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Post by chinapilot on Jun 14, 2012 22:31:15 GMT 12
Just watching 'Flying the Secret Sky' about the original pilots who started the ferry route over the Atlantic in the early days of WWII.
It mentions that some New Zealanders were involved and wondered if anyone knows who they were.
Great documentary with lots of colour footage about a little known episode. Wonderful photo of the first group about to depart.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Jun 15, 2012 22:49:52 GMT 12
Is that the route through Canada and Nova Scotia to Iceland and then onto Britain? I know I have seen some kiwi names of flyers involved before, and we may have even discussed it too on the forum, but I'm not sure now.
There's a reasonably good dramatic film about the beginning of that air route with Richard E. Grant playing the chap who set it up (who later went on to run the Pathfinder Force).
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Post by nuuumannn on Jun 16, 2012 3:26:39 GMT 12
That'll be Australian Don Bennett.
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Post by dazz on Jun 16, 2012 11:32:03 GMT 12
If I recall correctly that route features in Ernest Gann's 'Fate is the Hunter' too.
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Post by pjw4118 on Jun 16, 2012 12:21:48 GMT 12
In Don Bennets book he wrote extensively about fitting long range tanks to Hudsons and how precision navigation and airmanship would make these flights possible and safe.
The system also worked in reverse. Harry Widdup of Matamata. was in one of six crews detailed to return USN PBYs back to San Diego , they had been wrongly delivered.By stretching their stays this took three weeks when they became spare bods and hoped they would be lost from the system for a while and were quite happy to stay in limbo in USA. Harry had done a tour on 100 Sq so wasnt in any hurry.
Eventually the system caught up with them and they ferried a new C54 to 231 Sq in Darwin and spent the balance of the war on the Darwin , Cocos , Ceylon route.
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Post by chinapilot on Jun 17, 2012 20:49:09 GMT 12
Dave...The pilots on the first phase were civilians - not RNZAF or any airforce for that matter. Even Bennett wore a suit.
Think the film you refer to is 'Captains of the Clouds' - great movie.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Jun 17, 2012 22:16:08 GMT 12
No that's not the film I meant (though I have that on DVD, all those lovely Hudsons). The one I was referring to was actually a mini-series, called Above And Beyond. I saw it on TV late at night about two years back: www.imdb.com/title/tt0478834/ |
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