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Post by Gary. on Jun 5, 2012 15:30:45 GMT 12
Just a bit of an update for ya. Gavin and i had a very insightful meeting with John Tacons loverly sister yesterday as she is interested in how we are getting on with the case of ZK-AJV. Pamela who was only ten years old when her brother John went missing spoke of her memories of the time leading up to the mystery of her brothers dissapearance. She spoke of the good times people were enjoying after the end of WW2 and the general feeling that a bright future lay ahead for all. She obviously loved and looked up to her brother. Her memory was very clear and she talked about the weather on that day 7th june 47 as her family travelled through to Taupo from Napier on a Bus to meet with John and others for lunch. She talked of the rain on the day and how none of the family had believed that John would attempt the flight in those conditions. so they were not alarmed at first when they got to taupo to find John had not arrived as they simply thought well he's just not coming the weather is to bad. I feel this puts the sighting of a Tiger moth thought to be ZK-AJV near lake Tawarera later that day in some doubt as for this to be correct it would mean John made it all the way over the Urewera's in appauling conditions of low cloud and drizzle. The mystery remains? ? Can i ask if any of you have any old Photos of ZK-AJV or NZ895 as it was in RNZAF service PLEASE post them here on proboards as the only photo I've ever seen of it was in the Chris Rudge book MISSING ? Great book by the way.....cheers.
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Post by Gary. on May 31, 2012 20:13:02 GMT 12
I remember Miles i had met him a few times at the annual Moto Guzzi rallies that used to alternate between the north Island and south Island. He was a great Guy very quiet and unassuming. He just loved MOTO GUZZIs and had built up a couple of nice ones. He sure knew alot of technical stuff about GUZZI engines how to tune them and such. I did not know he worked at safe air until after the accident he just didn't talk much about his personal life. funny because if i had known he was an aero geek like me we could have spent hours yapping about aircraft. He used to walk with quite a limp maybe from an old past motor cycle crash but he never said why. He seemed more interested in talking about GUZZIs. Rest in peace Miles
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Post by Gary. on May 26, 2012 20:10:17 GMT 12
Thanks so much Peter for starting this thread its been the most amazing read. The kids are asking why Dad has been glued to his lap top all afternoon. It must have taken you hours to set all this up so top marks to you mate Whats next? maybe a thread on the history of the 748s I can tell you a little rumour i heard about ZK-CAW in Taupo. The space its taking up don't quite offset the council rates. I was told about a year ago that it was quietly for sale....... Sad if it goes i have often sat in there as the Kids stuffed down their BIG MACs and FRIES. Children seem to have no concept of history. To them its just a crappy old relic as soon as the last slurp of Coke is down they out the door. While dad is counting the Rivets around those cool SPANZ widows. I gotta say is there anything cooler than a NAVIGATINAL ASTRODOME That is so 1950s like something from the Thunder Birds.
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Post by Gary. on May 26, 2012 11:25:53 GMT 12
Great stuff Mit you've done an awsome job on it. Don't feel strange about collecting old aircraft tow Tractors we all gotta have a hobby.... There is a well known Radio talk back host who collects those old folding wooden builders rulers......... apparantly he has thousands of them. Now that is Strange.
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Post by Gary. on May 26, 2012 11:01:31 GMT 12
Yep you are right of course. I'm thinking more along the lines of transporting the wife to the hotel with as little fuss as posible. HAPPY WIFE HAPPY LIFE they say. With a bit of luck she maybe feeling FRISCKY Ya gotta make the most of the times when the Kids ain't around..... ;D
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Post by Gary. on May 26, 2012 7:27:23 GMT 12
I can still laugh at it i was told i had Dyslexia when at Intermediate i really Thought i had some kind of terrible sickness. These days i know it just means i can't spell for crap but it s worse for my wife as I'm always asking her how to spell the most easy words. Still it could be worse i had a friend who used to be Schizophrenic...... but they are OK now. ;D
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Post by Gary. on May 25, 2012 17:50:23 GMT 12
Hey Mit not sure if you saw it on trade me but someone had an old Massey 35 petrol that used to pull TEAL air craft around [ I think? ] I know its a bit modern but it had some cool mods and a qwick paint up she would look a million. You could start a collection then you would have a choice of which one to use when launching the Boat........ Ok I'm dreaming but at $1500 it seemed cheap. I already have a Massey 35 out on our Farm so two would just be Greedy........
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Post by Gary. on May 24, 2012 20:35:27 GMT 12
Just noticed Ive been spelling Theory wrong all day long. Dislexia is just one of the many diseases i have.
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Post by Gary. on May 24, 2012 20:17:08 GMT 12
OK Boys if you head off to Gavins cool web site www.findlostaircraft.co.nz and check out the update for ZK-AJV we have added our theary as to where we belive the poor old tiger moth may have ended up. Please read it and let me know your ideas and criticise our theary even if it helps then its ok with me. I've always thought that john may have crashed on steep terrain as this would help explain why hunters have not stumbled across it yet. the area from the Te hoe river down the Mohaka to willow flat is very steep with some pine forest up to the edge then very steep areas down to the river. it seems hunters never go here. Also at the junction of the Te hoe river is Te kootis look out a area held sacred by the maori folk of this region. I've read some of the history of what went on around Te kootis look out in the 1860s and i can fully understand why the maori locals won't go near the place. I have visited this area and its a spooky place. Some local chopper pilots have told me this area is prone to very nasty wind shear if the weather is bad. So we have a area thats steep where hunters hardly ever go the maoris avoid it to and its a bad place to fly in anything other than good weather. But ifn your stuck under low cloud the Mohaka valley may have been johns only way out to the coast. still its just a theary? ?
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Post by Gary. on May 23, 2012 18:25:25 GMT 12
Hello Flyernzl I notice you found some info on Hughes 500 ZK-HLY pretty qwick do you have anything on ZK-HMP? the remains of which rest in the bush down my drive way the kids use it as a play hut. someone told me a guy named Lyall Mudford may have owned it. It definatley crashed at some stage. I see Joe Keely once owned ZKHLY I used to kick around school with his son and i can still remember the accident that took his dads life like it was yesterday even though i was only thirteen at the time.
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Post by Gary. on May 23, 2012 18:02:45 GMT 12
Yes the HWY 1B option is a good trick to get around Hamilton. I last traveled that road in an old Land rover that had a top speed of about 90 KPH so as not to hold up traffic. The Truckies don't go that way either as there are to many stop start intersections not cool when you need to get 45 tonnes moving every 5 minutes so its always pretty quiet through there.
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Post by Gary. on May 23, 2012 17:38:48 GMT 12
OK I just had to make the car verses Aircraft desision today so please feel free to study wich option i chose. I have to travel Taupo to Auckland in June for a conferance for three days an i need to take the wife along also..... Option 1 the car Even though the little suzuki swift is loverly to drive an very frugal on fuel i will need to sit in there for around three and a half hours minimun not counting coffee stops and wee wee stops for the wife. I will need to bounce up HWY 27 as twenty years as a truckie tells me its best to avoid the caos of hamilton at any time of day. As mush as i love my wife and she is loverly to yap to after 3 1/2 hours we are running short of things to talk about. Option 2... Check out grab a seat price not bad jump in the Beech 1900 we both get a window seat and fly a little lower than big jets so we get a bit of a view of the contry side. I may even see a little swift bouncing up HWY 27 land at Auckland Grab a Taxi to the Hotel its takin just over an hour and i still have loads of conversation to use up with the wife........ so what option did i take? the little swift is no going to like spending 3 days in the darkness of our garage.
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Post by Gary. on May 22, 2012 19:49:58 GMT 12
A sky hawk was heading north through Taupo on the back of a low loader yesterday morning i did'nt catch the rego but it did look alot like the photo of NZ6201. I guess she has a new home to go to rest in peace A4s I do remember them ripping around the hills behind Taupo when i was a young fulla that always livend up my day.
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Post by Gary. on May 19, 2012 17:58:55 GMT 12
I agree i think that over the decades we as a nation have learnt from Erebus. I mean can you imagine if we were to start tourist flights down there again these days. The poor old DC10 would have that many survival suits, life vests, first aid gear, rations, Epirbs, location becons, inflatable rafts, stretchers, not to mention plans A B and C and enough extra fuel to travel three times around the globe that there would only be space for 10 passengers. You can sail down there today on one of those tourist ships but have you seen the price of a cruise? you wont get much change from around 8 to 10 thousand. I think as sad as Erebus was we did learn its one of those great things that makes aviation so safe today. we certainly won't make the mistake ever again no one would allow it.
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Post by Gary. on May 18, 2012 15:29:03 GMT 12
I wonder if any body botherd to thank the americans after we cleaned up the mess off ross Island? two months prior to the accident the US navy had wrote to the Newzealand authorities outlining the concerns they had with us flying around in the worlds most unforgiving enviroment. Then after the crash they turned around and gave us full use of all their equipment and helped us out as best they could. then we spent the next decade crapping on them for fueling their ships with stuff that glows in the dark. as a nation we must have been a worry for them every time they held out their hand we bit it.
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Post by Gary. on May 17, 2012 18:51:40 GMT 12
Sorry to hear the pilot is no longer around but float plane ZK-EFI still is i often see it down at the boat harbour at lake Taupo. I've often wonderd did the EFI bit in the rego stand for electronic fuel injection? if so cool rego...
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Post by Gary. on Mar 30, 2012 6:34:24 GMT 12
Thanks ray it seems there is a hunter in the south island who has seen an aircraft wreck in the bush a number of years ago. he is going back to try and find it and there is a few articals floating around in south island papers all speculating as to just which aircraft it is. the corsair? the aoteroa? or something else?
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Post by Gary. on Mar 29, 2012 18:35:34 GMT 12
Thank you Errol for that family tree you are a legend....
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Post by Gary. on Mar 29, 2012 18:29:03 GMT 12
Thanks for your comments i have had a close look at a beautiful tiger moth just last weekend in an attempt to get an idea of what would survive in the bush and yes it seems quite a bit such as engine, fuselage framing, under-carriage, fuel tank and instruments. its just a matter of getting that picture in your mind of what to expect I've looked at alot of other aircraft finds to get an idea. What we really need is a ball park search area and some clues are coming in we are talking with hunters and old school locals and chopper pilots from the deer recovery days in order to get a bigger picture of what may have happend way back in 47. It is certainly true that hindsight is 20/20 as it seems from reports at the time of the disappearance that they were grasping at straws as where to actually search. However later reports with the leisure of time to examine them and plot out some ideas certainly points to the Mohaka Valley. I would love to here from any of you bush pilots who may have flown down this valley in crappy weather. Whatever the out come we will keep talking and keep asking and ever theory is just a theory until its proven.
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Post by Gary. on Mar 28, 2012 18:55:48 GMT 12
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