Precious Metal – Classic Fighters Air to Air

Precious Metal Classic Fighters in New Zealand: Air-To-Air Photography by Gavin Conroy
Review by Dave Homewood

During the Second World War the small country of New Zealand produced an air force that completely punched above its weight, from its hugely professional and successful pilots and aircrew members, through to its hugely respected ground staff members.The Royal New Zealand Air Force was represented on every combat front and in every theatre of the war, and well beyond that. New Zealanders were among the best leaders in the air war, and New Zealand produced more fighter aces per capita than any other nation.

Today in New Zealand the achievements of the RNZAF and New Zealanders in other Air Forces around the world is not forgotten, and neither are the sacrifices made by them. For a still small nation New Zealand has one of the most vibrant, exciting and constantly surprising Warbird scenes in the world. As well as amazing collections of classic fighters and other Warbird types across New Zealand, we have world renowned airshows which attract international visitors and acclaim. Many marvel at the diversity of aircraft on the New Zealand airshow scene, and at the close, low and spectacular flying by our best pilots of today.

As well as the pilots, true heroes to the Warbird enthusiasts who know them all by name and follow their careers like they were All Blacks or astronauts, New Zealand also is one of the world’s best hubs for restoration of the aeroplanes. From the well known and much respected restoration workshops to the lesser hailed private hangar restorers, the level of activity and resulting utmost level of quality never fails to astound the enthusiasts far and wide.

New Zealand is also truly blessed to have a truly world class air-ti-air photographer in Gavin Conroy. Over the past few years I and many others have followed Gavin’s career developing as he ticked off more and more photo shoots with some of the most beautiful and rare aeroplanes in the world. His talent is such that he even makes the more homely aeroplanes look just perfect, choosing the right backdrops, lighting and angles to truly bring out their best side.

This book, Precious Metal, brings together the three elements – the Warbird pilots; the Warbird aircraft restored and/or flying in New Zealand skies; and Gavin’s simply stunning photography.

Within this gorgeous book is a collection of photographs of Warbirds that are without doubt heavenly. They are supported by the thumbnail stories of each aircraft type and the role it played in World War Two, and about the particular individual aircraft featured in the chapter, plus a first hand account from the pilot who fly and display the aeroplanes for the public to see.

The cover features Rod Lewis’s incredible Curtiss P-40C Tomahawk which was restored at Ardmore, Auckland, by Avspecs Ltd for Rod Lewis in the USA. This aircraft returned to the air just before Easter 2011 and was overwhelmingly the restoration of the year, and the absolute hit of the bi-annual Classic Fighters airshow at Omaka. Gavin captured some of the most dramatic photos of a warbird I have ever seen when he did the photo shot alongside it, while it was flown nice and tight with the camera ship by John Lamont.

Other Warbird types featured, each with its own chapter, selection of photos, history and pilots’ commentary are the Alpine Fighter Collection’s Hawker Hurricane IIa; Rod Lewis’s Supermarine Spitfire Vb ‘Marion’; Brendon Deere’s Spitfire IX; Doug Brooker’s Spitfire Tr IX;The Chariots of Fire Collection’s FlugWerke Fw190; Old Stick and Rudder Company’s Goodyear FG-1D Corsair and their Curtiss P-40E Kittyhawk; the visited Commemorative Air Force’s Mitsubishi Zero; syndicate-owned P-40N Warhawk “Currawong”; The Vintage Wings of Canada’s P-40N following restoration by Pioneer Aero Restorations Ltd at Ardmore; Arthur Dovey’s Yakolev Yak 3; OFMC’s Lavochkin La-9 now with Jerry Yagen at Virginia Beach, USA; and New Zealand’s two North American P-51D Mustangs – Graham Bethell’s well known and loved ZK-TAF and the less often seen Wanaka based ‘Dove of Peace’ owned by Robert Borrius-Broek.

The foreword is by one of the world’s truly great warbird display pilots, New Zealander Keith Skilling, who also contributes later in the book along with pilots Steve Taylor, John Lamont, Frank Parker, John Lanham, Doug Brooker, Sean Perrett, Gene DeMarco, Stephen Barber, Stuart Goldspink, Gavin Trethewey, Graham Bethell, Robert Borrius-Broek and Arthur Dovey; plus contributions from restoration legends like Warren Denholm, Garth Hogan, Martin Hedley and Jay McIntyre and well known Spitfire owner Brendon Deere. It is without doubt a Who’s Who of the current New Zealand Warbird scene.

The hundreds of photos are all in crisp, clear colour. Not only are there air-to-air shots and photos of the aircraft taxiing, etc., but photos of the pilots themselves, and superb shots in each of the aeroplanes’ cockpits, not to forget also the detailed engine shots for each type too. Released by renowned Craig Potton Publishing, a producer of only the finest quality books and calendars, the format chosen is large pages that show off the photography just beautifully.

Every warbird enthusiast, no matter where they are in the world, would be proud to have Precious Metal on their coffee table where it can be read and reread, and shown off to visitors. Make sure however that they have wiped the jam, modelling paint or radial engine oil off their mits first, this is one book you’ll want to keep nice and pristine!

This is the first book produced by Gavin Conroy, despite having published many photos in the world’s aviation press and having several calendars under his belt. We can only hope more books are to come in the future that come up to the high standards set with Precious Metal.

By the way this book is available on Amazon, and you can also order it from the publishers at:
http://www.craigpotton.co.nz/store/books/general/precious-metal

Five Stars * * * * *

For more on this book, see this thread:
http://rnzaf.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=Books&action=display&thread=14065&page=1