Ceres

[thomarse]

Hi all.

I just found this while cruising.........

www.qam.com.au/aircraft/ceres/VH-CEU.htm

I always wondered what happened to our Ceres. The last one I saw was under some tarpaulins at Ardmore in the late 80s or early 90s I would guess.

Can anyone shed any light on this? Apart from whichever one is at Motat (BSQ?) are there any oither bits and pieces lying around?

Cheers

[curtiss]

Hi,

I purchased ZK BZO from the Silverstream Museum when it closed down. I was intending to rebuild it as a Wirraway but got interested in other aircraft and sold it in Australia in 1993. Nobody in NZ was interested in it at the time.

Attached are Ceres production lists for anyone who is interested in tracking the aircraft.

[Peter Lewis]

The mention of ZK-BPU in that QAM link is interesting, as this is allegedly the one at MoTAT.

16Jan2008


The fates as listed are:

CA28-4 ZK-BPU Damaged in F/L Korima 13Feb70 & WFU. To MoTAT 1972

CA28-7 ZK-BXW WFU at Palmerston North & B/up, canc 2/12/1969

CA28-8 ZK-BXY Cr near Turangarere, Taihape, 3Feb61

CA28-9 ZK-BZO WFU after F/L from fuel exhaustion near Pahiatua Track, Tararua Ranges, 17Jan72. Stored Wellington; to M Nicolls at Ohakea for rebuild as Wirraway. to Australia for Paul Wheeler, Qld

CA28-11 ZK-BSQ F/l Coleman's strip, Raetihi, 24May68. RTS - reported to be with Ken Jacobs, Riverhead, 2006

CA28-12 ZK-BVS WFU & B/up at Hamilton, canc 2/12/1969

Obviously BVS and BXW (or parts therefrom) could be anywhere by now.

[avagwhiz]

From memory I have slides of at least 3 different Ceres including BZO flown by George Hettershield? off the Land&Survey? strip at McKays Crossing sometime between 66 and 72.
Another slide was taken of one being repaired in the back of James hangar at Rukuhia and I am pretty sure there is one at Wanganui BSQ WAW? and probably BVS at Milson on a picket.
I only "relocated" my slide collection today and will have to spend some time sorting out whats there and how to transfer to disk so that eventually I can put some of these up on the forum.
There are alot of Pawnees,Cubs,Agricolas,Lodestars,Daks,180's,185's,188,s,Braves and yes Zac the usual Fu24s and early Cresco's.This is quite a task as there are a lot of slides. Oh I forgot the Beavers.

[thomarse]

Is that you J.A?

How do you transfer slides to disc or to anything for that matter? I have very few but what I've got is worth having!

Cheers

[Peter Lewis]

Slide scanner

[avagwhiz]

Hi Tom.Sure is.
Am looking at buying a slide scanner so I can digitalise but cant really justify the cost.
There are thousands of slides either in big slide "cases" or still in their original Kodak or Agfa boxes.All were taken 65-72 before I went onto Colour photos.
There is a limit to how many slides "tired" eyes can look at thru a small slide holder at once but I will perserveer.Regards.

[Deleted]

Hi all,
Some of you may already know a few years ago I built a rough representation of a CA-28 Ceres from the Airfix 1:72 Harvard with firewall-forward parts of the High Planes Wirraway:


However I now have a complete Ventura 1:72 Wirraway kit and would love to build ZK-BSQ again, only this time as accurate as possible.

I was wondering if anyone here had any pictures, diagrams, general arrangement drawings which could help me?

[gtw]

Zac, BSQ had bubble side windows on the canopy when the oil pump drive bearing collapsed, got rid of 9 galls oil in 2mins, motor seized on touch down, I was out of the cockpit before BSQ stopped rolling.
Also your model does not show the oil stains on the fus, we used about a gallon of oil an hour.
Great plane to fly,and I got the last flight!

[Deleted]

Haha well I can get it right this time! I must say Ditch was quite taken with it.

What was it like to fly? Until the incident, that is!

[gtw]

Probably the best aircraft I flew on ag, good at spot landings, and good control, and carried a big load.

[gtw]

I think the Wanganui Cronicle had a photo of BSQ on a truck about a month later,We took the wings of and truck her back without escort, Cops where not amused.

[delticman]

The middle shot at Wanganui should be March 1967.

[delticman]

Because in March 1966. I think it was in the hangar in bits and would have been silver. I dont have a date for it going into the hangar for overhaul. It was completed in August 1966 and was all white, just with the red stripe where the regn is and parked outside for four months. Over the Christmas Holidays 1966/67 it was painted red, the script added a couple of weeks later.

[starr]

The first time i met Ditch was in the winter of 1962. I was loading DC3 AZL for Jack Humphries at Ohingaiti when Ditch called in flying the Ceres. A lot of things have happened since then. One thing is we are a lot older, even if we do not admit it.

[delticman]

One thing we are is wiser!

[Deleted]

Does anyone know for sure if the remains of BSQ are still in NZ, and who has them?

[thomarse]

We never did sort out where BSQ is did we?

Or how Paul Wheeler thinks he has BPU?

[Peter Lewis]

From "A Consolidated History of The Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation CA28 Ceres Agricultural Aircraft - V2.0 Jan 2014" by Peter Reardon

ZK-BPU:

"On 16 May 2007, Paul Wheeler advised that this project, which is now located at the Queensland Air
Museum (QAM), Caloundra, is a composite of two Ceres: CA28-4 (VH-CED/ZK-BPU) and CA28-9 (VH-CEL/ZK-BZO). It is believed therefore, that the windscreen, canopy and rear hatch on the QAM fuselage section probably came from one or both of these aircraft."

ZK-BSQ:

"In 1973, the fuselage ZK-BSQ was stored on a farm near Wanganui. In 1989, it was noted at Auckland-Ardmore stored dismantled and damaged. In July 2011 ZK-BSQ was reported to be owned by a Mr Ken Jacobs, Riverhead, Auckland, New Zealand, where restoration was cancelled and it was reduced
to spares – and was thought be derelict in a warehouse."

[johnnyfalcon]

ZK-BPU