10:49:48 GMT 12
At my age my memory isn't what it was, but I recall when I was in SEMS when at least two Vulcans where at Ohakea, (date unknown) and I was required to provide a pair of GTC -85 start carts to enable the Vulcans to start. We already had an electrical cart from Akl to provide the required electrical power. I was told by Wally Munro to ONLY start one gas turbine at a time, and I told the Captain Only to start one engine at a time otherwise the GTC would overheat. He gave me a dirty look (a Corporeal telling him what to do-and a colonial to boot). I cranked up the GTC and he started one engine then he started the other three. The GTC red line and I Seriously thought to shut the GTC down However the temp stabilized and started the remaining engines successfully. That GTC was sent down to 1RD for assessment for overheat.
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Post by Allan Udy on Mar 1, 2023 11:01:39 GMT 12
1971 is a while ago and I hope my memory is working correctly. This would be the Vulcan (only one on this visit) that had the RAF red centre on the fuselage roundels changed to the RNZAF Kiwi. It was done professionally by our S&S guys and the crew loved it. So much it stayed on the aircraft until it got home. We then heard that some Group Captain blew a fuse and the cow backed well and truly into the fan. A nicer story was when the aircraft stayed at Christchurch for a day or two. One day on the tarmac one of the crew chiefs was approached by some deep freeze American Servicemen and asked “How long have you guys had these?” The chiefie told me he looked back at the Vulcan and worked out that they were taking him for a Kiwi and looking at the Kiwi roundels. (we all look the same to them), so using his best Kiwi accent he told them “it’s the first of one hundred and eleven”. Partly true. On that southern excursion the crew apparently beat the crap out of the Kingston Flyer which resulted in a telegram from the driver to Base Ohakea. The gist of it was thanks for the flyby and “You are big and beautiful but you have a fly spot under your left wing”. When it left Ohakea the farewell beat up was a sight to behold (except of course such things never happen). I had been pre warned and was standing on the tarmac outside the tower. The Vulcan approached the tower from the direction of the CRDF hut which meant he would have passed over the runway intersection. Before the aircraft had passed the intersection it was into ground effect and under half a wingspan off the ground. As it was flying directly towards us, (me and one of the CAA radar techs) I could see it nodding gently in pitch and turned to explain to him about ground effect and short coupled pitch stability. Only to see his back end as he ran inside the tower to the safety of his equipment room. At about 150 yards (pre metric) from the edge of the grass the vulcan rotated and poured on the coal. The anemometer on the top of the tower recorded an over-speed. I wonder what the Vulcan did over Nelson? Original film of the Nelson display (or at least parts thereof) are here:
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Post by johnnyfalcon on Mar 1, 2023 19:53:30 GMT 12
Gold!!!
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Post by xbaggy on Mar 2, 2023 7:51:43 GMT 12
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