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Post by pepe on Dec 3, 2021 7:28:16 GMT 12
CHE was the NDAC Victa,I learned to fly in it in 1978/79 at Whangarei.They had an earlier one which crashed over Dargaville way. ZK-CHF was the NDAC Victa, as per my previous post. ZK-CHE was owned from new by the Auckland Aero Club, and then went (via AESL) to the Northern Wairoa Aero Club at Dargaville in May 1973. They kept it until April 1984 when it moved to the RNZAF Base Woodbourne Aviation Sports Club. Following that it passed into private ownership in February 1992. Of course, CHE could have been loaned or leased to NDAC during its time at Dargaville. ZK-CHE was definitely resident at NDAC until February 1984 (last entry in logbook) which is in line with the change of ownership you refer to. It was the secondary trainer to the Tomahawk while I was a student (1982-83). From memory it was having some ongoing serviceability issues towards the end which may have prompted its transfer south. |
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Post by John Macilree on Dec 3, 2021 10:08:47 GMT 12
The Northland Districts Aero Club was incorporated into the Whangarei Flying Club which is still going strong down at Hangar 10. We have a fleet of two Tecnam P92 microlights, ZK-KFP and recently purchased ZK-TNZ, while there is a Savannah S kitset currently being assembled. Out of lockdown we are flying around 80 hours a month. See: www.whangareiflyingclub.com/ which has a History page. We still have a few photos from the NDAC days around the walls. My father was a keen member of the NDAC and I remember flying with him in the Club Archer ZK-NDA, as well as taking a few lessons in the Tomahawk ZK-DEH while I was still at high school in 1975. |
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Post by silentflyer on Dec 3, 2021 19:20:12 GMT 12
Bit of a scratchy photo,but me infront of CHE at Whangarei. Thanks RB. I honestly can’t remember the colour scheme, but I can remember the cockpit, especially that big old spade handle! I reckon it must have been CHE that I soloed in. I also remember the Trumahawk, I think I flew it a few times as a student but nothing about it cuts through the fog of time. I have a far more vivid memory of gliding days around then and flying in Piper Cubs which were far more fun. Looking at your photo, we must be around the same age (57 young years old!). If I could figure out how to post photos I’d put a couple up here from Onerahi, including a twin that had landed wheels up somewhere, which for the life of me, I can’t remember the details! Cheers for helping me piece my ageing memory back together again. Regards, SF  20211203_071441zz |
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Post by pepe on Dec 3, 2021 21:57:42 GMT 12
The Northland Districts Aero Club was incorporated into the Whangarei Flying Club which is still going strong down at Hangar 10. We have a fleet of two Tecnam P92 microlights, ZK-KFP and recently purchased ZK-TNZ, while there is a Savannah S kitset currently being assembled. Out of lockdown we are flying around 80 hours a month. See: www.whangareiflyingclub.com/ which has a History page. We still have a few photos from the NDAC days around the walls. My father was a keen member of the NDAC and I remember flying with him in the Club Archer ZK-NDA, as well as taking a few lessons in the Tomahawk ZK-DEH while I was still at high school in 1975. it nice to hear that Whangarei Flying Club is going well. The Archer II ZK-NDA (now ZK-KCC) was also my favourite aircraft. It is still one of the few aircraft that I can remember having to actually to work really hard to induce a stall (fully or basic). From memory it was flown out from the USA @ 1981 (courtesy of Dennis Thompson Intl.). The story goes that that ferry pilot had problems on the first leg (California-Hawaii) and was only saved by ATC in Honolulu before he disappeared off radar. He was quite upset by this and another pilot was required to be found (which took some time to achieve). The ironic thing about this was that when it eventually arrived it was full twin pilot IFR and the only aircraft that could complete the Whangarei Air Taxi scheduled service under IFR conditions (with two pilots?). I don't ever remember this happening for the obvious economic reasons. |
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Post by thomarse on Dec 4, 2021 12:34:54 GMT 12
Do any of you Whangarei folks know of one Francis S Howie (known as "Gus") who was a first-year pupil at the 1967 Walsh? He had done some flying at NDAC
I've been trying to track him down for years
Cheers
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Post by Peter Lewis on Dec 5, 2021 8:18:15 GMT 12
N28676/ZK-NDA arrived in NZ 9Aug1980.
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Post by Peter Lewis on Dec 5, 2021 9:49:39 GMT 12
Do any of you Whangarei folks know of one Francis S Howie (known as "Gus") who was a first-year pupil at the 1967 Walsh? He had done some flying at NDAC I've been trying to track him down for years Cheers I knew Gus Howie in the Hora Hora Air Scouts back in the early 60s. No contact since, however. Be interested to know how and where he ended up. |
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Post by planewriting on Dec 5, 2021 10:44:06 GMT 12
Does anyone know if Dmitri Zotov ever instructed at the old NDAC? Also there was a Victa Airtourer based there in the early 1980’s, can anyone remember the reg? SF Dmitri Zotov did indeed instruct at the old NDAC. He gave me my type rating on the PA-32-260 (ZK-DBP) in August 1983 (according to my old logbook). I also a had couple of aerobatic lessons with him in the Victa AT-100 ZK-CHE in the same month. Unfortunately the "concrete sparrow" was rather underpowered (with two onboard) for that particular purpose with most of the hour long lesson spent slowly clawing back up to altitude. R W (Whimpy) Baker was the CFI there for many years. Other instructors included Alan Ward and Warwick Bruce. It was a busy club in those days and also operated a twice daily scheduled service (Whangarei Air Taxi) to/from Auckland (and later Great Barrier Island). Aircraft operated included two Devons (ZK-UDO & KTT), later a GAF N22 Nomad (ZK-NDB), a couple more Cherokee Sixs (DSQ & DUO), Archer II (NDA) and a Tomahawk (ESG). I'm pretty sure this is D V Zotov who in December 1978 registered Slingsby Kestrel ZK-GKY in Christchurch. Ownership transferred in July 1983 to a new owner. This leads me to think that he moved to Whangarei and began instructing about that time with the NDAC as mentioned by Pepe. |
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Post by errolmartyn on Dec 5, 2021 12:12:47 GMT 12
Do any of you Whangarei folks know of one Francis S Howie (known as "Gus") who was a first-year pupil at the 1967 Walsh? He had done some flying at NDAC I've been trying to track him down for years Cheers I knew Gus Howie in the Hora Hora Air Scouts back in the early 60s. No contact since, however. Be interested to know how and where he ended up. According to the 1972 and 1978 electoral rolls, Francis Steven Howie was at that time residing in Whangarei. Cheers, Errol |
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Post by errolmartyn on Dec 5, 2021 12:27:28 GMT 12
Dmitri Zotov did indeed instruct at the old NDAC. He gave me my type rating on the PA-32-260 (ZK-DBP) in August 1983 (according to my old logbook). I also a had couple of aerobatic lessons with him in the Victa AT-100 ZK-CHE in the same month. Unfortunately the "concrete sparrow" was rather underpowered (with two onboard) for that particular purpose with most of the hour long lesson spent slowly clawing back up to altitude. R W (Whimpy) Baker was the CFI there for many years. Other instructors included Alan Ward and Warwick Bruce. It was a busy club in those days and also operated a twice daily scheduled service (Whangarei Air Taxi) to/from Auckland (and later Great Barrier Island). Aircraft operated included two Devons (ZK-UDO & KTT), later a GAF N22 Nomad (ZK-NDB), a couple more Cherokee Sixs (DSQ & DUO), Archer II (NDA) and a Tomahawk (ESG). I'm pretty sure this is D V Zotov who in December 1978 registered Slingsby Kestrel ZK-GKY in Christchurch. Ownership transferred in July 1983 to a new owner. This leads me to think that he moved to Whangarei and began instructing about that time with the NDAC as mentioned by Pepe. Presumably related to Victor Dmitrovich Zotov who was born in Russia on 16 Sep 08 and died in Christchurch on 26 May 77? Errol |
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Post by thomarse on Dec 5, 2021 15:41:20 GMT 12
Re: Gus Howie
Thanks Peter and Errol - I take it he didn't appear in an Electoral Roll after that?
AFAIK he's never turned up at any Walsh Reunion (and there's been a few) Peter do you know if he was related to "Jack" Howie the Real Estate Agent?
Re: Mr Zotov - didn't someone by that name once work for the CAA or perhaps Air Accident?
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Post by errolmartyn on Dec 5, 2021 21:28:37 GMT 12
Re: Gus Howie Thanks Peter and Errol - I take it he didn't appear in an Electoral Roll after that? AFAIK he's never turned up at any Walsh Reunion (and there's been a few) Peter do you know if he was related to "Jack" Howie the Real Estate Agent? Re: Mr Zotov - didn't someone by that name once work for the CAA or perhaps Air Accident? 1972 and 1978 rolls only. At same Whangarei address in 1972 roll as Francis Steven Howie is Francis John Howie, land agent. Cheers, Errol |
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Post by planewriting on Dec 7, 2021 8:20:45 GMT 12
Regarding Mr Zotov, I have received the following information:
D V Zotov had GKY from December 78 until September 1983. He was an accident investigator with TAIC & possibly CAA prior.
There was also a P D Zotov of Kaeo who had the Cessna 150H CKY from December 2005 until February 2008.
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Post by silentflyer on Dec 7, 2021 9:15:24 GMT 12
There is some tantalising stuff on the name of Dmitri Zotov that I have always wanted to know more of since he sent me off on my first solo which eventually led to a career in aviation. Being a keen glider pilot, I have come across the name of a Dmitri Zotov before here in the U.K. Dear old Wally Kahn (who sadly passed away just a few years ago and was a laugh a minute) wrote this of Dimitri:
Walter Kahn wrote:
>Wasn't one Flight Lieutenant Dimitri Zotov RAF whose flight was
described
>in one National Newspaper thus:-
>
>White Russian New Zealander flies German glider across the Irish
Sea from
>Scotland to Ireland.
As I said, Wally was a hoot. The stories he used to tell were legendary, no doubt spiced with a little ‘embellishment’ (why ruin a good story by telling the truth?) and he was well-known for his book, Glider Pilot Bold, which recounts his days in the RAF at the end of the war as he found himself at the heart of setting up the Services gliding clubs in Germany in 1946. He could reel off tales of breaking into German barns to confiscate Germany booty for the price of a packet of cigarettes. I well remember him telling me how he arrived at the Wasserkuppe to find dozens of gliders being piled up to be burnt by US troops when he spotted the Horten 4 flying wing and managed to convince the tenacious US troops (who were hell-bent in carrying out their commanding officers orders (apparently a US officer had been killed the day before trying to fly a glider so they were all being destroyed) that since the Horten was missing its rudder and tail, they may as well let them have it! It was the only Horten 4 to eventually come to the U.K. for evaluation and in the end, ended up in the US where Rudi Opitz (ex-German WW2 test-pilot) flew it a lot during the 50’s in comps etc there.
Anyways, back to Dmitri….
It seems he had a Airforce career as his name appears in Cranwell’s course lists. I haven’t found any RNZAF links yet, but it would be fascinating to learn more about Dmitri and his time with NDAC. I think he had at least one son who I think lived further north? Certainly snippets on the web suggest that there was possibly more to Dmitri than meets the eye, especially his work on aircraft incidents/accidents. Maybe someone will be able to give a more complete history. I wonder if Dmitri is still on this Earth, if he is, he will be a ripe old age now….after all, we are all getting old!
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Post by pepe on Dec 7, 2021 12:01:32 GMT 12
There is some tantalising stuff on the name of Dmitri Zotov that I have always wanted to know more of since he sent me off on my first solo which eventually led to a career in aviation. Being a keen glider pilot, I have come across the name of a Dmitri Zotov before here in the U.K. Dear old Wally Kahn (who sadly passed away just a few years ago and was a laugh a minute) wrote this of Dimitri: Walter Kahn wrote: >Wasn't one Flight Lieutenant Dimitri Zotov RAF whose flight was described >in one National Newspaper thus:- > >White Russian New Zealander flies German glider across the Irish Sea from >Scotland to Ireland. As I said, Wally was a hoot. The stories he used to tell were legendary, no doubt spiced with a little ‘embellishment’ (why ruin a good story by telling the truth?) and he was well-known for his book, Glider Pilot Bold, which recounts his days in the RAF at the end of the war as he found himself at the heart of setting up the Services gliding clubs in Germany in 1946. He could reel off tales of breaking into German barns to confiscate Germany booty for the price of a packet of cigarettes. I well remember him telling me how he arrived at the Wasserkuppe to find dozens of gliders being piled up to be burnt by US troops when he spotted the Horten 4 flying wing and managed to convince the tenacious US troops (who were hell-bent in carrying out their commanding officers orders (apparently a US officer had been killed the day before trying to fly a glider so they were all being destroyed) that since the Horten was missing its rudder and tail, they may as well let them have it! It was the only Horten 4 to eventually come to the U.K. for evaluation and in the end, ended up in the US where Rudi Opitz (ex-German WW2 test-pilot) flew it a lot during the 50’s in comps etc there. Anyways, back to Dmitri…. It seems he had a Airforce career as his name appears in Cranwell’s course lists. I haven’t found any RNZAF links yet, but it would be fascinating to learn more about Dmitri and his time with NDAC. I think he had at least one son who I think lived further north? Certainly snippets on the web suggest that there was possibly more to Dmitri than meets the eye, especially his work on aircraft incidents/accidents. Maybe someone will be able to give a more complete history. I wonder if Dmitri is still on this Earth, if he is, he will be a ripe old age now….after all, we are all getting old! My memory may be fading, but I didn't that think the Dmitri Zotov I knew (albeit relatively briefly) would have been old enough to have served in or around WWII. Which years did he attend Cranwell? Perhaps I have misjudged his age or there is a son/relative with the same name? |
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Post by errolmartyn on Dec 7, 2021 12:34:57 GMT 12
According to the 1981 published roll of its Old Boys, Dimitri Victorovich Zotov attended Christchurch Boys’ High School 1956-1957
His entry states ‘Squadron Leader, Defence Operational Analysis, Establishment, West Byfleet, Surrey, England.'
He was the Zotov who attended the RAF College (Course 80B).
His entry in a List of Graduates 1920-1962 has him as: ‘(80:B., Nav.); Christchurch Boys’ H.S., N.Z.; S.F/C.; I.N.T., A.M.W.S., A.G.F., R.U.S.I.; Plt Off.’
[SFC = Senior Flight Cadet; INT = Institute of Navigation Trophy and Air Ministry Prize for Navigators; AMWS = Air Ministry Prize for War Studies and Humanities; AGF = Abdy Gerrard Fellows Memorial Prize; RUSI = Royal United Services Institute Award.]
And
Nikolai Victorovich Zotov attended 1959-1963.
His entry states ‘F/Lt. R.A.F.’
If one searches under 'Zotov' on the London Gazette website entries may be found for the two Zotovs as officers in the RAF.
Errol
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Post by pepe on Dec 7, 2021 12:53:04 GMT 12
Thanks Errol.
I have also just discovered a NZ Passenger Register for a Mr D.V. Zotov (aged 19yrs), RAF Cadet who on 28 Nov 1958 departed Wellington onboard the Athenic for London, UK.
This all confirms my memory of him being aged @ 40 years old when I flew with him.
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Post by silentflyer on Dec 8, 2021 6:56:45 GMT 12
My memory may be fading, but I didn't that think the Dmitri Zotov I knew (albeit relatively briefly) would have been old enough to have served in or around WWII. Which years did he attend Cranwell? Perhaps I have misjudged his age or there is a son/relative with the same name? Hi Pepe, No he would have been to young. Wally wasn’t however and only just missed biffing live ammo about in anger. As for the Zotov up in Kaeo, I wonder if this was Victor’s son as I had heard he had a son up north? SF |
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Post by silentflyer on Dec 12, 2021 21:26:16 GMT 12
We are of the same era as I also soloed in 1982 but completed most of my training in the Tomahawk. Whimpy Baker was a great instructor and passed away quite a few years ago now. You could always spot an NDAC trained pilot by Whimp's ex military oval circuits. Dave Culham died more recently but his son, Shane, still runs the large family business, Culham Engineering. I can't update you in regards to Bruce Shepherd, but do remember the aircraft you refer to. I am lead to believe the old clubrooms may soon become a victim of a new development to house the rescue helicopter base. Just to help register some earlier history of the NDAC, for the record, Shane Culham no longer appears to be with the family business, Culham Engineering is now owned by a former employee/manager. His father, Dave, looks to have passed away in 2011. My of my bucket list wishes is to do one last touch and go at Onearahi before I go….. |
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Post by oj on Dec 13, 2021 18:42:10 GMT 12
Alan Ward worked at AESL building Airtourers in the late 1960's before leaving to go up north for a flying job.
Where is he now?
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