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Post by Bruce on Jun 28, 2016 23:39:57 GMT 12
I agree with the responses above - have a detailed discussion with the pilot about it as far ahead of the flight as possible. Dont rely on suction mounts - air pressure differences and G forces can dislodge them. a headband mount may be the best (as used by Kermit Weeks for his "Kermie Cams") but it needs to be compatible with any helmet worn - especially if ejection seats are involved. Check ahead and be prepared for possible disappointment regarding camera policy.
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Post by Bruce on Jun 18, 2016 8:06:57 GMT 12
The former Eagle B1900's are being ferried to Australia.... anyone checked?
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Post by Bruce on Jun 17, 2016 22:22:28 GMT 12
Well, that lasted a couple of months more than I thought it would. Another quality Wilson business venture (with someone else's money...). At least Air Chathams will give some future to the staff. Why do people still provide capital to such ventures?
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MOTAT
Jun 16, 2016 22:05:35 GMT 12
Post by Bruce on Jun 16, 2016 22:05:35 GMT 12
Nearest we got in NZ would have been the SPANZ Viewmasters, which had Wright engines in Australia, but were converted to P&Ws by Ansett before delivery to New Zealand. (easier to get spares in NZ)
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Post by Bruce on Jun 9, 2016 16:58:02 GMT 12
Its a Cessna T210 (Retracts, no struts) rather than a 182RG. (although early 210s also has struts....)
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Post by Bruce on Jun 5, 2016 9:10:37 GMT 12
How far do you have to go from Raglan to find 11 appliances? Hamilton? yeah, you have to give at least 1 hours notice of crashing...
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Post by Bruce on Jun 4, 2016 8:35:45 GMT 12
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Post by Bruce on May 30, 2016 21:11:20 GMT 12
One of my Ancestors, Stoker Charles Henry Bland, was killed in action at 16.26 on 31st May 1916. The exact time is pretty certain as that was when HMS Queen Mary Exploded. Shoddy ammunition handling practices contributed it appears. Deep in the ship, the poor stokers didn't stand a chance
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Post by Bruce on May 24, 2016 18:41:18 GMT 12
BTW they aren't microlights... They are amateur-builts. The hop to Lord Howe will probably be Thursday.
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Post by Bruce on May 21, 2016 20:17:15 GMT 12
The Maritime section of the Nelson Founders Park Museum. Its a good display with lots of displays on other wrecks on the Nelson coast.
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Post by Bruce on May 17, 2016 17:54:43 GMT 12
The object in the image is clearly aircraft landing lights - a basic web cam like that used (especially on a crappy night) wont have the definition to make out the Nav lights and strobes. The "Saucer" effect is lens moisture (such as is clearly visible on the rest of the image) The Flight tracking system has obviously got a spurious data bug...
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Post by Bruce on May 11, 2016 23:17:49 GMT 12
Of course NSS offers big savings... Instead of the Government paying for Radar infrastructure, its up to the aircraft owners to pay for the ADS-B transponders, which for an average GA machine would be in the region of $ 8 -15K (which could be about 25% of the value of some older types of aircraft). Its an impressive system, but transfers the cost obligation to the aircraft owners. in NZ we also dont get the "ADS-B Lite" lower spec option that the US has, nor do we get the "ADS-B UP" facility which provides weather and traffic data in flight (high cost, low benefits). Airways and CAA say that it will only effect aircraft operating in controlled airspace - the problem is with the loss of fuel facilities etc and for maintenance etc, flying in to controlled airspace is often not an option. A subsidy scheme would be nice, such as back in the 1990s when Mode C transponders first came in...
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Post by Bruce on May 8, 2016 21:21:10 GMT 12
Hasegawa do an appropriate short-fuselage MU-2... Keeping an eye out for one!
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Post by Bruce on May 8, 2016 19:16:47 GMT 12
The Waco is one of the Impressed, rather than "regular" aircraft (The impressed machines include a lot of very oddball civilian types which will be very hard to reproduce, so aren't the main focus at the moment) I dont have one yet but I believe that some of the newer, eastern European manufacturers make kits that may be suitable.
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Post by Bruce on May 8, 2016 17:59:57 GMT 12
Not strictly a "Crash" and not really a "Hillside".... Looks like a fairly minor overrun landing on an Ag strip (Media would never believe it was a runway!). Knowing the people and aircraft involved its well within their capability but such situations don't have much margin for error. Roll on the media circus of Ignorance...
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Post by Bruce on May 7, 2016 21:25:04 GMT 12
Bruce, you are a very talented guy! Well done on taking on such a project....and finishing it! She looks wonderful, you cant have many more left to complete your RNZAF collection now? As it turns out, To make the shipment of the bomb sets from Hannants UK worthwhile I brought a Puss Moth kit, leaving only a Boeing 757 to acquire to have the full set of "regular" types (not all built yet though...). That doesnt exist in 1/72 and its a whole different kettle of fish scratch building one of those!
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Post by Bruce on May 7, 2016 15:20:31 GMT 12
I can report the sucessful completion of the DH86 project!: more photos later in this post, but forst a few progress photos. fuselage patterns started with blanks cut from pine and bandsawed to shape, sanded and sealed with resin: stringer detail was added with Evergreen plastic half round sections and foil tape: these were then sprayed with spray filler and a gloss lacquer to finish. the top wings were carved out of 5mm Aluminium bar. These were molded and cast first, and the first set of castings used to make the lower wing patterns. eventually I ended up with a full set of patterns - Nacelles were lopped and chopped from an old Heller dragon Rapide, Tail feathers also carved out of aluminium, and other detail built up from Knead it Putty. From the patterns I poured silicone molds (I had to do the fuselage twice since the first mold had some issues...). From these I cast a set of resin components - essentially now a kitset model! From here it was pretty standard resin kitset building, using a few Heller Rapide bits for detail: The model was painted before fitting the top wings: Final assembly with shaped evergreen strip as inboard struts (although a set of Heller Rapide outer struts fitted perfectly!). decals were standard RAF type A roundels and ink jet printedserials, codes and fairing flashes. To show the aircraft in its historically interesting Patrol bomber config, I used some Pavla 1/72 Resin RAF WW2 Bomb sets to provide the 25lb and 250lb bombs. I scratch built the "Light Series" and "Universal" bomb racks based on reference photos: This is an accurate bomb load according to photo references, but I cant help thinking how impractical it would have been for anti-shipping work! The 250lb would have been OK against a converted merchantman surface raider (such as Kormoran) but would have been useless against an armoured capital ship. 25lb was more an anti personnel or practice bomb, so its hard to see what they would be effective on! Probably a propaganda exercise more than anything... Finally a photo to compare the size with the Rapide we would be more familiar with - The Express is a significantly bigger beast! As with all scratchbuilds using this build method, it is quite expensive and time consuming tomake the model 4 times (Patterns, Molds, castings and assembly)but the molds are good. If anyone is interested, I could run off some basic kits, but be aware that they will miss a lot of the detail bits I nicked off the spare Rapide set!
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Post by Bruce on May 6, 2016 13:11:41 GMT 12
Standing by for the storm of anti-CAA comments on social media...
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Post by Bruce on Apr 18, 2016 17:50:53 GMT 12
The wreckage distribution on the west coast beaches in entirely in line with the supposed wreck location. My Family were original settlers in the Kaipara area and have been involved in shipping in that area for generations. Not a Stanaway descendant, perchance? No, Witherfords, Moffats and Heavens from Port Albert...
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Post by Bruce on Apr 13, 2016 11:22:39 GMT 12
The wreckage distribution on the west coast beaches in entirely in line with the supposed wreck location. My Family were original settlers in the Kaipara area and have been involved in shipping in that area for generations. The tides are legendary as the harbour is one of the largest by volume in the country, and all that water sucks out through a narrow opening with significant force. All the recovered items were very lightweight so could easily have been dragged out of the harbour and redeposited on the beaches. Despite the controversy around Noel Hilliams theories, he is a very experienced and successful wreck hunter, Having been taught by the great Kelly Tarlton. Its going to be interesting to see the results!
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