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Post by planecrazy on Mar 24, 2022 9:54:01 GMT 12
Excellent spot tbf2504, Awarua did actually have a gun turret for a short time? I refer to page 71 of the wonderful book "The Golden Age of New Zealand Flying Boats.
Around December 1941 an RNZAF engineer, Corporal Davis designed and Manufactured a turret that was fitted to ZK-AMC and trialed in flight. Arrangements where put in place to manufacture a second turret for ZK-AMA. Pity no known photos exist of this, would imagine this would have been surrounded in secrecy for reasons you have pointed out.
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Post by camtech on Mar 24, 2022 12:15:48 GMT 12
Ha ha - Paul (tbf2504) would have a fairly good idea - he was one of the authors!
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Post by tbf2504 on Mar 24, 2022 15:23:05 GMT 12
I stand corrected, I guess as it was only trialed it didn't sink into my memory. bit like the 8 GR Squadron fitting a Bren gun to a Tiger Moth!
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Post by Dave Homewood on Apr 8, 2022 22:22:24 GMT 12
This notice went out in newspapers - this coming from the GISBORNE HERALD, 11 JUNE 1948.
OLD AIRCRAFT OFFERED FOR SALE
The two pioneer Empire-class aircraft of Tasman Empire Airways, Limited, the Aotearoa and the Awarua, which were withdrawn from service last year, are for sale. Tenders for them as they are at Hobsonville close on June 21, a condition being that the successful tenderer must accept delivery within 21 days of receiving notification of acceptance. A quantity of airframe and engine spare parts and ten unserviceable Perseus engines are also offered.
The first arrival, the Aotearoa, is being offered fully equipped except for its radio installations. With a wing span of 112 ft and an overall length of 87ft, it has three spacious furnished cabins. There are a small pantry and conveniences. The aircraft is at present floating offshore.
Its sister plane, the Awarua, has been pulled up on to the beach, stripped of its four engines, instruments and other equipment.
During its service with the company the Aotearoa made 442 crossings of the Tasman Sea. It flew 1,230,000 miles in 8500 hours, carrying more than 6000 passengers.
The Awarua, which up to the time of its withdrawal held the company’s record crossing time of 5 hours 15 minutes, flew 1,400,000 miles in 8740 hours. The uses to which the airframes might be put are the subjects of much conjecture.
It is most improbable that the planes will fly again, and the purchaser will be faced with the problem of taking them from Hobsonville.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Apr 8, 2022 22:24:42 GMT 12
And then this article was in all the papers, this one in the OTAGO DAILY TIMES, 22 JUNE 1948
Desperate Home-seekers Tender for Purchase of Two Old Flying Boats
P.A. AUCKLAND, June 21.
The plight of homeless people and the desperate housing shortage have been reflected in many of the inquiries received by Tasman Empire Airways from people interested in the possibility of making temporary dwellings from one of the two pioneer aircraft of the company’s fleet.
The old flying boats Ao-tea-roa and Awarua were recently offered for sale, and, in addition to nine tenders received by closing time, 50 or 60 inquiries had been made by people in the main seeking somewhere to live.
Although various schemes for using the two old aircraft were indicated by the inquiries received, the great majority suggested that there was a chance of either the Ao-tea-roa of the Awarua being converted into a home or else a seaside bach. One woman had the idea of making one of the flying boats into a bowser station with the fuselage as an office and petrol pumps mounted under the 114 ft span of the wings.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Apr 9, 2022 0:25:48 GMT 12
Flying-boats For Sale
(from Our Own Reporter) WELLINGTON, January 5.
Tenders for three derelict former R.N.Z.A.F. Sunderland flying-boats will be called shortly by the Government Stores Board. The fate of four other Sunderlands, three of which are now flying, has not been decided, but it is expected they will be readily purchased when they are eventually offered for tender. “There is a world-wide interest in Sunderlands,” the secretary of the board, Mr E. A. Lee, said today. “They are old aircraft and spares are hard to get”
Both the Fijian Government and a proposed commercial venture in Fiji have shown interest in buying the Sunderlands which are still usable.
Three are still flying, two at Hobsonville and one at Lauthala Bay, Fiji. Another has been given to the Museum of Transport and Technology. The Air Force proposes to retire the three remaining Sunderlands between now and the end of March.
Meanwhile, the board has not called tenders again for disposal of the Echuca, a former Naval minesweeper which was purchased from Australia more than 20 years ago and which is now surplus. The Echuca was first put up for tender last year along with the frigates Rotoiti and Kaniere, but no tender for the minesweeper was accepted. “It is a matter of how many ships it is practical to tow away," said Mr Lee. “You cannot tow more than two at one time.”
Mt Lee said the placing of the Echuca up for tender could depend upon what other ships could also be offered. Other Naval ships which could be up for disposal are the Stawell, another former Australian minesweeper, which is now in extended reserve, and the former flagship of the Navy, the Royalist. The Royalist has been stripped at Auckland of all stores, guns and equipment preparatory to being handed back to the Royal Navy later this year.
Britain is likely to sell her "as is, where is,” and Mr Lee said today that the board would be available to dispose of the ship for the Royal Navy if called upon to do so.
PRESS, 6 JANUARY 1967
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Post by Dave Homewood on May 28, 2022 13:07:39 GMT 12
From the PRESS, 24 November 1953.
Sunderlands to be Sold
Two faithful servants of the New Zealand National Airways Corporation have been offered for sale. ZK-AMG and ZK-AMK, the two Short Sunderland Mk III flying-boats which until June, 1950, operated the corporation’s regional service to Lauthala Bay, Fiji Islands, from Auckland, are now lying at the Royal New Zealand Air Force base at Hobsonville without engines or propellers and stripped of interior fittings and decoration. After the war three Mk III Sunderlands were by the corporation from the R.N.Z.A.F. One of the three was “cannibalised” to refit the others which were then put into the regional service. They also made flights from Wellington to the Chatham Islands.
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Post by Peter Lewis on Jun 2, 2022 20:07:44 GMT 12
There were actually four, but NZ4102/ZK-AMF was never fully converted.
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Post by Peter Lewis on Sept 11, 2023 23:15:40 GMT 12
Last week I was able to visit the House of James Norman Hall museum in Papeete, Tahiti. Hall was an American who flew with both the French Military and then the US Army Air Force in France during WW1, following which he settled in Tahiti and co-authored many books including the best-seller ' Mutiny on the Bounty'. Thus this building now houses many historic items from both his aviation activities and his subsequent writing career. One item hanging on a wall was a framed photo of Solent, ZK-AMO. Although the actual photo is a fairly commonly-seen one, a TEAL PR item, what is of interest are the personnel listed under the photo. They are: Senior Route Captain: J S Shephard Captain: M E McGreal Navigating Officer: A Tompkins Flight Hostess: M Oliphant Service Engineer: P Southworth First Officer: L Simpson Senior Flight Steward: D G Marshall Flight Clerk: D G Patterson Service Engineer: R A Upton Senior Flight Engineer: D R Phillips Senior Flight Steward: F V Collier Station Engineer: J Carr Service Engineer: H J Cook Radio Officer: N E Dawson Flight Hostess: V Watson Service Engineer: A E Dagg Service Engineer: N K Wilton and signed by many of the above. Obviously far too many to be a crew, but possibly a list of those who were actually involved with the Coral Route operation at the time of the last service flown on 15th September 1960. As Hall himself died in 1951 I am not sure about this item's relevance to the man himself, but nevertheless an interesting item.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Sept 12, 2023 9:25:07 GMT 12
These awesome coloured photos of Sunderlands at Hobsonville on the Wet Apron were posted to the Air Force Museum of New Zealand photo site today: 2013-227.526 Image from the Laurence Walter Tarr personal collection. Maritime Operational Conversion Unit Sunderland, NZ4107, 'on the hard' at RNZAF Station Hobsonville. 2013-227.527 Image from the Laurence Walter Tarr personal collection. Maritime Operational Conversion Unit Sunderlands 'on the hard' at RNZAF Station Hobsonville.NZ4114 (left) and NZ4107 (right). 2013-227.529 Image from the Laurence Walter Tarr personal collection. Maritime Operational Conversion Unit Sunderlands 'on the hard' at RNZAF Station Hobsonville.NZ4114 (left) and NZ4107 (right). 2013-227.525 Image from the Laurence Walter Tarr personal collection. Side view of Maritime Operational Conversion Unit Sunderland, NZ4114, 'on the hard' at RNZAF Station Hobsonville. 2013-227.528 Image from the Laurence Walter Tarr personal collection. 3/4 front view of Maritime Operational Conversion Unit Sunderland, NZ41107, 'on the hard' at RNZAF Station Hobsonville.
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Post by Mustang51 on Sept 12, 2023 10:24:26 GMT 12
What marvellous pieces of history there !
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Post by Dave Homewood on Sept 12, 2023 11:03:43 GMT 12
It's funny, when I was based at Whenuapai and Hobsonville there was a government mandated moratorium on spending any money to to up buildings on base because they were trying to save cash, and yet the buildings looked a lot better maintained then in the 1990s than they did in these heady days of the 1960s when money was no object. Look how rusty the large hangar looks, and the smaller two-bay hangar (MT Workshop?) looks decidedly tatty too.
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Post by johnnyfalcon on Sept 12, 2023 18:23:01 GMT 12
It's funny, when I was based at Whenuapai and Hobsonville there was a government mandated moratorium on spending any money to to up buildings on base because they were trying to save cash, and yet the buildings looked a lot better maintained then in the 1990s than they did in these heady days of the 1960s when money was no object. Look how rusty the large hangar looks, and the smaller two-bay hangar (MT Workshop?) looks decidedly tatty too. Can't say the same for those beautiful flying boats
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Post by 30sqnatc on Sept 12, 2023 19:02:18 GMT 12
'because they were trying to save cash'. I've never understond how you 'save cash' by not doing completing or postponing maintenance. You have to either spend more later or replace the entire building or equipment, which is never cheaper.
Unfortunately the lesson has not been learnt. Just last week an activity was nearly cancelled to 'save money'. When the risk register was updated with a management decision induced significant increase in project risk, the view on the value of the 'savings' changed!
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Post by Dave Homewood on Sept 12, 2023 19:15:41 GMT 12
The moratorium on Base Auckland (both Whenuapai and Hobsonville) was extremely detrimental on the barracks, which were all wartime buildings, were very run down and uncomfortable. They eventually lifted the halt on spending after the fourth or fifth suicide on the base in short succession, which they finally worked out might have been due to the poor living conditions. It seemingly worked.
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Post by Deane B on Sept 12, 2023 22:17:10 GMT 12
A lack of spending was not necessarily a cash saving measure, it was also a direct result of the Quigley report, which offered up a very real chance that Whenuapai would close. As a result most capital projects were put on hold, and it took a few years until it was clear this was not likely to happen and they started to spend again.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Sept 12, 2023 23:00:43 GMT 12
Thanks Deane, I always wondered why Base Auckland was singled out for the moratorium.
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Post by ZacYates on Sept 28, 2023 5:47:21 GMT 12
Those colour photos are tremendously atmospheric! Thank you so much for sharing them, Dave.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Oct 14, 2023 11:04:50 GMT 12
A couple of great photos from the Hamilton Public Library's Heritage Collection. A Sunderland Mk. III and a Walrus, both in camouflage, on the Wet Apron at RNZAF Station Hobsonville. LINKThree Sunderland Mk. IIIs, NZ4101 in the foreground, parked up at Hobsonville. LINK
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Post by Antonio on Oct 14, 2023 12:11:14 GMT 12
Awesome!!!
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