The Don Subritzky Photo Collection

[johnnyfalcon]

Yep, and I visit that one even more regularly! Only, I can't sit in it for free... And Mike and Steve were soooooooo accommodating!

[delticman]

Nov 28, 2017 19:22:16 GMT 12 johnnyfalcon said:

I used to live about 3 kilometres down the road from the Subritzky's place. I used to pop in and visit Mike and Steve unannounced and interrupt their beautiful restorative work on the Hinds and Oxford and Spitfire and...et al. I remember the day when I arrived and the Provost and Spitfire were outside like that pic above. I remember feeling 'what a privilege to have such a treasure just down the road'. Not long after this circumstances required a move to a different town. Lesson: Don't take things for granted - ever. Nothing stays the same. I wish I'd visited more... (Mike and Steve probably don't)

I first met Don when he had the hangar at Dairy Flat and have visited him a few times "down the road". My last time was just a few weeks ago and I'm just amazed in what he tells me and he has a good listening ear as well.

Anyone who builds a Fletcher FU-24 from a wreck is tops for me.

[rone]

With reference to the comment " is this Hobsonville?" with a Vampire on the grass near the hangar. I can report that yes it is at Hobsonville, the hangar is what was later home to 3Sqn. The Vampire T11 is inside where it was assembled. CMT LAA Gunnery School shared half of this hangar with the aircraft assembling operations.

[johnnyfalcon]

Nov 28, 2017 19:22:16 GMT 12 johnnyfalcon said:

I used to live about 3 kilometres down the road from the Subritzky's place. I used to pop in and visit Mike and Steve unannounced and interrupt their beautiful restorative work on the Hinds and Oxford and Spitfire and...et al. I remember the day when I arrived and the Provost and Spitfire were outside like that pic above. I remember feeling 'what a privilege to have such a treasure just down the road'. Not long after this circumstances required a move to a different town. Lesson: Don't take things for granted - ever. Nothing stays the same. I wish I'd visited more... (Mike and Steve probably don't)

Here are the pics I took on the occasion the Spitfire was outside

TE330 1

TE330 2

[noooby]

Paint stripping that effing Spitfire was a pain in the butt. But the time passed pretty quick each night with Kev and Bill.

As Don used to say (and probably still does), Graham, it might be shite but it is British shite.

[Deleted]

Perhaps we need a dedicated thread but this seemed as good a place as any. Also I too am pretty darn sure G-EAPF and ZK-ACR aren't the same machine.

Jan 3, 2016 17:42:09 GMT 12 Peter Lewis said:

Jan 3, 2016 14:25:02 GMT 12 Dave Homewood said:

And this is an interesting one, an Austin Whippet that was imported into New Zealand by Dexter Motors of Auckland. This must be its debut or something? The Whippet was New Zealand's first privately owned aeroplane.


Here's an article on Dexter's Austin Whippets from the Auckland Star, dated 26 May 1921:

IN THE AIR FOR FUN.

DOMINION'S FIRST PRIVATE 'PLANE.

INITIAL FLIGHT ON SATURDAY.

On Saturday afternoon an aeroplane flight of an interesting nature will take place between Auckland and Hamilton, inasmuch as it will be the first occasion in New Zealand of a machine taking the air purely as a private vehicle, to be used entirely for the entertainment and convenience of its owner:

The aeroplane in question is one of two Austin whippets which were imported by the Dexter Motors, Ltd., and was purchased by Mr. H. H. Shaw, of Hamilton, for his own use.

It is a small single-seater plane of the type used for scouting purposes during the war, and varies so greatly from the ordinary type of aircraft with huge wingspread which we in this country are accustomed to see in flight as to be something of a curiosity. The whole outfit, including the pilot, only scales 800lb, while the wings fold back so that the machine can be wheeled through an ordinary farm gate, towed behind a motor car, and be comfortably housed in a single motor garage.

The 50h.p. Anzani engine with which it is equipped develops a speed of from 85 to 90 miles an hour on an economical consumption of benzine and oil, and generally speaking it is claimed that the machine, though of the tricky family of whippets, is very easy to handle by a qualified airman.

The flight on Saturday afternoon will be made by Captain Seabrook, A.F.C., of the firm of Seabrook, Fowlds, and Company, who had extensive experience with this type of plane on the Western front. He proposes to take off about 1.30 p.m. either from the Domain cricket ground or from Gorrie's paddock, Epsom, and before setting off on his flight to Hamilton, which he expects to reach in about 50 minutes, will probably perform a number of aerial evolutions for which this class of machine is considered to be well suited.

Anyway, the Austin Whippet was eventually delivered to H H Shaw in Hamilton (who was he? and what aviation experience did he have?) but Mac McGregor was also involved in flying the Whippet around this time. There was a rumour that Mac flew it under some of the Waikato River bridges in Hamilton, but this was ever only a rumour not fact.

One of the Whippets - most likely Shaw's - was acquired by Percy Coleman about 1930, but he said that he got it off an owner in Palmerston North, so there is another bit of untraced history in there.
Coleman's Whippet became legal around that time as ZK-ACR but he crashed it at Palmerston North.

The damaged machine was then sold to Toby Bennett of Kai-Iwi who repaired the damage and flew it again.
It was again damaged on landing in 1935, and the registration was cancelled on 1Aug35.
Last seen at Kai-Iwi around 1940.

Jan 3, 2016 19:27:27 GMT 12 shorty said:

Imported c.1920 by R Dexter of Auckland, and test flown by Capt M C MacGregor (Mad Mac), who found it underpowered. It was sold to Mr Les Brake of Wanganui, and was flown by Percy Coleman at Palmerston North, in whose hands it crashed. G-EAPF was then repaired, and was placed on the register as ZK-ACR. It's owner at that time was W R Bennett of Wanganui . Later it was sold to a Miss "X" of Christchurch and, according to legend, is still in existance "somewhere".
My rumour mill tells me it is in Kai Iwi, south of Wanganui

Thanks to some research I've been doing in recent days I found the below to add to ZK-ACR's story, thanks to a page on the Manawatu Aviation Club's site (link):

A few years later, in 1924 Mr Percy “Canonball” Coleman, a 27 year old local mechanic and noted international motorcycle racer of his day, purchased a 1920 Austin Whippet (later registered as ZK-ACR) aircraft before towing it home behind his small car all the way from Hamilton to Palmerston North. The Whippet was a small single seat fabric on pipework biplane with wings that folded neatly away. This aircraft was unusal due to the use of struts instead of stringers for rigidity.

ZK-ACR was one of only five such remarkable aircraft ever made by the Austin Motor factory in England, and the only one to ever take flight in New Zealand. It had a air-cooled 45 horsepower Anzani (six-cylinder radial engine) pushing it to a 70 knot cruise speed - very impressive for any aircraft of the day. Percy hastily unfolded his new purchase and flew from a paddock loaned by Joseph Linklater (farmer and MP of Manawatu) at Milson Line. This location approximated the site of the future Manawatu Aero Club premises.

Despite having accidentally lost his vision in one eye during a fight with a workshop grinder several years prior, the 27 year old Percy had learnt to fly at Sockburn, Christchurch - and was a keen aerobatic pilot known to be quite fearless. The unreliability of the aircraft’s engine restricted and probably considerably frustrated his flying activities. On one longer flight, he was forced to land on a Horowhenua beach due to an engine issue.

While taking off one April morning in 1925 on the way to a motorcycle race at Ashhurst, Percy failed to clear some nearby power lines which somehow caught in his tail skid. This resulted in the aircraft crashing onto its nose in a field full of maize. Percy escaped with only minor injuries, but the farmer who owned the maize paddock was most incensed at the crowd of fascinated onlookers, who gathered to view the first air crash and trod down his maize crop. The aircraft was later rebuilt in Wanganui, and continued to be licensed until 1937 after which time it sadly disappeared from public record. Percy built up a successful motorbike shop in Wanganui before passing away in April 1965.

Oh, and Shorty: Kai Iwi is north-west of Whanganui

[Peter Lewis]

Yes, you are quite right - The Shaw/Coleman aircraft was not ex G-EAPF.

The production comprised:
AU.1  K 158, later G-EAGS
AU.2  G-EAPF
AU.3  G-EAUZ then to Argentina
AU.4  to NZ, later ZK-ACR
AU.5  to NZ, not flown 

The three UK aircraft all have known history past 1921, so could not have come to NZ (as is frequently claimed).


I understand that the second Whippet imported by Reuben Dexter (who partnered the Walsh Brothers in the NZ Flying School at Kohimamrama) never flew in NZ and eventually ended up as a stage prop in a travelling entertainment group.

Whippet c/n AU.5 in the UK shortly after completion



Maybe one day, eventually, some Whippet parts may emerge from a dusty attic somewhere in NZ?

[Deleted]

Oct 11, 2020 11:24:02 GMT 12 Peter Lewis said:

Maybe one day, eventually, some Whippet parts may emerge from a dusty attic somewhere in NZ?

Kai Iwi is a small area, but not small enough that I’m keen to go doorknocking! Given there’s only a replica to represent the type, it would be neat to have even parts pop up.

[Peter Lewis]

I have seen one report that claimed ZK-ACR eventually was passed on to someone in Christchurch.

[planewriting]

There are extensive references to the N Z Whippets in the Aviation Historical Society publications with the most recent being in the June 2014 Aerolegacy which does mention the unknown lady in Christchurch to who ZK-ACR was sold. This article alone is 7 pages long so too long to include here. Zac, if you want copies of it and may be the other references, please send me a PM.

[errolmartyn]

Oct 12, 2020 10:07:13 GMT 12 planewriting said:

There are extensive references to the N Z Whippets in the Aviation Historical Society publications with the most recent being in the June 2014 Aerolegacy which does mention the unknown lady in Christchurch to who ZK-ACR was sold. This article alone is 7 pages long so too long to include here. Zac, if you want copies of it and may be the other references, please send me a PM.

Unfortuately the June 2014 article is so full of error as to be useless as a reference. The best account of the Whippet was an article by Philip Jarrett that appeared in Leo Opdyckes WWI Aero magazine. Unfortunately I don't have the issue date to hand, though it was quite some years ago now.

Errol

[Mustang51]

Philip Jarrett as in the "Aeroplane Monthly" Philip Jarret...?

[madmax]

The Austin Whippet saga.
Whether ZK-ACR was rebuilt by William Rakepoho "Toby" Bennett I have no knowledge however I have an rather poor image which shows Bennett sitting in the cockpit of an aircraft fuselage on trestles. The fuselage has resemblances to the Whippet profile with a similar shaped fin, a dorsal fin below the rear fuselage like that on ACR and a cockpit opening of similar shape to that of the Whippet's. However that is where the similarities end as Bennett's fuselage is constructed of wood whereas the Whippets was steel tube.
As for the Reuben Dexter's Whippet AU-5, it was sold to an Australian buyer and shipped to Melbourne

[errolmartyn]

Oct 12, 2020 14:13:53 GMT 12 Mustang51 said:

Philip Jarrett as in the "Aeroplane Monthly" Philip Jarret...?

.

Yes but has not been with Aeroplane Monthly for many years now. Jarrett, not Jarret, by the way.

Cheers,
Errol

[Mustang51]

I spent a week working with him in the IPC offices putting together an edition of AM. I was even permitted to pic the cover shot. Very nice memories of many beers and several Ploughman's Lunch at the Prince William Henry on Blackfriar's Road