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Post by Bruce on Mar 3, 2013 17:26:40 GMT 12
Heh heh... I'm going later in the year...
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Post by Bruce on Mar 3, 2013 8:22:53 GMT 12
Heading for the Gulfos de los Mosquitos no less!
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Post by Bruce on Feb 27, 2013 19:39:15 GMT 12
I dont really like the idea of using the name Titanic - its a name that should be respected historically. Would be better to call it Gigantic - a name some sources say was originally intended for Titanic's Sister ship Britannic. Probably not so great marketing wise though...
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Post by Bruce on Feb 27, 2013 16:59:28 GMT 12
Theres a good newsreel on the Wellington premier on Youtube:
date of that premiere is Nov 22 1956, so I guess Auckland would be a similar time.
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Post by Bruce on Feb 27, 2013 16:52:55 GMT 12
Pretty sad and nasty business. I guess the warmer water temps are bringing the big predators into our coastal waters.
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Post by Bruce on Feb 26, 2013 22:20:38 GMT 12
I wonder if CGZ had a nosewheel leg failure like BZZ had? damage looks similar! (Aerospatiale said they had no records of it occurring before! - yeah right!)
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Post by Bruce on Feb 25, 2013 21:03:32 GMT 12
Archives NZ has been publishing some superb period footage on YouTube recently. Today they posted this superb newsreel from 1948 showing postwar RNZAF Catalina operations from Lauthala bay. It includes a very good sequence showing an urgent "Scramble" launching, and a bit about life on the station and in Fiji in General. well worth watching!
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Post by Bruce on Feb 24, 2013 15:53:42 GMT 12
very well done!
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Post by Bruce on Feb 24, 2013 13:33:38 GMT 12
It looks like an elevator or aileron, with trim tab. Looks like it is in the blue-grey / green colour scheme. The brown "roundel" area is probably just a section of the green paint which is known to fade to a browny colour.
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Post by Bruce on Feb 23, 2013 16:45:43 GMT 12
Newsreel footage showing Redhead at work:
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Post by Bruce on Feb 23, 2013 8:59:32 GMT 12
Not sure where our next gen pilots in general will be coming from - too expensive and too much hassle now....
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Post by Bruce on Feb 22, 2013 18:38:53 GMT 12
Saw some when I was over in aussie a couple of years ago: Moorabbin: Temora: Darwin:
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Post by Bruce on Feb 22, 2013 17:20:46 GMT 12
simplest way is to find a Kiwi resins 1/72 Airtourer kit...
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Post by Bruce on Feb 21, 2013 16:50:33 GMT 12
Gerry's spin moves into top gearDespite Gerry Brownlee's best PR spin, everything is not going swimmingly in Christchurch. I read somewhere that 70% of statistics are made up anyway... I have lost all confidence in that particular minister, who is not only responsible for things that shake, but things that move. I had hoped that whilst he was totally ignoring the aviation sector he is responsible for he might at least be concentrating on making Christchurch work again... seems not. I don't mean to make this political, but the results of his "oversight" speak for themselves.
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Post by Bruce on Feb 20, 2013 21:13:10 GMT 12
Looks like a promising kit , but not sure about the box artwork! A Wanganui Aero work Fletcher operating out of what appears to be Christchurch International?
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Post by Bruce on Feb 19, 2013 14:30:45 GMT 12
Nothing wrong with the theory of pre-polynesian visitation / settlement of NZ - there is very little evidence to prove or disprove but raising the idea doesnt make you a nut job. Noel is actually very reputable in terms of his historical research in the northland area. He has discovered a very large number of shipwrecks, many of which are documented in the Dargaville museum. Its not like someone hunting Spitfires in Burma!
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Post by Bruce on Feb 16, 2013 17:56:42 GMT 12
Really enjoyed that - Noel is a great story teller! looking forward to the next installment.
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Post by Bruce on Feb 12, 2013 9:26:42 GMT 12
GA operations (especially private Ops) are in a dire position at the moment. with so many additional charges there are a lot of people getting out now, and very little coming in. Just look at the number of aircraft for sale on TradeMe at the moment. It is reaching the point where the number of participants drops to a point where itsnot worth supporting the infrastructure for those who are left. the fuel situation at Taumarunui is an example, but fuel facilities at small airfields nationwide are under threat becuase there isnt enough use to justify them. when they are gone, the remaining locally based machines may as well go too... Its not a great surprise that when talking to senior Airways Corp managers last week at their fees "consultation" meetings that they had not even considered the trickle on effect of accumulated cost increases - they were just looking at their own sector...
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Post by Bruce on Feb 11, 2013 7:28:30 GMT 12
I had a look on Google earth for likely places around the Firth of Thames - I'm fairly certain its Te Kouma, on the Coromandel peninsular just south of Coromandel airfield.
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Post by Bruce on Feb 10, 2013 8:21:04 GMT 12
Back in the early 1990s when I was working for Gulf Aeronautics, we went across to the Coromandel airstrip to dismantle BZZ which was resident there at the time. It had an unusual accident whereby the nosewheel and fork had broken off on takeoff without the pilot knowing, so that on return the landing was somewhat short and abrupt! The big nut holding the castoring fork has been sheared off - something that could only happen when the wheel was unloaded. At the Time Coromandel was a rough gravel strip so presumably it hit a bump of some sort. The landing caused a prop strike and therefore engine bulk strip, but surprisingly also damaged the front wing spar. We therefore had a reasonable rebuild job to do. The replacement parts came from Aerspatiale - it is worth noting that Morane Saunier / Sud Aviation had invested in a lot of heavy machine tools for the Caravelle and military programmes, so the spars etc were all solid machined items - none of the "bent tin " approach!
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