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Post by komata on Nov 1, 2013 19:02:21 GMT 12
I've just come across this thread and, although it has been 'dormant' for a while, thought the membership might find the following of interest:
Late in 1964 (and at intermediate/'Middle' School BTW) I wrote a letter to Mr. Asplin asking how much it would cost to purchase a 'clear-vision', long-fuselage Curtis Kittyhawk (P40N-25, I believe), sans engine. In January 1965 I received a very nice letter back from the gentleman advising me that I could have said aircraft for the sum of sixty-six Pounds ($2,500 in 2013 money). As a very 'broke' teen, this was an absolute impossibility,while my Father, I subsequently learnt, would have had none of it; he'd serviced Kitty's in the RNZAF, and having a 'heap of junk' sitting on the property in reminder of what was apparently not a happy time, would have been one step too far on my part...
The price was so far out of my league that I had to write back and regretfully decline (after all I had only ever seen two One Pound notes, and sixty-six was unimagined wealth) so, no Kitty' for Komata.
One can but wish that things had been a little different......
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Post by Dave Homewood on Nov 1, 2013 19:06:59 GMT 12
What a great, and sad, story.
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Post by davidd on Nov 4, 2013 17:18:29 GMT 12
Those black synthetic rubber fuel tanks are quite possibly from PV-1 Venturas, which had strange fat square tanks in opposite pairs mounted inboard of the engines between the wings spars, and smaller auxiliary tanks outboard of the engines too. Those opposite pair tanks were joined by pairs of rubber tubes and were installed either side of a strengthening rib fitted between the two halves - the tubes were glued in after installation I believe. Corsairs had very large and deep tank which nestled in the forward fuselage in front of the windscreen. The F4U-1s also had plain metal tanks forming the leading edges of the ouer mainplanes, with no self-sealing; these tanks were to be drained first, before combat! Inert CO2 gas was then released into these wing tanks prior to combat; a similar trick was also used on Catalina wing tanks. Lateer model Corsairs lacked these wing tanks and relied on drop tanks instead. P-40 Kittyhawks had a drum shaped tank just aft of the pilot, and two long, rather thin and tapered tanks which fitted inside the wing under the pilot's postion, with built-in dihedral and "forward sweep" to fit the location. Hudsons has a "wet wing" with all area between fuselage and engines between spars lined with a bright orange synthetic rubber material as an internal lining with self-sealing properties. I think Brewster Buffalos had a similar set-up ("wet wing") but you would be lucky to find one of them at Rukuhia! Nevertheless they were an advanced aircraft in some respects. SBD Douglas Dauntlesses had horizontally split metal tanks located in the centre section, and most would have had internal self-sealing synthetic rubber liners installed. Not certain about TBF Avenger tanks, but probably had rubber types in centre section. David D
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kiwiwreckdiver
Squadron Leader
Still military and aviation history mad
Posts: 115
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Post by kiwiwreckdiver on Nov 4, 2013 17:33:46 GMT 12
CAN some please invent a time machine already !!! Its my first stop
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Post by komata on Nov 10, 2013 21:12:37 GMT 12
Does anyone have access to the pics taken by the New Zealand Woman's Weekly (yes. I kid you not!!),for an article titled 'They Aint Gonna Fly No More'? Year of publication uncertain (1965-66?). I have copies of some of the pics (but not all). They were taken at Asplin's yard. Unfortunately I can't access them at the moment. Until I can, I was wondering if anyone else has copies that they would care to post here?
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Post by davidd on Nov 11, 2013 8:13:06 GMT 12
Komata, I have a copy of that article somewhere in my archives - it was a double page spread and had a photo of Asplin in his warehouse, another of a (Kittyhawk?) wing sinking into his smelter as well as a colour photo of what appears to be a complete single seat Vampire that he possessed at the time. However I don't think I had the date on the pages (unless they were printed on it) abd also no way of posting here, but it does exist! I reckon you would be about right for the dating. David D
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Post by Dave Homewood on Nov 11, 2013 10:35:50 GMT 12
I'd love to see a scan of that article if anyone can find it, or help David to scan it.
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Post by komata on Nov 12, 2013 12:57:57 GMT 12
Davidd
Thanks for the conformation of the article's existence, and yes, the vamp is certainly there (and was NZ 5732 for those who might find it of interest). If someone can perhaps visit a public library which has copies of 1960's NZ Women's Weekly's as bound volumes, find the article and then scan and post it for us, it will no doubt be of interest.
One image in the article has always interested me. This is one showing the RH panel of a P-40's windscreen captioned (from memory) 'That is a bullet hole', the implication being it was sustained by the aircraft in combat. The hole itself is of a reasonable size (in diameter perhaps 7-10 cm?) and is all melted (rather than shattered) and black around its edges. It has always seemed to me to be highly unusual, in that if it was 'inflicted' in the Pacific why wasn't it repaired before the aircraft came back to NZ. To fly back to NZ in such a state must have been somewhat unpleasant for the pilot . . .
Hopefully, someone can find the article...
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Post by Dave Homewood on Nov 12, 2013 13:05:12 GMT 12
I seriously doubt any pilot would have flown the aircraft back form the pacific with a bullet hole in it. Perhaps the scrap yard guys did it.
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Post by davidd on Nov 13, 2013 11:06:39 GMT 12
Found the article, much as already described, written by staff writer Leah Newick with six photos by Michael Willison (all but one in colour), on pages of 16 and 17 of magazine - but no date! Only means of dating open to me would be an article on page 18 about "famous New Zealand violinist Alan Loveday, from Palmerston North" who was about to give a concert in a London furniture store, the latter named "Heals". Also in another article on page 15 - the Queen's dogs at this time were named Sugar, Billy and Bee! Ring any bells? What do you expect in the good old Womens' Weekly. And I agree, that hole in the windscreen "quarter light" is unlikely to have been inflicted by the Japanese - more likely young hoons! It looks to be about 30 mm in diameter, and is in the LH panel, not right! If there is any board member in Christchurch prepared to scan this article, phone me at 3553-251, at 60 Somme St, St Albans. David D
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Post by Dave Homewood on Nov 13, 2013 11:35:52 GMT 12
Well done David. Hopefully Don or someone can scan this for us to see.
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Post by komata on Nov 13, 2013 12:11:58 GMT 12
Thanks DD; much appreciated.
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Post by 43willys on Nov 17, 2013 21:24:07 GMT 12
Probably one of my favorite photos from Rukuhia scrapyard.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Nov 17, 2013 21:35:04 GMT 12
Oh that is brilliant! Thanks for posting this Mike!
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Post by Dave Homewood on Nov 17, 2013 21:49:10 GMT 12
A little tweak in Photoshop brings back a little life to it too:
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Post by Dave Homewood on Nov 17, 2013 21:53:27 GMT 12
It looks like that P-40 was lying under trees or a hedge for some time doesn't it?
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Post by komata on Nov 18, 2013 7:31:26 GMT 12
43Willys
Re: Your latest pic. Thanks for sharing it with us. As they seem to date from the same day, would this latest image be a 'companion' to images 4 and 5 that you posted on this thread 29 December 2009? If so, (and judging by the green/brown camouflage) and roundels we appear to be looking at an ex RAF aircraft, although I'm not sure of the sub-variant. You didn't manage to record its serial No. by any chance?
Thanks.
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Post by shorty on Nov 18, 2013 15:24:45 GMT 12
Komata, I have a copy of that article somewhere in my archives - it was a double page spread and had a photo of Asplin in his warehouse, another of a (Kittyhawk?) wing sinking into his smelter as well as a colour photo of what appears to be a complete single seat Vampire that he possessed at the time. However I don't think I had the date on the pages (unless they were printed on it) abd also no way of posting here, but it does exist! I reckon you would be about right for the dating. David D I also remember that article and used to have it, I think I loaned it to Ken Jacobs many years ago and haven't seen it since. At the time I thought the bullet hole story was a bit of journalistic licence on behalf of the reporter and never really bought into it.
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Post by komata on Nov 19, 2013 6:25:33 GMT 12
Thanks Shorty
I have over the years given thought to the 'hoon' possibility as a cause for the hole. However, as already-explained, the fact that the hole had black edges, was 'melted' and was somewhat larger than that made by a .22 or.303 (weapons with which I was familiar) meant that I had to accept the magazine's implication that the hole was 'Japanese-inflicted'.
That does however now raise the question: What sort of 'readily-available in New Zealand ' firearm would have inflicted that sort of damage in the 1940's?
Thanks
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Post by Dave Homewood on Nov 19, 2013 7:40:19 GMT 12
It could have been a war surplus Browning 0.3 or 0.5 inch aircraft gun. Maybe it was done by an RNZAF member in the period after the war when the aircraft were being stored, one boring day. Or did the smelter chaps get hold of some guns and ammo and have a play perhaps?
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