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Post by Dave Homewood on Mar 24, 2008 13:57:52 GMT 12
According to Aircraft of the Royal New Zealand Air Force by Duxbury, Ewing and Macpherson, when the Centennial Buildings at Rongotai burned down in 1946 the RNZAF's Hawker Tomtits that had previously been instructional airframes with the RNZAF Technical Training School there were lost to the fire.
Does anyone know if other RNZAF aircraft were also lost in the fire? I guess the Tomtits were considered outdated and not taken to Nelson when the TTS moved there in 1944. Possibly their Grebe, Vincent and other machines were left behind too?
What a huge shame that amazing set of buildings was lost to the fire, all the photos show the exhibition buildings being very grand and well designed. They would still be popular today I'm sure if the fire hadn't broken out. I wonder if any other treasures were lost too other than the Tomtits.
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Post by tbf25o4 on Mar 25, 2008 10:01:28 GMT 12
Hi DAve,
there were several other aircraft lost in that fire, will dig out my records and advise.
The folklore behind the fire is that some RNZAF personnel awaiting discharge from the personnel rehabilitation centre that was at Rongotai were bored and so decided to light a small fire to draw attention to the fact they were still awaiting discharge. Unfortunately their little fire turned out to be a rather large one.
Some years ago I was speaking with Maurice Conly who worked at the Exhibition buildings during the war and he said that in winter the wind came through the walls (the buildings were very temporary having being built for the 1940 centennial exhibition and weren't designed to last too long!)
The centennial buildings were used extensively as a Technical Training School by the RNZAF during the war years
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Post by Dave Homewood on Mar 25, 2008 11:33:41 GMT 12
Thanks Paul, that list will be appreciated. What a shame about all those lost aircraft, but then they probably would have burned them anyway to dispose of them.
I have been told by other people who served at Rongotai, going through the school there, that it was a cold hole that the wind ripped through. Yeah, I guess due to its temporary nature it may not have lasted this long. Still, look at some of the shoddy leaky buildings being built these days, and they're meant to be permanent.
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Post by Peter Lewis on Mar 25, 2008 15:38:27 GMT 12
I can open the batting with a three: Howard DGA-15P ZK-AHP of the Superior Oil Co.Ltd., Wellington RNZAF Tiger Moths NZ732 and NZ826 Date was 25Sep46.  |
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Post by Dave Homewood on Mar 30, 2008 13:02:40 GMT 12
Wow, that's a real classic looking aircraft. What a pity it was lost.
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Post by shorty on Jun 9, 2008 23:16:32 GMT 12
Also lost was George Eyston' Thunderbolt world land speed record car. It had been sent out for the Centennial and was being stored there until there was post war shipping space to return it to the UK. Ap[parently the remains were dumped on the tip and Wellington and occaisionally dreamers talk about hunting for it.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Jun 10, 2008 1:10:44 GMT 12
It might not be such a silly dream. Other dreamers thought they might look for Campbell's 'Bluebird' in a huge lake, and now it is in a museum being restored to run again. It would be quite a heck of a job to find it though. It's no doubt been built on top of now too.
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