Bristol Freighter Remains

[Dave Homewood]

My sister, Shelley Edhouse, sent me these two photos that she took yesterday from a roadside at some place called Awhitu, apparently this poor old Bristol is on private property. I note the number 02 on the nose, is this the remains of NZ5902, which adf.serials says was..."Reduced to spares during August 1986 and cancelled from civil register as broken up on 01 December 1988."

[woody99]

Yep Dave. She lives up the Awhitu Peninsula, toward the Manukau Heads north of Waiuku. As you enter the Awhitu Regional Park gates, she's on the left. Been there for years. My guess is photos taken from the road. Only a few metres back.

[madmax]

Yes, the B170 at Awhitu is NZ5902/ZK-EPA and I can probably take responsibility for it being where it is today. Around 1985 I negotiated a deal between Ron Dwen and the Awhitu property owner over the purchase.

At that time I lived nearby and was contemplating on putting a Bristol fuselage on a vacant property I owned for use as accommodation however a change of circumstances meant I was unable to proceed with the plan.

NZ5902 was transported to Awhitu by road in the dead of night although consideration had been given to barging it across the Manukau harbour.

The property owner was/is Richard Hudson. I called in to see him 6 of 7 years ago but his house appeared abandoned

[pjw4118]

Is it now "abandoned" like the Avenger at Riverhead

[Dave Homewood]

I guess it is probably a Malaya and Vietnam War veteran too?

[camtech]

Certainly is Dave

[keroburner]

To keep the peace, no body suggest a certain West Auckland museum take on this project

[Deleted]

Hear hear!

[motat]

I'm not saying anything..........

[pjw4118]

Is it a spanners and trailers expedition lads ?

[corsairarm]

Yep

[saratoga]

Interesting that it appears the camouflage scheme was applied directly over the cheat line scheme.I would have thought the old scheme would be stripped off first.Guess at the Bristols 'lumber' speed possibly irrelevant!.

[Dave Homewood]

Jun 7, 2016 17:56:59 GMT 12 pjw4118 said:

Is it a spanners and trailers expedition lads ?

Do you need a new chook house?

[hamfists]

You don't need a trailer, there's one there too!

[AussieBob]

Here's a story about it earlier last year

www.stuff.co.nz/travel/news/65685517/plane-is-at-home-among-the-plants

[TS]

Jun 6, 2016 19:01:27 GMT 12 pjw4118 said:

Is it now "abandoned" like the Avenger at Riverhead

They both need a bloody good polish and then they are as good as gold.....

[baronbeeza]

A derelict plane gathering greenery on a south Auckland farm has been intriguing those who have stumbled across it for decades.

The fuselage of the Bristol 170 Freighter sits abandoned on Richard Hudson's Awhitu property, across the Manukau Harbour from Auckland Airport.

Dwen Airmotive managing director Mark Dwen said his father Ronald Dwen purchased the plane, along with seven other Bristol Freighters, from the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) after they were put out of commission.



HIDDEN: Greenery is growing up over the fuselage of an old Bristol plane.

In 1978 the plane, originally registered to the Bristol Aeroplane Co as G-AINS, was flown from the air force base at Whenuapai to Ardmore Airport where Dwen's business was based and reregistered as ZK-EPA.

Dwen said his father was involved in supplying parts and engines for Bristol Hercules Freighters around the world.

Some of the freighters went to Canada and were used in the Arctic Circle for gold mining and oil exploration operations.

Some went to the United Kingdom to be used to transport thoroughbreds around Europe, Dwen said.

Other Bristol freighters were used to transport bloodstock around New Zealand.

However, the plane that currently rested in south Auckland sat at Ardmore and was bought by Hudson from Dwen's father in the late 1980s.

The aircraft was in the process of being scrapped when Hudson saw the plane being "chopped up" and decided to buy it.

Stephen Satherley posted a picture of the wingless freighter on his Flickr account late last year.

In 2012, photographer Russell Dixon also stumbled across the aging plane.

Dixon said it took him a long time to track down even a basic history of the plane.

The plane was understood to have been commissioned in 1947 and served with the RNZAF 41 Squadron until 1951.

The 41 Squadron was a transport unit that conducted transport flights in the South Pacific during World War II.

Bristol Freighters were also used by New Zealand cargo line Straits Air Freight Express that ran the New Zealand Railways Air service from Wellington to Blenheim before the introduction of the Cook Strait ferries.

Museum of Transport and Technology (MOTAT) life member Les Downey said he managed to capture some images of New Zealand's Bristol Freighters during his apprenticeship with Air New Zealand's predecessor Tasman Empire Airways Limited (TEAL).

While the plane that rests in Awhitu seems to have seen better days another Bristol Freighter still sits at Ardmore Airport.

Dwen said the plane had featured in movies and commercials, hosted birthday parties and been used for fire service training drills.

But now it needed a new home as Dwen Airmotive's lease at Ardmore was almost up.

Ideally the plane would go to a good home in a museum or a private collection, he said.

From the above Stuff link. Seems like it may have been a bit of a training exercise for a budding young reporter.

[tbf25o4]

As usual "cub reporter" article. I didn't realize we got this freighters in 1947 and it only served with 41 squadron until 1951!!n Will have to adjust the official history accordingly!

[madmax]

B170 NZ5902/ZK-EPA arrived in New Zealand on 6 December 1951 and was taken on charge by No 41 sqdn 9 days later. It remained with the RNZAF for 26 years, making its last flight with No 1 sqdn on 15 March 1977.
Richard Hudson used the fuselage for storage and anyone able to purchase the remains and get inside could find themselves very lucky indeed.

[kiwithrottlejockey]

Jun 12, 2016 3:05:27 GMT 12 madmax said:

B170 NZ5902/ZK-EPA arrived in New Zealand on 6 December 1951 and was taken on charge by No 41 sqdn 9 days later. It remained with the RNZAF for 26 years, making its last flight with No 1 sqdn on 15 March 1977.

And the next Freighter in registration sequence (NZ5903) was commanded on its delivery flight to New Zealand by a member of this group, although he hasn't posted for a long while, but I know he is still very much alive and kicking.