Dakotas in New Zealand

[Dave Homewood]

How many C-47 Dakotas of Douglas DC-3's are preserved in NZ now? I can think of the following:

- ZK-DAK with the Warbird Dakota group (flyable)
- ZK-AMY with Ashburton Aviaition Museum (flyable)

- The VIP Dakota at Wigram
- The Dakota at Gisborne's GAPS
- The Dakota topdresser rotting away at Mystery Creek
- The DC-3 at Motat
- The Antarctic R-4D at Ferrymead
- The restaurant at Taupo MacDonalds
- The cafe at Mangaweka

- The Cockpit section with Chris Rudge
- Possible parts of the Yankee Zephur Dak at Wigram/Weedons?

Is this all of them or have I missed any?

Does anyone think there is any chance of another flyer taking to the air at all in NZ? Or another being imported for local airline tourism work? Especially now that the ones in Europe are grounded? Or even just other statics for museums?

I personally would very much like to see another C-47 at Wigram, but kitted out in proper wartime paint and interior, and displayed so you can walk into the back and see dummies of aircrew and groundcrew members packed into the cargo hold on their duffle bags, as seen in many famous wartime photos. And I reckon it would be nice to make it NZ3501, "Popeye" as a tribute to the great Fred Lucas.

[stu]

Sept 30, 2008 20:08:26 GMT 12 Dave Homewood said:

I personally would very much like to see another C-47 at Wigram, but kitted out in proper wartime paint and interior, and displayed so you can walk into the back and see dummies of aircrew and groundcrew members packed into the cargo hold on their duffle bags, as seen in many famous wartime photos. And I reckon it would be nice to make it NZ3501, "Popeye" as a tribute to the great Fred Lucas.

What is the story with the rotting Dakota at Mystery Creek? If the owners are not interested in looking after it then perhaps some volunteer labour could restore it to a static display similar to the one you describe Dave (or am I taking too simplistic an approach to it)?

I tend to agree with you, it would be nice to see a WW2 era interior restoration in the flesh (or metal) somewhere instead of on telly or in video games....

[tbf25o4]

Dave,
funny that you should mention a walk-in fuselage for Wigram, as when down there the other week I looked through the final refurbishing of the main displays and they have created a part C130 fuselage to full scale which you can enter from the starboard para door and see what one is like on the inside!

2. Re the No.2 GR fatalities you were trying to identify. I went through Errol Marytns books last nite and there is no mention of any 2 GR Squadron pilot getting killed in an aero club aircraft accident at Nelson period 1940 - 1943.
Perhaps just folk lore or was he a member of one of the several crashes of squadron aircraft during their tour of nelson?

cheers

[Dave Homewood]

Which game is that Stu? It looks good.

Paul, that C-130 fuselage sounds great.

The 2GR pilot killed was not killed during the war, it was during one of their reunions after the war, possibly 1950's. They had a reunion every four years at Nelson but after two consecqutive plane crashes they stopped.

[stu]

Oct 1, 2008 12:40:31 GMT 12 Dave Homewood said:

Which game is that Stu? It looks good.

Medal of Honour Airborne.
www.ea.com/moh/airborne/index.jsp

WW2 first person shooter that chews up more pc resources that FSX.

Each mission starts by jumping out of a C-47/Dakota ....

... albeit sometimes by yourself if the flak is heavy.

[Dave Homewood]

Cool. I have played many of the Medal of Honor games but not this one. My favourite is the first Brothers in Arms game. The second one was a bit crap.

[Peter Lewis]

So ZK-BKD, the one that was at the wine bar at Gisborne is confirmed as gone?

[Bruce]

The DC3 at Mystery creek is AZL which was the very first of the Ag-Daks. It is in shocking condition, currently painted as a billboard for Redvale Lime. It would currently be in the ownership of the Fieldays society as the former Farmworld museum has faded into nothing (I have never seen it open in the last 5 or 6 years). In the early 1990s some cosmetic restoration was carried out, including cutting right through the hopper to enable easier accessto the cockpit. The hopper opening was never sealed properly, so that resulted in rainwater running the length of the fuselage inside. There are no plans to do anything further with the aircraft by all accounts, and Fieldays is happy to receive the regular comittment to the site by Redvale. having followed the deterioration and attempted "restoration" activities since the early 1980s, I dont think the future is very bright for this airframe...

[Dave Homewood]

The museum there does not open Bruce, you have to have a group of 20 + or so and only at pre-arranged times. Why they pay for a curator there is beyond me!

Peter, i have never heard of the wine bar one at Gisborne, is that another ex-topdresser? Shall I add it to my list?

[Martin Wienert]

You can see her quite clearly at
"Smash Palace", 24 Banks Street, Awapuni, Gisborne
Google Earth 38°39'59.29"S 178° 0'2.94"E

Martin

[Dave Homewood]

So there are two in Gisborne? I must get down there some day and have a look at them and the Avenger and Lodestar.

[Peter Lewis]

I visited the Smash Palace about the mid-1990s. The Dakota was mounted on posts to the rear of the complex. A wooden stairway gave access through the rear door. The interior was pretty gutted, with just a wooden shelf running the length of the fuselage on the starboard side and tall stools along it for seating. (At that time, the food and drink were pretty good at the Palace).
On my return a few years later, the place had deteriorated. The aircraft was still there, but the few fittings had been ripped out and all that was left inside was some wind-blown rubbish. Ugh.

[kiwithrottlejockey]

Oct 1, 2008 16:43:13 GMT 12 Martin Wienert said:

You can see her quite clearly at
"Smash Palace", 24 Banks Street, Awapuni, Gisborne
Google Earth 38°39'59.29"S 178° 0'2.94"E

Martin

I was partly responsible for ZK-BKD ending up at Smash Palace. The bar was originally built and run by Phil Parker who also had a winery on the premises. Phil was into collecting all sorts of junk for his wine bar and I became aware that ZK-BKD was languishing near Rotorua and was in danger of being cut-up if a new home wasn't found for it. I mentioned to Phil Parker that I knew where a DC-3 was that might be going cheap (or even free, just to take it off someone's hands) and gave him the details (which I had got from Bruce Thompson, Fieldair's last DC-3 topdressing pilot). I didn't think any more about it until Phil phoned me one day and told me he had aquired the DC-3, and moved it to Gisborne with the help of a couple or retired Fieldair engineers. They had removed the wings and then towed it (tail-first) by road all the way from Rotorua to Gisborne overnight via the Waioeka Gorge. The DC-3 sat out the back of the winebar for several months until foundations were put in with the supporting poles/frame, then the Dakota was lifted up and the stairs added. For a couple of years, there was a bar in BKD where they used to have "theme" nights. However, after Phil sold the bar (he eventually moved to Central Otago and established a vineyard and winery near Cromwell), the bar in the DC-3 was virtually abandoned and it has been languishing ever since. Which is a pity, because being Mount Cook's first airliner, it is a rather historic beast.

[Dave Homewood]

Great story, that must have been quite a mission towing it through the Gorge.

[Dave Homewood]

Here are some photos I took today of the very sad looking Dakota at Mystery Creek

Here we see two relics of the wartime RNZAF, former NZ3545 which served with No. 40 Squadron, No. 41 Squadron, NAC and also was used on the 1953 Royal Tour before goign to James Aviation as a topdresser, so very historic. The other is Bledisloe Hall which used to sit in the centre of Hamilton where the Downtown Plaza now is sited, and this hall acted as the town's main hall. In 1942 it was commandeered by the RNZAF and became the site of No. 1 Stores Depot which moved there from Hobsonville. In 1943 the stores depot moved to Te Rapa and this building became the engine assembly line hall for No. 1 Repair Depot. It was shifted to Mystery Creek after the war sometime when the Library (now demolished) was built.


Some detail of this poor old aeroplane

[Dave Homewood]

This poor aircraft really give the impression of being unloved. Sure the fertiliser company Redvale has obviously taken some sort of interest at some point and there's a plaque saying the wall it's tailwheel axle is mounted on was built in 1995 but by the look of it it hsn't been cared for since then. The paintwork is in seriously poor condition and I don't think these photos protray it as bad as it is. There's a lot of surface rust poking through where the paint has left off.

Does anyone here think that if we got a group together to volunteer to clean this Dakota up and do our best - afetr all there are a number of forum members in the Cambridge-Hamilton area - would it be worthwhile? Is it too far gone, being an ex-topdresser that has been left outdoors?

I'd like to see it stripped and repainted after rust proofing back into its James Aviation colours if nothing else. And I'd like to see it indoors. Mystery Creek gets lots of big events and funding, why cannot some of it go to this amazign piece of heritage that was a substantial factor in the success of the agriculture industry and the freedom that NZ is proud of.

[baz62]

Its amazing that an aircraft with such an interesting history can fall into this state. I'd certainly help restore her in some way even if I am in Christchurch!
I take it she has no engines and some other supports for the props?
One thing not in her favour is the topdressing life she led. Its not what you can see when the paint falls off its what you can't see in all the joints,skin overlaps and even around the rivets (not to mention the rivets themselves).

[fletcherfu24]

Time for a National Ag Aviation Museum.

[Dave Homewood]

Baz, no there are no engines fitted. And yes, the condition underneath the surface is undoubtedly a major hurdle. It's very sad to think this was once a VIP aircraft on the Queen's tour, just like the gorgeous Dak at Wigram.

[ron]

Getting back to the origins of this thread, there is an online census of extant NZ DC-3s which was compiled by Peter Layne. Updates and corrections are always welcome.

www.adastron.com/aviation/three/nzcensus.htm

Regards

Ron