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Post by typerated on Oct 6, 2013 9:12:00 GMT 12
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Post by typerated on Oct 6, 2013 9:25:43 GMT 12
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Post by baz62 on Oct 6, 2013 10:37:14 GMT 12
Yes I recall it was being rebuilt in a hangar at Wigram but the owner had been a naughty boy about some customs matters and he left NZ. (Or so I've been told. Anyone confirm or have the correct story?)
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Post by Dave Homewood on Oct 6, 2013 12:09:59 GMT 12
Um you might want to do a bit more research there Baz, the owners of the aircraft being restored at Wigram were the Old Flying Machine Company and the Alpine Fighter Collection. It was the contractor they hired to do the work who was a criminal, and it was more than just breaching Customs regulations. Do a search on the forum for Peter Ahrens, there's a fair bit been said before about this sad case, including by Shorty who met him. rnzaf.proboards.com/thread/6184 |
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Post by baronbeeza on Oct 6, 2013 14:19:51 GMT 12
I see Shorty referred to the FW190 being in 4 Hangar at Wigram.
While that may well be the case I have worked out of both hangars until recently and always assumed they had been in 5 Hangar.
This was based purely on my recollections of the working/storage area being to the right of the roadside entry doors. The area off to the right within 4 Hangar is minimal compared to the almost full floor area available in 5 Hangar.
5 hangar also has the office and workshops running down that side, with the room on top for a mezzanine.
Is my memory playing tricks on me ?
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Post by nzjet on Oct 6, 2013 14:39:48 GMT 12
It was 5 hangar 100%
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Post by baronbeeza on Oct 6, 2013 14:48:54 GMT 12
What are you doing online, haven't you got some deliveries to do ?
At least someone is agreeing with me here. We may have to keep you on.
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Post by baz62 on Oct 6, 2013 15:10:35 GMT 12
Um you might want to do a bit more research there Baz, the owners of the aircraft being restored at Wigram were the Old Flying Machine Company and the Alpine Fighter Collection. It was the contractor they hired to do the work who was a criminal, and it was more than just breaching Customs regulations. Do a search on the forum for Peter Ahrens, there's a fair bit been said before about this sad case, including by Shorty who met him. rnzaf.proboards.com/thread/6184Hence my comment: (Or so I've been told. Anyone confirm or have the correct story?) |
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Post by shorty on Oct 6, 2013 17:48:04 GMT 12
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Post by baronbeeza on Oct 6, 2013 18:41:19 GMT 12
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Post by baronbeeza on Oct 6, 2013 20:14:12 GMT 12
  Ok the first pic from Shorty is taken with the afternoon sun streaming through the windows along the rear wall of the hangar. That was a nice sunny corner of the hangar, we tried to do all our work right there. The FW-190 wing would have been sitting about where the tail weight trolley is, the root end at least. |
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Post by denysjones on Oct 6, 2013 20:54:48 GMT 12
I'm open to correction on my memory of all of this but there were the Me110's and Fw190s that were some sort of tie up with Tim Wallace and some dude (who if my memory is again true turned out to have a very dubious past) from Austria via Texas I think. I'm pretty sure he was eventually done for fraud.
I vividly recall a visit to the hangar (#5 at a guess but definitely one of the concrete wall ones) to see the stuff there.
An operation was set up at Wigram and staff engaged and then it all went pear shaped. There eventually was an auction of all sorts of components left after the operator vapourised. I recall there was even a B29 nosewheel in it all. I also recall talking to a staff member who was of no aeronautical background but was working there and said to me that he really didn't know why he was there. His experience was automotive body works not aeromotive.
I can say that at the auction Mike Nicholls bought a lot of stuff and gifted us at Ferrymead a pile of sheet dural which was of no real value to him and too much hassle therefore to take to Blenhiem. it has of course been of great use to us since.
The 1100's went back to Germany and one has subsequently been restored for a museum in Berlin.
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Post by lumpy on Oct 6, 2013 21:18:46 GMT 12
I also recall talking to a staff member who was of no aeronautical background but was working there and said to me that he really didn't know why he was there. His experience was automotive body works not aeromotive. Well I do know that a local custom car builder / restorer did a certain amount of work on a recent Yak rebuild here in town . I guess its all metal shaping , wether it be car or aircraft ( and experience counts for a lot ) - so that could explain why that particular guy was there . |
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Post by shorty on Oct 7, 2013 7:43:03 GMT 12
Peter Ahrens gave a talk at the Wigram Sergeants Mess. He also claimed to have built a FW 190 previously but that it was destroyed in a hangar fire in Florida, I've never found any reference to this Pete Morrisey was running Ahrens operation at Wigram (Aircraft Specialites was the name I think)and I was given to understans that the wings were on loan only to be used as patterns. When the stuff was disposed of Nigel Wilcox purchased the forward fuselage of the feederliner project and that is slowly being converted to a mobile shop/caravan, it used to be stored on my property when I lived at Greta Valley. It is now at Nigel's property in Waikari. There is more info on another Ahrens project here: www.aviastar.org/air/usa/ahrens_ar-404.phpAhrens died some time ago. I never did find out the real story about his brush with the law, although one story circulating is that he turned up at Auckland Airport departures in a captain's uniform and carrying a cat! |
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warrick
Leading Aircraftman
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Post by warrick on Feb 1, 2019 20:30:26 GMT 12
I knew Peter Ahrens as Captain Peter Ahrens and he flew a Dragon Rapide out from I believe Sweden to Australia in the early 1960's and myself and a bunch of model airplane enthusiasts went for our first flight in an aircraft out of Coolangatta Qld.in his Dragon Rapide which he operated under the banner of East Coast Airways. He also had a Piper Tripacer which we also had a flight in at a later date. Later on he had a forced landing in the Rapide on the beach at Palm Beach and it was taken up to Archerfield and later used to train the fireman on as they set it alight. He then went onto start an aviation division for Avis Rent a car I believe. He was a bit of a showman and regularly put himself in the newspapers with some of his stunts. I was lead to believe he was the same Peter Ahrens who was in New Zealand restoring several FW 190's. He was always dressed in a captains uniform when ever I met him and could always tell a good story. I recently discovered a photo of his Piper Tri Pacer on a small grass airfield on the Gold Coast when we went for a joyride. Good Memories Warrick
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Post by Dave Homewood on Apr 9, 2024 20:56:57 GMT 12
This will be the chap that Warrick wrote about above. From the PRESS, 18 AUGUST 1960 EMIGRATING IN THEIR OWN AIRCRAFT. — A Swedish family have bought a twin-engined de Havilland Dragon aeroplane, in which they plan to emigrate to Sydney. Mr P. Ahrens, the father of the family, is an air mechanic who hopes to find work as a pilot in Sydney. He is shown with his wife and four children inside their aircraft.  Can anyone confirm it really was the same guy? The photo above was about 35 years before he showed up at Wigram. |
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Post by ZacYates on Apr 10, 2024 8:21:02 GMT 12
So that's where it all started...what a great find Dave!
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