This is a post I put onto the RNZAF forum but thought some here may also find it of interest.
A little history and some photos I took last week of this rather historic and beautiful bomber…
This aircraft was built by Lockheed as a Hudson Mk III and given the RAF serial AE499 by the British Purchasing Mission. However it was among 96 Hudsons that came to NZ instead of the RAF.
It was shipped to New Zealand aboard the SS Manuel, and was brought on charge by Unit 1 at RNZAF Station Hobsonville on the 29th of October 1941.
Re-serialled NZ2031, the aircraft was assembled at No.1 Aircraft Depot, Hobsonville.
It was then despatched to No.2 (GR) Squadron at RNZAF Station Nelson on the 2nd of January 1942, where it received the unit code UH-H.
From August to October 1943 it was serving with No.3 (GR) Squadron at Espiritu Santo.
Later the aircraft was used as personal aircraft for AOC No.1 Islands Group, RNZAF – Group Captain Geoffrey Roberts. It was then based on Guadalcanal and wore a bare metal scheme with RNZAF operational roundels.
It returned to New Zealand by early 1945, and went to the Air Navigation School, RNZAF Station Wigram March 1946, where it still wore the bare metal scheme and was coded “F”.
NZ2031 made its last flight from Wigram, transitting to storage at RNZAF Station Taieri, Dunedin on the 19th of August 1948.
The aircraft was sold by WARB tender 8699 from Taieri to Mr. Carr on the 9th of May 1949. Carr stored the Hudson on his farm near Dunedin on the peninsular. The wings had been torched off at roots. He used it as a farm shed.
On a trip to the Museum of Transport and Technology in 1965 or 1966, Carr called at the museum office and offered his Hudson fuselage to the museum. Staff there at the time were not even aware of what a Hudson was or the role it had played, so had no desire to take one on on their ‘wish-list’ for the new museum. But once they’d consulted with the RNZAF they realised the huge inportance of the type, and decided to take Mr Carr up on his offer.
NAC provided complimentary tickets to Motat to fly two people down to inspect it. Hrold Stone, Motat’s director, and also the president of the Aviation Historical Society of New Zealand (name unknown – anyone know?) flew to Dunedin via Christchurch. They had arranged for Bruce Norton, a Senior Engineer with the Ministry of Works, to help arrange things at the Dunedin end.
When Stone and his companion arrived, Norton and a gaggle of Air Training Corp cadets were ready to assist in the shifting of the fuselage. they tarnsported it to Momona Airport, west of Dunedin, where the RNZAF had pledged to pick it up by Hercules to transport north. The RNZAF saw it as a good training excercise in logistical support, as well as a good will venture.
The arport authority gave permission for it to be stored till a Hercules came to pick it up. Eventually the aircraft was retriebved, and flown to Whenuapai, from where it was trucked down to Western Springs to join the Motat collection.
Motat made a big thing of the salvage of this aircraft, using maximum publicity that they could at the time, in order to raise public awareness of the aircraft and the museum.
Barry East, an Auckland bank manager (who may have had an RNZAF background?) lead a team to restore the Hudson between 1973 and 1984, as he’d previously done to the Venturer. He took it right up to the stage where it was restored inside and out, was standing back on its undercarriage, and new wings, supplied by Fieldair from one of their Lodestars, were ready to attach. Tail components were also from Fieldair.
Some of the restoration was done at Ardmore, where Motat then had use of facilities too. Then sadly East died in 1984. Perhaps this was a good thing for the bomber because without wings on it has spent a considerably longer time inside than it has outside with the museum.
Today the Hudson is still without wings, and during this year has been forced outside into the weather again, which is proving quite detrimental to the airframe if you look closely. You can see a lot of damage caused by the weather, and some caused by idots (maybe vandals, maybe just idots who don’t know what they’re doing )
Despite their efforts there are still areas where the weather and birds can get into the airframe, plainly visible too!
In fact it needs to be completely overhauled again I’m afraid. I think another couple of years outside will probably be the end of it, so lets get this new building started please Motat!!!
One of the volunteers at Motat when I was there last week did tell me it will be restored soon. Whether he means simply attach the wings and slap on some paint Motat-style or a genuine, proper restoration I don’t really know. I hope it’s the latter.
Anyway, here are some shots of this gorgeous and historic old kite…
If you have any photos, comments or extra snippets of this particular aircraft’s history, please post them.
By: mikey676 - 21st November 2005 at 07:40
great to see the pics. Thanks..
Yes the Valley inn, not big on the inside when we were there, but the atmosphere was great, that was 1987….
Was last there around 99-2000. The doorway was through a brist frieght nose and the mossie was awaiting the jig/ frame and a very nice vampire cockpit…
sounds like things are happening……
By: Dave Homewood - 21st November 2005 at 06:12
Denys, that turret you’re working on looks fantastic when you see what you started with. Awesome job.
By: Denys Jones - 21st November 2005 at 05:49
Hi Mikey,
Good lord someone else who we’ve treated to the Ferrymead treatment yep the Valley Inn still does the business!
The C47 is plodding on. The guys working on her have finished reglazing the entire aircraft, they’ve done the nose radome bay, spring cleaned the cockpit, and are now starting on the engines.
On the Viscount we’ve just finished the strip, beadblast, and repaint of all the undercarriage bays and centre section tank bays, and the tail bays. Now we’ve got to put the undercarriages back in and then the tails and centre sections on.
As if we’re not up against it with that we’ve just erected a new workshop to be the woodworking shop for the mossie. Hopefully this weekend we’ll get the last of the roof on.
The Hudson continues. I’m deep in turret mode at the moment (when not Viscount or workshop working) and a set of fairly recent pix are on Mark Ansell’s site
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/markansell/bpa/preserved.html
cheers
By: mikey676 - 20th November 2005 at 07:15
What direction is that??
Comerical opperators in auckland seem to have more than enough work at the moment, and I was told that bits and pieces are being done off site, I understand that the sunderland canopy was done by pioneer.
Went today, there are plans for things to progress… but then I have heard this before. Lets hope that these plans don’t just remain on paper and do actualise…
There are problems with how money is spent within any large organisation…just look at the country and see how many people there are advising how to spend our hard earned tax money.
The walls are certainly not lined with gold.
So denys, just to change the subject, how are things going with the dc 3, viscount and your hudson… it’s a while sine I have been down to ferrymead… although keep promising myself a trip down….
I still remember and appreciate your hospitality..is there still the drink at the pub on the corner at the end of the days work.
By: Dave Homewood - 19th November 2005 at 07:59
Holy crap, they receive that much money per year?
I had heard their funding had improved recently but I had no idea it was that much! In that case, they can easily afford new buildings and to upgrade the ones falling down around he place, as well as pay for decent restorations and the staff to do them in all areas of the museum. The more money spent on exhibits and facilities the quicker it becomesa decent world class place that attracts big tourism.
So why is that not happening? Why when you buy a ticket at Motat 1 for the tram to Motat 2 do you still have to walk the last half a kilometre, and yet local school kids ride the thing for free (about 30 of them when I was there last week!). With that much money, they could at least buy decent covers for the Hudson, Lodestar and Sunderlnad, plus the recently restored and now once again outside C47 which has not yet even been reassembled completely. Nor have its marking been finished yet it was in the paintshop in June 2004 when I was there!
There is no excuse really, and I stand by what I said before that management need to change their ways and Motat needs to stop doing things in such a half-****d way if they can afford to do it right. The better they make the museum, the more gate revenue they’ll take (and at $14 a head now!!! they’ll soon start raking in the dough).
When I think about smaller museums who have to beg for meagre funding or rely on donations and tiny door takings, who do a superb job, one has to wonder.
I have always been and still am a supporter of Motat, as I’ve stated, but I feel something needs to really change to stare the direction in a different heading.
By: Denys Jones - 19th November 2005 at 07:37
I’m sorry but your comments that MoTat is short of money are rubbish. They have a rating act over the greater AKL area which gives them an income of the order, I am told, of approx NZ$3M per annum.
I think it will be old problem of once there’s money like that around suddenly there huge staff structures appear with all sorts of people on huge salaries soaking up the $ and making the sorts of half ****d decisions that lead to things like the poor Hudson being outside.
Suddenly the Mossie will be the focus and because that spins so many peoples’ wheels anything and everything else will get pushed aside. A travesty of all Barry East’s hard labours, sorry mate don’t spin in the grave!
By: mikey676 - 19th November 2005 at 05:29
Appreciate the comments and love the history of the plane to.
Don’t forget that the ventura was last worked on around 20yrs ago, I still have a pic or 2 of it outside.
I believe that the issues you refer too are not entirely leadership related…Motat covers a vast spectrum of transport and tech, each section, i understand believes that their section is the most important i.e. rail, trams, military etc. I suspect that they submit to a management for funding, each ara not necessairly being given $x,000 per year and as my job tells me, managent teams can suck up the money before it even reachs the projects……
The leadership does appear stronger than it has in the past as the groups appear much more focused on a few projects rather than all the aircraft waiting, just waitng their turn… rather than too fewer reasources spread too far.
Anyway should get along tomorrow to see where things are at…
By: Dave Homewood - 18th November 2005 at 20:46
I have long been an enthusiast and suporter of the Motat team, but it is not hard to recognise that they are clearly underfunded and understaffed, and still after all these years don’t have adequate storage. I was not having a dig at the volunteer staff, many of whom I discussed restoration with only last week, but was saying that I expect they cannot afford a proper overhaul on this airframe. I doubt it will be stripped out and completely checked, fixed and reassembled. It will be more of a aesthetic makeover I’d think, as compared with the other aircraft in the workshop right now, it’s largely complete.
I still have to wonder if there isn’t a lack of leadership sometimes at the place, despite the obvious improvements made over the decades. Everyone seems to be doing their own thing there and suddenly it’s all being done at once after years of very little. The RNZAF Museum works on a tiny budget too, just $10,000 per year for restoration purposes, and yet their results are flyable condition aircraft. Motat could produce the same results if they were lead well. Some of the rarest exhibits in the country are in Motat, and even those considered restored are not always in great condition. Have a close look at the Ventura, it’s riddled with rust. That, to me, is what’s sad. There have always been too many half ****d jobs, and bnow that they are doing their best and trying to put things right, there’s too many problems to fix, too little people to do it, and not enough money. I wish them well, and if I move to Auckland at any stage I will be volunteering to assist them as much as I can. More younger people with aeronautical backgrounds should be. Sadly the keenest helpers are not always well trained, as one of the lead volunteers was telling me last week.
By: mikey676 - 18th November 2005 at 18:49
sad about the huson but….
I find your comments about a typical motst job quiet sad and narrow…
Did you not see the ag wagon striped to the skeleton, the avenger with a significant amount of work going on. Oh and what about the mosquito, on it’s wing and now finally going fwd.
In my time of visiting the museum I have seen a huge change in the direction and quality of work being undertaken…..although sadly these men aren’t getting younger so the no. of people working is suffering.
Unfortunately motat hasn’t had a great name for it’s airframe storage but there is significant hope for the future if their press releases, reported in flypast come into existance…..Motat I see through the net, isn’t the only place that currently has frames outside…..but hopefully things will change in my lifetime.
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November 18, 2005 at 6:21 am