Truly Amazing Scrapyard Photos

I just found a few more truly excellent Rukuhia graveyard photos on another different website which is here
http://www.skyhawkphotos.co.nz/Military/New_Zealand/index.shtml

Click on these links to go straight to them!

http://www.skyhawkphotos.co.nz/Military/New_Zealand/2488_NZ4608.jpg

http://www.skyhawkphotos.co.nz/Military/New_Zealand/2484_NZ5593.jpg

http://www.skyhawkphotos.co.nz/Military/New_Zealand/2485_NZ3256.jpg

http://www.skyhawkphotos.co.nz/Military/New_Zealand/2487_NZ3256.jpg

This is just a wild guess, but I wonder if this is the Cambridge Corsair, or even Josephine
http://www.skyhawkphotos.co.nz/Military/New_Zealand/2489_CORSAIR.jpg

This one is definately Josephine, now flying at Masterton
http://www.skyhawkphotos.co.nz/Military/New_Zealand/2491_NZ5648.jpg

http://www.skyhawkphotos.co.nz/Military/New_Zealand/2492_NZ5648.jpg

http://www.skyhawkphotos.co.nz/Military/New_Zealand/2490_nz5732.jpg

Amazing stuff eh?

Fantastic 😉 Anna 😉 :diablo:

Makes you want to bang your head against the wall and cry.

I believe that the final airframes were cleared in the very early 1970’s. Some survived – the Old Stick and Rudder Company Corsair and P40E (both ex-OFMC) were rescued from there about then for Motat by some aviation enthusiats, as were the John Chambers P40’s (one now flying with Col Pay in Aussie) and one or two others.

I think in all five P40’s and the Corsair, plus the RB34 Ventura at Motat are the major survivors from the 1970’s. Compomnents were apparently still being melted down in the 1980’s and 1990’s by someone. I have been told that the scrap business passed in the 1960’s to Asplins, who moved the remaining aircraft across the road by their garage where Josephine (the Corsair) was made a gate guard for some years. I’ll ask John to confirm all this.

Dad said he went out there once (it’s only a few minutes from Cambridge) and did some work for a bit with them. He said he recalls helping to heave large chunks of Corsairs into the furnace, and it was breaking his heart even then. He’d grown up right next to Ardmore, our main Corsair base, during and after the war so he was quite attached to the type. He said one of the bosses turned round to him at the end of it all and thanked him for his help. He said “See that Avenger over there,” – there was one sitting in the yard, wings folded – Dad said yes – “If you want it, it’s yours, for your troubles.” Dad says he turned round and said “What the h*ll would I want with one of those.” He’s regretted it a lot these many years since. If only he’d towed it to his parent’s farm 10km away……. doh!

Thanks for pointing everyone to this. Very atmospheric shots – Dave do you have any idea of by what year the yard was cleared?

more tears

Hi
Check here for more tears, what a find it would be if it were still around today.
Cheers
Jerry

http://www.p40warhawk.com/WW2_Era/WW2Era.htm

Fabulous stuff. Thanks Dave.

What I’d have given to be a kid with a taxiable P40 :))))

Moggy

Enough to make one weep…and the prices on some of those parts…oh, just to have ONE complete Corsair propeller assembly.

M

amazing, sad but amazing none the less,
thanks for the link.
Greg