Gidday everyone. This year I decided to make the trek to the final Reno Air Races as I felt that as a true aviation enthusiast, I couldn't live with myself if I had not been to the Reno Air Races at least once. The air races are that much of an institution and I felt very privileged to have been able to make it to the Final Flag, as it was coined. Despite the brevity of my trip, it was a journey of a lifetime and I am so glad I did it. My trip was short, over and done with in less than two weeks, with only five nights and six days in the USA. I also spent a wee bit of time doing some exploring in Auckland, New Zealand's largest city, which has some great museums, two of which I visited to warm up my photo chops. So, come with me, folks, on my wee journey across the world to the very last Reno Air Races through the lens of my camera!
We begin in Auckland with a quick trip to the World Famous (in New Zealand) Museum of Transport and Technology, or MoTaT, which has a unique collection of aircraft in its aviation hall, named the Sir Keith Park Memorial Airfield, even though it isn't set on an airfield. Nevertheless, the nod to one of New Zealand's most notable military leaders is worthy because of the scale of the collection. MoTaT has a long history and the collection of aircraft began in the mid-1960s at the nominal museum site in Western Springs, near the Auckland Zoo and Western Springs stadium, where, as a young fella I went to my first ever stadium rock concert, Pink Floyd, of course...
Anyway, back to the museum. MoTaT officially opened to the public in 1964, comprising a collection of trams, steam trains, a Tiger Moth and an Avro Lancaster (!) on the site of an old disused water pumping station with a unique surviving beam engine. The Lancaster was one of the last of the type to be in operation and was in service with the Aeronavale based in New Caledonia. In 1964 the last three operational Lancasters were retired, one went to Australia, one to New Zealand, and one to the UK. Thankfully, these aircraft survive today. We'll see the Lancaster soon. Uniquely, the Gemini 12 capsule that Jim Lovell and Buzz Aldrin went into space in 1966 was on display at MoTaT for years but has been returned to the USA and is now in Chicago.
In the late 1960s, the museum acquired a scrap of vacant land that had been formerly used as a rubbish tip on Meola Road, next to an estuary, which is handy because it was a useful way of moving an engineless flying boat from its former location at Hobsonville, an RNZAF flying boat base to the new site. This place was named the Sir Keith Park Memorial Airfield and back during its early days the aircraft sat outdoors, often open to the elements and vandals. As a kid, I remember going to the Meola Road site to clamber aboard the aircraft, which was an immense thrill. At this stage the collection was diverse and somewhat aimless, including a derelict P-39 and a P-47, both of which have long since departed for lives elsewhere. Soon enough, funds were raised for a shelter for the aircraft and a more locally-centric collection policy was adopted. Today, MoTaT 2 as the museum calls it is one of the largest and most diverse collections of museum aircraft in the country, with many notable survivors.
Although I have been to the museum recently, I wanted to practise my low-light photography, as the lighting is often at ridiculously low levels at MoTaT and on this visit, for some reason it was at lower levels than previous visits. This is evident in some of the images, where individual spot lighting highlights just how dark the surroundings are. Anyway, we begin with a bitsa P-40E. This aircraft is decorated as RNZAF P-40E NZ3039 but has a wing from a P-40N and bits from other airframes. The museum acquired it to replace surviving P-40E NZ3009, which was restored to flying condition as ZK-RMH and is stored at Masterton awaiting its fate following a messy business regarding one of filmmaker Peter Jackson's former associates who is in prison for fraud.
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Next is Grumman TBF-1C Avenger NZ2527. This aircraft served with the RNZAF during WW2 and was one of several ex-air force airframes that ended up in playgrounds at different locations around the country. It had to wait until 2013 before a comprehensive restoration. In front is an example of the US Mark 13 torpedo, a device that would bring so much calamity to the US Navy - with apologies to H.G. Wells...
_ADP5011
Next is a significant wartime survivor, Lockheed Hudson NZ2301 was based in my hometown at RNZAF Base Nelson with No.1 General Reconnaissance Squadron before heading to Espiritu Santo as a transport. Returning to New Zealand after the war, it was shipped from place to place and underwent a restoration to complete condition in the 1980s by one of MoTaT's leading lights, Barry East.
_ADP5017
Who doesn't love the de Havilland Mosquito? This example is Australian-built T.43 trainer A52-1053 that was transferred to the RNZAF as NZ2305 in 1946. In the 1990s the wing was restored by the RNZAF Museum in Christchurch in exchange for the previously mentioned P-47 and the aircraft is now complete again, having sat about in a dismantled state for years.
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Another de Havilland product, Vampire FB.9 WR202 is unique among New Zealand Vampires as it is an ex-RAF example sequestered to No.14 Sqn, RNZAF based in Singapore. It was sent to New Zealand as an instructional airframe with the RNZAF as INST171 before becoming a part of the museum.
_ADP5022
An example of the last combat aircraft in RNZAF service, A-4K Skyhawk NZ6206. This aircraft was one of the original RNZAF order of A-4s, serving with 75 Sqn, then 2 Sqn before the disbandment of the Strike Wing in 2001. It sat for some years in storage at RNZAF Base Woodbourne before being allocated to MoTaT in 2011.
_ADP5023
One of the jewels in the crown of the collection is Short Sunderland MR.5 NZ4115, which was dragged from Hobsonville across the Waitemata Harbour to the Meola Road site in 1967 following the retirement of the type in RNZAF service, the last operators of the venerable 'boat. It has sat outside for years and has undergone a lengthy and comprehensive restoration by a dedicated band of volunteers, so, seeing it indoors and looking immaculate is most welcome.
_ADP5027
This next aircraft is an AESL Airtourer, a type originally conceived in Australia as the Victa Airtourer, but put into production by Aero Engine Services Ltd in Hamilton. In this aircraft, ZK-CXU, former RNZAF radio mechanic Cliff Tait circumnavigated the world in 1969.
_ADP5028
DH.89 Dragon Rapide, or Dominie as the type is called in New Zealand, the Dominie name originating from the RAF use of the aircraft. This aircraft, ZK-AHS was imported to New Zealand in 1938 and was based in Nelson with Cook Strait Airways before being impressed into RNZAF service during the war. It is one of the earliest surviving airliners in New Zealand.
_ADP5029
This neat little Miles Gemini, ZK-ANT was imported to New Zealand in 1947 and flew with the Wellington Aero Club before being donated to the museum in 1964.
_ADP5030
New Zealand has a tradition of operating Lockheed twins and within the collection are two Model 10 Electras, including this one, ZK-BUT decorated as ZK-AFD, which, confusingly the museum has the fuselage of. The museum also has the Hudson previously seen, an L-18 Lodestar, and a B-34 Lexington/Ventura. This particular Electra didn't arrive in New Zealand until 1958, but it wears the markings of an aircraft that operated with Union Airways from 1937.
_ADP5037
A bizarre product that originated from a conglomeration of T-6 Harvard bits built in New Zealand, this is a Transavia Air Truk topdresser built in Australia and superficially resembles the original Bennett Air Truck. Note the differing spelling, because the original Bennett product was named the Air Truck, the Australian aircraft was named the Air Truk! Despite its odd twin-boom configuration, it was a success in its intended role.
_ADP5035
A rather large relief of the man himself, Sir Keith Park, to whom the museum site is dedicated. Park looms large over the museum, literally, as this statue is the same as one located in the UK at the former RAF Uxbridge 11 Group Operations bunker.
_ADP5033
Finally for today, an Australian topdresser also based on a North American trainer, or at least the Australian licence-built variant the Wirraway, this is a Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation Ceres. Note that its sides were fabric covered, as opposed to the all-metal construction of the T-6/Harvard, which was also evident on the Wirraway. ZK-BPU's wings are in store at the museum.
_ADP5034
That's it for now. Next time, more from MoTaT and a unique amphibious car...
We begin in Auckland with a quick trip to the World Famous (in New Zealand) Museum of Transport and Technology, or MoTaT, which has a unique collection of aircraft in its aviation hall, named the Sir Keith Park Memorial Airfield, even though it isn't set on an airfield. Nevertheless, the nod to one of New Zealand's most notable military leaders is worthy because of the scale of the collection. MoTaT has a long history and the collection of aircraft began in the mid-1960s at the nominal museum site in Western Springs, near the Auckland Zoo and Western Springs stadium, where, as a young fella I went to my first ever stadium rock concert, Pink Floyd, of course...
Anyway, back to the museum. MoTaT officially opened to the public in 1964, comprising a collection of trams, steam trains, a Tiger Moth and an Avro Lancaster (!) on the site of an old disused water pumping station with a unique surviving beam engine. The Lancaster was one of the last of the type to be in operation and was in service with the Aeronavale based in New Caledonia. In 1964 the last three operational Lancasters were retired, one went to Australia, one to New Zealand, and one to the UK. Thankfully, these aircraft survive today. We'll see the Lancaster soon. Uniquely, the Gemini 12 capsule that Jim Lovell and Buzz Aldrin went into space in 1966 was on display at MoTaT for years but has been returned to the USA and is now in Chicago.
In the late 1960s, the museum acquired a scrap of vacant land that had been formerly used as a rubbish tip on Meola Road, next to an estuary, which is handy because it was a useful way of moving an engineless flying boat from its former location at Hobsonville, an RNZAF flying boat base to the new site. This place was named the Sir Keith Park Memorial Airfield and back during its early days the aircraft sat outdoors, often open to the elements and vandals. As a kid, I remember going to the Meola Road site to clamber aboard the aircraft, which was an immense thrill. At this stage the collection was diverse and somewhat aimless, including a derelict P-39 and a P-47, both of which have long since departed for lives elsewhere. Soon enough, funds were raised for a shelter for the aircraft and a more locally-centric collection policy was adopted. Today, MoTaT 2 as the museum calls it is one of the largest and most diverse collections of museum aircraft in the country, with many notable survivors.
Although I have been to the museum recently, I wanted to practise my low-light photography, as the lighting is often at ridiculously low levels at MoTaT and on this visit, for some reason it was at lower levels than previous visits. This is evident in some of the images, where individual spot lighting highlights just how dark the surroundings are. Anyway, we begin with a bitsa P-40E. This aircraft is decorated as RNZAF P-40E NZ3039 but has a wing from a P-40N and bits from other airframes. The museum acquired it to replace surviving P-40E NZ3009, which was restored to flying condition as ZK-RMH and is stored at Masterton awaiting its fate following a messy business regarding one of filmmaker Peter Jackson's former associates who is in prison for fraud.
Next is Grumman TBF-1C Avenger NZ2527. This aircraft served with the RNZAF during WW2 and was one of several ex-air force airframes that ended up in playgrounds at different locations around the country. It had to wait until 2013 before a comprehensive restoration. In front is an example of the US Mark 13 torpedo, a device that would bring so much calamity to the US Navy - with apologies to H.G. Wells...
Next is a significant wartime survivor, Lockheed Hudson NZ2301 was based in my hometown at RNZAF Base Nelson with No.1 General Reconnaissance Squadron before heading to Espiritu Santo as a transport. Returning to New Zealand after the war, it was shipped from place to place and underwent a restoration to complete condition in the 1980s by one of MoTaT's leading lights, Barry East.
Who doesn't love the de Havilland Mosquito? This example is Australian-built T.43 trainer A52-1053 that was transferred to the RNZAF as NZ2305 in 1946. In the 1990s the wing was restored by the RNZAF Museum in Christchurch in exchange for the previously mentioned P-47 and the aircraft is now complete again, having sat about in a dismantled state for years.
Another de Havilland product, Vampire FB.9 WR202 is unique among New Zealand Vampires as it is an ex-RAF example sequestered to No.14 Sqn, RNZAF based in Singapore. It was sent to New Zealand as an instructional airframe with the RNZAF as INST171 before becoming a part of the museum.
An example of the last combat aircraft in RNZAF service, A-4K Skyhawk NZ6206. This aircraft was one of the original RNZAF order of A-4s, serving with 75 Sqn, then 2 Sqn before the disbandment of the Strike Wing in 2001. It sat for some years in storage at RNZAF Base Woodbourne before being allocated to MoTaT in 2011.
One of the jewels in the crown of the collection is Short Sunderland MR.5 NZ4115, which was dragged from Hobsonville across the Waitemata Harbour to the Meola Road site in 1967 following the retirement of the type in RNZAF service, the last operators of the venerable 'boat. It has sat outside for years and has undergone a lengthy and comprehensive restoration by a dedicated band of volunteers, so, seeing it indoors and looking immaculate is most welcome.
This next aircraft is an AESL Airtourer, a type originally conceived in Australia as the Victa Airtourer, but put into production by Aero Engine Services Ltd in Hamilton. In this aircraft, ZK-CXU, former RNZAF radio mechanic Cliff Tait circumnavigated the world in 1969.
DH.89 Dragon Rapide, or Dominie as the type is called in New Zealand, the Dominie name originating from the RAF use of the aircraft. This aircraft, ZK-AHS was imported to New Zealand in 1938 and was based in Nelson with Cook Strait Airways before being impressed into RNZAF service during the war. It is one of the earliest surviving airliners in New Zealand.
This neat little Miles Gemini, ZK-ANT was imported to New Zealand in 1947 and flew with the Wellington Aero Club before being donated to the museum in 1964.
New Zealand has a tradition of operating Lockheed twins and within the collection are two Model 10 Electras, including this one, ZK-BUT decorated as ZK-AFD, which, confusingly the museum has the fuselage of. The museum also has the Hudson previously seen, an L-18 Lodestar, and a B-34 Lexington/Ventura. This particular Electra didn't arrive in New Zealand until 1958, but it wears the markings of an aircraft that operated with Union Airways from 1937.
A bizarre product that originated from a conglomeration of T-6 Harvard bits built in New Zealand, this is a Transavia Air Truk topdresser built in Australia and superficially resembles the original Bennett Air Truck. Note the differing spelling, because the original Bennett product was named the Air Truck, the Australian aircraft was named the Air Truk! Despite its odd twin-boom configuration, it was a success in its intended role.
A rather large relief of the man himself, Sir Keith Park, to whom the museum site is dedicated. Park looms large over the museum, literally, as this statue is the same as one located in the UK at the former RAF Uxbridge 11 Group Operations bunker.
Finally for today, an Australian topdresser also based on a North American trainer, or at least the Australian licence-built variant the Wirraway, this is a Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation Ceres. Note that its sides were fabric covered, as opposed to the all-metal construction of the T-6/Harvard, which was also evident on the Wirraway. ZK-BPU's wings are in store at the museum.
That's it for now. Next time, more from MoTaT and a unique amphibious car...
