I guess the influence was always with me from birth because Dad was a great enthusiast of aviation and a notable R/C aircraft modeller (including twice national president of the New Zealand Model Aircraft Association). So he had lots of books and photos and models.

I recall having a model plane Dad had made hanging above my bed for around the first 15 years of my life. I wonder what became of that… I also remember the first model kitset I ever got – he bought it for me, a 144th scale Bandai Zero. We built it together. I was about five or six.

Dad took me several times over the years to my first aircraft museum too, at Motat. I recall one time we saw the Lancaster run all four engines. Magic. Never again.

He took me to my first airshow when I was young but I don’t recall it. The earliest airshow I do remmeber was about 1984 when I’d have been 13. Just Harvards, Isaacs Furies and civil stuff, but rather inspiring. Dad also took me to my first proper Warbirds airshow in 1990 at Ardmore, where he told me a lot of stories he remembered from when he lived there for the first nine years of his life – including when it was an active RNZAF Station.

The big influence came in 1988. I was recruited into the RNZAf that year (joining 9th Jan 1989) and Dad gifted me his collection of New Zealand Wings magazines. I’d never read them before but soon became an avid collector of the magazine. I was totally hooked. I also received some nice books on NZ military and civil aviation in December 88 for my birthday and Christmas, which I still cherish.

In early 1989 I witnessed Stephen Grey display Sir Tim Wallis’s Spitfire at RNZAF Base Woodbourne. That was a defining moment. I was totally in love. I wished so much that Dad could have been there. Luckily he got to see it a few days later at Hamilton, before it crashed.

There have been many great moments since then that have extended my passion for military and warbird aviation and its history. One of the greatest moments of my life was finally seeing a Corsair, the plane Dad had told me hundreds of stories about from his Ardmore days. This day was in the summer of 1991, a real hot Decemebr day I think. It was a Friday afternoon. I’d finished work and was in the Airmen’s Club having a nice cold beer. There were around 30 people in the bar. Suddenly, the most incredible noise I’ve ever heard passed directly overhead. Wow. I choked on my beer and said “What the f… was that?” My mate Andy, who worked on teh flighline at PTS, said “Oh, that’ll be the Corsair.” I didn’t even know one was in the country able to fly. Andy said the late crew were told it was flying in. We all rushed out onto the road, in the searing norwester, and stood for some glorious few minutes, watching as the pilot – Keith Skilling I think from memory – really beat the place up. My God, it was magic. I was the last one standing on the road after it was landed. Everyone had returned to their beers. I simply stood, smiling, listening to the rumble of the taxiing beast. I’ll never forget it. It was everything Dad had told me, and more.

Dad passed away recently. His wonderful collection of books and models and magazines is being broken up now, though I am ensuring that the best is kept and the rest go to very good homes.Airshows will never be the same for me now without him.

So, I cannot pinpoint a defining moment I’m afraid, there have been so many. But I can certainlu pinpoint a defining influence on my interst, and in many other areas of my life. Mr Gordon Roy Homewood. RIP Dad.

John, regarding your scenario about would I use a pre-emptive nuclear strike – of course not. Such a thing is totally unthinkable. If all diplomatic means have failed, a pre-emptive conventional action might be warranted, but certainly not nuclear. Why kill thousands of civilians and ruin the land and local economy and natural resources for centuries to come? Why also risk a retaliatory massive nuclear strike from others? Such a strike, no mayyer how small intended, would be disasterous and could easily set off a chain of reactions around the world that would see total destruction. Think of just the radiation cloads – remember how Europe was affected by a small leak at Chenobyl? Would you do that to innocent people, would you be prepared to do it to someone in your back yard? It is NEVER worth it.

Garry makes some very good points in his statements above. I will also add that no matter how old the policy might be, that is not the point. The aim of the policy is the point. I find it a very dangerous and unwise move, by any country, to consider such a stance. Would you like it if Iraq had had this policy in 2003?

If you think that this is the right thing to do to save your nation, then apply the “logic” of this policy to their scenario. It means it would have been totally justified for Saddam Hussein to have decided to strike the USA with nuclear weapons back before the US invasion of his country (not that he had any, hyperthetical here), because all the intelligence told him the invasion was coming and he’d be allowed to use a pre-emptive strike against the aggressor nation. How would the world have reacted to this, when he says “Well, I thought they were going to use their massive arsenal of weaponry against us so I nuked them off the planet in self defence” – that, to me, is exactly what this policy is about.

Nuclear war affects everyone, no matter whether you’re in the Middle East, USA, Sweden or NZ. Every country and every individual has the right to comment on the use of nuclear weaponry, and the possession of them. It does not matter a jot or tittle that I’m in NZ where you so patronisingly feel we have no problems whatsoever (you’d be most welcome to visit someday and see this country is real and part of the world too, with its good and bad points just like yours. I’d gladly buy you a few beers and have a good old natter session).

If any sort of nuclear war were to erupt, we are all affected by it. So I have as much right to comment about my opinion as anyone else has.

How about “The Duck’s Nuts”?

‘The Eclection’

That is brilliant. I love the way you think Mark!

Oscar, which airfield is your collection based at again?

Sorry John and SOC, I don’t want to turn this into a slinging match. But I urge you to simply put politics and nationalism aside and please look at this again.

This is not deterent – The US military has enough deterrent already to blow the world up 50 times over. This is beyond deterrent, WAY beyond the stalemate of the Cold War you describe. Read again

From
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=2&ObjectID=10345189

“The Pentagon has drawn up a new strategy, built on the 2002 “Bush doctrine” of pre-emptive military strikes, that would allow the US to make first use of nuclear weapons”

Pre-emptive has nothing to do with retaliation. Ask the Iraqis what they did to deserve retaliation…

You seem quite happy to go back into the Cold War situation because you cannot catch a couple of a handfuls of radicals, or negotiate with a couple of countries. The Cold War of the past was bad enough – but who knows where this – if the policy were ever enacted upon – might lead.

Superb. And great to see you got gorgeous weather too.