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Post by phil on Apr 5, 2009 12:23:43 GMT 12
The instructions are amazing.
I see Richard Alexander (used to be at Modelcrafts and Hobbies before heading off to work for Mr Jackson) has had an input into these.
I too have been put off WW1 aircraft due to rigging. I do like the Brisfit though.
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Post by phil on Apr 5, 2009 11:24:11 GMT 12
The book about his later career in Washington looks very interesting too, but I can't remember it's name! I saw it in Whitcoulls in Auckland airport a few weeks ago.
He had something to do with the campaign to influence the American policy on the war.
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Post by phil on Apr 3, 2009 15:21:19 GMT 12
I wondered where they were off to.
I'm fortunate that my office is right by the end of the flight line at Ohakea, near the end of 09, so it's actually past the 'crowd line' when they are doing their practices and we get some fantastic displays.
Lately it's been from the Spitfire as well as the checkers.
And they pay me to be there!
(if you look in Gavin Conroys pics of various aircraft at Ohakea from the other week, you can see my office in the background - the red brick single story building with the old weather radar out the front).
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Post by phil on Apr 3, 2009 6:04:04 GMT 12
No paddy, the catering company is covering the strike with other staff.
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Post by phil on Apr 2, 2009 20:24:29 GMT 12
An email went around Ohakea that a B2 on it's way home from Avalon Airshow (yes, despite Avalon being two weeks ago...) would perform a fly past at 1000.
And yes, from my office I could see a van of people waiting at the end of the runway at 1000, so it appears someone fell for it.
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Post by phil on Apr 2, 2009 16:45:02 GMT 12
Yes the Navy still have chefs
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Post by phil on Apr 2, 2009 16:25:40 GMT 12
We can support ourselves in the field. We are very 'joint' these days, it's no longer the airforce going off and doing things, and the army doing some other thing, and the navy doing a third. All operations are run out of HQJFNZ, and if a deployment needs catering, it gets it. Just like the army don't have their own helicopters, if helicopters are needed Air supplies helicopters. If chefs are needed, Army supplies them.
It'a all about what each service brings to the force as a whole. There's no need to duplicate or triplicate services, that's just a waste.
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Post by phil on Apr 2, 2009 11:22:58 GMT 12
I think keeping chefs just in case we come under missile threat is probably not sufficient justification.
Nothing wrong with civilian contractors for catering on bases. We take army chefs away with us on the rare occaision that we need them, which again is hardly often enough to warrant keeping two entire trades.
The american military even uses civilian contractors to run their DIFACs in war zones, proving you don't even need uniformed personnel in theatre if you don't want to.
I think this is the first time the workers have gone on strike in the 13 years since they disbanded the chef trade in the RNZAF.
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Post by phil on Apr 1, 2009 20:58:42 GMT 12
That wont win them any friends on base.
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Post by phil on Mar 19, 2009 19:17:01 GMT 12
No, I didn't forget them. I don't think they have any useful input into the RNZAF at all.
They ponce around avoiding doing anything that might be remotely useful (ie they refuse to respond to alarm activations on base or to guard aircraft on base), and yet they get all hyped up and think they are some kind of special forces to 'secure' aircraft in the middle of such 'insecure' places as Bagram or Kandahar. Never mind the thousands of US troops defending the place, that Herc's just not safe without a couple of air security standing at the wingtip.
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Post by phil on Mar 19, 2009 11:37:45 GMT 12
Fantastic photos.
I was there on the Saturday, hiding from the rain.
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Post by phil on Mar 18, 2009 17:25:08 GMT 12
The short answer - most of them.
Well you have to recruit the crew, so that takes a couple of dozen, from the recruiters around the country who do the initial interviews, to the officers, psychs, drivers, admin staff and PTIs who run the PERSEL.
Train them at Woodbourne on recruit/iotc - that takes a whole lot of instructors.
Survival school training - a bunch of PTIs at Auckland to run that.
Flying training - the obvious people like the flying instructors, but also the people who work at other uniits like Tech Support Civ that manage the fleet of airtrainers. Then there is the training that the loadie, Eng and Nav do as well, their instructors, the personnel who maintain the aircraft they train on, the admin staff who look after their pay etc, etc. The Staff that manage and maintain their accommodation while living on during their training, and the mess staff that feed them.
How about the medics that look after their aircrew medicals, jabs/stabs etc?
Once on 40 SQN you've got the whole maintenance flight (40 people? Not sure but I'm certain somone on here will) who look after the aircraft. There's TS Herc who manage the aeronautical configuration, and the other DAC units that are involved with this.
The aeronautical buyers at supply that go out to the various vendors and purchase the spares, the suppliers on base that manage the inventory once it arrives.
There's Avionics SQN that looks after the geeky rotables, the various Aircraft trade bays that look after the aircraft rotables and the armourers who look after the countermeasures and a couple of other small items, including fire bottles/extinguishers, survival pack pyros and when the crew go on deployments, their guns.
The S&S of course that look after all the crew's flying clothing and the life rafts, not to mention all the aircraft finishing side of things that's needed before the aircraft can fly.
Now of course you've got all the admin functions that support those people, who couldn't get that Herc crew into the air without being paid, having accommodation, etc, etc.
Oh, that crew probably wants fuel, so there are the tanker drivers, the MT mechanics who maintain the tankers, and the guy at (probably) JLSO who pays BP for the fuel.
So I guess the answer is probably about 2000, give or take, since pretty much everyone in the airforce is working to get people into aircraft and aircraft into the air. I've roughly subtracted those that are spending all their days working on other platforms exclusively (ie 3SQN maintainers and aircrew, 5 SQN etc etc), but most of us that aren't on a particular SQN spend some of our time directly working for 40SQN, just as much as we do 3, 5, 6 etc.
Of course there are the staff at HQNZDF that manage the careers of all of the above, develop and implement the various HR policies such as pay and super that ensures all those people actually stay in the service.
The staff at HQJFNZ who are responsible for tasking the aircraft, so the crew actually have somewhere to fly to.
The list goes on and on...
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Post by phil on Mar 11, 2009 17:10:46 GMT 12
Flynavy - the seat in the Don Sims photo is a semi-gloss black IG3. The only parts that are green grey are the NES12M, the seat cushion and the straps.
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Post by phil on Mar 11, 2009 17:05:21 GMT 12
I've got it partly done (has been like that for 13 years!). The detail is raised, but it's a really nice kit.
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Post by phil on Mar 10, 2009 20:58:17 GMT 12
I can answer part of the seat question...
They would have been IC3 seats as the change to IG3 came some years later.
The main difference in operation was the method of man/seat seperation. In the later IG3 this was achieved by a small rocket motor called a Mk82 Man/Seat separator rocket that was installed in the left hand 'shoulder' of the seat. This fired to rotate the seat rearwards away from the pilot, with mixed success.
The earlier IC3 used a 'air bag' behind the parachute that inflated and pushed the pilot clear. Although not as fast (hence why it was replaced) this may have been a safer system as the Mk82 also tended to impart a twist to the right as well as rearward, and this tended to rip away the RSSK-8A survival pack as it tried to seperate from the seat.
Visually, this absence of the Mk82 is one of the key differences between the seats.
As for colour, I'm afraid I'm not too sure. All the seats were black by the time I came into the ejection seat business for the first time in '96.
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Post by phil on Mar 7, 2009 17:56:53 GMT 12
This is the Dragon 1/12 'Hong Kong Police Special Duties Unit' Figure. The equipment is decidedly British - SA80 Bayonet, S10 respirator, but a PASGT helmet. Although there's a bit of artistic licence, I've modelled this after a New Zealand Counter Terrorist Tactical Assault Group operator. The CTTAG is a new unit in the New Zealand military set up specifically for CT or 'Black Role' operations domestically. It's members are drawn from all three services in the NZDF and they undertake a modified SAS selection course. If successful they then specialise in CT operations, and although attached to 1NZSAS GP they are not badged members of the SAS. After two years they will either return to their original service, or may be offered a further tour. If they wish to become fully badged members of the SAS they have to pass the full SAS selection course. The intent is that CTTAG is a full time unit for domestic coverage of the CT role, freeing up the more broadly trained SAS for overseas 'Green' roles, such as Afghanistan. This is my first attempt at using an airbrush for the majority of the painting. I used an Iwata HP-CP and mostly Tamiya acrylics. I then used Vallejo model colours for the details and outlining and some additional shadows. Oil paints were used for the leather portion of the boots and to give the metal work of the MP5 a sheen. This hasn't shown up too well in the photos though as it's pretty subtle anyway. Graphite from a pencil was used to highlight some of the raised detail in the MP5. I decided to paint the nomex flying gloves sage green and grey instead of black for a bit of contrast. The figure was built largely out of the box, except for the following: I added lenses to the S10 respirator. The sights, muzzle and Surefire weapon light on the MP5 were drilled out, a lens was added to the weapon light. The moulded on karabiner and figure 8 descender were carved off and new ones scratch built. The kit base was used with the footpath made from a 10mm thick piece of MDF textured with Tamiya putty and painted with enamels and finished with weathering powders and pastels. Photographed with a Nikon D70s and a 18-70mm lens (not the best lens!). Used natural light and a bit of bounced flash, filled with a reflector just out of the frame. Hope you like him!
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Post by phil on Mar 5, 2009 20:51:27 GMT 12
Spitfire was out engine running today while we were practising for next weeks pilot grad parade.
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Post by phil on Mar 3, 2009 16:59:55 GMT 12
In RNZAF service they carried the LAU-5002 6 shot CRV-7 rocket pod, and a modified PMBR (Practice Multiple Bomb Rack). The PMBR was a specially modified version with only 4 stations.
They also had internal MO32 7.62mm machine guns.
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Post by phil on Mar 3, 2009 13:38:09 GMT 12
Contact: timothy.jordan@nzdf.mil.nz
He's the boss at Central photographic at Ohakea. He has previously made a CD of Strikemaster images, I'm sure he still has the files and would be able to send you a copy.
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Post by phil on Feb 26, 2009 8:47:22 GMT 12
It's not just the army, it's the whole NZDF.
Suffice to say we were quite impressed to get wet weather gear made by Swazi, as it's very well made to a very high standard.
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