P-40 Wreck with Russell Brodie, WWI Airmen with Errol Martyn

[Deleted]

I just Googled the serial and found articles in NZV8 magazine, of all places, about the discovery!
pressreader.com/article/283317523579751
pressreader.com/article/282089163015470

[Dave Homewood]

I just asked my contact down there who was involved, and there's nothing new to report.

[davidd]

I think the "mystery P-40" is actually P-40E NZ3271 from Wigram, itself also an INST machine with the E&W School, which was disposed of in 1948. This of course was also one of the machines taken over in Tonga by 15 Squadron. The supposed serial number for this aircraft seems to be a red herring in my humble opinion. Has anybody checked to see if any obvious P-40E fittings are with the fuselage section, that is, anything typically fitted to that model, but not on later models? And no, nothing to contribute on the reason for that yellow paint, but I suspect that it was never flown in that scheme! However NZ3271 was in bare metal in its later years at Wigram.
David D

[Deleted]

Jul 2, 2020 14:33:58 GMT 12 Dave Homewood said:

I just asked my contact down there who was involved, and there's nothing new to report.

Thank you, Dave.

[bevanid]

Jul 2, 2020 22:20:14 GMT 12 davidd said:

I think the "mystery P-40" is actually P-40E NZ3271 from Wigram, itself also an INST machine with the E&W School, which was disposed of in 1948. This of course was also one of the machines taken over in Tonga by 15 Squadron. The supposed serial number for this aircraft seems to be a red herring in my humble opinion. Has anybody checked to see if any obvious P-40E fittings are with the fuselage section, that is, anything typically fitted to that model, but not on later models? And no, nothing to contribute on the reason for that yellow paint, but I suspect that it was never flown in that scheme! However NZ3271 was in bare metal in its later years at Wigram.
David D

I can guarantee you it’s NZ2340, it has the build number stamped into the lower left longeron which is still clearly legible, it is 2905, which is NZ3240.

[camtech]

OK then, the mystery(ies) is how and when this aircraft got to Wigram, plus of course, why. Then when and by what method was it sold? To date, I can't find any record of a lone Kittyhawk being sold from Wigram. One solution is that it may have been part of another tender with the majority at another location, or alternatively as part of a job lot as scrap.
Just repeating the obvious, but this is were the "fun" of historical research comes from; the solution is often stranger than reality would have us believe.

[davidd]

NZ3271 was the only P-40 sold from Wigram, sometime in 1948, although it may have been a simple (cashless) transfer as it ended up at ChCh Boys' High School, and was possibly used as an instructional device for, perhaps metalwork students, although I cannot really fathom why. I gather this aircraft was disposed of a few years later (early 1950s?), although apparently some parts remained at the school, including the engine cowls, which eventually ended up at MoTaT and were incorporated in NZ3009 (Darby @ Coy). 3271 became an instructional airframe (INST.96) at Hobsonville on 3rd May 1944 for reasons unknown (probably obsolescence!) and ended up at Wigram later in the war, supposedly for trainee electricians to study aircraft practices. Cannot find the WARB sale date at the moment, but it was apparently transferred to the Education Department, possible gratis, which would have then made them the official "owner". All just circumstantial evidence.
David D