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Post by harvard1041 on Aug 24, 2011 4:39:18 GMT 12
Not sure if we've got a thread on Oshkosh or not ? - but here's a few of my shots of interest ( I hope ! ) . As always, a big week - best part is catching up with friends ( lots of Kiwis make it every year or every few years from all over the world ). Usual mix of damn hot - cold, wet and windy - we were tenting which is fun. Highlights - well - some of the older aircraft - Ryans, warbirds - ( but only two P-40s this year), vendors ( lots of good stuff ) - forums & talks - Bob Hoover, Burt Rutan - Fifi - but mainly the good people to talk too ie had a few beers with a nice older guy - who converted onto the A-4 in 1967 - still flys it - 6500 Hrs so far !(ATSI guy - knows all the ex-Safe Air Kiwis who worked in Israel ). In no particular order - heading out on the big bird. Downtown Oshkosh Air Venture John Fallis' P-40N & Rudy Frasca's P-40E - next year John is planning a P-40 get-together and hoping for 10-12 aircraft. FW-190 with an R-2800 - nice installation - Rudy Frasca. One of two Ryans - one STA - one STM. Fifi - the B-29 flying again after its engine changes F-16 going for the grass - bit of a mess !?! One of two jets in the weeds on the same day. USN 100 Year Annivers. - so some retro painted a/c - P-3 & F-18 FA-18 - very poor flying display however.... One of the Vendors Tents - paintings of RG Smith ( A-4 Design Engineer ) - Kiwi company next door. Boeing 787s - can't say it really impressed - sadly.
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Post by harvard1041 on Aug 21, 2011 8:00:24 GMT 12
..and might I add, a really interesting guy to talk to. Pre-war ground service at Wigram, wartime operations on Corsairs, J Force in Japan, post war career including the Antartic crossing. Very keen climber and hunter / fisherman.
Friend of the family Dave - well worth interviewing I would have thought.
rgds Hvd1041
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Post by harvard1041 on Jul 12, 2011 22:36:50 GMT 12
Hi Calum - NZ6218
Yes - if you can get Tunnys photos - that would be great ! - I've got 15-20 I took - as wrote the rebuild up as part of my Engineering studies at the time - but they're all in NZ ( and I'm in Italy ) - but can dig them out next time home. It was a really good job that one - a lot of effort went into it - and Tunny receiving a ( well deserved ) CAS Commendation for it .
Cheers JDS
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Post by harvard1041 on Jul 12, 2011 19:39:04 GMT 12
Actually not quite accurate on NZ6218 - all the A-4s received 'rebuilt' wings - don't believe any of them ended up with their original wing.
NZ6218 still kept it's original rear fuse however after its major rebuild - it was the vertical which required rebuild and while some small parts from an ex-USN Blue Angel aircraft were used, in the end - most was newly made at Woodbourne. Much work was done up in the NLG attach area as well.
As mentioned prviously 6218 was always an interesting aircraft being both ex-USN and ex-RAN.
Cheers Hvd1041
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Post by harvard1041 on May 21, 2011 20:21:48 GMT 12
Hello - Yes - Bruce Hosie was my great-uncle - and over the years have done a bit of research on him. There is a good write up in Max Lambert's excellent book 'Night after Night'. He was an interesting guy - did some 70 odd Ops - 75 Sqn & 617 Sqn - was killed after the Kembs Barrage raid in Oct 44. A couple of photos.
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Post by harvard1041 on May 14, 2011 5:32:04 GMT 12
Just a bit of info some might find interested... I think Mit is spot on about the RAF/ RN allocations. Photo below I found interesting - for us Harvard geeks - it's the original Log Books for 1044 - showing the aircraft accepted by the USAAC from NAA Dallas - then the British Air Commision - then thru to the RNZAF. ..the dates are a few days apart - ie Test Flights etc ...and then the two data plates are stamped - the USAAC one and the North American Dallas one. Rgds Hvd1041
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Post by harvard1041 on May 12, 2011 20:23:39 GMT 12
Great shots there Wayne ! - especially the wartime ones - which are often much more 'interesting' that the more recent shots.
Am I right in saying only the Qty 1 wartime colour shot - the one of NZ948 being washed at WB ?
Rgds Hvd1041
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Post by harvard1041 on Apr 27, 2011 23:29:38 GMT 12
Why thanks very much there !
48 does seem a tad old however...
Cheers Hvd1041
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Post by harvard1041 on Apr 18, 2011 22:19:19 GMT 12
Hi Calum
Not sure KAHU really ever was 'amazing' - the rose tinted shades are great things... but it was a good solid design with lots of hard work etc put in - and the result worked well. The core design team was never more than about 20 people - with about twice that number contributing good ideas and innovations. The Schedule slipped about 1 year I seem to recall but budget was met.
In my opinion the ADF burecratic system ( as adopted by NZ as you say ) really has very little to do with good design practice - and more to do with the theoretical / burecratic objectives... Much of what they are trying to achieve is covered by good Design Practice anyway. The secret - in my humble opinion - is to have an on-going design team at work - small and big Projects - and the freedom to design.
The ADF system does I think almost snagnate many Projects - with no one person able or willing to make a decision - any decision.
I'd point to some spectacular failures - the SH2G(A) being one I do know a bit about - the RNZAF P-3 may be another ( Schedule wise at least - the prototype has been in the US - what - 6 years ! ).
Small experienced Design Teams are always going to produce better results in my opinion.
Rant over
Rgds Hvd1041
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Post by harvard1041 on Apr 18, 2011 21:37:18 GMT 12
With Classic Fighters coming up in a few days, thought should share a photo of the work a few of us have got up to in the last while - have put NZ1041 back into the colours it had while on 4(F)OTU at Ohakea in 1944. 1041 came out of North American Dallas in Apr 43 - in the standard at the time - silver with green glareshiled scheme, RAF roundels etc ( the details of this are in the -2 Manuals and the various NAA dwgs collected over the years ) and then when on 4 OTU had (in red) the OD-4 markings, cowl and red cowl number added. 4 OTU had Harvards and P-40s on strength - the Hvds being OD-1 to OD-10 with the P-40s going on from there.... has taken a while to track down some 'OD' coded Harvard photos ( about 20 years ! ) and talking to a couple of historians and Staff pilots - but the net result is as below.... Aircraft should be in Restoration Row at Omaka - shame I can't make the show - still on the road working - up here in Iceland. Rgds Hvd1041
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Post by harvard1041 on Apr 16, 2011 22:04:49 GMT 12
Interesting stuff - and brings back a few memories.
Was Flt Cmdr AMDF at ARS during KAHU.... and there were a lot of compromises which we had to make - pretty normal during the Design process.
There were some neat solutions found in some areas - and some - to be honest - areas where better solutions should have been found. Cooling and CofG being two areas where, in my opinion, better solutions should have been found...
Putting humps on all the a/c ( T-Birds included ) and putting many of the heavier boxes in there was a pretty good option I thought - there was way too much 'stuff' forced into the nose - radar and some 'need to get to' boxes should have been in the nose - other boxes in the hump - which after all was designed specifically for avionics boxes. The range of boxes the USN installed in the hump was pretty neat. There were also options of installing a (very) small Air Cycle Machine (ACM) which ran on bleed air - both on the ground and in flight - decent cold air for the avionics boxes ( and the pilot on the ground to be honest ) would have been a good thing I think.
... but then most design is a compromise - and for the money and Schedule - I think Lear-Seigler / RNZAF did a pretty good job... the 'real' credit for making it work well however - belongs to the great guys on 2 / 75 Sqn and the backup guys in Avionics Sqn etc.
Real shame that the skill built up during the Project wasn't retained & expanded ... I suspect we wouldn't be having the 'troubles' with the C-130 / P-3 Projects if the team & expertise had been kept together.
Have been involved in a couple of other upgrade Projects in the 20+ years since, it's a real shame that this Design / Upgrade capability hasn't been retained in NZ - as I think Kiwis generally are pretty good at it ...
rgds Hvd1041
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Post by harvard1041 on Mar 23, 2011 22:15:00 GMT 12
Looking forward to the book - and as many stories as you can Don !
Recall those cartoons mentioned quite well - and I think you'll find Bill in the EDC may well have had a 'hand' in them ... but the ideas etc came from a few of us - he he
Actually might be one of those Eng Off you mentioned there ... certainly was a viable option looked at to put a lot of gear in the hump ( and - Yes - T Birds can have humps ) instead of the nose which was way too heavy for the existing structure ... hence the use of the data logger and strain gauges. Believe the jet sufferred Sta 64 cracking etc in service... I was super keen to put many of the large boxes in the hump - better location for cooling, wiring, CofG, access etc ... instead of the 'heavy nose & heavy tail' option chosen ...ancient history now.
Looking forward to the book.
Rgds Hvd1041
PS - I was Mechanical so wasn't me that fried the wire !
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Post by harvard1041 on Feb 24, 2011 18:02:29 GMT 12
Agree fully, as an Engineer with Type ratings on both 737s and A320s ( since 1990 & 1991 respectively) - give me the 'bus any day ! - they're modern, well thought out - and they work; well..... the A330 / A340 being even better.
Used to be a Boeing man - but moved on - pretty much like most airlines ( 777 excepted ) - and the 737NG aint' that 'NG' folks - same old solid beastie granted.... but give me an Airbus any day.
Rgds Hvd1041
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Post by harvard1041 on Jan 18, 2011 7:40:50 GMT 12
Hi Fairhall is indeed and interesting place and John Walsh has a great sense of local history. The farmhouse is the oldest European building in the valley I believe. John is always interested in any wartime photos of the farm - wonder if our members have any we could share ? He is currently restoring a Brockhouse fuel tanker. Here's a couple more photos. Rgds Hvd1041
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Post by harvard1041 on Dec 19, 2010 20:59:30 GMT 12
Hi Dave
Great photos there...the fella sitting to the right of Doug St.George is John Claydon... who later flew the Antartic aircraft on the Hillary crossing ... still alive and in CHC I believe.
Rgds Hvd1041
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Post by harvard1041 on Aug 13, 2010 20:03:32 GMT 12
Thanks for the replies, Dave & Errol.
Sadly don't yet have a copy of your new book Errol - but will get a copy shortly - sounds like a great read.
Can you elaborate a bit on these 'crashed' totals from WW I - I've seen Caldwell listed as 24 & 25 and believe his logbook talks about 27.
What do we know of his between the wars and WW II career ?
Thanks again John.
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Post by harvard1041 on Aug 13, 2010 0:28:35 GMT 12
Thought I'd start a thread on Grid Caldwell - he was NZ highest scoring WW I ace - and CO of 74 Sqn - and went on to have an equally interesting post War / WW II career ... yet no-one has written a biography up ( that I know of ). I know Dave has a lot of good info on his Wings Over Cambridge site - which is very nice. www.cambridgeairforce.org.nz/Keith%20Caldwell.htmAlso a display in the Wigram Museum and also one down at Wanaka. ...but there must be more - especially his between the war career etc. Here's one photo I have - to start things off - who can identify the other people here ? Rgds Hvd1041 - RNZAF Museum-
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Post by harvard1041 on Jul 10, 2010 23:13:17 GMT 12
Yes J-65s ( licence built Bristol Sapphires I believe ) are very long in the tooth.... as are A-4Cs...believe '07' in the RNZAF Museum was an A-4C / L originally.
Remember Alan Woodley coming and grabbing bits of the pre-Kahu a/c for that display as quickly as we were stripping them.. back about 1988.
Rgds Hvd1041
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Post by harvard1041 on Jul 9, 2010 9:20:06 GMT 12
In my opinion, the biggest loss when our politicians got rid of the ACF - was not the loss of A-4s or F-16s per say .... but the capability to operate and maintain Fighters.... they were the 'force' in the organisation.
The RNZAF punched well above its weight because of good well trained fighter pilots and engineers and support people .... all pretty much lost.
While of course if we're going to be involved in this, we'd like to do it with modern equipment - but our politicians really sold the RNZAF and the country down the road with their short sighted cynical decision. Clark et al focussed on this from a long way back... getting rid of the capability and pushed it thru sadly.
The 'debate' shouldn't be about this jet or that jet - this scenario or that scenario - it should be about restoring the capability - getting people trained up to fly, maintain, and support fighters. Good training and well maintained aircraft will usually do much better in reality than more modern equipment only ... saw many an exercise go well for the Kiwis because of well trained pilots and lots of serviceable jets.
The RNZAF A-4 force was well respected for what they did ... and helped NZ have a valid and respected place in Asia.
Don knows exactly what he talks about... keep it up.
Cheers Hvd1041
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Post by harvard1041 on Jul 6, 2010 2:34:20 GMT 12
Yes - I do - great training and great friends... two good enough reasons for a young person to join now I think.
Sure - the RNZAF has been chopped down in numbers from 20, 30, 50 years ago... but I'm sure you'll find the same dedication, and hard working ethic is still there.
Getting rid of the A-4s and Macchis was criminal in my opinion - and not having a coherent and logical ( long - term ) plan to replace the other types perhaps worse...
Two best days - day you join & day you leave.
Rgds Hvd1041
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