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Post by Dave Homewood on Aug 15, 2006 15:20:07 GMT 12
I was surprised to read in the July 1982 issue of NZ Wings that the first utility Andover had just been painted into the familiar dark green/brown colours. Prior to this, apart from the VIP machines, they had been wearing their ex-RAF desert schemes while in RNZAF service - that must mean they flew that way with Kiwi roundels for six years?
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Post by corsair67 on Aug 15, 2006 15:24:54 GMT 12
I remember seeing them pass through Wigram with the RAF desert scheme with white painted above the cockpit for quite a few years up until sometime in the early-80s.
I thought it looked quite cool!
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Post by Bruce on Aug 15, 2006 16:08:02 GMT 12
That would be right, most books seem to show them in the old desert colours - but why the black undersides? I would love to see any pics of the many and varied Andover schemes - I have a model kitset of one in my "To Do" heap!  |
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Post by turboNZ on Aug 15, 2006 18:31:41 GMT 12
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Post by Calum on Aug 15, 2006 23:35:06 GMT 12
Yeah I can think of 5 schemes
RAF Desert,
SEA (Green Green Brown)
Euro 1 (Green Green Grey)
VIP
UN White
Spent about 6 months on 42 Sqn in Auckland. Was a nice aircraft the Andover. And as can been seen by the current US Army/USAF push to buy a medium range intra theater tactical airlifter it's a extremely useful capabilty. One which NZ could use
And a Euro stype
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Post by Calum on Aug 15, 2006 23:38:11 GMT 12
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Post by Dave Homewood on Aug 16, 2006 12:52:24 GMT 12
There were also different versions of UN colours, sometimes with kiwi roundels, sometimes only with UN markings if I recall right.
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Post by skyhawkdon on Aug 16, 2006 15:37:22 GMT 12
The decision to get rid of the Andover's was another stupid one. The Andover filled an important gap in the medium tactical transport role. There are a lot of places the Andover could get in and out of in the South Pacific, Australia and NZ that the Herc can't. They were an extremely useful aircraft which could self deploy anywhere in the world, as was demonstrated by their UN peacekeeping deployments to Iran/Iraq and Somalia. They were also regularly used for off-shore fishery surveillance - something I doubt is widely known.
The excuse used in getting rid of them was the cost of keeping them going - being that we were supposedly the only operator left in the world. The truth was the Gov't of the day wouldn't fund the RNZAF sufficiently to allow it to operate in all of the roles it was in, so the hard decision was taken by the RNZAF to get rid of the Andover's, purely to save money. It was claimed that the Herc's would pick up most of the Tactical work the Andover's did and the Herc's and Boeing's the general passenger and freight work. At the time we all shook our heads knowing how overworked the Hercules fleet was already. If they had bought another 3 Herc's to replace the Andover's it wouldn't have been so bad. Instead we got 3 clapped out (I chose that term carefully!) leased King Air's (later increased to 5) which have been nothing but trouble.
The scrapping of the NAATS Friendships was another silly mistake. They, like the Andover, filled an important gap in the transport and maritime surveillance roles, not to mention providing world class Navigator and AEOP training. And what is being proposed at the moment?? A fleet of Dash 8/Q200's to replace the King Air and fill the glaring gaps in transport, Pilot/Nav/AEOP training and maritime surveillance! I wonder where those Friendships are now? Maybe we could buy them back!
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Post by Dave Homewood on Aug 16, 2006 18:23:51 GMT 12
Don, I could not agree more with your feelings here.
Training of navigators and AEOP's in Austrlian may look cheaper on paper but it's a huge loss of expert eyes over our own fishing and shipping zones, which they patrolled, and they ain't going to be there for SAR work in Aussie like NATTS was. Beureaucratic fools with purse strings don't see these benefits above the bottom dollar line though.
The loss of the Andovers was criminal. They were a vital workhorse of the RNZAF and were still reasonably economical. I mean look at the stuff they did - SATTS work alone transporting troops around the bases almost every day. VIP work. Relief work. Army Liason. Transport of equipment including helicopters. Multi-engine training for pilots of course. I wasn't even aware of them doing off shore patrols work. Where will tyhey find such a useful replacement, the Andover was designed for bush strip flying - if they didn't have a ramp at the airstrip, the plane crouched down to load/unload. Very versatile.
The idea that Dash 8's are now being considered to repair the loss of these two aircraft is very promising but I feel they'd do better with a ramp-style aircraft rather than converted airliner. It opens the possibilities up more when the a/c is more versatile.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Aug 16, 2006 18:27:57 GMT 12
Calum, it's just terrible to see that poor ex-VIP Andover crashed and left for dead like that
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Post by corsair67 on Aug 16, 2006 19:16:31 GMT 12
The Andover was the RNZAF's equivalent of the RAAF's Caribou - and you don't see the Australian Govt rushing out to ditch the Caribou!
Hercs are fantastic, but sometimes you need something a bit smaller to get into those strips that would make even a Herc pilot sweat.
When was the final Andover retired from RNZAF service?
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Post by xr6turbo1 on Aug 16, 2006 19:17:25 GMT 12
Calum, it's just terrible to see that poor ex-VIP Andover crashed and left for dead like that I agree, that is a sad photo |
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Post by turboNZ on Aug 16, 2006 20:58:34 GMT 12
How would Jetstreams go in RNZAF service?
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Post by flyjoe180 on Aug 16, 2006 21:01:49 GMT 12
I would imagine the Sodastreams would have the same if not worse problems as the Kingair. Presume you mean the smaller J32's...
The RAF replaced its Jetstreams with Kingairs.
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Post by Peter Lewis on Aug 16, 2006 22:14:48 GMT 12
Sad to see NZ7622/3C-KKB like that. Looks like the same colour scheme over all of the years, I saw it at Wigram in 1978:  and again at Ardmore in 1998 on its way out of the country:  |
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Post by Dave Homewood on Aug 16, 2006 22:40:56 GMT 12
Peter, is that a 'nose art' nickname on the 1978 photo?
Great shots by the way.
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Post by Peter Lewis on Aug 16, 2006 22:56:32 GMT 12
Not very clear - "Rangi Tahi" ??
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