|
|
Post by baz62 on Jan 5, 2012 14:04:57 GMT 12
Yeah you are right, I think its a trick to the eye and an object hove into view in the background when the shot was taken.
|
|
|
|
Post by gunny on Jan 25, 2012 21:24:27 GMT 12
sorry i dont know the serial no.... Attachments:
|
|
|
|
Post by Luther Moore on Jul 15, 2012 0:31:59 GMT 12
and some more - All RNZAF or RNZAF Museum official NZ948   So this is where my photo comes from. |
|
|
|
Post by davidduxbury on Jul 22, 2012 11:11:13 GMT 12
Just a quick one for starters (this being only my second post on this Board). Has anybody yet solved the mystery of the coat of arms painted in the fin of Harvard NZ1009, number 1 photo on this thread? I am pretty certain that this has something to do with the granting of "freedom of the city" status to certain RNZAF stations (as they were known at the time) in the period 1956 - 57 ("swords drawn, drums beating", etc). These acknowledgements of good behaviour over an extended period were, so far as I know, granted as follows: Ohakea/Palmerston North 1/10/56; Taieri/Dunedin 15/10/56; Whenuapai/Auckland, 11/11/56 (Armistice Day); Woodbourne/Blenheim 7/4/57; Wigram/Christchurch 15/9/57; and last but not least, 75 Squadron/Wanganui, 6/2/80. It is my understanding that the subject Harvard was the sole Station aircraft at Woodbourne in the late 1950s, but I stand to be corrected by any member who knows better.
I too am very puzzled by the strange "spinner" on Harvard NZ982, reference No. 577 on this thread, certainly an odd one this! Cannot think of what it could be. Much too small to be an HS Hydromatic prop, which WAS manufactured in two-blade configuration, these often seen on twin Beechs (Beech 18) and the like. In fact the NZ Aerial Mapping twin-Beech (ZK-AHO) was converted from its original HS counterweights to Hydromatics in about 1947, courtesy of the NZ taxpayer - this firm's prime employer was the NZ government in those days, and the superior performance obtainable with the new props was considered to be a good invesment when operating ceiling and time to height were held to be high priorities.
Dave D
|
|
|
|
Post by Tony on Jul 23, 2012 0:19:38 GMT 12
David, If NZ1009 was the station hack for Woodbourne then the coat of arms for Marlborough District Council would be appropriate.   Forumites thoughts? Close? |
|
|
|
Post by Dave Homewood on Jul 23, 2012 9:39:14 GMT 12
Looks like you have nailed it there Tony, in my opinion.
Thanks for that info David. It's great to finally have you aboard the forum.
|
|
|
|
Post by baz62 on Jul 23, 2012 12:56:49 GMT 12
I too am very puzzled by the strange "spinner" on Harvard NZ982, reference No. 577 on this thread, certainly an odd one this! Cannot Dave D I commented in a post above about this David. I think another Harvard has just sneaked into shot giving the spinner a strange look. Wonder if the original print shows it more clearly? And welcome aboard the forum too we all look forward to your aviation knowledge putting us amateurs right ha ha. ;D Cheers Baz |
|
|
|
Post by davidduxbury on Jul 25, 2012 11:55:36 GMT 12
Baz,
Thanks for the thoughts, but if there is another Harvard sneaking up behind the only one I can see, then where are its wheels? It would have to be pretty close to show its spinner (or wingtip) to match the height of the foreground Harvard. To me this is a complete mystery. There WAS a type of small propeller in production in USA pre-WW2 intended for light aircraft which looked something like this one appears to me (fitted on Wacos etc, including one in New Zealand) but it would have been too small for a 600 HP Harvard anyway, and even if it did fit, why would they do such a thing? Have read of various attempts throughout the world by various operators to tone down that awful penetrating Harvard snarl (I know some people claim they LIKE it, but I reckon that their desire to listen has removed most of the fine hairs in their inner ear, and they are actually deaf!) but the only real answer to the Harvard snarl is the geared version of the P&W R-1340, as fitted to DHC Otters, and those American-built Zero replicas, also the dear old Wirraway! Did you know that when the RNZAF's Otter was put up for sale, it was advertised complete with a CAC-built geared Wasp (I think they called it an R-1340 AN-3, or was it a -2?)
David D
|
|
|
|
Post by baz62 on Jul 25, 2012 12:46:28 GMT 12
Actually what I meant was there was an aircraft of some type airborne (in the background) either landing or taking off which sneaked into shot. Thats why I was wondering what the original shot was like as in is it clearer?
EDIT: Could it be a barrage ballon? Did we have those in wartime NZ?
|
|
|
|
Post by shamus on Jul 25, 2012 20:17:37 GMT 12
The geared down version was known as the Hornet and was also fitted to the Ceres topdresser.
|
|
|
|
Post by davidd on Jul 26, 2012 12:37:24 GMT 12
Shamus,
The Hornet was a somewhat larger (1690 cubic inch) 9-cylinder engine designed in 1926 and put into production in about 1928; such engines were fitted in the two Boeing 40H biplanes imported into NZ from Canada in about 1935, and later versions were fitted in some Lockheed 14s (Super Electra) and 18s (Lodestars) as well as other military and civil types. Licensed production was also undertaken in Germany and possibly in Japan. The Hornet had the unusual distinction of being the only P&W piston engine which was NOT christened with a variation of the "Wasp" name. However the Hornet was NOT fitted in Wirraways, Ceres or Otters, which all had the geared R-1340 (makers designation S1H1-G, military R-1340-AN-3) with 3:2 reduction and weighing about 930 pounds (422 kg), compared to ungeared Wasp at 864 pounds (392 kg). Interestingly the RPM figures for the geared version are exactly the same as for the ungeared originals, so it did not gain any additional power by operating at higher RPMs (which may well have required additonal redesign or local strengthening). There were also geared and direct-drive versions of the R-1340 built for helicopters (most for the military). The geared Wasp was built under license in Australia by CAC for the Wairraway, which is how they ended up in the Ceres topdresser, also well known in NZ. I saw a geared Wasp attached to the remains of a Wirraway at a small museum at Kokopo, near Rabual, New Britain (PNG) in 2001. The reduction gear casing on the front of these engines had distinctive ribbing cast into it for additional strength, similar to that on the little-known P&W R-1535 Twin Wasp Junior (double-row, 14 cylinder). However what amazed me was that the local museum expert had, despite knowing the aircraft was a Wirraway, labelled this as a Wright Whirlwind (as used by Charles Lindberg, Kingsford Smith, etc.)
David D
|
|
|
|
Post by davidd on Jul 26, 2012 16:18:23 GMT 12
Have re-checked my sources and find that there were in fact THREE types of P&W Hornet engines, the original R-1690 (designed for US Navy to power their new torpedo bombers), the enlarged R-1860 (appeared 1930), and a two-row version called the R-2180 Twin Hornet, which appeared in the mid-1930s but was never put into production. Strangely this was a completely different engine to the postwar P&W R-2180, which was a Twin Wasp variant and its only applicaion was the all-but-forgotten SAAB Scania airliner; this had the same cylinders as the R-4360 Wasp Major. To get back to the single row Hornets, the original engines were direct drive, but later versions were geared, and many were used in the USA into the 1960s, mainly in Lodestars. And thus endeth our lecture on American round aero engines. Did not this thread start of as a Harvard photo thread?
David D
|
|
|
|
Post by baz62 on Jul 27, 2012 13:04:38 GMT 12
Ah yep but Pratt and Whitney round engines feel right at home here. ;D
I think the Harvard on display (its in this thread somewere....Taranaki?) has a geared R1340 in it probably from a Ceres? I made a comment about it. (NZ1089 i think it is)
|
|
|
|
Post by scrooge on Jul 27, 2012 18:41:34 GMT 12
Regarding post 508 and a couple of subsequent comments.
The 'Auster' tail in the foreground is probably that of Dominie 'ZK-AKU', given the bi-plane wings aft of the Harvard.
|
|
|
|
Post by davidd on Jul 28, 2012 12:03:36 GMT 12
Totally agree with Warrant Officer on the Dominie identification. Who indentified that as an Auster!
David D
|
|
|
|
Post by Dave Homewood on Jul 28, 2012 12:53:04 GMT 12
That would be Scrooge, Warrant Officer is his forum ranking.  It was Auster owner Mit in #520 that suggested it is an Auster I think? |
|
|
|
Post by shamus on Jul 28, 2012 13:52:27 GMT 12
Thanks David. Never knew that. Always thought the geared one was the Hornet. Interestingly I was a passenger in a SAAB Skandia back in the late 1950s and never new what the engines were.
Jim.
|
|
|
|
Post by baz62 on Jul 28, 2012 15:58:55 GMT 12
That would be Scrooge, Warrant Officer is his forum ranking. It was Auster owner Mit in #520 that suggested it is an Auster I think? Correct and it was directed at me, lover of all things Auster ;D |
|
|
|
Post by davidd on Jul 28, 2012 23:36:39 GMT 12
Whilst looking through the RNZAF News magazines of the 1960s to locate an article for another thread on this Board (which wasn't there anyway as it ceased ppublication shortly prior to the event I was hunting) I came across a remarkable photo of the tail of a Harvard with THAT Coat of Arms adorning it, the Harvard which featured on Post Number 1 on this thread! It was in the June 1961 Issue (No. 28) and included in the photo was the artist who applied the design, one LAC Eric Taylor, and the station was Woodbourne! This was on page 5, article headed "A Man of Many Parts". See what you think? Apparently LAC Taylor had been at Woodbourne since he arrived from the UK in July 1952 - how would he have managed to stay there that long?
David D
|
|
|
|
Post by davidd on Jul 29, 2012 9:05:57 GMT 12
In my message 591 (above) I gave an incorrect name for Sweden's only indigenous airliner; this should read as the SAAB Scandia, NOT Scania. I have an idea that Scania was the truck-building division of SAAB. I presume that Scandia is a sort-of shorthand for Scandanavia? Probably should look at Google.
David D
|
|
