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Post by Dave Homewood on Mar 3, 2022 20:49:08 GMT 12
From the PRESS, 20 JANUARY 1964
WAR TIME AIRCRAFT FOR MELTING POT
“Tht Press” Special Service
AUCKLAND, January 19.
Eighty war-time planes parked at Rukuhia Airport are to be dismantled and melted down. They are the last of the hundreds of aircraft that were taken to Rukuhia at the end of the war in the Pacific. The aircraft, and the smelting furnace that has been in use at Rukuhia for some years, has been bought by Asplin Supplies, Ltd. The firm is shifting the aircraft and the furnace to its premises on the main highway between Hamilton and Te Awamutu; It will take three months to break up all the old planes and between two and three months to put them through the furnace. The smeltered metal is sold in Australia, Britain and Germany. The magnesium that is recovered is sold in America.
Mr J. Asplin, the managing-director of the firm, said that his firm, had already dismantled 50 planes at Rukuhia and 40 at Woodbourne. In addition, with a partner, he had bought 11 Vampire jets and dismantled 10 of them. Other types of aircraft that had passed through his hands included Kittyhawks, Corsairs, Oxfords, Mosquitoes, Hudsons and Venturas. Besides smeltered metal, his company is finding a sustained demand for salvaged cameras, instruments, radio equipment, transparent domes, steel cables and tyres. None of the aircraft engines is serviceable and they are used for scrap. There is very little on an aircraft that an ingenious person cannot put to come use. At the side of his premises, Mr Asplin has a rot-proof, kick-proof fence that is made of the wing flaps of Hudson bombers.
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Post by camtech on Mar 3, 2022 20:57:02 GMT 12
Those premises between Hamilton and Te Awamutu is currently where I store the caravan.
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axelford
Squadron Leader
I have visited 13 Plane wreck sites and counting, happy to help with info!
Posts: 120
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Post by axelford on May 10, 2022 11:13:07 GMT 12
I've been messing around on Retrolens and see that these bulkheads are visible next to that patch of scrub which looks to be a pond, interestingly that pond has disappeared now and been filled in. Would it be plausible that rubbish was dumped into that pond and then filled? Or did they manage to sell most of them off?
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Post by emron on May 16, 2022 17:24:47 GMT 12
I too know the whereabouts of an oleo or two. They must to be the only abundant Walrus parts around the country, as everything else seems to be as rare as the proverbial hen’s tusk. The Walrus is credited with being the first British military aircraft to have a fully retractable undercarriage and enclosed cockpit. I took that as a good enough reason to read up the manual about the retraction mechanism and see if a working example would be feasible. It’s a fairly simple method, the main leg strut is connected at the top to a lever on which it pivots through about 90 degrees and is driven by a hydraulic ram under pressure from a hand pump. The leg is retained in the up and down positions by spring loaded locking pins and is supported through the movement by a radius arm. I don’t know where any of those other original parts are so all I plan to do further in the meantime is just take measurements and make some scale drawings of the layout. I would be greatly interested to hear if any of those other parts still exist around NZ though. I know where there is half a float as well. It would be good if someone could collect all the Walrus bits in one location. Mike, I was browsing around as one might do on a wet Monday and my eyes lit up when I came across a listing from U.K. on flea bay for “Supermarine Walrus flying boat wing tip floats, pair.” Condition: “used, a little dented.” Sure enough, the photos were of two full-size floats. But then I began to wonder, does a Walrus really have wing tip floats?, theirs are more like mid-wing ones. So I had a closer look and compared them to other close-ups I had. Before you rush in and bid on them, caveat emptor. From what I can make out they are from a Short Sealand flying boat instead.
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Post by emron on Jan 12, 2023 13:00:36 GMT 12
Here are some interesting bits probably from Rukuhia. Photographed at the museum outside of Cambrisge in 2014 The perspex isn’t from a twin .50cal Bendix 250CE turret as suggested by labels in the photo, nor from a Ventura Martin type 250CE. It’s the upper part of a Bristol type B17 turret, likely from an RAAF Lincoln and which was armed with two Hispano 20mm cannon. The Tauwhare Military Museum closed to the public in August 2021. Bandeirante ZK-ERU is now at Wanaka. The remainder of the collection was relocated to a storage building on a benefactors property some distance away, prior to the Moreland farm in Victoria Rd being sold. Where and when the Museum will re-open seems still to be announced.
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Post by planewriting on Jan 12, 2023 13:42:13 GMT 12
Hmmmm ZK-ERU. That is the Bandeirante which nearly tangled with six Skyhawks approaching Auckland International Airport on 21 November 1992 during Air Expo 1992. The incident; look at You Tube on aviation-safety.net/wikibase/191099 , had the potential to be the third and worst incident to occur on date 21 November. 1957 Bristol Freighter ZK-AYH and 1961 Aero Commander ZK-BWA. My thoughts at the time was get away from the potential crash site ASAP.
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Post by Peter Lewis on Jan 13, 2023 8:28:23 GMT 12
ZK-ERU at Wanaka April 1922
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Post by Dave Homewood on Jan 14, 2023 19:31:10 GMT 12
Or 2022.
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Post by Peter Lewis on Jan 31, 2023 20:41:25 GMT 12
Or 2022. Its vintage !!!
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