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Post by timmo on Oct 9, 2009 8:10:57 GMT 12
And I do think when it has all washed up and after some golf at Kauri Cliffs, a bit of a backseat blat in a Macchi for old times sake, and some back country heli-fishing for fat rainbows all on the MoD credit card, Hoss will say .... Nah...!! But perhaps Dr Mapp, with a smile on his face and heavy breathing will say 'Yes! We gotta have these things back!'
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Post by yogi on Oct 9, 2009 13:29:31 GMT 12
And I do think when it has all washed up and after some golf at Kauri Cliffs, a bit of a backseat blat in a Macchi for old times sake, and some back country heli-fishing for fat rainbows all on the MoD credit card, Hoss will say .... Nah...!! But perhaps Dr Mapp, with a smile on his face and heavy breathing will say 'Yes! We gotta have these things back!' That would be excellent, but I think mapp's opinion of NZ having fighters was blatantly obvious in his bit on the news the other night. "never used when we had them" wtf wayne.....
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Post by chewy on Oct 9, 2009 16:39:08 GMT 12
To get these aircraft flying, are they getting a Group servce? Or are they just going to fit new carts, change the tyres, run the engines and say they are good to go. I worked the Skyhawk desk at TCPC and i know what is involved. I can't wait to see what is going to happen.
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Post by kiwithrottlejockey on Oct 9, 2009 18:42:32 GMT 12
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Post by kiwithrottlejockey on Oct 9, 2009 18:43:48 GMT 12
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Post by skyhawkdon on Oct 10, 2009 8:42:08 GMT 12
Brilliant! ;D
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Post by skyhawkdon on Oct 10, 2009 8:47:12 GMT 12
To get these aircraft flying, are they getting a Group servce? Or are they just going to fit new carts, change the tyres, run the engines and say they are good to go. I worked the Skyhawk desk at TCPC and i know what is involved. I can't wait to see what is going to happen. The guys at Safe Air are saying they will have all Check and Group servicings completed as a condition of sale, with a minimum of 200hrs available on each airframe and engine when delivered to the US. They also think that they will be test flown IN NZ before being shipped to the US. But they have been told they won't be starting any work on them until a contract is signed with TAS and that isn't likely until early next year... clearly there are some "minor" details to be worked through.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Oct 10, 2009 9:58:13 GMT 12
Can we store them in museums till then Don?
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Post by chewy on Oct 10, 2009 15:45:19 GMT 12
Do they have to take all of them? Can we just loose a couple? Write them off as " shrinkage".
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Post by yogi on Oct 11, 2009 12:23:47 GMT 12
lol, "lose a couple"
stranger things have happened!!
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Post by 30sqnatc on Oct 11, 2009 21:25:16 GMT 12
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Post by Dave Homewood on Oct 11, 2009 21:56:41 GMT 12
I wonder if there's any way to write into the sales agreement that a couple come back to NZ for museums when they are retired form their next role in the USA?
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Post by yogi on Oct 11, 2009 21:58:09 GMT 12
geez. the beaurocracy must expand to meet the expanding beaurocracy........?
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Post by skyhawkdon on Oct 12, 2009 6:38:06 GMT 12
I wonder if there's any way to write into the sales agreement that a couple come back to NZ for museums when they are retired form their next role in the USA? That was also written into the sale agreement when we bought the ex RAN A-4Gs, but it hasn't stopped us trying to sell the lot!
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Post by yogi on Oct 13, 2009 20:16:22 GMT 12
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Post by skyhawkdon on Oct 13, 2009 21:50:01 GMT 12
Nice tribute Feb 95, Skyhawk Silver Jubilee display Ohakea. That formation of Hornets and A-4s was pretty cool.
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Post by chewy on Oct 14, 2009 16:48:38 GMT 12
Seeing the A4 taking the wire reminds me that there is a car port in bulls with all the uprights made out of tail hooks complete, just set in concrete. After they were used a repair scheme came out.
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Post by yogi on Oct 14, 2009 19:29:38 GMT 12
Seeing the A4 taking the wire reminds me that there is a car port in bulls with all the uprights made out of tail hooks complete, just set in concrete. After they were used a repair scheme came out. lol excellent
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Post by 30sqnatc on Oct 14, 2009 19:47:17 GMT 12
Seeing the A4 taking the wire reminds me that there is a car port in bulls with all the uprights made out of tail hooks complete, just set in concrete. After they were used a repair scheme came out. No problem with the car overshooting the parking spot then
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fb6
Flight Lieutenant
Posts: 96
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Post by fb6 on Oct 21, 2009 3:38:54 GMT 12
Well, considering our Skyhawks are roughly the same age as our Orions and Hercules, I feel it's still fitting they should stay here. After reading all the comments, I sit in Obiwan27 & Hawkeye's camp...
I'm embarrassed that we always seem 'dependant' on Oz for any serious protection and we as a country don't pull our smaller weight with our mutual defence with them...
As I read somewhere recently, ''Politicans are like nappies. They both need changing reguarly, and for the same reason...''
As pointed-out earlier, we spend '0.something' of our budget on Defence, and it should be a matter of fixed policy that our Defence Budget should be treated seriously, with budgeted fiscal fortitude to maintaining a respectable level of surveillance, self defence & strike capability, across our Armed Forces, irrespective of which pack of self-serving politicans are in power. When will NZ'er's wake-up and remember from History that, 'what usually happens is when we least expect it to happen'....and each time we have been [so far] bailed-out by others.....
Maybe we sit away down here 'isolated' in our far corner of the world and think no one is interested in us, strategically, but we ARE a right, plump 'little 'green gem', with a lot of desirable qualities, the least of all being 'space', for example, where 4 million of us live in an area the size of say, Germany, with it's 70 odd million people!...... Couple that with our material assets etc and we also being a gateway to Antartica and ALL it's potential mineral wealth etc, we and Oz have to start seriously taking care of our neighbourhood. -Just check-out the problems Oz is already having with the 'boatpeople' coming down on them...........
All these potential possibilities may not come to pass perhaps in my lifetime and perhaps some would think me 'paranoid' for voicing them, but in the History of Mankind, we have always fought over Land, Race and Religon, let alone our 'Needs'......
So getting back to the Skyhawks; sure they're not the 'latest, bestest jet fighters', but they're still ours, they're still very capable, and still in use by other countries.... We have 71 highly trained SAS guys in Afghanistan, and I was trained by ex-'Nam SAS instructors, as have many soldiers since...We need these frameworks to always keep training our soldiers, sailors and airmen - We have a complete force of aircraft and although some of it's been dismantled, it can still be re-instated and retained...-we can always 'trade-up' again later...
To sell them back is a monumental cop-out- it's just politicans playing political football with them.... I read awhile back that Skyhawks are becoming quite popular in the Airshow scene in US, cheap-to-run for a jet and terrific for the crowds... This will be their fate if they get returned, sold-off at good price for airshow jocks. The US has heaps of other jets to train aircrew in, and thats what's so fishy about this purchasing deal... They will be laughing all the way to the bank...
We should keep them. And yes, we should have those ones that are past flight careers and spare parts use assembled for static display in museums. These aircraft were hailed as 'truly unique' when Heinmann first designed them, and have irrefutably proved their military value over the decades. RNZAF Personnel have also proved their ingenious ability to maintain and use these aircraft and were only defeated by politicans.
We should also start cranking-up the pressure on and lobbying any and all of our politicans that are being pussys about OUR Defence requirements... Fancy reading the other day with shock, that Our soldiers are all currently commited on overseas deployment!...Gives one some idea of just how small and scaled-back our Armed Forces really are....If we were a European-type country, we would HAVE to have a decent sized military, full-stop!
So, food for thought.......
Kia Kaha Cheers Ross
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