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Post by kb on Oct 30, 2010 8:36:54 GMT 12
Now for the rough stuff. Firstly I will be posting some Catalina shots followed by Sunderlands. Two of my favourite aircraft probably because I grew up in Beach Haven. ;D NZ4049 KN-D
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Post by kb on Oct 30, 2010 8:21:14 GMT 12
OK. I have listened to the comments and will start posting. The majority of the photos are of average quality and have probably been seen and possibly posted by long term members. As previously mentioned I have had these shots for 40+ years and because I am so disorganised I have no idea of their provenance and only a rough idea of who may have supplied them to me. I do have a suspicion that some of them are copyright to a mate and if that is so when he is able to access his photos I may be able to post high quality images of those photos but that won't be for some time. To start I am posting the one high quality shot in this series. A magnificent shot of Grebe NZ501. The inscriptions on the fin and keel read "GS15614, McNZ501, T 4 S. This aircraft was originally J7381 and was first flown in NZ on 2 March 1928. Derek Woodhill supplied a photo for the Putnam on Gloster Aircraft which was clearly taken at the same time as this shot. NZ501 was a lone Grebe for a while before our Government purchased NZ502 another single seater and NZ503 a two seater a few months later.
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Post by kb on Oct 29, 2010 21:05:23 GMT 12
Steve the Airfix Belvedere is missing an awful lot of bumps. I detail photographed the one in the RAF Museum a few years ago and was impressed by how much work is needed. I guess that makes it a great MODELLING subject.
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Post by kb on Oct 29, 2010 20:49:29 GMT 12
Here is the relevant page with the photo. It's surprising how easy it is to miss such important NZ aviation history.
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Post by kb on Oct 29, 2010 20:36:09 GMT 12
Dave it is part of a very large reserve. I will be posting a photo of the Spragg Obelisk Memorial takn from the book shortly.
I have just looked him up in Errol's Vol. 3. Aparently he was flying a Shorthorn. A 100% Kiwi he was born in Auckland.
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Post by kb on Oct 29, 2010 19:44:42 GMT 12
Today I was browsing a copy of the new book on the history of Auckland's regional parks where there is a page devoted to Lt. W N Spragg RFC killed in action January 1st 1918. Lt. Spragg is buried in the Old Cairo Cemetery. I didn't know this but Lt. Sragg's father gifted the 307 hectare Kaitarahiki Block of the Waitakere Ranges to the people of Auckland as a memorial to his third son Lt. Spragg and as a memorial to all the boys who died in WW1.
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Post by kb on Oct 29, 2010 14:02:18 GMT 12
Thanks for the encouragement guys. I was uncertain how to handle these as I think this old collection which I had forgotten I had may be made up of photos in general circulation and perhaps some from mates which could be copyright to them. On reflection I am sure they wouldn't mind these fairly low quality but interesting shots being posted. I hope at least some of them are new. ;D
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Post by kb on Oct 28, 2010 21:06:27 GMT 12
Thanks Shorty. As I explained I actually didn't claim them but put a copyright on them to protect them from being distributed willy nilly. I hadn't seen your earlier post but it brings up the question of whether I should post such photos. I had taken the view that it is better to let people see them and I would be surprised if they have all been posted as I have over 100 photos. Unfortunately I am unsure of the provenance of many of them as I have had them for 40+ years. What does everyone think. Is it better to risk duplication or not post
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Post by kb on Oct 28, 2010 20:31:02 GMT 12
On it's last aerial trip!
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Post by kb on Oct 28, 2010 20:23:44 GMT 12
Now for the Firefly. I might have to lighten this a bit as I have lost some detail!
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Post by kb on Oct 28, 2010 20:19:53 GMT 12
In the Airshows thread I mentioned that I had a couple of photos. I did not take them and am a little unsure of their provenance. However to protect the owner I am claiming them and others I will post on different subjects as copyright to my collection. If they are mine like the Mustang I have just posted I will of course claim the copyright myself. ;D First of all the Seafire. These photos must have been taken when the aircraft were being delivered to Hobby. It's interesting that the fuselage roundel appears to be painted out, more or less, and there isn't any underwing roundel on the starboard side.
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Post by kb on Oct 28, 2010 19:58:58 GMT 12
Well here is the photo in question. Taken with my Box Brownie which was very old even then. The Mustangs taxied past quite close but that is still a long way for a camera without a proper lens. ;D The aircraft occupied about a fifth of the small print. I wish I could work out the mix up in my head about seeing one Mustang at Hobby and four or five at Whenuapai. I can't believe it was the same day but from info posted here it seems there was only the one show where the Mustangs were flown. (1953)
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Post by kb on Oct 27, 2010 18:14:05 GMT 12
Sometimes a keen historian can be the best person to have the medals. For instance my uncle apparently won the Military Medal in the First World War. It seems that Dad was keen for me to have it coz I have an interest and am the only male of my generation but it went elsewhere and now it seems to have gone.
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Post by kb on Oct 27, 2010 12:44:19 GMT 12
Dave, I have just read your Seagrove history. Thanks for that, very interesting. Just a couple of small points. A Marine Air Group is the equivalent of an RAF Wing with 3 or more squadrons. Just like their light switches they have an upside down chain of command as their equvalent of an RAF Group is known as a Wing! The term Banshee was tentatively assigned by the USAAF to the A-24 but I don't think it ever came into general use.
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Post by kb on Oct 26, 2010 7:18:55 GMT 12
Thanks Dave. More or less the point I made in my last post in a slightly cynical way.
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Post by kb on Oct 25, 2010 21:15:50 GMT 12
BTW I am not saying that 2417 wasn't with 3 Sqdn. merely that it was in Auckland for an airshow presumably put on by 1 Sqdn. If 1 Sqdn was short of a display aircraft one would think they would look closer than Christchurch for a replacement. Perhaps a WW2 ace had flown it up to see friends in Auckland? It happened in those days.
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Post by kb on Oct 25, 2010 20:14:20 GMT 12
I see that the first RNZAF Mustang flew in August 1951 so that puts the kibosh on a 1951 airshow. Now I am confused. Anyway, I have found the photo I took with my box brownie. It has the bars as per the closest aircraft in Peter's photo.
The plot thickens. I have just found a magnifier which lets me read the serial. It is NZ2417 which according to "NZ Military Aircraft Serial Numbers, RNZAF P-51D Mustangs", apparently never served with the Auckland TAF, rather being based in Canterbury. Now, I took the photo and it was taken at Whenuapai!
Anthony?
I will post the photo during the week.
BTW, the photos I have found in an old box which I had forgotton I had are very interesting. Some of them are mine but I do not remember the provenence of many of them. Some WW2 but mainly late 40's and 50's including the Seafire III and Firefly I at Hobby. It is possible that you have already seen many of them as because I have only recently taken a real interest in this site, I am far from catching up on what has been posted. Also, it has made me aware that while I am reasonbly au fait with world military and aviation history I have somewhat negelected my roots. Shame on me!
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Post by kb on Oct 25, 2010 19:22:27 GMT 12
So, was there an airshow in 1951 when the Mustangs were first assembled? If there was it makes sense that I was at airshows then at Hobsonville and 1953 at Whenuapai. That actually fits in with what I remember because casting my memory back, I don't believe the Mustangs I saw at Whenuapai had Auckland Blue and White Checks. I think I have a box brownie photo somewhere. I had a quick look and didn't find it but I did come across some small B&W prints from that era. Anyone interested in seeing them?
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Post by kb on Oct 25, 2010 15:20:37 GMT 12
I was at that show. Seeing the Mustangs close up was so exciting. It must have been the same show where I saw the Seafire III and Firefly I at Hobby. I lived at Beach Haven and went across on the Air Force ML to Hobby. I am a little confused though because I thought I saw the RN aircraft at the same show where I had the daylights scared out of me when a formation of Mosquitos flew from behind us and over our heads at a VERY low altitude. We didn't hear them coming! If the shows were only held in 53/54 and 56 I am coming around to thinking that seeing the Mustangs close up must have been in 56 because it's unlikely that I would have watched shows at Hobby and Whenuapai on the same day and as I type this I remember seeing a spectacular display by what I was told was the first Mustang assembled and that was definitely at Hobby. I can't remember off hand when we got rid of the Mustangs but unless there was another airshow or my at the time very young memory is at fault I think the Mustangs must have been at the latter show.
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Post by kb on Oct 20, 2010 17:04:41 GMT 12
The book is called "The Royal Airforce of World War Two in Colour" The ISBN is 0-933424-58-2. And here are the photos. Apologies for the quality but the originals aren't up to todays printing standards and this is a quick scan. On the next page is a colour photo of arguably New Zealand's two most famous airman sitting in a red MG at Malta. Keith Park and Mary Coningham.
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