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Post by apteryx on May 22, 2015 9:47:17 GMT 12
Good news from yesterday's budget. Additional funding for Metservice over the next four years will allow for "free weather forecasting services for the recreational aviation sector".
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Post by apteryx on Apr 30, 2015 15:20:28 GMT 12
I was in the area on Sunday and went to have a look at Papawai airstrip from the ground, having flown over it in the past. It never hurts to recce an airstrip in case you have to use it in a hurry one day!
Gliding operations were under way and I watched a winch launch; the winch kit was quite impressive. Got talking to one of the members who said the blokes with the theodolite I could see in the paddock were sizing up a place for a new hangar, and an extended cross-runway is under consideration. So it seems the development is really going ahead.
It's nice to see the district council supportive of a local enterprise like this.
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Post by apteryx on Jan 28, 2015 10:59:27 GMT 12
Hello Dik
Thanks for your interest in the last flight of S D Watts and A A Matheson in 1944.
You probably already know this from Colin Hanson's informative volume, 'By Such Deeds - Honours and awards in the Royal New Zealand Air Force 1923-1999': MATHESON, Flying Officer Archibald Allisdair, DFM. NZ412714; Born Carterton, 23 May 1915; RNZAF 4 May 1941 to (kao) 11 Jul 1944; Navigator. Citation Distinguished Flying Medal (8 Jun 1943): [218 Sqn RAF (Stirling)] A highly skilled navigator, Sergeant Matheson has completed many sorties. In December, 1942, while on an operational flight to Germany the wireless equipment in his aircraft failed. Despite this, Sergeant Matheson guided the bomber successfully to the target and back. On all occasions this airman has displayed great devotion to duty and contributed in no small way to the successes attained. In Nov 1942 Fg Off Matheson joined 218 Sqn, flying 25 sorties to - Bordeaux, Lorient, St Nazaire, Frankfurt, Mannheim, Duisburg, Nuremberg, Cologne, Berlin, Hamburg, Essen and Turin. He also flew mine-laying sorties to the Frisian and Terschelling Islands. On his ‘rest’ tour he instructed with 1657 HCU RAF during which time he also flew two ASR sorties. In Feb 1944 he joined 692 Sqn (Mosquito) of the LNSF and carried out a further 42 sorties including - Berlin(7), Stuttgart(3), Duisburg(2), Cologne(5), Frankfurt, Kiel(2), Mannheim, Ludwigshafen(5), Dusseldorf(5), Bremen, Saarbrücken, Hanover(3). On a 23 Feb 1944 raid on Dusseldorf his aircraft carried the first 4000lb bomb to be dropped on Germany from a Mosquito. Kao Berlin, 11 Jul 1944, with 692 Sqn on his 67th sortie. No known grave. Commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial. (http://www.rafcommands.com/forum/showthread.php?1149-Bomb-load-for-Mosquito-to-Berlin)
Through my family history interests in New Zealand I've found out something about A A Matheson. He was married at the time of his death but had no children, and his wife later remarried and had two children. AAM's medals were bequeathed to one of them, a daughter, who gave them to the branch of the RSA (veterans' association) in the area where he had lived.
Douwe Drijver, the Treasurer and Researcher of the Stichting Missing Airmen Memorial Foundation, has been interested in the the Watts/Matheson crash, so you would be able to find out more from him if you haven't been in contact already.
It would be good if you could post updates on your research into this crash in this forum. Thanks again.
Andrew Matheson
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Post by apteryx on Nov 7, 2014 16:48:46 GMT 12
Hi Nikki As Dave says, you'll get some helpful suggestions from people on this forum. Your grandfather's service personnel file will be very useful for you. The Imperial War Museum in the UK holds some footage from a 'gun camera' in your grandfather's Spitfire: www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1060033941Combat Film No 11616. Flying Officer de Tourret of 485 Squadron on 1/9/1944 at 1630, flying Spitfire. Target: ground target The description of this type of film is: Very brief filmed records of aerial combat and air-to-ground attacks by RAF fighter pilots. Captions identify pilot name, squadron, date and time of attack, aircraft type, and target. (Personnel named are not visible I see you've been active on Ancestry so are well on the way to learning about your grandfather's life outside the RNZAF. Best wishes with your searching.
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Post by apteryx on Jun 8, 2014 3:50:10 GMT 12
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Post by apteryx on Apr 20, 2014 20:00:44 GMT 12
The WW100 symbol is on his right lapel: no ordinary poppy. The badge on his left lapel is for those in the official party for the royal tour. It's based on the huia feather.
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Post by apteryx on Apr 20, 2014 19:58:07 GMT 12
Dave
It's the symbol of the First World War Centenary Programme WW100: WW100.govt.nz
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Post by apteryx on Nov 24, 2013 10:48:30 GMT 12
Saw a C17 fly just off Kapiti Island heading south, just at minimum height I reckon, on Sat 23 at maybe 1830 or so. Presumably this was in the country for this exercise?
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Post by apteryx on Mar 26, 2012 20:23:06 GMT 12
While walking along the Wellington waterfront at about 1315 today I saw what I thought was Air New Zealand's All Black 777 doing scenic circles over the capital.
First I saw it fly what looked like a RH downwind for 34, slow with a high angle of attack, but later it came over the runway at 1500' or so heading north, before circling around to the right and entering the RH downwind leg again.
Great Wellington weather, it would have been an awesome view of the harbour and city. Does anyone know what was going on?
Thanks
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Post by apteryx on Nov 12, 2011 14:41:04 GMT 12
Great to see specialist reporters on the job ( www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10765462): "They said it was going to be better for passengers because it can fly at lower altitudes. It means those passengers who have deep vein thrombosis or who get dehydrated are going to have a much more comfortable flight." and "The planes are also much safer because technology in the cockpit means instruments are easier to read." Fabulous!
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Post by apteryx on Sept 3, 2011 13:04:31 GMT 12
Dave
Condolences on the loss of someone who was so important to you. Thanks very much for recording and sharing such fascinating stories; it's really important that these aren't lost.
Andrew
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Post by apteryx on Aug 13, 2011 11:41:07 GMT 12
EFBNZ lite is no longer available in the app store. Does anyone know if this is going to be relaunched?
Similarly cannot find the NZairfields mentioned above, though Airfields NZ is available.
Thanks
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Post by apteryx on Jun 22, 2011 2:21:19 GMT 12
This is in my logbook from 1973, and it's nice to see it back in RNZAF colours. Thanks for the update.
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Post by apteryx on Jun 1, 2011 23:41:12 GMT 12
Thanks for the feedback on the article. I haven't seen the WAAF book, Dave. I remembered that I had this article from my father's papers about the shipwrights who worked on the boats, of whom he was one (and is mentioned in the article). Sorry it's undated (and a rather poor copy). Andrew
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Post by apteryx on May 29, 2011 19:15:08 GMT 12
Hi Given the interest here in RNZAF motorboats I thought it would be helpful if David Duxbury's article could be made available to a wider audience. Thanks to David Duxbury (and the AHSNZ) for being agreeable to this, and the RNZAF Museum for allowing further dissemination of the photographs. According to the museum the references for the photos in the order they appear in the article are: RNZAF Official, PR1595 RNZAF Official, LbG490~52 RNZAF Official, PR337 RNZAF Official, LbG482~52 Air Force Museum collection, MUS931562T Here is the article:
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Post by apteryx on May 25, 2011 10:59:26 GMT 12
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Post by apteryx on May 25, 2011 2:50:57 GMT 12
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Post by apteryx on Mar 31, 2011 10:12:10 GMT 12
Dave Thanks for posting this interesting account of RNZAF pilots at Leyte soon after the US landings. I took part in the most recent commemoration of those landings ( blogs.mfat.govt.nz/andrew-matheson/he-did-return/) but did not know of any direct New Zealand connections to the battle. I understand that Mindoro was attacked on around 15/12/44, so the article suggests the ferry pilots arrived at Tacloban, Leyte, a few days before that, which would have been about two months after the Leyte landings. Do we know if these or any other RNZAF pilots stayed on to take part in any action in that part of the Philippines, or were they involved only in ferrying planes to that part of the theatre? Andrew
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Post by apteryx on Feb 10, 2011 0:00:11 GMT 12
Hi Propwash There most certainly were RNZAF motorboats. A good account is "RNZAF marine craft; a brief survey 1929-1967" by D J Duxbury in the Journal of the Aviation Historical Society of New Zealand 38(2): 20-26 (1995). I have a copy if I can figure how to upload it, if that doesn't breach copyright. My late father Roy Matheson was in the marine section in WW2, and in later years was active in the marine section association. He was one of the prime movers in restoring W88, which is now in the RNZAF museum at Wigram. The attached photo is from 2006 and shows that timber movement has opened up a few cracks. Colin Armiger was a chief conspirator with Dad in the W88 restoration; nice to know he's still around, thanks Dave H. Andrew Attachments:
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Post by apteryx on Dec 20, 2010 22:05:33 GMT 12
I hope this isn't too far off the topic of New Zealand's civil aviation history, but I thought some readers might be interested in the story of a New Zealander being responsible for kick-starting civil aviation in the Philippines in the 1930s: blogs.mfat.govt.nz/andrew-matheson/kiwis-can-fly/The story was an opportunity to put in a plug for today's aviation industry in New Zealand Andrew
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