Rukuhia aircraft dump

[camtech]

A few more - the first is probably RNZAF, the remainder are mine:
Corsair Rotten Row 2 Mar 1949 by Les Billcliff, on Flickr
Harvard remains Asplins 4 Sep 1971 by Les Billcliff, on Flickr
Harvard remains Asplins, Rukuhia 4 Sep 1971 by Les Billcliff, on Flickr
Hudson fuselage X Asplins Rukuhia 31 Oct 197o by Les Billcliff, on Flickr
Hudson fuselage Y Asplins Rukuhia 4 Sep 1971 by Les Billcliff, on Flickr
Hudson turret Asplins Rukuhia 4 Sep 1971 by Les Billcliff, on Flickr
Some of these may have appeared earlier, but were on my photof---it account.

[Dave Homewood]

What became of the first photo in the post above, Les?

[camtech]

Not sure - will have a look tomorrow.

[camtech]

Fixed.

[Dave Homewood]

From the BAY OF PLENTY TIMES, 6 JANUARY 1948:

SALE OF DERELICT PLANES

BARGAIN HUNTERS' INTEREST

Disposal Of 442 Former

Combat Aircraft In Advanced State Of Deterioration

(P.A.) Hamilton, today. Once the pride of the Royal New Zealand Air Force, 442 former combat aircraft awaiting disposal at the Rukuhia aerodrome will be put to a variety of prosaic uses if they are bought by some of the hundreds of people who have inspected them. Tenders for their purchase have now closed with the War Assets Realisation Board.

It was estimated yesterday that at least 500 bargain hunters had visited Rukuhia and examined the derelict planes since the calling of tenders was announced. They included farmers who thought the fuselages might make pigsties or workshops, business men in search of scrap metal and prospective holidaymakers in search of something suitable for conversion into a cheap seaside bach.

Although these people came filled with high hopes, most of them went away disappointed after examining the aircraft. The cost of taking the planes away from the aerodrome, it was stated, would be prohibitive for the average man.

To carry them by road, the wings would have to be stripped from them and even then some would exceed the regulation dimensions. A condition of the tenders was that intending purchasers must be prepared to accept the aircraft "as is where is," with no guarantee of warranty about airworthiness or serviceability.

There are Ventura bombers, Hudsons, Warhawk fighters, Corsairs and Avenger torpedo bombers. Most of them were used in the Pacific war zone and are in an advanced state of deterioration as the result of prolonged exposure to the elements of the aerodrome.

[Dave Homewood]

BAY OF PLENTY TIMES, 9 JANUARY 1948

SALE OF OBSOLETE AIRCRAFT

(P.A.) Hamilton,Jan.

Several thousand tenders have been received by the War Assets Realisation Board for the purchase and removal of hundreds of obsolete aircraft parked at the Rukuhia aerodrome.

It is expected that some weeks will elapse before the tenders can be finally dealt with.

[Dave Homewood]

BAY OF PLENTY TIMES, 29 MAY 1948

DISPOSAL OF AIRCRAFT

443 FORMER COMBAT PLANES

(P.A.) Hamilton, May 28.

The 443 former combat aircraft at Rukuhia which were sold by the War Assets Realisation Board early this year still line the aerodrome in varying degrees of deterioration.

Although the conditions of the tenders, which closed early in January, provided that the aircraft should be removed within three months of notification of acceptance, not one of the planes has been shifted.

Nor has there been any systematic attempt to dismantle them where they stand. Plans for their disposal, however, have been completed by the successful tenderer, Mr J. Larsen, of Palmerston North. He has leased 15 acres on the edge of the aerodrome as a dump where the planes will be dismantled and converted into scrap.

A start has been made on the foundations of a small smelting house and further buildings, another smelting house and storerooms, will be added. As the task is expected to take five years, Mr Larsen also hopes to build dwellings for his employees.

[Dave Homewood]

And earlier article from theAuckland Star, 6th of November 1945:



Most Of These Planes May Never Be Airborne Again

By ALAN SAYERS .

Thirteen million pounds' worth of aircraft lie on the Rukuhia airfield south of Hamilton. Their guns are unloaded and their bomb racks are empty. They stand in long even lines with their tyres a little flat and the grass growing up around their wheels. They played a valuable part in the war against the Japanese and they exacted a heavy toll of the enemy. Now the war is won and, as fighting machines, they are necessary no longer. The sun and the rain beat down on them.

THERE are Corsairs and Kittyhawks, Hudsons and Venturas, Avengers and Harvards — nearly 500 in number. I saw them from the air and they presented an amazing sight. Wing-tip to wing-tip they stand in lines hundreds of yards long. They are powerful fighting machines, but their days of fighting are over. Because their maintenance is too complicated and their benzine consumption too high they are useless for commercial or peacetime flying.

Ninety per cent of them may never be airborne again; This vast aggregation of aircraft, by far the largest ever assembled on one airfield in New Zealand, is part of the debris of war. What will become of it is a matter of conjecture. More fighter aircraft stand useless on the ground at Rukuhia No. 1 Aircraft Storage Unit than flew out to repulse the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain.

It seems incongruous that to-day nearly 500 fighting machines lie unneeded on this one Dominion airfield, while many less their number fought off the attacks of the Germans in an aerial battle the gallant memory of which will never die. I motored up and down between rows and rows of parked bombers and fighters. One veteran Ventura had 83, little yellow bombs painted on its nose to show that it had carried out that number of operational flights against the Japanese. Everything inside the machine was exactly as the crew had left it when they delivered it to the storage unit. There were the compasses, the clocks, the radio and radar sets, the guns, the charts, the flares and everything else just as they always had been. There was the little emergency kit for use in the event of a forced landing on the sea. In it were Harold Gatty's "Raft Book," a container with chemicals for making drinking water from sea water and other valuable aids to survival. It was pleasant to think that our airmen would have to use them no more.

Much has been done at Rukuhia since it was just a small civilian flying field before the war. It now has a vast landing ground across which I travelled at 60 miles an hour in a car without feeling the slightest bump. It has two large modern hangars, a control tower and all the facilities of a wartime aerodrome.

Commanding officer is Squadron-Leader A. N. Johnstone, of Auckland, veteran active-service bomber pilot. "Our work is confined to preparing the planes for storage and looking after them while they are in storage," Squadron-Leader Johnstone said. "Nobody here knows what is going to happen to the machines later. They were given to us in the first place under lend-lease agreement, and we will have to look after them until the heads decide what is to become of them."

"Some of the aircraft would be stored in hangars for possible later use with the post-war R.N.Z.A.F., said the commanding officer. But what would become or me remaining 400 aircraft was a mystery. Before they could be flown again the majority of them would require major overhaul, which would be a gigantic and, under the present demobilisation scheme, an almost impossible task.

Machines have come to Rukuhia from every R.N.Z.A.F. fighting base in the Pacific and from practically every aerodrome in New Zealand. Some were flown from the Pacific by the pilots who took them into combat, some by pilots sent north by transport plane to ferry them down. Their ultimate resting place is Rukuhia, and the No. 1 Aircraft Storage Unit has now been in existence there for over a year. Such a unit became a necessity when the R.N.Z.A.F.'s Kittyhawks were outmoded by the Corsairs and the Lockheed Hudsons by the Venturas. It was then that a storage depot was set up, and Rukuhia as it exists today came into being.

Once at Rukuhia the machines have their motors run through with inhibiter oil to preserve them against rust and corrosion, and their fuselages are then sprayed with a weather-resisting paint. Then the planes are towed out to the storage lines, where they will remain indefinitely. Some of the men around the I station call it "the graveyard." - Others term it "rotten row."

Last Landing For Many Of The Pilots

And so the number of aircraft at Rukuhia has swelled to such proportions that it has now one of the very few stations in the world which has more aircraft than personnel. One day last week the official figures were 450 planes and 333 of a station complement. I saw 25 Corsairs just down from the Pacific come in to land. Neatly they peeled off in the sky and came in fast over the fences to set their wheels down smoothly. For many it was probably the last landing they would ever make. Mechanics guided them to their places on the end of a line of similar machines.

One by one the pilots cut their motors. One by one they climbed down from the cockpits. One by one they said good-bye to their planes.

They had flown them down from their bases in the Islands. Their guns had blasted many a Japanese position and strafed many a Japanese ship. They had sat tight on the tail of Zeros and Zekes, and several had a number of "kills" to their credit. Now their pilots were seeing them for the last time. A big transport plane which had come in ahead of them was waiting to take them back to Whenuapai. For these brave young men the war was now really over. Their feelings showed plainly in their faces. I read the insignia on some of their planes. Women's names were the most popular. They may have been mothers, wives or sweethearts, but their names were carried into battle by these youngsters.

The C 47 roared across the field and into the air as the sun cast long shadows across the green Waikato farmland. It glinted from the wings and fuselages of the silent planes on the ground. They may rest, their future uncertain, but they will not be forgotten by the gallant men who flew them against the foe. In offices and shops, on farms and in workshops, there will always be men whose thoughts will often wander back through the years to the days when they sent their bombs away or when, with teeth clenched and heart pounding, they sent a Zero flaming earthward. These are some of the men and these are some of the planes that helped save New Zealand.

[Dave Homewood]

Wow, here is the actual tender notice from the BAY OF PLENTY TIMES, 24 NOVEMBER 1947

WAR ASSETS REALISATION BOARD

COMBAT TYPE AIRCRAFT AND AIRCRAFT ENGINES FOR SALE BY TENDER.

THE War Assets Realisation Board - offers following Combat Type Aircraft and Aircraft Engines for Sale by tender "as is, where is" as "Scrap -"

AIRCRAFT
(1699) VENTURA BOMBERS. 81 only. At Rukuhia.
(1700) VENTURA BOMBERS. 12 only. At Ohakea.
(1701) HUDSON BOMBERS. 23 only. At Rukuhia.
(1702) P4O WARHAWK FIGHTERS 118 only. At Rukuhia.
(1703) DAUNTLESS DIVE BOMBERS. 22 only. At Hobsonville
(l704) CORSAIR FIGHTERS. 215 only At Rukuhia.
(1705) AVENGER TORPEDO BOMBERS. 6 only. At Rukuhia.

ENGINES
(1706) PRATT AND WHITNEY. At Rukuhia (40) and Ohakea (70)
(1707) WRIGHT CYCLONE. At Rukuhia (42) and Ohakea (19)
(1708) ALLISON. At Rukuhia (22); Te Awamutu (33) and Ohakea (27)
(1709) PEGASUS (15) & JAGUAR (2). All instructional. At Gracefield.

Tenders will be accepted for one or more of each item. Unrestricted access to the above R.N.Z.A.F. Stations NOT PERMITTED. For inspection periods see conditions of sale. All intending purchasers are strongly advised to study a copy of conditions of Sale obtainable from Board's District Office, Dilworth Bldg, Queen St., Auckland. TENDERS close with Board's Secretary (Postal Address, Private Bag, Lambton Quay P.O. Wellington) to whom they should be addressed in envelopes marked "Tender No..... for ...... a noon on 5th January, 1948.

[baz62]

Interesting that in the interview with the RNZAF officer that he stated that they inhibited the engines and sprayed the exteriors with weather resistant paint. Wonder what the paint was? Doesn't look like it lasted long as if it was a uniform coverge then you wouldn't see markings and codes. Unless they masked them off?

[Dave Homewood]

I wondered the same thing, and I doubt any masking was done.

[Bruce]

Apr 18, 2018 8:05:24 GMT 12 baz62 said:

Interesting that in the interview with the RNZAF officer that he stated that they inhibited the engines and sprayed the exteriors with weather resistant paint. Wonder what the paint was? Doesn't look like it lasted long as if it was a uniform coverge then you wouldn't see markings and codes. Unless they masked them off?

That is the first time I've ever seen any reference to the Rukuhia aircraft being treated with weather proof paint, and I don't believe it at all. No photo I have ever seen of the stored aircraft has ever shown any evidence of post-service painting. no relic I've seen shows any evidence - e.g gun Ventura gun turret components at Tauwhare Military museum.

They may have painted one or two aircraft initially, but there'd be very few out of the couple of thousand aircraft there. I suspect if they ever did start painting, they gave up pretty quickly!

[Dave Homewood]

I actually had never considered before that a certain number of the aircraft had been put into storage in the two large hangars there. That's interesting and makes a lot of sense as there was nothing else going on at Rukuhia at the time. So by the time they came up for disposal at least some of the aircraft will have been in good condition still.

I wonder when the big hangar left Rukuhia and returned to Whenuapai, it must have been during or after the disposals, late 1940's, I guess.

It should be remembered that S/Ldr Axel Johnstone was a pilot and not an engineer, he may have either spoken pout of turn or been misquoted when it came to the spraying of the aircraft. The person who would have known exactly was Derm Hurley, was he was the Engineering officer in charge of Rukuhia postwar. Sadly he's been dead about a decade. I have even spoken with people who worked in the team there looking after the aircraft, but I think they're now all dead too. They used to run the engines regularly before the decision came to inhibit them, I believe.

What I also find fascinating from that Tenders list is everything went at the same time, from Rukuhia, Ohakea, Hobsonville, etc, in one huge swoop. I wonder who won the tender for the 15 Pegasus and 2 Jaguar engines that were stored at Gracefield (which is in Lower Hutt, I have never heard of an RNZAF connection to that place before). They would not have been too desirable, hardly worthwhile for boats of farm machinery, etc, so I wonder if they even got any bidders. Maybe they are all still sitting in an old shed there? Did anything in the RNZAF actually use the Jaguar engines? I know the Fairey IIIF had the Lion, and the Gordon had the Panther....

[kiwiruna]

Just think a re-constituted combat-wing going to waste, pity we're 70+years to late

[camtech]

Gracefield was a combined store I believe. Quite a lot of post war disposals were done from there.

[Bruce]

Apr 18, 2018 13:35:38 GMT 12 Dave Homewood said:

Did anything in the RNZAF actually use the Jaguar engines? I know the Fairey IIIF had the Lion, and the Gordon had the Panther....

Gloster Grebes had Jaguars

[Dave Homewood]

Oh right.

[30sqnatc]

Apr 18, 2018 16:14:50 GMT 12 camtech said:

Gracefield was a combined store I believe. Quite a lot of post war disposals were done from there.

Gracefield was operated by WARB. See para 32 of report at this link. paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/parliamentary/AJHR1945-I.2.2.5.30

[rone]

Re the Pegasus engines sold off, around about 1952 or 53 I, along with my father and brother dismantled a large pile of Pegasus engines at Mt Roskill. They had been bought some years previously by a business that made trailers and caravans. They had been going to melt them down for making castings but never did. I would not know now if they came from down south or were bought locally, but there were quite a few. Took a little while dismantling the lot.

[Dave Homewood]

Thanks Ron. Did you guys smelt them? Or if not what became of them?