SIR EDMUND HILLARY (
Ed to all we New Zealanders ) moved on through
the light to another great adventure
January 11 2008 aged 88. He will be sadly missed
and indelibly set in all our memories, not only
for his achievements
and adventures,but for his common sense and
sensibility, a rare quality ! |
Sherpa
Tensing and Ed Hillary |
There is a
vast amount of information covering his
exploits
as we all know, but very little covered
with his WW11 RNZAF
wartime service as a Sergeant Navigator
with
No 6
Flying Boat Squadron flying
Catalinas,
and operating out of Halavo Bay in the
Solomon Islands area. |
|
Sir
Ed - left.....Ron - right. |
We have been
very fortunate to have as an early member
of our organisation Ron Ward MBE.
Ron was a great friend of Ed Hillary.
They both crewed on the same Catalina
together
and formed a bond and friendship that
lasted up to
the time of Ed’s passing. |
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There were no
coloured photos of this particular aircraft it
was one of the unusual Lancasters with
a radial engine instead of the Rolls Royce
Merlins It was powered by Bristol Hercules V1 or
XV1 engines,
and is flying on the port outer engine with the
other three feathered, probably demonstrating
flight
with minimum load, note the ailerons, the control
is hard left holding the port side down. |
| This
particular aircraft flew with 408
Canadian Squadron No 6 Group stationed at
Linton-on-Ouse and was lost on a bombing
raid over Franfurt on the night of 20/21
Dec 1943 along with 13 other Lancasters
which failed to return out of a total of
390 Lancasters which were on the Raid. |
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There were 300 Mk 11
Lancasters manufactured by Armstrong Whitworth at
Whitley, Coventry,
the total number of Lancasters built were 7377
– as follows 3434 Mk 1, 300 Mk 11. 3030 Mk
111, 180 Mk V11, and 430 Mk X.
The Mk 1 had Rolls-Royce Merlin 20,22, or 24
engines, Mk 11 Bristol Hercules, Mk 111, Packard
built Merlin 28,38,
or 224 engines, these were also used in the
Canadian built Mk X A.V. Roe& Co built the
majority
others were built byMetropolitan Vickers
Armstrong, Vickers and Austin Motors. 3800
Lancasters were lost in WW11. |
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| SNIPPETS FROM OUR
ARCHIVES |
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Grumann AG Cat |
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Model
Aero Club -Napier
1934/38 |
East
Coast Air Services
Celebration. |
D.H.
Express
Beacons Drome |
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DH-60
Moth,wings folded, an apparent
undercarriage
collapse having occurred. The odd thing
about this is that
the propeller is of oppositerotation to
all Gipsy variants except for the US-
built Wright-Gipsyconstructed under
license in that country.
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| Thanks to
Graham Orpham, editor of the Australasian
quarterly magazine Classic
Wings Downunder. |
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DH60
Moth ZK-AAU.
Auckland Aero Club aircraft.
Napier Embankment Drome circa.1936.
Does anyone know passenger or pilot?? |
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Hobsonville
1953-54.
Alan Bates standing on cowling of a
MitsubishiA6M Zero-Sen.
Saved from scrap, restored and on display
in the
Auckland War Memorial Museum.
Alan is a Hawke's Bay-based ex RNZAF
serviceman. |
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A
number of (choice) PV1 Venturers, with
one wing removed,
never to fly again. Part of the
"lend lease"contracts.
Ohakea - 1946/47 |
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| "OUR ROVING
REPORTER" |
HEC MAYHEAD, one of our
committee members visits the UK now and again,
and
can't keep away from the opportunities there to
visit aviation museums and airshows. |
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He
is a regular visitor to family on the
Isle of Wight, and on this particular
trip
they provided him with this
"high-powered"
means of getting about the Island. |
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| Here are some photos from
Duxford & Sandown. |
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Dragons
at Duxford |
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| American Museum |
B17 Duxford |
Lockeed Electra 12A |
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Spits
& Hurricanes
at Duxford |
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| Vulcan |
Counter Rotating Griffon |
F4F Wildcat |
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| Lancaster Dux 9 5 05 |
F4U Corsair |
F6F Hellcat IOW |
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| ARCHIVE Gallery Page 2.... |
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