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Post by kiwi on Jan 27, 2009 20:25:43 GMT 12
How did Mustang NZ2429 come to grief ? Does anyone know?
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Post by lumpy on Jan 27, 2009 20:37:34 GMT 12
Quick look shows " forced landed on Santoft beach ( wherever that is ) then used as a weapons range target " . I have a picture of it on the beach , buy no way to scan , sorry . Dont know what caused the forced landing .
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Post by kiwi on Jan 27, 2009 21:46:27 GMT 12
Thanks for that , I have that much , and the picture is probably the one I have seen . Santoft is an area several miles from Ohakea , close to Rangitikei Beach . Someone told me the pilot was flying very low and his prop hit the ground . I was just trying to find out more details .
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Post by shorty on Jan 27, 2009 22:43:37 GMT 12
The remains of it at one stage were in the posession of Don Subritzky, Me and Murray Lane picked them up from the marton area about 1972 . I have a newspaper clipping of Me and Murray with it.
NZ 2429 was a 4 Sqn aircraft and was the only one to have been painted with the later 4 Sqn markings.
Looking at the photo in Darby's book the prop blades are bent back which means it wasn't a result of the prop hitting the ground while under power.
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Post by lumpy on Jan 28, 2009 4:35:59 GMT 12
I agree Shorty . The photo seems to show the end result of a " text book " forced landing . All blades bent straight back . I would think hitting the soft sand at full flying speed would have been more disasterous . The book my info came from has several pics of Mustangs , wheels up ,on beaches and in paddocks . Seems to have been fairly common .
Actually in hindsight ,I guess the forced landing could have been caused by a slight prop strike earlier in the flight ( just enough to unbalance the prop ) , dont really know ,sorry .
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Post by kiwi on Jan 28, 2009 7:10:03 GMT 12
Thanks guys for the additional information and comments , could you expand on the "later 4 Sqn markings" please .
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Post by shorty on Jan 28, 2009 7:22:11 GMT 12
4 Squadron used checks as did the rest of the TAF Squadrons. They were going to change to the "horizontal triangles" as shown on 2429. However when they reverted to Harvards they still used the checks, as to question of the other 3 squadrons and did they intend to follow suit I do not know.
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Post by tbf25o4 on Jan 28, 2009 8:24:48 GMT 12
Hi Shorty,
If my memory serves me correctly NZ2429 came to rest on the beach as a result of a
"Fuel manangement" problem i.e. the pilot forgot to switch tanks and during a low level run ran out of fuel!
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Post by kiwi on Jan 29, 2009 10:13:58 GMT 12
How much remains of this aircraft , and did any end up with MOTAT ?
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Post by phil on Jan 30, 2009 17:33:24 GMT 12
Santoft Beach would be adjacent to Raumai Air Weapons Range.
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Post by Richard Wesley on Feb 2, 2009 21:44:38 GMT 12
How much remains of this aircraft , and did any end up with MOTAT ? I never came across any Mustang parts during my time with Motat but would be interested to hear why it is sometimes connected to the museum, perhaps there were some parts floating around in the early days...?? |
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