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Post by 109augsburgeagle on Aug 3, 2008 17:00:28 GMT 12
Just thought I would add a little of my own experience to what has already been said about the warbrids disposed of at Rukahia after the war. I'm a Brit currently over here doing a a little bit of training for 11 months and have a great vested interest in Warbirds and all aviation in general. After reading about the Corsairs at RNZAF Rukahia I was very keen to learn more about them and to also see if there was any trace of them left, The war may have ended 60 years ago but even after 60 years things can still be found if you know how to look for it!
I had noticed a likely looking place in the vicinity of Rukahia and decided to check it out today. I spoke with a chap who described all the Corsairs lined up for melting down and he explained that there were also Lancasters and mustangs parked up for disposal. He said that alot of the Parts went to the Garage at Rukahia and that the wheels from the aircraft were in great demand, I imagine now that all over the Waikato there are trailers and barrows with lancaster tailwheels! He mentioned that not all of the aircaft were melted down and that at the garage some of the aircraft were just bulldozed into the ground and so are still there.
I asked him if he had happened to come across any parts himself and he responded that yes he had, he had kept pistons, propellers and oil coolers, I then asked if he still had any parts and unfortunately this is the bad part; he replied that he had had the parts untill recently and that I had missed out on them by three weeks. Due to the price of Scrap brass and the fact the coolers were made out of brass he had had to part with them after holding on to them for all this time. He explained that he had asked around and nobody had wanted the parts so they had to go. I was a little more than dissapointed that I had missed out by such a small margain but unfortunately that is how life goes.
I feel very happy to have found out as much as I have about the fate of the warbirds and I'm glad a little intuition brought me so close to the prize, for me to be able to even get close to a tangible link to any warbirds and the history from that time is prize enough.
I hope this little snippet is of some interest
Regards Matt
I have edited the title of this thread to the correct spelling of Rukuhia as it has been bugging me - Admin
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Post by Bruce on Aug 3, 2008 18:08:24 GMT 12
I think your contact may have confused Venturas with Lancasters - there certainly weren't any lancs, but plenty of Venturas and Hudsons. No Mustangs either - P40 Kittyhawks and Corsairs. (over 800 aircraft in total!) There are still plenty of bits buried underneith the airfield - the current terminal and motor lodge sit where the old smelter used to be. Bits of steel and stuff that wasnt much value melted just got thrown into the gullies that run between the terminal and Fieldays site. Allison Crankshafts and R2400 cylinders turn up all the time. It caused no end of hassles to those digging the footings for the various new buildings in the area - they kept hitting this rather solid lumps of metal. The gullies are however private property and the owner has strongly worded signs about trespassing so the bits still left there are largely inaccessible. The area on the other side of the airfield - near where Eagle and CTC are now held the last stock of airframes - these were finally scrapped as late as the mid 1970s. Around the airfield you will find many little huts etc, all with the distintive wartime Airfield look to them. When I worked at Aeromotive in the late 1990s we found some radial engine mount frames in the undergrowth behind the storage hangar. We offered them to Ross Jowitt in Auckland as we thought the were Corsair frames - turns out they were Ventura. Kea Trailers used to operate out of the old Asplins Garage (Now Pegasus Rentals). I went in there one day and saw they were using Corsair engine mounts as work tables - said they found them "out the back". There are still bits around!
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Post by 109augsburgeagle on Aug 3, 2008 18:21:44 GMT 12
Excellent, thanks for the detail, I was under the impression that there werent any Lancs or Mustangs but he seemed quite adamant and to give them their names added weight to his memory. As you say I think the site is a bit of a goldmine for parts and I would love to try and have a really good scrounge around and see if there is anything accessable. I was very interested by the fact he said airframes were just bulldozed under at Asplins Garage, I wonder if he means complete airframes or just parts, certainly in Germany at the end of the war it was common to just bulldoze and bury airframes. In England where I am from at Brize Norton many of the captured German aircraft made it to and were stored at Brize including some very exotic aircraft, I would absolutely love to have a dig in the Brize dump that is still there.
He did actually offer me something quite rare though, An old NZRAF staff Car, I think it was an Austin 18 with black out lights and in fair condition for restoration, too bad I live in England! I'm pretty sure i'll be able to locate something sooner or later. Cheers Matt
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Post by corsair67 on Aug 3, 2008 19:26:48 GMT 12
Once I finish building my time machine, there won't be many Corsairs, Kittyhawks, Avengers, Venturas or Hudsons left for the scrappers at Rukuhia once I get back to 1946!
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Post by Dave Homewood on Aug 3, 2008 20:34:29 GMT 12
Welcome to the forum Matt. Do a search on the forum for the past few years for Rukuhia (note the correct spelling, it's not Rukahia) and you'll find several threads and photos. RNZAF Station Rukuhia was originally the home of the Waikato Aero Club from 1933 onwards and they had a small paddock and a few buildings. The RNZAF developed it in 1942 buying up around five or six farms adjacent to Steeles paddock that the aero club used, and making a full sized station. The was built by No. 1 Aerodrome Construction Squadron after they'd returned and re-equipped from their disatrous retreat from Malaya, and the station became part of No. 1 Repair Depot (which also had extensive units in Hamilton city). From 1944 the station also became an aircraft storage depot, for aircraft taken out of service but kept in working order as a reserve. I know a guy stationed there who ran the engines on P-40's once a week each aircraft. At war's end most of the Pacific aircraft were ferried to Rukuhia and joined the storage unit, as did aircraft from the OTU's. The man who was put in charge was James Dermot Hurley. Derm was an engineer who'd been in the RNZAF since 1936 and now he was given the command of the station in 1945 or 46. He and his team maintained the aircraft and he also organised many large auctions for the RNZAF where the public were able to buy equipment, parts, and all sorts of stuff no longer needed. The items auctioned came from Rukuhia, Hamilton and from RNZAF Station Te Awamutu which was a Stores Depot that had supported No. 1 RD. Derm was in charge of winding down Te Awamutu and getting rid of their stores. Farmers, mechanics and all sorts flocked to these auctions. Eventually the aircraft themselves came up for auction and numerous lots of Hudsons, Venturas, P-40's and Corsairs were sold. Also a few, I think five, Avengers. Scrap dealers bought them, and they also later bought Catalinas from Hobsonville which werecut up and railed to Rukuhia where a smelter had been built. One of the main scrappies was Jack Larsen. His brother in law, John Scullin, was a teen living at Rukuhia in those days and he has posted some memories and photos of Rukuhia on the excellent Hawkes Bay Aviation website here www.wings.net.nz/rukuhia.htmlSome aircraft did escape the graveyard of course but most were gradually melted down. Derm told me the reason they lasted so long into the early 1970's is tax laws on scrap dealers meant a higher tax imposed on amounts over a certain weight melted down. So Larsen and Asplins, etc only melted down a few aircraft each year rather than all in one hit in the 1940's or 50's. Those that were buried as whole aircraft (or partial at least) went into the landfill under the runway extension done in the late 60's. There's more on that on the forum somewhere. As I say, have a search and you'll find lots more info, and most of it will be more accurate than what your friend told you. There were no Lancs or Mustangs at Rukuhia, as Bruce says. By the way, it's RNZAF, not NZRAF.
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Post by 109augsburgeagle on Aug 3, 2008 21:06:18 GMT 12
Thanks for the Extra info and corrections, sorry for the mistakes! Wow that site with the Photos of Rukuhia is quite incredible, it seems strange that at the time when the early warbird collectors were travelling the world there were so many easily (I suppose) attainable warbids that didn't get saved, quite surprising, I should have been born in another time period! So the aircraft that were supposed to be buried at the garage are actually under the runway, that's a shame, they won't be seeing the surface for a while yet. I'm starting to see that this whole area must still be very rich in aircraft parts, if you had the time I think you would be able to turn up some intersting finds. Many thanks Matt
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Post by Dave Homewood on Aug 3, 2008 21:30:26 GMT 12
No problem about the errors, it happens. Even kiwis get them wrong, that's why I thought I'd point out what's what so it's easier for you to search the forum.
Those aircraft that were buried under the runway extension were crushed in the process as I understand it, and will not be seeing the light of day again sadly. I think they were fairly gutted of usable metal first.
So, are you in Hamilton? You're not training at CTC are you?
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Post by 109augsburgeagle on Aug 5, 2008 14:34:27 GMT 12
Hi again, Went on a further exploration today and turned up my first part (hopefully of many). The mystery creek really is a mystery except to the Fantails, it is extremely overgrown at the bottom and pretty much un-reachable except possibly with a machete. No R2800's lying around but I did manage to turn a part up. I believe some time spent with the metal detector would be very worthwhile and would yield some intersting results but I'm cut up enough after my exploration to give it another go. The part appears to be a control arm of some sort with a clevice for a cable but my knowledge of american warbird internals is practically nill. It is painted what I would describe as RLM 76 but I don't know the american paints. Cheers Matt
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Post by 109augsburgeagle on Aug 5, 2008 14:37:59 GMT 12
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Post by Bruce on Aug 5, 2008 14:54:55 GMT 12
Congratulations, you have a piece of a WW2 combat aircraft! The stamps are USA Military quality inpectors stamps - Army I think, Which would probably make it from a P40, however it is fairly generic so that is not conclusive. Its is a control bellcrank of some sort but oddly it only has one cable attachment and a bearing space in the middle. Perhaps the non - cable end is a Pawl of some sort - part of an undercarriage or tailwheel locking mechanism perhaps?
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Post by 109augsburgeagle on Aug 5, 2008 16:37:11 GMT 12
Hi, Did a little bit more work this afternoon, Met a very interesting guy who also knew all about the aircraft. He said that he had a barn of parts 40ft long that most of the stuff was given to Tim Wallis, he said that he offered the rest to a warbird collection who were told that if they wanted anything they had to take it all so they came along and took a few parts and left the rest and he said he then offered it to Motat but they would only take it if he catalogued it so he buried it all in the field. Where his swimming pool used to be now contains about 40 aircraft tyres that he couldnt get rid of and general aircraft parts, his guttering system is made of steel cylinder liners and he uses a Ventura chock 'basket' to hold plant pots in. At the back he had a set of crew steps from a bomber that are going to the scrappy, they were made of steel and very corroded. He said that he had a pair of 'wings' that were stolen recently but he still did have one for use as a fence. The wing used as a fence appeared to me to be a flap, it was probably 5 feet across by 2 feet tall and had a hard attatchment point on the leading edge, I think it may possibly be a corsair inboard flap, it was in nice condition with no/little corrosion. The ground round there was heaving with assorted parts so I picked a few little things up, lots of smashed perspex everywhere and he says he digs parts up all the time. It looks like he has made good use of all the the aircraft parts that have come his way from washers to wings. He has invited me back to see some photos of the aircraft when they were still there and he may also try and dig up some more parts to show me. The photo below shows a few of the things I picked up, the little pipe is nice and useable and also not shown is a very nice brass cable turnbuckle I picked up but have soaking to get the mud out of it. He said I could have the 'wing' if it wasnt being used as a fence, but it seems to make a good fence so it'll stay that way
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Post by Damon on Aug 5, 2008 20:14:57 GMT 12
Dave ,I know where we can have our next Forum meet!!!
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Post by 43willys on Aug 9, 2008 23:15:18 GMT 12
Great to see people talking about the Rukahia Scrapyards, this is something that most of the younger generation living around the Waikato will never know about. In the early 1970's as a teenager i spent many hours in the gully at Mystery Creek and found many interesting parts. it looked like most of the stuff that was thrown into the gully which is right were the photograph is marked was the stuff that did not melt in the pot so there were alot of steel parts, crankshafts, propellor hubs etc. it also looked like that dirt had been pushed on top of it all. some of the other interesting bits that i found were corsair flaps and a very nice kittyhawk spinner. I also saw the bones of a 50 cal wing gun, the back end of a tigermoth and parts of a army indian motorbike. we did take a metal detector down there once but the thing went mad because there was so many little bits and pieces in the ground. Also spent many hours at Asplins Garage around the same time. at that time i remember seeing maybe 5 or 6 Havard airframes, the centre section of a corsair, 2 Hudson Fuselages and Kittyhawk wing parts. these were the biggest bits in the yard. All the small bits that were worth something were kept in the service station for sale. He also had a large wooden shed which was shelved from floor to ceiling and was so full of parts it wasn't funny. alot of the shelves had collapsed and parts had fallen onto the floor and scattered most of the way down the isles. Down his drive and behind the house there were huge piles of aircraft components with blackberry growing through it. most of the stuff outside eventually went to scrap yards in Hamilton. Somewhere i do have photographs of some of this stuff and will try to find them sometime.
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Post by stu on Aug 10, 2008 15:47:38 GMT 12
Dave ,I know where we can have our next Forum meet!!! BYO metal detector
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Post by stu on Aug 10, 2008 16:27:00 GMT 12
By comparing the above photo to Google Earth, which is unfortunately low res. for this area but the gullies show up well, I have come up with this............ ..... which has got some rusted up cogs grinding away in what passes for my brain. I recall, many years ago, driving toward Hamilton airport from Cambridge via Mystery Creek with my Grandfather. Just prior to the Mystery Creek / Airport road intersection, he gesticulated off to the right of the road and said " that's where they buried the old planes after the war" .... pretty much where you've indicated. Cheers, Stu.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Aug 10, 2008 17:38:56 GMT 12
Welcome to the forum 43willys, it's great to hear more stories about the gravyard at Rukuhia.
Of course that was not the only place to have lots of aircraft parts in Hamilton. There was also No. 1 Repair Depot which formed RNZAF Station Hamilton - a dispersed station spread around many garages, offices and premises of Hamilton town centre (it wasn't a city back then). They of course had lots of parts to keep the assembly line style maintenace of engines, instruments and all sorts for all the RNZAF and a lot of USAAF and USN aircraft going. At the end of the war the station shut up shop and I'm told by a few guys who were stationed there that a fair bit of stuff walked out the door when they left. It's interesting that a lot of guys and girls from Cambridge were posted there near their home town, and one of them told me when he left on the last day everyone on the section nicked a brand new propellor blade each. He was coming home to Cambridge in his car for leave before his next posting, and he chickened out, thinking he'd get caught with it. So he stopped at the gully this side of Hillcrest and biffed it into the undergrowth there! It's possibly still there.
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Post by 109augsburgeagle on Aug 10, 2008 20:22:36 GMT 12
Excellent info everyone, I have some time off tomorrow/the whole day so I'm going to have more of a look around at mystery creek Matt
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Post by 109augsburgeagle on Aug 11, 2008 12:35:18 GMT 12
Here is what I took as a memento
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Post by 109augsburgeagle on Aug 11, 2008 12:37:06 GMT 12
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Post by 109augsburgeagle on Aug 11, 2008 12:38:27 GMT 12
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