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Post by madmac on Nov 4, 2021 17:17:13 GMT 12
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Post by emron on Nov 4, 2021 19:50:56 GMT 12
I thought you were going to say it was the failed high wing, twin Pratt and Whitney powered conversion.
War Assets Realisation Board tender No. 1032, April 1947 included:- One (1) Hind Airframe (At Hobsonville).
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Post by agile on Nov 5, 2021 8:32:24 GMT 12
Time machine required... "Crane lifting a No. 75 Squadron Mosquito wing to break the fuselage away. Believed to be at RNZAF Station Woodbourne. - Circa 1954 (1998-312.2b)"(Air Force Museum Collection) Do we (the forum) have a list of codes and which serials they apply to for the Mosquitoes, a la the excellent work on the P-40s? I have a bit of a list, cribbed partly from Ants and partly by trawling pics. The two YC-A's (2325 and 2329) were both destroyed in prangs within months of each other. Based on other angles of the aircraft after its demise I'd say this is NZ2329 which swung on takeoff and suffered a landing gear collapse at RNZAF Ohakea on 18.9.1950.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Nov 11, 2021 21:07:48 GMT 12
OK, who remembers this absolutely gold photo of an RNZAF P-40 painted up comically with a shark's mouth, a nickname "TOKYO BOUND" and spurious kill marks at a public exhibition? HamG564 LINKWell I had my doubts that the venue was Bledisloe Hall, as the Wigram page suggests, which was not only much bigger than this looks and also was full of the engine reconditioning lines which i doubt they would have moved to put on a display for the town's folk. Well I just came across this article that suggests it was actually at the Army Drill Hall in Knox Street, Hamilton. Incidentally I did my RNZAF entry test in that hall but I do not remember the architecture. Is anyone here familiar with the old drill hall? Is this it?
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Post by davidd on Nov 12, 2021 7:42:15 GMT 12
Very strange goings on!!! What were they thinking of?
David D
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Post by Dave Homewood on Nov 12, 2021 8:15:13 GMT 12
It is strange indeed. The fact they added six kill flags is interesting, only two RNZAF aircraft ever achieved that score, NZ3072 with six kills, and NZ3124 with six kills plus a probable. This one is neither of them so like the shark's mouth, the flags are totally spurious. Someone at Rukuhia probably had a comic book they copied from.
The logical thing is this would have been brought by road from Rukuhia, and as the date is August 1944 it is actually possible this was no longer a flying aircraft and could well have been one of the ones that were put into No. 1 Storage Depot at Rukuhia from June 1944 onwards.
I wish more angles of this scene would show up in the photo collection or from elsewhere, I'd love to know the aircraft's serial.
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Post by McFly on Nov 12, 2021 9:06:07 GMT 12
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Post by oj on Nov 12, 2021 11:15:30 GMT 12
Great stuff. Other than in Retrolens aerial photos, I had not seen any from ground level of that era. This is the first time I have seen what the northern hangar looked like. That is where the present "PAC" hangar was built on the pad in 1973. Did you notice the aircraft about to do a low-level pass over the crowd?
Also notice the large fire siren mounted on the corner of the (JAL) hangar roof. That was still in use when I was at JAL and PAC. We used to test it at 1200 every Friday. The manual control button was in the JAL Electrical Bay. About 1983 we took it down for a maintenance check and I think we replaced the bearings (not because of failure, just to give it another 50 years). It is probably still in use today (if the new owners have found the button!).
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Post by Dave Homewood on Nov 12, 2021 11:53:43 GMT 12
Well, the Winter Show building was certainly Bledisloe Hall, but that interior is hard to tell if it is Bledisloe Hall. I am still inclined to wonder if it is the Army Drill Hall and the other buildings in Knox Street (now all long since demolished). These two photos show the interior of Bledisloe Hall in 1944, and as you see, No. 1 Repair Depot's Engine Repair Shop fills the hall in both directions. These are also Air Force Museum of New Zealand photos. PR3705 by Dave Homewood, on Flickr PR3706 by Dave Homewood, on Flickr
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Post by shorty on Nov 12, 2021 12:33:48 GMT 12
Looking at the windows, wall panelling, Lower part of the walls where they meet the floor and also the staircase I would say it is NOT Bledisloe
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Post by AussieBob on Nov 12, 2021 14:20:55 GMT 12
While not familiar with Hamilton, this 1970s interior shot of Bledisloe Hall from Hamilton libraries would suggest they are one and the same given truss structures and window arrgts. Description The inside of Bledisloe Hall, showing a mural at one end, just prior to the hall's removal. The Bledisloe Hall of Agriculture was the first building in the world to be built without the use of a single rivet in the framework. The building was opened on May the 28th, 1935, by his Excellency the Governor-General, Viscount Galway and was named after former Governor-General, Viscount Bledisloe. It was built to host the Waikato Winter Show and other agricultural exhibitions. From 1942 to 1947 it was taken over by the Royal New Zealand Air Force as a repair workshop for planes used in the Pacific War. Edit: Note the same end mural is there in 1940s and 1970s Another older one from the outside around the same time; ketehamilton.peoplesnetworknz.info/image_files/0000/0001/2105/HCL_03560.jpg
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Post by Dave Homewood on Nov 12, 2021 15:32:30 GMT 12
The Winter Show Building and Bledisloe Hall were one and the same.
Shorty and I agree that the building the P-40N with shark's teeth is, is not Bledisloe Hall/the Winter Show building.
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Post by ZacYates on Nov 12, 2021 16:39:34 GMT 12
OK, who remembers this absolutely gold photo of an RNZAF P-40 painted up comically with a shark's mouth, a nickname "TOKYO BOUND" and spurious kill marks at a public exhibition? HamG564 LINKI can contribute nothing except that I think this P-40 would be a fun model to build. I too hope more photographs show up.
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Post by camtech on Nov 12, 2021 19:45:08 GMT 12
The Winter Show Building and Bledisloe Hall were one and the same. Shorty and I agree that the building the P-40N with shark's teeth is, is not Bledisloe Hall/the Winter Show building. I would agree that it is not Bledisloe/Winter Show building. Need to figure out where the Winter show was held in 1944 - probably Claudelands. Trying to figure out where this was, but no luck yet.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Nov 12, 2021 19:59:47 GMT 12
The building in the shark's mouth photo has a sloping roof that looks the same angle as the drill hall was.
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Post by camtech on Nov 12, 2021 20:02:16 GMT 12
Found this report in Waikato Times 22 September 1944, which would tend to indicate that the Kittyhawk was in a hangar at Rukuhia, along with the other aircraft mentioned. First time I was aware of an Avenger parked in Victoria Street.
BOMBER ON VIEW
PORTABLE TEST BENCH A huge torpedo bomber-fighter aeroplane anchored in Victoria Street in front of the Chief Post Office created a great deal of interest to-day. It is the chief exhibit of the Royal New Zealand Air Force in the special week to create more interest in the £40,000,000 Victory Loan. Pilot-Officer J. A. Lee gave some details of the bomber, but indicated that performance details of the aircraft were still on the 'secret list. “However, it is very formidable in action,” he said. “When you read of raids over enemy-occupied territory by 1000 bombers, all four-engined aircraft, you should realise why petrol restrictions on motor vehicles are necessary. The T.B.F. is designed to operate from aircraft carriers as well as airfields. The pilot, by operating a lever, can fold the huge wings back alongside the fuselage in order that the aircraft will occupy less space for storage purposes." Engine Test Bench
Along the bomber in Victoria Street was displayed a portable engine test bench fitted with a twinrow Pratt and Whitney motor. Test benches like this one, it was explained by Pilot-Officer Lee, were used to run-in all aircraft motors after being reconditioned. Inside the cab of the vehicle, instruments gave a complete record of the motor’s performance, including maximum revolutions, fuel consumption, horse power, oil temperature, oil pressure and supercharger boost. When tne motor was started and speeded up the deafening roar spoke of the power of the engine.
Pilot-Officer Lee, said the display in Bledisloe Hall would reveal the equipment and work necessary to overhaul an aircraft motor. “The propeller repair section,” he said, “should be one of the principal attractions, for there is a lot of intricate machinery used for repairing the variable-pitch propellers. The radiator repair section is also an interesting feature, showing the modern Glycol radiators being repaired for Warhawk aircraft.” Large numbers of people visited the engine repair section in the Winter Show buildings during the morning and afternoon. Exhibits At Rukuhla
On Sunday the public will be given the opportunity to inspect the aircraft repair unit at Rukuhia for three hours from 1.30 p.m. The authorities especially request that all visitors enter'the grounds at Rukuhia via Tamahere, buses and other vehicles proceeding from Hamilton via Hillcrest and Tamahere. One cf the most attractive exhibits displayed at Rukuhia will be the famous Douglas Dakota sky-train as used for dropping parachute troops. Other aircraft to be seen there include the Lockheed Lodestar, Venturas, Hudson troop carriers, torpedo bomber-fighters, Warhawks, Kittyhawks, Dominies, Oxfords, and even a tiny Rearwin monoplane. TELEPHONE RADIO APPEAL TOMORROW’S ARRANGEMENTS With a view to stimulating investments in the Victory Loan a tele-phone-radio appeal throughout the Dominion is to be held tomorrow night, commencing at 7 p.m. The chairman of the Waikato-King Country War Loan Committee, Mr T. H. Melrose, hopes and is confident that a fine response will be made and that the district's quota will be considerably enhanced as the result. All sub-centres on the Hamilton telephone exchange are asked to ring 4700 giving their names and address and the amounts they intend to invest. These promises will be acknowledged over IYA. Subscribers attached to the Hamilton sub-ex-changes are asked to ring their local telephone exchanges and ask for “Victory Loan.” These promises also will be acknowledged over IYA. It is further requested that all promises to invest announced “over the air” be honoured as soon as possible one day during next week, the amount either to be invested in stock or Victory Bonds or deposited in a National War Savings Account.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Nov 12, 2021 20:05:08 GMT 12
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Post by Dave Homewood on Nov 12, 2021 20:14:06 GMT 12
Need to figure out where the Winter show was held in 1944 - probably Claudelands. Trying to figure out where this was, but no luck yet. There were no Waikato Winter Shows held after 1941, till it resumed I think in 1947.
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Post by camtech on Nov 12, 2021 20:14:46 GMT 12
I agree, Dave, but wonder if that is the location, how did they get the aircraft in? Would have to be dismantled surely. Also, no mention of this display as a separate item in the newspaper report.
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Post by shorty on Nov 12, 2021 21:02:30 GMT 12
The P-40 looks to be in a hangar of the same design as the Ardmore ones which makes Rukuhia a strong contender
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