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Post by Gary. on Oct 16, 2012 19:02:24 GMT 12
I borrowed a few old instruments form a friend, i also found a training poster of a metro cockpit and blew the poster up to one to one scale and then laminated and cut out the guages and fitted them into the holes in the panel..... from a distance they almost look the real deal...
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Post by Gary. on Oct 16, 2012 18:55:25 GMT 12
I fitted a couple of seats from a van as pilot seats and had a real good go at rebuilding the cockpit as best i could, i had to strip out endless amounts of wiring, build a new floor and cut off old brackets. all along i had to keep telling myself its okay to cut things up a bit as this old metro will never fly again, as she was a one peace Aeroplane when she left the factory in 1981 but when i transported her to the farm she was in two bits. Not quite what her designers had in mind i would think.
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Post by Gary. on Oct 16, 2012 18:45:32 GMT 12
The kids had quickly sussed out that they could open up the rear cargo door and pretend to skydive out onto the grass, they would then run back round to the front door and climb back in for another go, all this i was told was while the plane was on fire and pirates had taken control while they were on there way to see grandma in Australia with a cargo of christmas presents for her......you got to love there imagination.
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Post by Gary. on Oct 16, 2012 18:38:17 GMT 12
After many months of cleaning and scrubbing and turfing out bloody Starling nests, the old metro was starting to clean up well. The kids were certainly fizzing about having the coolest toy in the world in there front paddock to play in ;D
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Post by Gary. on Oct 16, 2012 18:32:43 GMT 12
I had to call in a few favours with the small amount of friends that are silly enough to know me, and with the poor old Mitsi Hiab truck about to tip over. ZK-OAA had a new home as an over grown garden ornament...
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Post by Gary. on Oct 16, 2012 18:27:05 GMT 12
So with a bit of planing, alot of head scratching and swearing and a fair bit of greasing with the Boss to let me borrow his Volvo for the weekend. A few phone calls to arrange permits for an oversized load, rent the longest trailer i could find. We were away, Metro on the Highway...
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Post by Gary. on Oct 16, 2012 18:21:59 GMT 12
I felt sorry for the poor old metro I know its not the coolest looking propliner around, Ive heard the jokes, Its a flying pencil, the San antonio sewer pipe, someone even said they look like a flying Tampon ;D But i didn't listen, I never do especially to my Wife..... I thought man we've got the makings of a great kids sleep out here.
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Post by Gary. on Oct 16, 2012 18:08:21 GMT 12
Metroliner ZK-OAA has avioded reincarnation as a Pepsi can.....I thought i may add a few photos of my pet project of turning a scrap heap metroliner into a great kids sleep out.... As you will see the poor old metro was in a sorry state after the Eagle Air engineers had there wicked way with her striping out all the expensive bits.
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Post by Gary. on Aug 15, 2012 19:29:51 GMT 12
Nice one, a good retirement plan. ;D I like where they say " there's still one old Friendship flying cargo " Don,t Air work have three or four still flying?
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Post by Gary. on Aug 15, 2012 17:42:38 GMT 12
Yeah that was a good one, i have it on DVD and even the kids enjoy it..........after Sponge Bob.
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Post by Gary. on Aug 15, 2012 17:38:30 GMT 12
Cheers flyjoe180 Thanks for those links it seems many people remember seeing aircraft parts in the tunnels right up till the 1970s. But those people who had ventured into the tunnels were in the services and new they shouldn,t be in there, so they kept quiet about what they saw until many years after......you,ve gotta love a good mystery.
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Post by Gary. on Aug 14, 2012 20:45:05 GMT 12
Thanks Peter I,m about half way through this book at the moment and its a hard book to put down. It seems from the book that one or maybe two of the engines from the early Boeings may have ended up going into boats after these aircraft were pulled apart and bits sold off...
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Post by Gary. on Aug 14, 2012 20:23:44 GMT 12
Cool
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Post by Gary. on Aug 14, 2012 19:59:04 GMT 12
Thanks McFly.....thats just insane 351.4 million for a new 747 wow i guess we better start digging at North Head and find those old Boeings, our economy could use that kind of cash..
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Post by Gary. on Aug 14, 2012 18:58:46 GMT 12
Twenty five Million then??? I'm quessing of course, what is a brand spanking 747 worth?
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Post by Gary. on Aug 14, 2012 18:40:09 GMT 12
He,s a talented chap alright, he used to be pretty handy at the sport of fencing, i think he won a few championships before he turned his talents to aviation. Also if you ever go to a IRON MAIDEN concert, well you wont soon forget it....
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Post by Gary. on Aug 14, 2012 18:29:26 GMT 12
Apparantly the company Boeing would be prepared to pay the equivalent of the cost of a new 747 to have these bi- planes back. whats a new 747 worth? I'm thinking fifty million???
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Post by Gary. on Aug 14, 2012 18:24:30 GMT 12
This new book by Martin Butler is just the most interesting read, could there really be two crated up and forgotten early Boeing aircraft resting in the tunnels of north head?
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Post by Gary. on Aug 6, 2012 19:46:13 GMT 12
Great story.....I remember Fred Ladd he would sometimes turn up at our Gliding club in Taupo and take one of the clubs toys out for a spin.... ;D
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Post by Gary. on Jul 13, 2012 19:24:26 GMT 12
Hi all A little bit of info has come up which may prove very helpful, we are trying to track relatives of a bloke named Peter Povey have any of you ever heard of him? Peter was a hunter from Hastings and passed away around twenty years ago. Right from the start of Gavin and i taking a serious look at this mystery we have heard stories of a person finding a aircraft wreck near the Mohaka river in the 1960s. we have chased this rumour all over the place asking anyone who will listen if they had heard of it. we think Peter was the person who found the wreck and we have some info on what area it was in. all we now need is a bit more info on Peter....
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