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MOTAT
Sept 25, 2021 16:49:45 GMT 12
Post by Dave Homewood on Sept 25, 2021 16:49:45 GMT 12
Our Air Force should have bought it at that price though. Just seeing that it was offered was a surprise to me, especially as it was only four or five years old, and airworthy.
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MOTAT
Sept 25, 2021 17:36:50 GMT 12
Post by emron on Sept 25, 2021 17:36:50 GMT 12
Yes it was probably a tongue in cheek marketing ploy by the manufacturer. I’m sure the NZ government would have banned the import of an operational one anyway.
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Post by shorty on Sept 25, 2021 18:53:40 GMT 12
I seem to recall from my time with Motat all those years ago that there was an offer of a Belvedere helicopter ex RAF Singapore and a F-86 ex the Philipp.ines
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Post by emron on Oct 9, 2021 12:33:27 GMT 12
Car Park Update Emboldened by the PM’s granting of new freedoms, I ventured out on foot, beyond my front gate for the first time in a couple of months. Naturally, what was my first destination? The drainage project had only just commenced when Level 4 lock down interrupted. A fresh start is underway. The outfall into the estuary and the excavation under Meola Rd have now been done. A duck joined me to inspect the job. Meola_Rd_1 by Ron Wilson, on Flickr Laying of the main pipeline along the road frontage has begun. Meola_Rd_2 by Ron Wilson, on Flickr Meola_Rd_3 by Ron Wilson, on Flickr Some of the treasures from the dig. I wonder if they’ll uncover any aircraft relics? Meola_Rd_4 by Ron Wilson, on Flickr
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MOTAT
Oct 9, 2021 12:41:01 GMT 12
Post by markrogers on Oct 9, 2021 12:41:01 GMT 12
Was Meola Rd a rubbish dump before Motat came along?
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Post by emron on Oct 9, 2021 14:09:11 GMT 12
Yes it was the main municipal rubbish dump for central Auckland from the 1920’s through to 1960’s. Here’s an extract from a Retrolens 1966 aerial photo showing the extent of the landfill. Bounded by Motions Rd, the Zoo and Pasadena Intermediate to the south, Motions Creek to the east, Meola Creek to the west and Meola Reef to the north. At this stage the Seddon Fields had already been formed and Western Springs College (then Seddon Memorial Technical College) had just been built in the middle. Note the lonesome recently arrived Solent. Meola Road itself was partly built on a causeway when the extension between Westmere and Pt Chevalier was laid down in the 1950’s. meola_rd_1966a by Ron Wilson, on Flickr
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MOTAT
Oct 9, 2021 14:28:55 GMT 12
Post by Dave Homewood on Oct 9, 2021 14:28:55 GMT 12
The place has certainly changed a bit.
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MOTAT
Oct 9, 2021 14:30:44 GMT 12
Post by delticman on Oct 9, 2021 14:30:44 GMT 12
Was Meola Rd a rubbish dump before Motat came along? I was in Auckland for a holiday with my parents. I can not remember extactly but the Harbour Bridge still had a few spans missing in the middle, joined not long afterwards. Why we went past Meola Road on that stay I dont know but it was an active rubbish dump not as high as the current museum but there was some big machinery working it.
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Post by emron on Oct 9, 2021 15:35:04 GMT 12
If you'd been passing by a few years later you might have noticed this. Sixty years ago. Maybe not a Museum one but I wonder if this became the first “exhibit” on the site. ---- “Press” 23-November-1961. VAN MAY GIVE CLUE ON SAFE-BREAKINGS (N.Z. Press Association) AUCKLAND, November 22. A grey van stolen from Mount Eden on Friday night was found yesterday completely repainted green and abandoned in the Meola road rubbish tip at Point Chevalier. It bore the licence plates of another vehicle. The police said that the van may be an important clue to safe-breaking incidents in the city last week-end.
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Post by emron on Oct 14, 2021 16:06:34 GMT 12
Yes it was the main municipal rubbish dump for central Auckland from the 1920’s through to 1960’s. Here’s an extract from a Retrolens 1966 aerial photo showing the extent of the landfill. Bounded by Motions Rd, the Zoo and Pasadena Intermediate to the south, Motions Creek to the east, Meola Creek to the west and Meola Reef to the north. At this stage the Seddon Fields had already been formed and Western Springs College (then Seddon Memorial Technical College) had just been built in the middle. Note the lonesome recently arrived Solent. Meola Road itself was partly built on a causeway when the extension between Westmere and Pt Chevalier was laid down in the 1950’s. meola_rd_1966a by Ron Wilson, on Flickr In the bottom right hand corner of the tip you can make out dumping still underway to fill the last hollow. That’s the location and outline of an old quarry that was operated by the Public Works Dept. during the 1930’s to 1950’s. The basalt rock was trucked out onto Meola Reef to a crushing plant on the shore of the harbour. From there it was loaded on barges which were towed to numerous points around the Waitemata, including for seawall construction on the waterfront. It was also a major source of the aggregate used in casting the interlocking hexagonal concrete slabs that formed the runway at Whenuapai air base. Perhaps worthy of note is another connection to the RNZAF. Fast forward 45 years from the date of this photo and a WW2 hangar from Ardmore was relocated to above this very spot. Perhaps one day we should dig up of one of those slabs from Whenuapai and bring it home as a memorial too.
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Post by shorty on Oct 14, 2021 21:44:27 GMT 12
I spent many an hour as a teenager at the Meola Rd dump scavenging for parts to keep my Ford 10 going. It was a treasure trove of neat "stuff" Around 1956 (prior to that photo) I used to attend Pasadena Intermediate
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Post by emron on Oct 15, 2021 9:46:45 GMT 12
“...treasure trove of neat stuff”
Hopefully a bit more classy now but proud to follow in that tradition.
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Post by emron on Nov 3, 2021 11:14:34 GMT 12
Seeing nuuumannn’s photos of Kestrel engines at the Nelson Classic Car Museum reminds me there’s some unfinished business with MOTAT’s one. A year ago I was planning to make a cut down display propeller for it out of a solid laminated block of wood. Again in lock down for the second time since then and without the materials or tools to handle that block, I’ve had a rethink and made a start on a hollow one instead. It’s quite a geometry puzzle but I have access to a genuine prop to compare. I’ll keep you posted as it comes together. Hardly the type of event to celebrate but it’s coming up to the 80th anniversary of the crash of Hind NZ1518, which happened on 20 November 1941. I had hoped to have done some more repairs and fitted the prop to it’s Kestrel before that anniversary but C-19 has intervened. As Auckland moves to Level 3.2 next week, it’s planned for MOTAT’s M1 site (Western Springs) to re-open in a limited way to the public on Wednesday Nov-10, but the Aviation Display Hall remains closed and volunteer activities are still on hold.
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Post by emron on Nov 7, 2021 18:42:01 GMT 12
I’ve begun cutting out pieces for the short display propeller. It will be 32 inches long. The Watt’s type propeller has a wooden fairing built on after the blade has been machined to shape. The Hind prop is 9” thick at the hub and the fairing is 12” diameter at the front, flaring out to 20” where it meets the engine cowl. Overall length is 10ft-10in and pitch 11.47. Illustration borrowed from the Key Aero forum shows how the inner parts of the fairing were assembled in the factory. It was covered by a thin layer of plywood. watts_prop_fairing by Ron Wilson, on Flickr Basic layout so far. There are plenty of gaps to fill in yet but you probably get an idea of the final shape. kestrel_prop by Ron Wilson, on Flickr
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MOTAT
Nov 8, 2021 22:12:30 GMT 12
Post by ErrolC on Nov 8, 2021 22:12:30 GMT 12
Car Park Update Emboldened by the PM’s granting of new freedoms, I ventured out on foot, beyond my front gate for the first time in a couple of months. Naturally, what was my first destination? ... From today's email M2 Carpark Delayed Due to the most recent lockdown in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, the carpark construction and Aviation Display Hall Redevelopment Project at our M2 site has been delayed. We are estimating that M2 will reopen in June of 2022. We are sorry for the inconvenience this may cause. You can read more about this project and the FAQs on our website.
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Post by Peter Lewis on Nov 10, 2021 16:15:05 GMT 12
No ADH Volunteer Hosts onsite until we reach Level 1.
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MOTAT
Nov 10, 2021 16:47:28 GMT 12
via mobile
baz62 likes this
Post by ErrolC on Nov 10, 2021 16:47:28 GMT 12
Level 1 isn't going to apply again. Traffic lights from December.
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Post by corsairarm on Nov 11, 2021 13:30:52 GMT 12
I'm picking the New Year before we volunteers go back. I've still got a bit to do around home before I start to get bored. I did go to the ADH a couple of weeks ago to look for a pair of glasses in the Sunderland. It was eerie. I got special permission as I need them for using a computer. Didn't find them so now waiting for a new pair.
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Post by emron on Nov 12, 2021 16:33:10 GMT 12
Likewise I’m not sure when, or under which traffic light colour, that on-site volunteer action will resume. Meanwhile I’ll keep working on what I can from home. Maybe tonight’s episode of “Good with Wood” will provide me inspiration. I might even manage to finish it before Christmas! kestrel_prop2 by Ron Wilson, on Flickr
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Post by emron on Nov 26, 2021 16:56:28 GMT 12
Kestrel Update I’ve now cut out the various wooden blocks that when glued together will form the two propeller stubs. I was thinking of roughly shaping each block first but that’s all too complex, so I’ll leave the profile cutting until the two separate slabs have been glued. Here’s a picture of the back end of the Kestrel. The engine control shaft and the various rods and levers that radiate from it, got damaged in the Hind crash 80 years ago. A lot of steel parts rusted away over the following thirty years in the bush. I’m about to fill in some of the missing links. kestrel_rear by Ron Wilson, on Flickr This page shows the parts that make up the assembly. kestrel_controls by Ron Wilson, on Flickr Here’s the assortment of original parts that I’ve gathered so far, along with a few replica parts I’ve made. This will go a long way to filling the gaps. A couple of the longer rods to the carburettor and the two eyebolts going to the magnetos will have to wait until I can visit the engine again and measure their exact length. kestrel control parts by Ron Wilson, on Flickr
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