Air Force Scraps in the 1960's

[pjw4118]

This bundle of photos were taken from 1961-65. I may have posted some on other threads but together they give a fair idea of what was about even 20 years after wars end

Hobsonville

[pjw4118]

So here and there

[Dave Homewood]

These are fantastic Peter! Awesome to see the Wigram Hudson, NZ2013. Where were those shots taken?

[pjw4118]

The Hudson , I think was around Ashburton as we were there looking for Mosquito bits , maybe 1964.
The next set is Te Kuiti , Rukuhia and Asplins .

[Dave Homewood]

Hudson NZ2013 was with James Clarke of Maheno, Gardiners Valley, near Oamaru, from the time he purchased it from the Government Stores Board in 1948 till it was recovered by the RNZAF Museum in the mid-1980's, so it must have been there, Peter?

[Peter Lewis]

NZ2504 would be Te Rapa, NZ2527/ZK-CBO at Ardmore and NZ1102/INST138 Dwen's place at the old dairy factory Waimauku.

Nice set.

[skyman]

Harvard NZ980 appears to have been photographed in the Memorial Park playground, Tauranga. I have a slide photo taken from a similar position.

Al 

[madmax]

The Avenger with concrete feet was in a Havelock North park

[davidd]

Couldn't help but notice that the Sunderland marked XX-B in this thread (4113?) reveals something rarely noticeable on RNZAF Sunderlands - the openings for the bow-mounted 0.303" Brownings. Cannot think of any other photo which so clearly shows these apertures. When the RNZAF ordered these aircraft in 1951/52, the bow guns were included in the specification, but so far as I know they were never fitted in service. However they were definitely shipped out to New Zealand separately, along with all their mountings, etc., so were available if required. Although post-war dedicated anti-submarine aircraft initially were fitted with quite extensive defensive armaments (Shackleton, Neptune, Marlin, Harpoon and Privateer, etc.), as the years rolled by, and newer variants of these types appeared, so did the defensive armaments disappear. Conventional wisdom seemed to be to only operate such aircraft in areas where they were unlikely to meet aerial opposition.
David D

[pjw4118]

Thanks for the details of where , and DavidD for the Sunderland comments. Sunderland B is missing its nose door as it was already in the boot of my car.

[Dave Homewood]

Vandal! You should have gone back and gotten the rest of it!

[denysjones]

The two photos of the Hudson are at different times on Clarke's property at Maheno based on my recollections of the property from the early 1970s.

Said recollections lead me to say that the second shot is earlier than the first as it shows the aircraft in the back paddock, as to the right of the shot a hedge along the fence line has not grown up yet and on the other side of the hedge was to become the domicile of the fuselage of Mosquito NZ2328. Other bits of the Hudson lurked round about where the photo was taken from, see the bomb doors alongside the fuselage, and also where things like the Mosquito props were eventually recovered from.

I believe the first shot shows the aircraft after it was moved out around by the hen house and sitting so it faced SH1 to greet southbound travellers.

DavidD do your recollections match mine?

[tbf25o4]

An interesting set of markings on the INST harvard a mixture of the INST number and part of its "NZ" registration.
I wonder what happened to all of those aircraft that were melted down in terms of where did the aluminium ingots end up and what
was subsequently manufactured from them?

[camtech]

The second Sunderland photo, I believe, is NZ4110, or Inst 183, on the hard beside the hangar at Hobby

[camtech]

Dec 4, 2018 10:28:20 GMT 12 tbf25o4 said:

An interesting set of markings on the INST harvard a mixture of the INST number and part of its "NZ" registration.
I wonder what happened to all of those aircraft that were melted down in terms of where did the aluminium ingots end up and what
was subsequently manufactured from them?

I also note that in a Peter Lewis photo on the Harvard thread somewhere, NZ1102 also shows the NZ138 serial under her wings.
My notes indicate this aircraft was sold in August 1965 - can anyone confirm/deny or shoot me down in flames? Although parked in a yard with a Dwen sign in the background, did Dwen in fact acquire this aircraft. Does anyone have the tender details.

[ZacYates]

Dec 3, 2018 21:45:32 GMT 12 madmax said:

The Avenger with concrete feet was in a Havelock North park

"Demilled" by my grandfather, and now well on the way back to life at Classic Flyers in Tauranga.

[Calum]

Dec 3, 2018 21:13:31 GMT 12 skyman said:

Harvard NZ980 appears to have been photographed in the Memorial Park playground, Tauranga. I have a slide photo taken from a similar position.

Al 

I agree, that's definitely Memorial park . I played there as a kid. The Rocket is still there (partially)

[davidd]

Denys,
My recollection is that the Clarke Hudson had two resting sites near Oamaru, both near main road, I think first was on one side of the road in a pronounced dip, then a few years later it was in a different location, but not too far away.
David D

[Peter Lewis]

My notes on the fate of NZ1102/INST138:


"NZ1102, Relegated 19Jan1950 as INST138

Sold by tender from Hobsonville in August 1965 in unairworthy condition and used in childrens playground at Morrinsville. Purchased by R. Jowitt mid 1985 and stored at Ardmore. To Southair Aviation, Timaru. Sold by receivers of Southair to the Canterbury Flight of the Confederate Air Force. Swapped with RNZAF Museum in exchange for parts to return NZ1040 to airworthy condition. In storage at RNZAF Museum since early 1990s."

Presumably Dwen onsold it to the Morrinsville people.

At Hobsonville 8Jul1963



At Dwens, Waimauku, 8Jan1966 (You can see the ownership sign in the second photo)

[John L]

"So here and there"
....where and where..?