New Zealand's other Catalina

Hi Dave

Fair points BUT it still diminishes the number of aircraft that can be dealt with and lowers the amount of original material that can be incorporated in the airframes. I a funny kind of way by going to more trouble the displays are less authentic if you take my point – too much reconstruction too little restoration?

Take the RAAF M collection – the recent restorations of the Walrus, A20 Boston and the partial one of the Cat aren’t to fly but they are very high quality restorations as is the current Mosquito restoration.

Anyway all good fun and we can’t actually change anything it is just opinion.

Kindest regards
John P
PS
I have been trying to ring you but I guess I can’t ring you and yuo be able to post at the same time. I will ring later in the mday as I have to go out soon

I see your point there John, but I guess that this all stems from the fact that the restoration team was and is based around a regular RNZAF unit. They are not like many museums where its well meaning enthusiasts doing their bit, they are professionals. It is admitadly a smaller unit theses days, but they are not all volunteers. The team leaders are RNZAF professionals who do that job as they would in any other RNZAF section, if you see what I mean. They get posted to it and eventually might get posted away again. The volunteers are almost all ex-RNZAF professionals to a man too, handpicked for their professionalism and skills too.

So I guess that is why the strict policy developed from the beginning. And of course a lot of restoration intially was carried out by regular units too, like the P51D at Woodbourne’s No. 1 RD, and the Cat in Auckland, etc. To them it was just another job and standards have to be maintained.

I think the only displayed aircraft at Wigram that would probably be no-where near flyable would be the gate guard Harvard Mk II. When we repainted her, she didn’t look too happy on the inside, poor old girl.

Hi Dave and thanks for the clarification.

Thats a good policy but one thats hard to justify given their resources and I would have thought that well restored static classics on display beats stored wrecks any day. Don’t get me wrong – it is a great museum and I had a ball there it should be an example to a lot of higher profile museums on how to do it but I do think it’s a bit rich wanting everything being to airworthy standards when youve got lots that could be achieved on less lofty standards.

Just my opinion

Regards
John P

John, the RNZAF Museum’s standard policy in restoration is restore to airworthy condition. They don’t restore to static, despite all their aircraft remaining static in their care. The reason I was given is if they ever need to pass on an aircraft for any reason it will be worth much more on the market and so is really seen as an investment.

Imagine how great it would be if they occasionally rolled out the Hudson or Anson or Avro 626 for a flying day. Oh well. At least some lucky folks (not me) did get to see the Avro flying in the 1980’s when they took it on a nationwide tour. It was grounded by 1991 when I arrived there sadly.

Hi Dave M

Thanks for the info

I guess I was using ANZ as an example- sponsored restorations are fairly common as you would know and it would be worth looking to corporate sponsorship to do this one as it has a more civilian feel about it which would appeal to corporates – more warm and fuzzy and being large they get a big “thing’ to show off.

I also guess that the costs of restoration on a Cat – especially when a fair bit of work has been done would be less. It is also static so standards and materials are different. Really on the restoration scale the Hurricane and Cat are at opposite ends of the spectrum – The cat is in the $NZ1-200,000.00 Category not millions – more has been raised before for far less deserving causes…

Anyway just tyre kicking I am sure my opinion matters little to RNAFM…..

Regards
John P

John

The AFC Hurricane cost Air NZ millions, I doubt they will be sponsoring anything else, and no they didn’t operate them.

Dave

Hi Dave

Thanks for the background – I suppose we should at least be thankful it is “saved’ – the trouble with a lot of museums is that if a project comes on strength partly complete there is a tendancy to say well “thats mostly done and well finish it off after we do ………” Trouble is the next big thing comes along and the project stays stored for “one day” which never seems to come along……….The Wigram crew are great and have turned out some fantastic stuff but the resources required to do this must be daunting for them especially with lots of other exciting stuff….. What they need is a sponsor like …….Air New Zealand perhaps? they have the resources and facilities (did they operate cats ?).

Regards
John P

John, I am sure you are right that it was owned by TAA for their fire training. The wings probably did come with it then, and my guess is they were/are stored at RNZAF Weedons, which is the Museum’s storage base.

I have just looked up the Catalina. It was acquired from Motat by the RNZAF Museum in 1984. A photo in the March 1988 issue of RNZAF Museum News shows it had loads of holes in the fuselage when they got it, and a second photo shows it as is now basicaly. It says the team leader in the restoration at RNZAF Auckland (Hobsonville) was Warrant Officer ‘Smokey’ Dawson.

“Aircraft of the Royal New Zealand Air Force” by David Duxbury, Ross Macpherson and Ross Ewing lists the Cat as a “PBY-5A, c/n CV592, ex-44-34081, VH-HDH, VH-SBV (recovered from Papua New Guinea and restored to display in RNZAF scheme by RNZAF Whenuapai.”

They were a little premature in their 1987 book stating “restored” as such, but from that I deduce it spent time at both Whenuapai and Hobsonville, and I guess it may have just been stored for transit to Wigram at Hobby.

Hi Dave

I asked when I took the picture and it was said that they had a wing.

I took photos of this on the fire dump in PNG all those years ago (I think it had belonged to TAA or some other airline) and there was a wing there then – perhaps it came back with the wing or perhaps it is another. I did not see the wing they just said they had one. The workmanship on the fuselage is very good so I hope it does get finished as I hope we finally have a finished one here at Point cook – although it is all there the wing needs to be completed and put on the rest of it – A real pity Dennis Dogett and the crew at Amberly didn’t get to finish it.

Regards
John P

John,

That is exactly how it looked in 1989, and sadly I doubt it won’t be finished, not for a very long time anyway, unless it changes hands. I am not sure if they have any wings for it either. I do not recall seeing any at either Hobby or Wigram.

Easter last year – very nice job it will be when finished
John P

That Cat can also be seen here in Wigram’s No. 7 Hangar behind Sir Tim Wallis’s Zero Replica that was parked there for a visit.