Ex-John Smith Harvard NZ1068

[dazz]

I can't help thinking this might be a popular machine for the intrepid Mr Conroy to use for air to air shots with the rear facing seat!!

[hrvd1068]

Apr 16, 2022 21:20:38 GMT 12 dazz said:

I can't help thinking this might be a popular machine for the intrepid Mr Conroy to use for air to air shots with the rear facing seat!!

Yes we hope it will be a good camera ship once going and also with a rear gun it should be very entertaining and something different for everyone to enjoy.

[Deleted]

You're more than welcome Nick, I'd hate for people to miss out just because they don't use Facebook.

Apr 16, 2022 19:06:58 GMT 12 hrvd1068 said:

re-weld in the swivel seat mount that was cut out

You know I'll be begging to test that out in flight, right? Dakka-dakka-dakka

[Bruce]

Apr 16, 2022 21:20:38 GMT 12 dazz said:

I can't help thinking this might be a popular machine for the intrepid Mr Conroy to use for air to air shots with the rear facing seat!!

Interestingly, I asked John King, another well known aviation photographer about the Rear facing seat that was in Harvard NZ1099 (One I worked on when I was a trainee at Gulf Aeronautics). John reckoned he preferred the standard trainer Harvard as the airflow in 1099 with the rear section folded down was quite different and caused a lot of buffeting on the camera. He said that although it didnt require as much contortion, it didnt give him a lot of extra camera angles.

[planecrazy]

Mini hi-jack here is "99" with the rear canopy stowed when she was ferried to Australia,
may be wrong but I think she currently resides in Tasmania these days. I'm sure I read
somewhere she was for sale a while back?

[Deleted]

Apr 20, 2022 14:44:12 GMT 12 planecrazy said:

I'm sure I read somewhere she was for sale a while back?

She was, I'm struggling to find the link right now.

[aeromuzz]

Apr 21, 2022 14:16:50 GMT 12 @zacyates said:

Apr 20, 2022 14:44:12 GMT 12 planecrazy said:

I'm sure I read somewhere she was for sale a while back?

She was, I'm struggling to find the link right now.

She was with Platinum Fighters. She is now listed as sold.

[Deleted]

Nick's back at it today (FB link):

Time to play find the cracked welds.

NZ1068 Ardmore 270422 Nick Sheehan 01 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ1068 Ardmore 270422 Nick Sheehan 02 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ1068 Ardmore 270422 Nick Sheehan 03 by Zac Yates, on Flickr

[Deleted]

One of the original skins that can be used again. Unfortunately alot of the skins on the rear fuse are damaged or full of corrosion.

NZ1068 Ardmore 300422 Nick Sheehan 01 by Zac Yates, on Flickr

[Deleted]

Some updates from Nick on Facebook yesterday:

Primer time. We did find one crack in a tube. Got one of the boys helping now to ensure we dont miss any parts.

NZ1068 Ardmore 090522 Nick Sheehan 02 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ1068 Ardmore 090522 Nick Sheehan 01 by Zac Yates, on Flickr

Late night aviation here in between power cuts makes it fun.

NZ1068 Ardmore 090522 Nick Sheehan 04 by Zac Yates, on Flickr

Finally painted and finished for the night. Later in the week we will start the repairs to the rear swivel seat mount and then buff a small portion of paint off and weld up the one crack we found on the forward right hand mount for the centre section. Its a very common place for the tube to crack so no alarm bells on that one. And yes i know i shoud of done all the repairs before painting but unfortunately we didnt get that luxury as we never found the crack before getting the frame blasted so this afternoon our priority was to get primer and paint on it before it started rusting again.

NZ1068 Ardmore 090522 Nick Sheehan 03 by Zac Yates, on Flickr

[Deleted]

Posted by Nick yesterday on Facebook:

Old 68 looks a bit different now from when i got her.

NZ1068 Ardmore 220522 Nick Sheehan 01 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ1068 Ardmore 090522 Nick Sheehan 04 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ1068 Ardmore 220522 Nick Sheehan 02 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ1068 Ardmore 220522 Nick Sheehan 03 by Zac Yates, on Flickr

[Deleted]

It was great to finally meet Nick over the weekend and see NZ1068 in person. He's doing some lovely work!
DSC_5934 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
DSC_5935 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
DSC_5959 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
DSC_5960 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
DSC_5963 by Zac Yates, on Flickr

[hrvd1068]

Cheers for uploading the photos zac. Dont have to many updates at this point unfortunately other than the tube for the rear swivel seat repairs has been ordered and that should be done in the next couple of weeks And we are still waiting for some bits from america for the rear fuselage so cant do much on that at the moment unfortunately.

[Deleted]

Excellent news, hopefully you have enough to keep busy with?

[Deleted]

The latest from Nick on Facebook (link):

Getting a few bits done. Slow going on all the brackets and p clips for the cockpit i have spent many hours blasting and painting but we are starting to get there. Lost most of the photos on my old phone so im waiting to get that fixed so i can share some of the progress photos i had taken. Learnt my lesson and now backing up all photos.

NZ1068 20230202 Nick Sheehan via FB 01 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ1068 20230202 Nick Sheehan via FB 02 by Zac Yates, on Flickr

[Deleted]

(Fb link)

After removing four or five different layers of paint NZ1068 is still etched into the aluminium.

NZ1068 20230817 Nick Sheehan 01 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ1068 20230817 Nick Sheehan 02 by Zac Yates, on Flickr

[Dave Homewood]

The latest update from Nick.

Getting closer to a paint job on the back end. Slow going but we are getting there. After some primer and paint the back end can be bolted back onto the tube frame and then the rear seat welding repairs can happen finally.