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Post by turboNZ on Apr 12, 2005 11:40:44 GMT 12
Greetings,
After reading the totally fascinating thread over at the "pommy mag" forum, question is has anyone here ever experienced any strange "spiritual" goings-on at the RNZAF bases (or airfields for that matter) ??
Dave, I see you mentioned a couple at the other forum.
I myself haven't but am very interested to hear others.
Cheers
TNZ
PS I'm not sure where this thread goes on this forum but thought here would be a good start.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Apr 12, 2005 20:37:35 GMT 12
It's ok Chris, you can mention the FlyPast Forum here. That's the pommy mag forum her refers to. Apart from the ghost in the parachute tower at Whenuapai when I was there (which I thought was a total joke till I read the FlyPast ghost thread and started to wonder  ), I can offer another I've not mentioned on FP (that I remember). I do not know if it is in any way related to the RNZAF presence there, possibly, but a very well known local legend has it that there's a ghost at Rukuhia that - as you drive around the boundary at night - runs along beside your car looking in. The faster you drive, the faster he runs, apparently. I have heard of this from several people, and one in particular said he travels the road all the time at night and sees him often. Scary stuff. See the FlyPast thread here forum.keypublishing.co.uk/showthread.php?t=22567&page=1 |
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Post by turboNZ on Apr 12, 2005 22:44:09 GMT 12
oh man !!!! Experiencing that would make my undies turn a different colour for sure.... |
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Post by turboNZ on Apr 12, 2005 22:47:37 GMT 12
after reading about the experiences of the FLYPAST (see, I said it !! ;D) forumites at the old disused control towers, wonder what it would be like to go to one of ours on a moonless night,...ie Wigram perhaps...  TNZ |
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Post by Dave Homewood on Apr 12, 2005 23:00:14 GMT 12
Are there any disused airfields where buildings still exist in this country? I think most airfields became airports and are busier than ever, and those unlucky enough to be turned back to farmland or housing estates seem toi have lost their old buildings.
Come to think of it I sometimes used to hear wierd engine running sounds in the dead of night at Wigram, they were never CT4's or Friendships, something bigger. I used to assume the air was carrying the sound from Harewood, but maybe it was ghostly Oxfords or Baffins? Who knws, I'd love to have seen either flying round even if it was a ghost plane.
Whoooooooooowww!!! (jangle of chains)
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Post by turboNZ on Apr 12, 2005 23:02:41 GMT 12
Maybe it was the ghostly Vickers Vincent/Vildebeest being rejected by heaven for being too uglllllllllllllllyyyyyyy ;D ;D ;D ;D (Turbo's gonna get a bite for this one.... ) |
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Post by Dave Homewood on Apr 12, 2005 23:08:04 GMT 12
I don't mind, think what you like. I love the Vincents and Vildes - they have real character and charm, and a fantastic history attached. And seeing one of each in the flesh made me love them all the more. I can't wait till those restorations are completed, then you'll see how awesome they really are. Now, if you said the Hudson was ugly, then you'd be in trouble. ;D If the planes I heard at Wigram were ghostly Vildebeests I'd be bloody mad. I'd have loved to have seen them, photographed them and maybe even gone for a ride.  |
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Post by turboNZ on Apr 12, 2005 23:13:47 GMT 12
hmmm,...gone for a ride in a ghostly Vildebeest, Dave  ? You been drinking the hard stuff tonight ?? ;D ;D Yes, Hudson's are okay but the PV-2 Ventura's leave them for dead in the beauty stakes sorry to say.. |
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Post by Dave Homewood on Apr 12, 2005 23:24:24 GMT 12
Drinking, I wish. I was just trying to prove how much I like them that I'd actually approach a ghost one and ask for a ride.
I read, by the way, th first NZ politician to ride in an RNZAF aircraft was Walter Nash, who was on Stewart Island and needed to get to Chch in a hurry. A Vildebeest happened to be there and the pilot had filled the cabin with sacks of Bluff oysters for the boys (which he apparently did on regular trips!) when Nash asked for a lift. So the then Minister of Finance had to sit atop of piles of sacks of oysters in the open cockpit. Good one RNZAF, they should reintroduce this mode of sharp, prickly transport for politicians.
Yes, Venturas are sleeker and also gorgeous, but the venerable Huddy had great charm and was beutiful in its own right. (to me)
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Post by turboNZ on Apr 12, 2005 23:27:45 GMT 12
I was really restraining myself from making an "oyster" joke with a 757 seat and Ms Clark...... Buggrit, I have to agree with you, I really would like to see one of the huge Vickers biplanes fly again,...but please a real one, not a spiritual one?? |
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Post by Dave Homewood on Apr 12, 2005 23:41:46 GMT 12
I think in the future using computer generated holographic equipment we'll be able to see and here realistic 'airshows' of etinct aircraft that look as real as the real thing, but are merely projections of light above the airfield. Imagine it, a formation of Wellingtons and Stirlings thundering over, then a Short Empire flying boat, and a realistic battle of Britain scene where Me109's have daimler benz engines and they explode, and holographich pilots bail out. This is pure theory now but I reckon if some boffin reads this and rips off my idea, it'll be so in 20 years time, and real aircraft will be restricted to joyrides and museums rather than display flyings. They would be man-made ghosts of the past. You could create a flypast like this one, oooh yeahhh  |
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Post by turboNZ on Apr 12, 2005 23:50:12 GMT 12
I reckon you've got that idea from Back to the Future 2 where Marty McFly gets eaten up by that holographic "shark"....same principle as what you're explaining.
CGI aircraft in movies are getting better and better (apart from Pearl Harbor !!) so it is possible...
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Post by Dave Homewood on Apr 13, 2005 0:00:57 GMT 12
I don't think I've seen BTTF2
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Post by turboNZ on Apr 13, 2005 9:48:14 GMT 12
It's the best Back to the Future, IMO
Anyway back on track,.....is there no other complete disused (wartime) RNZAF airfields in NZ apart from Wigram?
TNZ
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Post by Bruce on Apr 13, 2005 13:32:11 GMT 12
Taieri and Hobsonville still have most of the main buildings, although the airfield layouts of both have been compromised by non - aviation uses (Taieri has a "Fisher and Paykel" factory, but the 3 old RNZAF Hangars and the old union airways Hangar are still there) Ardmore still has a lot of the RNZAF Buildings, although some were demolished recently. Tauranga had its main hangar until last year (demolished  ) TeRapa has now been completely cleared. Rukuhia has a few scattered buildings left from RNZAF Days (Probably where the "Running Man" lives) Seagrove has largely disappeared, as has the old Bell Block airfield at New Plymouth. Lauthala bay (RNZAF in Fiji) still exists as the main campus for the university of the South Pacific. Do Ghosts really need buildings to haunt? |
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Post by turboNZ on Apr 13, 2005 14:10:20 GMT 12
I don't think so, I think ghosts prefer a Vildebeest or Vincent for "executive transport"....just ask Dave ;D
Seriously, thanks for that info, Bruce. From what you've said it sounds like Wigram is the most complete....(but for how much longer??)
TNZ
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Post by Dave Homewood on Apr 13, 2005 18:03:58 GMT 12
Hobsonville is still an RNZAF Base.
I wonder if anyone has felt or seen anything ghostly at Ardmore. It's a prime candidate.
Chris - Wigram complete? Yeah right, Wigram has largely been demolished!!
Rukuhia still has its wartime hangars as well as other buildings and houses, as has Nelson which has many wartime buildings too. Several airmen died flying from Nelson. And Omaka has some original wartime buildings
and a wartime hangar.
Harewood has many wartime buildings still in use.
Norwood has gone apart from a few footings where the hangars and buildings stood. Now farmland.
I wonder about the forward bases on Gaudalcanal and further up. No doubt loads of ghosts there.
I also wonder if the Bush Inn pub in Christchurch has any ghosts. That was used as the Officer's Mess (unofficially) for Wigram before the war, and frequented by pilots and aircrews right through the war. They had a big board with hundreds of wartime pilot's signatures on, signed when they passed their course and gained their wings. It's now in the RNZAF Museum.
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Post by turboNZ on Apr 13, 2005 19:56:11 GMT 12
I detect a hint of........not ghosts......but sarcasm, Mr Homewood.... ;D
I really would love to go to UK and look around some of those old air bases, just for the historical nature more than any"encounters".
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Post by Dave Homewood on Apr 13, 2005 20:05:55 GMT 12
What do you mean? I wasn't being sarcastic at all.
(and no, I am not being sarcastic now)
Everything I wrote above is true to the best of my knowledge. Hobsonville is stil an RNZAF Base, Wigram is virtualy demolished now and just a few hangars remain, and the rest is right too.
What were you reading sarcasm from??
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Post by Bruce on Apr 13, 2005 22:38:58 GMT 12
Never noticed anything during my time working at Ardmore - no ghost corsairs or nothing. .. never saw the Rukuhia running man (or even heard of him) in my time at Hamilton either. I guess I'm a sceptic. Certainly old ex-military buildings are of interest in thier own right, as is the memory of those lost in service from those bases. Such environments do play on the senses and emotions, and not belittling those who beleive in, or think they have seen these things, the mind is very powerful at creating things that arent there... (including sarcasm...  Just my opinion of course.... Now chris and Dave, will you guys just kiss and make up.... ;D |
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), I can offer another I've not mentioned on FP (that I remember).
? 
