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Post by Calum on Aug 27, 2006 22:36:53 GMT 12
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Post by Dave Homewood on Aug 27, 2006 22:57:03 GMT 12
Wonderfully evocative photos! I love it.
It's great to know so many of these warbirds are still on the circuit, but one or two are much missed. Especialy the Venom - wonderful shots of it. And of course the Fury.
Curse you, after those first few shots now all i want is a bag of Eta Ripples...
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Post by Kereru on Sept 7, 2006 12:05:32 GMT 12
Some great shots there Calum that will not happen again. The Fury, Venom, and not forgetting the A4 too. It is great to see some of these old shots, keep em coming.
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Post by ARU on Sept 7, 2006 16:06:39 GMT 12
cool photos, bit before my time lol
what ever happened to the sea venom
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Post by phil82 on Sept 7, 2006 16:19:43 GMT 12
A Sea Venom Aru? Like this one? www.classicjets.com/venom.htmI wasn't aware there'd ever been one here! There is a Venom FB4, but they have very little in common. |
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Post by ARU on Sept 7, 2006 16:40:25 GMT 12
my bad.
as i said before my time ;D
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Post by Bruce on Sept 7, 2006 17:56:39 GMT 12
The venom in the pictures was the first ZK-VNM, a mark I ex Swiss Air Force restored and painted to represent a machine flown from Singapore by TT Bland. This aircraft suffered a loss of power on take off in 1991(?) from Ardmore and crashed through the fence at the end of the runway, missing passing cars and ending up in a clump of trees. the aircraft was recovered but due to the substantial damage was not considered repairable. The wreck was sold to Grant Biel, one of the original syndicate members, and owner of Sea Fury SFR. 18 months or so later Grant imported an ex - Swiss Mark 4 from the USA and that was restored using components from the original mark I. This was painted in Patrouille Swiss colours and took on the registration of ZK-VNM. I beleive it is still in NZ but not sure if it gets out much these days.
Love the pictures of the Sea Fury though - although it was restored by Gulf Aeronautics before I started there, we did maintenance on it, and therefore have a soft spot for it. The Pilot seen climbing out is Robbie Booth.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Sept 7, 2006 19:40:57 GMT 12
I remember that Venom very fondly, especially seeing several times at airshows where Trevor Bland would tailchase with John Denton in ZK-TAF, an amazing pair of precision flyers.
It's sad that there is no Venom flying today here. I was toild the other Venom, the orange one, is stored at Ardmore but has not flown since its owner Sir Kenneth Hayr was killed at an airshow in the UK. Is that true?
I agree with Colin (Kereru) - the old photos are as good to see as new ones. Lots of great memories of the scene as it was in the good old days.
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Post by phil82 on Sept 7, 2006 21:06:12 GMT 12
I spent some time with the Venom; 208 Sqn before they swapped them for the Hunter FG9 [like that in NZ]. Stu Boys flew both the Venom and the A4, and in his book "Tengah Times" he makes a comparison, and in some way the Venom would outperform the A4! The A4 was a much more modern design of course.
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Post by mumbles on Sept 7, 2006 21:20:08 GMT 12
1991 sounds about right Bruce.
Phil82 and I were at that show. I remember on the drive up we were keeping pace with a Tiger Moth, which we later saw on the ground at the show. We had him in sight for several minutes, so his groundspeed can't have been that much faster than our Mini's...
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Post by Simonjg on Sept 9, 2006 17:52:19 GMT 12
The very smart looking red Venom ZK-VNM is still at Ardmore and owned by Grant Biel; however not airworthy but it would not take much other than Grant wanting to fly it again.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Sept 9, 2006 22:47:15 GMT 12
Thanks Simon, it looks like someone put me crook there.
In NZ Wings back in October 1992 the ZK Review said a black Mk V Venom with skull and cross-bones on the nose, as pictured, was on it's way to NZ soon. Is that the same Venom as the orange one, as a later issue has an article about Grant Biel's first flight in ZK-VNM and it states it was a Mk 4.
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Post by xr6turbo1 on Sept 9, 2006 22:59:39 GMT 12
I also remember the routine between the Venom and P51, some of the best flying I have ever seen, what I wouldnt give to see that sort of flying again  |
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Post by Dave Homewood on Sept 9, 2006 23:11:21 GMT 12
Indeed. At the Easter 1995 Warbirds over Waikato airshow at Rukuhia, a similar routine was done with TT Bland in the Mustang and Sir Tim in the Spit. Simply superb and well worth going just for that.
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Post by mumbles on Sept 11, 2006 1:43:17 GMT 12
Treat for XR6, Masterton, Easter 1991  Enjoy |
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Post by Dave Homewood on Sept 12, 2006 19:17:04 GMT 12
Great shot Sam!
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