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Post by hairy on May 22, 2005 19:04:30 GMT 12
Sorry but here comes cold water................. I was at John Smiths the week before last and queried him on this matter (he of all people should know), the ex-RNZAF Mossies were indeed bought by an orchard equipment company but they were only after the wheels and hydralics, the engines they on-sold to the Ashburton scrap business owned by the Horrell family and they were all melted down  as were all the Harvards they bought surplus, bar one which was mounted on a pole in their back yard. (thankfully this a/c, NZ1077 is now reportedly under restoration. |
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Post by hairy on May 22, 2005 19:07:13 GMT 12
OOPS, I posted this in the wrong section  sorry  |
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Post by Dave Homewood on May 22, 2005 19:13:22 GMT 12
Did John Smith mention the Mustangs?
It was P51D engines that Dad always refers to being used on the orchards he worked on or near. He said several orchards had the Merlins mounted on trailers with the pops on and would tow them behind a tractor to remove frost. Dad has never mentioned Mossies at all. I guess he said they were from Mustangs because that is what he was told by the owners.
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Post by SEAN on Dec 13, 2005 6:22:00 GMT 12
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Post by Dave Homewood on Dec 13, 2005 7:22:42 GMT 12
Wow, thanks for sharing those photos Sean. What a collection! For newcomers, this thread was a continuation of an older thread again here rnzaf.proboards43.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=Postwar&thread=1110447646&page=1After much consideration of this issue, I concede it is highly possible that when Dad worked in the orchards and saw Merlins mounted on trailers with aircraft wheels, he may have made the assumption they were from P51D's and not Mossies. He was always a big aircraft fan and knew his stuff, but may well have made an assumption based on what had just left RNZAF service (Mustangs) and made a mistake. I cannot rule out completely that P51D's were not used, but it's obvious the orchard fans must have been mostly Mossies. |
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Post by Bruce on Dec 13, 2005 8:23:24 GMT 12
a huge collection of P51s definitely did get to Motueka. The wings of the McDonald Example (Mobil Mustang one) in the 1960s came from there. I have seen photos of an entire field of P51 mainplanes - it is likely the rest of the aircraft were there somewhere as well. it is likely (but sad) that both types were well represented.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Dec 13, 2005 9:25:37 GMT 12
Cheers Bruce, well then, maybe he was right then.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Dec 13, 2005 15:55:34 GMT 12
Related to topic - the latest Classic Wings magazine that arrived today has a photo of four Mustangs at Woodbourne awaiting the gas axe
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Post by turboNZ on Dec 18, 2005 22:09:48 GMT 12
oh those Mossie pics are a sad sight !!!!!!
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Post by Dave Homewood on Sept 9, 2006 18:20:26 GMT 12
Thread revivied because... At last some evidence of what my Dad told me - Mustangs at Upper Moutere  |
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Post by Dave Homewood on Sept 9, 2006 18:21:13 GMT 12
Oh yeah, the above scan is from the June 1976 issue of NZ Wings
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Post by Radialicious on Sept 9, 2006 20:11:50 GMT 12
It is clear that on one of those photos, the sole Mosquito is flying with its left prop feathered. Is it just me or do the group in formation also each have an engine shut down?
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Post by Calum on Sept 9, 2006 21:57:20 GMT 12
If only they knew what they would be worth now....:-(
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Post by xr6turbo1 on Sept 9, 2006 21:59:05 GMT 12
I have been given a couple of photos of a power boat called tru jen.
Now when I say power it had an Allison engine from a P-40 in it, also looking at the picture it has the tail fin section off a P51 including rudder. It an incredible boat, apparently the rooster tail would get up to 20 feet high
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Post by Dave Homewood on Sept 9, 2006 22:34:57 GMT 12
Oh bugger, I just realised I dragged up the wrong old thread - there was another before this one where I was talking about my father's experiences in the Upper Moutere Orchards, near Motueka, Nelson, where he said the orchardists had cannabalised many Mustangs and turned the wheels into trailer wheels, then mounted the Merlins and props onto the trailers and they dragged them blasting full tilt behind tractors up and down the rows of apple trees in the early morning to blow the frost off the apples to stop them being ruined. He reckoned it was awesome to hear the Merlins trundling up and down as he woke up in the morning, before heading off to the pack house.
Gavin, Dad was very much into powerboats, and he even crewed for some top teams, especially Dave Margan's 'Misty Blue' and Peter Knight's 'The Boss'. He siad in the early days after the war most boats had Allisons from P-40's. What a waste I say (he'd hit me now if he was still alive...). I think the original Red Head (owned and driven by Sir Len Southcombe) had an Allison. Not certain on that. Dad would have been very interested in your photos. He ran NZ's largest model power boat business for about 15 years up till his death too. Now it's been sold and is based not far from you at Havelock.
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as were all the Harvards they bought surplus, bar one which was mounted on a pole in their back yard. (thankfully this a/c, NZ1077 is now reportedly under restoration.
