Exercise Reflex 2 Rangataiki 1963

[oj]

Can we start a thread for Reflex 2 1963?
Or tell me where it is?
The Army Engineers built the strip at Rangitaiki, south-east of Taupo and the RNZAF operated Harvard, Vampire, B170's and even a Hastings from the war games strip in October 1963.
A lot of Ohakea personnel were part of it.
So far I have only been able to buy a few RNZAF photos from the RNZAF Museum, Wigram (those that appeared in news releases at the time).
There were no aerial shots at all, so one cannot guage today what the full extent of the activity was back then.
Anyone got any personal photos from Reflex 2, 1963?
OJ

[oj]

Surely someone else was there?
Phil82, had you got to Ohakea by then?
I am driving from Hamilton to Napier tomorrow. I am going to stop at Rangitaiki and savour a moment for posterity.
Perhaps it's too boring a subject for many readers, but I found it very interesting how the Army engineers built a one-mile runway out of compacted pumice and the Vampires operated from it successfully (they hitherto being regarded as paved-runway-only capable).
Never mind. I have tried to plant a seed .....
OJ

[Bruce]

Would that be the same strip that SPANZ used for DC3 ops before the current Taupo airport opened? I thought it opened a year or two earlier than that, with SPANZ DC3s at the official opening, but I could be wrong (I dont have my SPANZ book to hand...)

[oj]

Sorry, I don't know anything about that Bruce. I am very thin on SPANZ information (though I know an LAME who worked for them years ago). I don't know where he is to contact him nowadays.
OJ

[Dave Homewood]

OJ, I reckon it's quite interesting that Vampires flew from the pumice strip too. I hope more info comes out here.

[phil82]

Jan 25, 2010 20:23:45 GMT 12 oj said:

Surely someone else was there?
Phil82, had you got to Ohakea by then?
I am driving from Hamilton to Napier tomorrow. I am going to stop at Rangitaiki and savour a moment for posterity.
Perhaps it's too boring a subject for many readers, but I found it very interesting how the Army engineers built a one-mile runway out of compacted pumice and the Vampires operated from it successfully (they hitherto being regarded as paved-runway-only capable).
Never mind. I have tried to plant a seed .....
OJ

I was at Ohakea at the time of Reflex 2, and recall it more for the absense of those noisy buggers in their Vampires than anything else! The CO at the time was the late Gp Capt Max Hope, and he used to disappear up there in a borrowed Vampire now and then during the exercise. There was also a bit of humour around in that for the exercise purposes, the aircraft were known by the code-name of "Teacups", and of course, as in a war situation, some of thjose "Teacups" were presumed lost or damaged. So, for the purpose of the exercise, they put in a request for replacement teacups...which is what the ever-obliging Stores-bashers provided except they were the real thing..your actual Cup, Tea, for drinking from.

[camtech]

I can remeber being on that strip in Feb 1978, while detached to Taupo with an Andover, supporting the annual brigade exercise. I had been up with the SAS guys in the Andover when they did a free fall drop over Rangitaiki from 12,000ft. Being attached firmly to the aircraft, I stood on the end of the ramp and watched them leap out and disappear into the cloud. We then returned to Taupo, and as soon as I stepped off the aircraft, I got thrown a set of Landrover keys and told "you know were they dropped into - go pick them up"
Found the strip, and while collecting the jumpnuts, marvelled at how all those aircraft had operated off the strip without any issues. The original Reflex II was before I joined up, but had heard many tales from those who were there.

[oj]

OK, I stopped at the present Rangitaiki pub on Tuesday (the one that was there in 1963 burned down about 1983). The two staff on duty had no knowledge of the building of the airfield or the big Reflex 2 exercise. They produced a couple of scrap-books of historical stuff that was cut and pasted from newspapers and reprints over the years up to the present day, but niether of them had anything about the construction of the airfield. The locals there today just know it as part of Lochinvar (sheep)Station.
There was one undated cutting that confirmed the airfield was granted a commercial licence for use briefly before the opening of the new Taupo Airport, so that confirms Bruce's statement about SPANZ use at the time.
No doubt a visit to the local Taupo newspaper of the day (1963) would yield some detail, as at the time it was quite exciting for the locals. This was a big exercise with several hundred personnel under canvas.
On the last Saturday of the exercise, there was an open-day and flying display which the public lined the highway to watch from (it being the only slightly elevated viewing position). That was also the day the Hastings landed, and took-off again. The wake vortices picked up the fine pumice dust and everything was obscured for a while then!
If there was any Taupo member who could pop in to the offices of the local rag and check their archives we might all learn some more ..........?
Operation of the Vampires caused a lot of jet-blast rutting of the compacted pumice surface so the strip was being groomed frequently by the Army graders and rollers.
Whenever the sumpies did ground-runs on the side of the strip, the jet efflux caused deep cratering of the ground and the plume of dust created was huge (like a battleship smoke-screen, but white and more effective).
OJ

[shorty]

Many years ago I saw some photos of the holes the Vampire efflux created. I can't remeber who or where the photos were. Surely there is something in Wings or the AHSNZ journals of the era?

[oj]

Here's an item from a Central Taupo Heritage Report dated March 2009:

Air transpor t
The first Taupo Airfield called Tauhara Aerodrome was buil t at Tauhara in 1929. In the 1930s it
was utilised by Wilson and Horton for the delivery of the NZ Herald. As at 2000, this was still
used by the Taupo Gliding Club.
In about 1962 a small airline, South Pacific Airlines of NZ got a licence to fly in and out of
Taupo. Spanz buil t a temporary airstrip at Lochinver Station, near Rangi taiki. In 1964 two
storms devastated the airstrip w hich was then clos ed by the Government. By then the Taupo
Borough Council had decided to build an ai rport. The Rangitaiki airstrip was replaced by the
new airport at Wharewaka, the present Taupo Airport site, in mid 1965. 197 SPANZ ceased
operations from 1966, and service from Taupo was taken over by the National Airways
Corporation (NAC), later Air New Zealand. 198
With the development of the new ai rport at Wharewaka Point, the Aero Club moved and
established a permanent hangar there. The old airfield was designated Centennial Park,
reduced to one runway, and the remaining area was developed into a horse-racing track and
motorcar circuit's.
(end of insert)

The bit about SPANZ building the airfield at Lochinver is not strictly correct. It was certainly re-graded and re-commissioned if you like at that time, but no bugger has given any credit to the NZ Army Engineers who built the original! This is a poor show by the consultants who wrote the report.
You can read it on page 38 of the report:

www.taupodc.govt.nz/Documents/Projects/Commercial%20Industrial%20Structure%20Plan/Reports/Town%20Centre%20Heritage%20Report.pdf

[oj]

Now I am getting perplexed because the Taupo Heritage extract above says SPANZ built the airfield "about 1962".
If that were true, maybe the Army just upgraded it in 1963 for Reflex 2?
This is doing my head in! Until Bruce's query, I had no reason to disbelieve what we were told when we were deployed to Reflex 2 from Ohakea (that the Army built the strip from scratch).
What does the SPANZ history book (Richard Waugh) say about it?

[phil82]

Jan 28, 2010 21:24:00 GMT 12 shorty said:

Many years ago I saw some photos of the holes the Vampire efflux created. I can't remeber who or where the photos were. Surely there is something in Wings or the AHSNZ journals of the era?

I can't recall now if they did it on our Vampires, but some time spent with 208 Sqn Venoms a few years ago [sic!] indicated a 'wet start' problem for which they hung an asbestos blanket over the tail boom!

[oj]

Time to kick this off again: Here are some B170's at Rangitaiki on Reflex 2 08 Oct 1963
RNZAF Museum Official Photo:



And here three of a Vampire starting, moving off and taxiing to take-off:
All RNZAF Museum Official Photos







And the Hastings coming in to land over the highway with interested public and disinterested dog:
RNZAF Museum Official Photo



And Hastings taking off:
RNZAF Museum Official Photo



Guys,

I once again appeal to you if were there or know someone who was, the forum really needs some air-to-ground photos just to show our readers the scale of this exercise.

There must be aircrew out there who flew at Rangitaiki at the time that might have photos?

[oj]

Ah yes, the error in commentary! Two different Vampires in photos (maybe three). Sorry!

[Dave Homewood]

Those are superb photos OJ, thanks for posting them. Vampires, Freighters, Hastings and a Morris Oxford, the Best of British!

That is a rough looking strip for jet operations. Amazing.

[furyfb11]

Here is what was reported in the November and December 1963 issues of the AHSNZ Journals

[Dave Homewood]

What does that mean by "Vampire FB.5 & 9" in the last line? Both the serials of Vampires listed were FB.5 model aircraft and I don't believe the RNZAF ever operated the FB.9 in new Zealand (though they did have some as instructional airframes and also in Singapore.)

[shorty]

Mar 24, 2010 17:05:54 GMT 12 Dave Homewood said:

What does that mean by "Vampire FB.5 & 9" in the last line? Both the serials of Vampires listed were FB.5 model aircraft and I don't believe the RNZAF ever operated the FB.9 in new Zealand (though they did have some as instructional airframes and also in Singapore.)

We operated FB 52 (NZ5721-5738) and FB 5 (NZ 5750-5778) the FB 52 were new aircraft to RNZAF contracts and were withdrawn 1958-59.
The FB 5 were ex RAF stocks and among the spare parts that came with them were FB 9 wings (with the extended wing roots for the air conditioning system) and these gave rise to erroneous reports of RNZAF FB 9s which is the probable source of the error in the report.

Couple of things I noticed. The exercise was during the ski-cap phase.< I asked sometime ago and didn't get a definite answer, maybe with newer members some one might know, when did the ski caps come in to use and when were they withdrawn?

Notice the baggies in the taxying photo seem to be moving fairly quickly, no doubt to stay ahead of the dust!

Do you think OSH would go along with the accomodation that close to the jet noise these days?

It looks like an Auster in the background with the Harvard and the Auster appears to have stores mounted under the wings?

I doubt A4s would handle such a strip! (Canberras maybe)

[oj]

The ski-caps were introduced some time between 1954 and 1958 and were phased out in 1964 (at Ohakea anyway).

No Canberra operations at Rangitaiki, not even a "roller" to my recall.
I don't recall seeing the DC6's overhead, but I was not there the full length of the exercise.
They would not have landed and there is no mention of them in the list of 100 odd photos provided by the Air Force Museum.

The Auster was probably looking for George Wilder. Rumour has it that some of the SAS of the day were "keeping in touch" with George in the bush.

[Dave Homewood]

Not many people had helicopters in those days, would it have been one from Helicopters NZ Ltd?

Does anyone know what took part in Exercise Reflex 1 and where and when it was?