Ardmore and Harvards query

[Dave Homewood]

When did warbird activity actually start at Ardmore?

I know NZ Warbirds Inc. was set up in 1978, but there seems to have been activity from the preservation movement on the former station before then.

I have the June-July 1972 edition of NZ Wings, and there's an article about Harvard NZ1069. It was then being rescued from under tress on a farm near Woodbourne and was about to make the trip north to Ardmore to be restored. It was complete except for instruments, and the new owners (not mentioned by name) planned to return it to its wartime temperate-land colour scheme that it wore in WWII with No. 4 Operational Training Unit at Ohakea.

So, when did the preservation movement first start using Ardmore? Was it just Motat volunteers (as they had/have a hangar on the airfield) or others too?

What has become of NZ1069? Was it restored to it's wartime paint scheme as planned? Ivan Prince's adf.serials page seems uncertain of it's whereabouts.

Of note in the article from 1972 it states that with '69, there were then six Harvards on display in NZ. The other five were at Motat (still at Motat); Pahiatua (still there, as a playground slide!); Methven, Tauranga and Takapau.

Takapau = NZ1100
Pahiatua = NZ918
Motat's is NZ944
Methven = NZ946
Tauranga =

[Bruce]

If I recall correctly the first Civilianised Harvard in NZ was NZ1025 ZK-ENN (this was the machine that John Greenstreet was tragically killed in during Roaring 40s Practice at Ardmore) that was mid 70s I think.

[Dave Homewood]

Yes NZ1025 was the first flying Harvard and went to Jim Sullivan and Dave Diamond in 1977, but they were from South Canterbury and the Harvard was based at Timaru with them for around ten years or so.

It seems from the report that restoration was going on at Ardmore before flying warbirds moved in, and when i thought about it just now, I'm sure some of the aircraft rescued by Charles Darby went to Ardmore in the early-mid 1970's. I have seen photo of the Beaufort there and I think it was dated about that time but I'm unsure.

The first warbird was of course the Mustang ZK-CCG in the 1960's, and Motat began rescuing aircraft in that decade too, so the idea of preservation was well advanced by this 1972 date. I just wondered when Ardmore became one of the places it happened at.

[Peter Lewis]

NZ1069:
went to ATC Nelson as INST173 17Oct57
Sold by GSB tender in January 1972 to J. Regan Lower Hutt. To D. Subritzky in February 1973. Believed to be stored at Dairy Flat Airfield, Auckland. (Probably at the Subritzky home base by now).

The Mustang CCG was in operation from late 1963.
Up to the mid-1960s, the emphasis was in civil conversion of ex-military aircraft that were suitable for a civil function (C47, DH82A, B170). CAA was not very willing to certify out-and-out military aircraft as it was considered that such machines were not designed or built to civil certification standards. Also, the interest was not really there - CCG, along with most other ex-military aircraft around at that time, was never painted up in anything resembling a military colour scheme.
The change of heart seems to have come about in the late 1970s, and the first Harvards were operational from about that time.

[Peter Lewis]

The Tauranga playground Harvard was NZ980, there from 1963 - 1979.

[Kereru]

Talking about Harvards I took this photo at an airshow when the Harvards were still in the Air Force and I have never been able to put a year to it. If there is anyone here old enough or their dad may have been there that could help with a date I would appreciate it.
www.airliners.net/open.file/0314546/L/

Note the three hangars that used to be in the middle of the airfield and long gone now.

[Dave Homewood]

Colin, that's a great photo.

I note the roundels don't have the silver fern, and the dayglo colour scheme should help date it - I'm not an expert on the dates of that scheme but will look into it.

As for aircraft, all but one with numbers showing are still around.
NZ1078 - ZK-ENG
NZ1080 - written off in 1973
NZ1066 - ZK-ENE
NZ1060 - VH-SFY at RAAF Museum, Point Cook
NZ1096 - ZK - END
NZ1075 - VH-HVD

[xr6turbo1]

Yip, thats a good photo and its nice to see 78, 66, and 96 still flying today

[Dave Homewood]

OK, the dayglo scheme was introduced in 1962, so it's post that date I'd think. Prior to that the Harvard scheme was silver with yellow bands as seen on the now deceased NZ1025.

As for the roundels though, the R.14 roundel with white fern was adopted in 1957, and that was replaced in 1958 with the R.15 roundel with silver fern. This remained through to 1970 when the Kiwi was adopted.

So, in the original are there silver ferns? I can't spot any in the photo online. Puzzling.

[Bruce]

A variation of the fernleaf roundel is seen on the Harvard at TATATM in New Plymouth (which is in this colour scheme). the fern leaf is a fine decal, with lots of black outlining. From a distance it would almost look like a black fern. Unfortunately although the picture is excellent the resolution of the film makes it very unclear. I think there is something on '60s roundel, but I cant tell. I can however make out a Cessna 310 at the end of the row - looks a bit like ZK-DLP (recently broken up at Ardmore) perhaps that is a clue. (this would be Outside Dalhoff and King aviation - later Flightline aviation) the foundations of the hangars in the background are where the DC3 lives nowdays.

[Dave Homewood]

I have been thinking about your photo Colin.

In the 1960's the maximum number of aircraft in the Red Checkers and CFS Aerobatics teams were five, and as there are no checkered cowls it's not the Checkers. But I count eight Harvards here, too many for any RNZAF display team sent to an airshow. Especially all the way from Wigram to Ardmore.

So it must have been a deployment, and my guess is it may have been an Exercise Wise Owl. Does anyone know if there was a Wise Owl held at Ardmore, and if so, which year?

[mit]

Aug 10, 2006 23:22:44 GMT 12 Bruce said:

If I recall correctly the first Civilianised Harvard in NZ was NZ1025 ZK-ENN (this was the machine that John Greenstreet was tragically killed in during Roaring 40s Practice at Ardmore) that was mid 70s I think.

Just make a small correction NZ1076 was the first civilian Harvard in New Zealand, followed by NZ1037 done at Harewood in 1978

[kevsmith]

I can however make out a Cessna 310 at the end of the row - looks a bit like ZK-DLP (recently broken up at Ardmore) perhaps that is a clue. (this would be Outside Dalhoff and King aviation - later Flightline aviation) the foundations of the hangars in the background are where the DC3 lives nowdays.

Haven't seen that photo before and as the consensus seems to be that the photo was from the early-mid 60's the C310 would have been ZK-CFG, the Fletchers C310, which was mostly resident at Ardmore. I don't remember the occasion but Ardmore was pretty busy even then. On occasions there were up to about 9 or 10 aircraft in the circuit at night when the Auckland Fying School held their night flying!

[planewriting]

I reckon the occasion was the RNZAC pageant at Ardmore on 13 March 1965, which was attended, I think, by 12 Harvards. Definitely in view are 9 Harvards. There is one directly in line with the tower between '66 and '60. It is quite possible there are more obscured by '96 and '75. The Harvards were definitely parked there on that occasion and Mustang ZK-CCG was parked adjacent to the extreme right Harvard. You will see that the engines are running and I think '78 (judging by its angle to the others) is taxiing out which may mean there are others ahead of it.

If you look in the distance beyond Harvards '78, '80 and 66 you will see the crowd line. I was in that crowd line. Unfortunately the AHSNZ report does not list all attending aircraft though one listed aircraft was Cessna 411 N7307U. It may be the assumed ZK-CFG reported above by KevSmith. The report also mentions that 10 Harvards from Wigram CGS opened the RNZAF section in both formation and solo aerobatics.

[planewriting]

Just after posting the above I remembered to look at www.cambridgeairforce.org.nz/Airshow_History_1960s.html to see what was recorded for that air show. It does record Harvard '58, which is not in view (these days at Ferrymead). There was not a US Navy C-54 attending that show. The large Douglas was RNZAF DC-6 NZ3631, which put on a handling display. The Dominie in attendance was ZK-AKU, which by that stage was owned by the Nelson Aero Club.

[kevsmith]

Gosh - amazing what you can see in the picture, Peter, when you start to really look hard.
I think the extreme right aircraft is the C310, but over the fuselage of the last Harvard on the right can be seen a blue fuselage of probably the C411 facing towards the west.
I base my ID of the 310 on the fuselage sloping down a little towards the tail while the 411 essentially has a horizontal top to the fueslage as shown on the blue fuselage acft.

I don't remember the occasion, but checking my log book for that day I find I did a formation demo flying Mooney 20E CFV n formation with two Mk 21 Mooneys, CHY and CKF. That was apart from quite a few other flying school flights including a charter to Whitianga and back.

[Dave Homewood]

Thanks Peter, so now I can hopefully fill in some of the other Harvard numbers from Colin's photo.

[Dave Homewood]

There is a partially obscured Harvard in Colin's photo where you can see the 6 clearly. Looking at the records that can only be either NZ1061 or NZ1065, as the other NZ106X Harvards are either all in the photo or they had been written off by 1965. I wonder which it was.

[Dave Homewood]

Peter does the AHSNZ journal list which Canberra and which Freighter were present?