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Post by Dave Homewood on Aug 27, 2009 17:13:17 GMT 12
Six were sold for flying purposes weren't they? They went onto the register but only one flew to the USA and the rest were scrapped.
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Post by denysjones on Aug 27, 2009 20:18:46 GMT 12
The six you refer to Dave eventually died in a paddock down Clinton way. I clomped around it in the late 70's A lot of what remained was acquired from the local by one Malcolm MacDonald back in the 70's-80's. He was a chap from Invercargill way who joined the RNZAF as a pilot-trainee and somehow a lot of his stuff got squirreled away in 6Shed Wigram. He didn't pass training and either left or was booted out but the debris got left there (assuming he took the good away). S/L John Barrie got us at Ferrymead to take the debris away and from that we separated the metal and the rotted wood, mostly centre section stuff. I don't know for sure if it is all related but a few years later stories went about of a container of Mossie parts being shipped out of Dunedin to the UK and we all assumed it to be MacDonald's material. I think you're also not quite right about the MoTaT wing being one piece as in the tank bay there are bolted joins (I've got a photo somewhere clearly showing large penny washers on the join bolts). I distinctly recall Brian Smith grizzling to me that he wasn't that pleased that he had to make the wing that way when he would have done it properly. If nothing else old Brian is a purist for doing things right!
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glycol
Squadron Leader
Posts: 103
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Post by glycol on Aug 27, 2009 22:42:56 GMT 12
I believe Rolfe Industries or a similar name were responsible for the sale overseas. I recall assisting Bill Rolfe at Milson airport to change plugs on one of them. The pilot was very particular indeed with mag drops. I can't recall the year for sure but it was probably mid 1950s when I saw a Mossie with civilian markings flying over Dunedin
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Post by Richard Wesley on Aug 28, 2009 21:29:01 GMT 12
I think you're also not quite right about the MoTaT wing being one piece as in the tank bay there are bolted joins (I've got a photo somewhere clearly showing large penny washers on the join bolts). I distinctly recall Brian Smith grizzling to me that he wasn't that pleased that he had to make the wing that way when he would have done it properly. If nothing else old Brian is a purist for doing things right! Interesting to hear about the MacDonald material Denys. The Motat wing is a compromise between the two extremes I think you will find (but I could be wrong). The original idea was to have only large blots on the spar ends which would allow the removal of the outer wings. The rest of the join (ie the outer skin join) would be just a fabric strip. Brian I think wanted to rebuilt the whole wing back to 'complete' condition so no join could be found at all. The finished restoration is halfway between the two, with the joining of the wings completed with bolts (lots as your photo shows), but no join at all visible from the exterior, and certainly no way of removing them or the outer wing section. Fro example the wing was transported from Wigram to Auckland all in one big piece, not three sections then put together.
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Post by shamus on Aug 31, 2009 20:59:21 GMT 12
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