Anybody know anything ?

Thank you for your post GrahamA, that is precisely how (I think) the majority of warbird/heritage aviation folk here feel about John and his collection. I’ve never had the pleasure personally but always enjoy hearing about those of others.

Whilst on holiday my friend and I, plus wives, were in the vicinity and paid a visit to John. We had heard the various tales about the man from Yorkshire, not the case. We had free range, sat in the Mossie for photos, could take photos of all, brilliant visit. He told me the longest anybody had stayed for an unannounced visit was eight hours!

Yep pretty much my way of thinking too. I also hope they stay in NZ?!

Rob

Nice to see that there are some like me who respect John’s wishes.

He fought hard to get some of these aircraft. The RNZAF often gave him unrealistic time frames to get the aircraft off the base or they would be destroyed (like 24 hours notice!), which meant that sometimes the saw/gas axe had to be used to save what he could.

Nobody was interested in what he was doing and for years people labelled him an eccentric/crazy who had planes and tanks that nobody thought would ever be worth anything.

Now people label him as stubborn and unwilling to preserve valuable artifacts for the general public to see. How times have changed!!! LOL.

In fact he is neither stubborn or unwilling. Just fed up with certain people and museums trying to tell him what to do with his personal property. He has preserved history exactly as it came to him. NOTHING has been changed on these aircraft since he collected them.

My fathers cousin had three Mossies in New Zealand. He stripped the wheels and hydraulics for farm equipment and then each Nov 5th would burn one for Guy Fawkes. That is what those aircraft were worth back then. My dad remembers how well they burned!

If you do make the trek to go and see him, take your wife/girlfriend with you to help break the ice. Keep you camera in your pocket or your car and don’t bring it out until he says it is Ok.

You’ll find that John is a great bloke with a great memory and a fountain of knowledge. Talk about apples. Talk about tanks (My father drove Valentine tanks, so we talked about that for ages!). Talk about planes. Prepare to be amazed.

DON’T tell him what he should do with his collection. It is his, not yours. Keep your opinions to yourself. He doesn’t tell you what to do with your life.

The aircraft are protected from the elements. They are time capsules that are preserved. Restoration would destroy that.

Other Kiwi’s on the forum probably know about a person close to John that is helping him, at a speed that John is comfortable with. Time will tell what happens to the collection, I just hope it is detailed in his will and that his wishes are respected after he falls off this planet.

I had the pleasure of being able to sit in the Mosquito in 2003. Mr Smith was very welcoming, considering he didn’t know me from Adam, though I did have the advantage of being introduced by a mutual friend. It is indeed something worth preserving as is, as Mr Smith has done for many years, without his efforts, it would have disappeared long ago. His shed is something of an experience…..

The same kind of attitude was displayed towards Walter Soplata.
People spoke all kinds of crap.
Without the foresight of individuals collecting items like these, there would be a lot fewer surviving aircraft around to complain about their paint schemes 😀

This particular Mosquito is an absolute time capsule that should have no expense spared in its preservation.
I feel that it should also stay in New Zealand.

Andy

I agree. There’s often a sense that privately owned artefacts are REALLY for everyone’s pleasure rather than for the owner to decide their fate.

Strange isn’t it, a guy spends his life collecting aircraft and saving them for posterity and his own pleasure, a picture is posted in a forum and everyone suddenly starts saying these need to be put in a museum. post 4 seems to be the best in my eyes, it is his collection and for him to do with what he pleases, just let the guy enjoy them without all the “this wants to be in the air or in a museum etc”…. it is in one already, his private one.

Agree with Bruce,
This airframe belongs in a museum. There are serveral collections of substantial Mossie bits with an identity around that are a perfect candidate for the Powell-treatment.

Cees

“What’s he going to do with them?….Like many collectors of stuff, he just likes having them preserved”

I for one can fully buy into that thesis and not seeing originality destroyed just for the sake of having another replica flyer.
But what a fantastic collection and kudos to the owner for having the foresight to collect them in the first place!

Rob

Geoff, yes, it would absolutely be a superb candidate for new wood, but then it loses much of what makes it so special. Personally, I would prefer to see it in a museum in due course, but who knows what the owners plans for it are once he is no longer with us. I have heard some stories over the years, including that it would be destroyed in the event of his passing. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that at least.

Hi All,
Bruce – I was thinking along the lines of ‘Glyn Powell or TPM’ getting their hands on it or is what you described basically it’s death sentence
on it ? I would have thought with ‘Glyn and Avspecs’ expertise it would be in a better shape than most and a prime candidate if the owner could
let it go before it dilapidates any further…:confused:

Geoff.

He has two P-40s, the other is P-40E 41-36410/EV156/NZ3043. He also has P-51D 45-11513/NZ2423, among others. The Hudson mentioned and glimpsed in the link has since moved on.

And no need for quote marks: John Smith is his actual name.

Potentially airworthy is optimistic. To move it, the fuselage was cut around the circumference behind the wing, and the wing was cut in two places. It is, without question, a time capsule, and imho belongs in a museum.

Hi All,
Many thanks for clearing the ID and the current whereabouts, such a shame that a potentially airworthy ‘Mossie’ just sitting in a barn but I can
appreciate ‘Mr Smiths’ stance on his privacy but hey what a barn……:cool:

Geoff.

John Smith’s TE910/NZ2336 in NZ at a guess…….

John is a very private individual.

If you do go and look at his collection, please respect his wishes that photos do not appear in print or on the web (unless he gives you explicit permission). All publicity seems to do is increase the number of people hounding him!

His P-40 is a real time capsule too. P-40N-20 NZ3220 “Gloria Lyons”.

Interesting, and what a fantastic barn that’s trapped in a time warp, I prefer aircraft in their natural state and unrestored, thanks for the link.

This is the Mosquito I believe…
http://www.mossie.org/NZ2336.htm