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Post by fwx on Mar 28, 2011 15:29:20 GMT 12
Great photos thanks, especially like the under-lit Corsair shot.
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Post by fwx on Mar 27, 2011 16:54:34 GMT 12
Can't wait to see this one fly:
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Post by fwx on Mar 27, 2011 14:05:47 GMT 12
What a fascinating visit with the Subritzky family, many thanks to them, fantastically hospitable, complete with tea and scones! A privilege to see the passion and workmanship, and to hear some of the fascinating stories behind the 'planes. And great to meet so many of the forum-ites, including founder Dave. Must be first back to my computer, so will just post a few pics since others more knowledgeable than me will want to put theirs up. The magnificent, awesome Vickers Vincent:
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Post by fwx on Mar 26, 2011 9:59:11 GMT 12
Vickers Vildebeest "bitser" under restoration at Air Force Museum, Wigram: Taken in July 2010, so may have advanced since then, but unfortunately unlikely to ever fly. S'pose you should never say never ...
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Post by fwx on Mar 22, 2011 10:48:17 GMT 12
I will see if I can get the leave pass ... count me in please:
fwx = Chris Newey (Devonport, if that's of use to anyone on my way through?)
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Biggles
Mar 22, 2011 10:31:46 GMT 12
Post by fwx on Mar 22, 2011 10:31:46 GMT 12
Great idea!
Biggles was a big part of my reading when I was a kid; had about 8 of the Biggles books from memory, probably still in a box somewhere at my Mum's. I've tried to get my boys interested, but no luck so far - they don't know what they are missing!
I'm sure a movie would open up a whole new generation to a character that was every bit as exciting as Indiana Jones. Not just WW1 adventures, but all kinds of between-wars adventures, and even some set in WW2 from memory?
Last weekend I did manage to retrieve my copy of one of my all-time favourite boyhood books from Mum's; "Thrilling Flights", also by Capt. W.E. Johns, a collection of true pilot's stories, mostly from WW1. Now there's a book! Was given to my Dad by his Dad. Looking forward to re-acquainting myself with it's smell, antiquated aeronautical terminology and quintessential British-ness!
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Post by fwx on Mar 18, 2011 16:56:57 GMT 12
Does anyone else think the line of damage to the skin just behind the repair is suspiciously in line with the prop' ...??
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Post by fwx on Mar 14, 2011 21:06:22 GMT 12
Thanks very much for the extra details, very interesting.
A few posts above this I mentioned the part that this crash site had in my family mythology. As teenagers living in Greenhithe, a short dinghy ride across the water, my Dad and his brothers and sisters and friends considered this their back yard, and a 'plane wreck as fair game for souvenir hunting.
The Listener article above inspired an auntie of mine (Dad's sister) and one of the other participants, to write down their versions of events, in a couple of letters that were recently circulated around the family and some of the others, a few of whom are still alive.
They remember it as being common local knowledge at the time that some of the passengers were Japanese, and that some had survived and "escaped" the crash.
On that first visit to the crash site (probably the following day), Dad and his brother somehow managed to get away with a compressed air cylinder and inflatable rubber dinghy (subjects of the story we loved to hear) before being spotted, and chased off by an armed American guard.
However Dad was one of 13, so there were plenty of brothers and sisters and their mates willing to have a go. On subsequent dinghy visits, guards interrogated the "looters", in one case even firing a warning shot, and in one case finding one of the raiding party to be a serving member of the RNZAF!
The wreckage was apparently cut up and removed quite quickly, but the site continued to offer "treasure" for some months afterwards, including a Japanese-English dictionary, Japanese diary, coins, revolver rounds, etc.
A quick Google search and I see that there is quite a bit of information about the crash out there (it even has its own Wikipedia page!), and quite a bit of variation in detail as well. So its fascinating to see the story being fleshed out, and the facts falling into place.
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Post by fwx on Mar 14, 2011 16:01:46 GMT 12
From "Secret deaths", New Zealand Listener, April 10-16 2010:
The death of 12 Japanese nationals in a plane crash near Auckland on August 2, 1943, was a closely guarded secret. Details were not released until more than 60 years later.
The US Liberator bomber crashed into a mangrove swamp just after taking off from Whenuapai air base on the first leg of a secret people-swapping operation. On board the plane, bound for Papua New Guinea via Brisbane, were 22 Japanese nationals, including women and children, three Thais and five US crew. The Japanese and Thais had been living in New Zealand when the Pacific war started and had been interned for more than 20 months. The men were held on Somes/Matiu Island in Wellington Harbour; the women and children in a house near Pukekohe. In 1943 a deal was struck to exchange them for English and American families being held in Japan.
Such was the secrecy of the mission that co-pilot John Wisda didn’t know there were women and children on board. Wisda, who went on to fly Boeing 747 aircraft for United Airlines, died in 2004, but before his death spoke of the accident.
He and the rest of the crew had flown for 26 days straight, shuttling US pilots from Auckland to the frontline fighter airstrip on Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands. “We were exhausted,” he recalled. “We had just gone to bed and at 10 o’clock at night we got a phone call – ‘we have a special trip to go out at midnight’. I was not told what was happening, who was going to be on board or what the cargo was.”
The weather was miserable. “It was raining quite hard … and foggy, cold. It was not exactly a night you wanted to be flying aeroplanes,” said Wisda, “but they said this had to go, so off we went.”
The passengers embarked while he was in the cockpit doing flight checks. He didn’t know who they were or that there weren’t enough seats, forcing parents to hold children on their laps. The bad weather slowed departure, the plane finally taking off at 2.20am. Captain Herschel Laughlin was at the controls. Wisda, beside him, was adjusting the fuel supply and the flaps. At 400 feet Wisda sensed trouble.
“I said, ‘We are turning to the left and he [Laughlin] pointed to the horizon [the gyroscope] and the horizon showed we were climbing straight up [level],” Wisda recalled.
But he convinced the captain the plane was actually banking steeply to the left and was given permission to turn on the left engine turbo-charger. “We just got it straightened out … when we first hit.” The plane was travelling about 320km/h when it belly-landed. Wisda was thrown through the cockpit window “and I rolled end over end about the length of a football field. My body was being whipped by the mangroves.”
He came to next to a burning tyre. “I was holding myself near this tyre in order to keep warm, my right hand was on fire, my right shoulder was dislocated. I did not know what I was doing. It was very hazy and all …”
Wisda was found more than an hour after the crash, the last survivor located. His body was so lacerated that surgeons took 13 hours to clean mud from his wounds.
Although Wisda survived, Laughlin, two crew members and 12 Japanese died. The wounded Japanese were taken to the Whenuapai base hospital where a young airforce woman, Trevar McDonald, was being treated for a minor injury. She was woken and told to leave immediately but as she packed, the injured passengers arrived. “Two little children were put in my bed. They were covered in mud and blood and were crying. Their little hands were hanging onto me. I was getting as much mud and blood on me as they had.”
McDonald was later ordered by airforce officers to “forget everything”. The surviving women and children returned to Pukekohe; the men to Somes/Matiu Island. The dead were quickly disposed of. Waikumete Cemetery’s crematorium was fired up. George Shirtcliffe, a crematorium assistant, was called in before dawn to help. As his boss cremated the bodies, “I did the parts,” George recalled.
Although 15 people died, the crash went unreported in the newspapers.
Wisda says the cause of the crash was clear: pilot fatigue, leading to pilot error. These were the days before pilots did checklists together; Laughlin simply forgot to turn on the gyroscope.
“He thought he was flying level when actually the plane was banking steeply,” Wisda said. “He missed it [the gyroscope]. I was busy. I missed it. There were your causes.”
It was only when contacted 60 years later by a television director that he learnt his passengers included women and children. “I didn’t know that, I didn’t know about the children,” said a shaken Wisda. “That is terribly sad.”
The Japanese eventually left New Zealand by sea.
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Post by fwx on Mar 9, 2011 20:47:23 GMT 12
A thing of beauty ...
Thanks for those 11sqnldr.
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Post by fwx on Mar 1, 2011 20:46:03 GMT 12
Thanks also for all the great photos, good to see from other perspectives. Mine was slightly precarious, perched on top of my car to see over the perimeter wire! Must see what's involved in joining the golf club there - what a view they had!
And especially enjoyed the video, thanks McFly.
Looked like it was a nice day for the vet's, some of whom still look in pretty good nick I have to say!
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Post by fwx on Feb 27, 2011 13:11:41 GMT 12
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Post by fwx on Feb 23, 2011 16:59:17 GMT 12
I heard through family in Ch'ch that Ferrymead is in a bad way, but have not heard any confirmation of that.
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Post by fwx on Feb 23, 2011 16:56:15 GMT 12
Whichever one it was, it went back in the other direction an hour or so later ... Don't suppose it matters, just so nice to hear that magic sound overhead, and reminds me to make some time on the weekend to slip across to Whenuapai.
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Post by fwx on Feb 23, 2011 15:18:03 GMT 12
Whoa; Spitfire just flew over Devonport, heading in the direction of Whenuapai? Only caught a glimpse but looked like AL??
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Post by fwx on Feb 9, 2011 20:22:31 GMT 12
"Now looking like mid May... "
Perfect, I can pretend it was a birthday present to myself ... ... another copy sold Don, looking forward to reading it!
I used to live on the farm near Whakatane, and those guys would often scream over on their way out to the Volkner Rocks.
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Post by fwx on Feb 7, 2011 13:04:21 GMT 12
Thanks Stu,
These updates are just fascinating, what a privilege to watch a Mossie built virtually from the ground up, piece by piece. I'm in awe of such craftsmanship and skill - is it engineering or art?
Appreciate your efforts in posting them.
Looks like a lot still to do by Easter??
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Post by fwx on Dec 21, 2010 21:20:13 GMT 12
Perfect view just now (in Auckland) through my 10 yr-old's new telescope - cool!
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Post by fwx on Dec 19, 2010 14:07:08 GMT 12
I gather it was a chance to formally welcome the two new offshore patrol Vessels HMNZS Otago and Wellington.
According the the NZ Herald, "Commodore Ross Smith, Maritime Component Commander said the arrival of the two vessels meant the Naval Patrol Force is "completed and fully operational"."
A pity the two frigates weren't able to take part then, but maybe their presence would have taken some of the thunder away from the newer but smaller ships?
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Post by fwx on Dec 19, 2010 10:30:40 GMT 12
Beautiful shots Gavin, and almost impossible to pick a favourite, they are all so good. The first Tiger Moth pair (BEN and BAL) just knocks my socks off, the colours and the classic lines ... wow! Wishing you a happy Christmas and holiday break as well, and thanks for all your fantastic contributions to this forum over the year, a highlight for me, and so much appreciated. Cheers, Chris
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