CNN has broken in on our main TV network and is feeding in the pictures live. It looks terrible. I am praying for the Londoners, and that no-one I know is there. What a terrible thing.

As an adjunct;

There’s a great site here dealing with surviving Junkers airframes
http://www.geocities.com/hjunkers/ju_mus5.htm#m_ju87

Ah, you’re right, I was thinking of “The Riddle of the Stinson”.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0136490/

So, I have not seen the Junkers mini-series then. Maybe they weren’y rescued by a farmer then. The book I got my info from has a photo of the replica W-33, so it must have been made. I cannot find the name of this particular series.

Ah, yes, you’re probably right. Either way it sounds too tabloid for me.

What’s this about Star Dust and Burt Lancaster? What’s that about??

My book “The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft in Australia and New Zealand” by David Eyre (1988 edition, Pacific Publishers) lists the following Australian registered Junkers (I think the book only deals with survivors at time of writing so may miss some):

A Junkers A-50 Junior (VH-MRR, formerly VH-UCC)

And one Junkers W-33 was registered in Aussie (as VH-UIW), imported by J.S. Taylor and G.S. Bond and assembled at Point Cook. The W-33 was fitted with floats, flown to Salamaua in New Guinea, and then reverted to wheels. It entered service with Pacific Aerial Transport Ltd of Wau. It says its pilots were known to include Ray and Kevin Parer (whoever they were).

After a couple of accidents it went to Mandated Airlines of Salamanu for repair but it was not completed. The fuselage was salvaged in 1987 from the jungle at Alexishaven for a museum (doesn’t say which!)

Another non-Australian registered W-33 became famous when on a flight from Soerabaja, Dutch East Indies, to Darwin, and it became lost in a storm. The crew of Hans Bertram and Adolph Klausmann were missing for 53 days in the bush. They were rescued by a local farmer. In 1984/85 the ABC made a very good TV mini-series about it, and they created a full-scale replica of D-1925, which was non-flying but taxied at high speed on water due to its Jaguar car engine. The replica went to the RAAF Association at Perth and was displayed next to the floats of the real plane.

The book mentions that five Junkers W-34’s were also registered in Australia, and that in the Australasian region there were aslo F-13’s, JU-52’s and more, operating in New Guinea.

For more see here
http://www.adf-serials.com/2a44.shtml

Steve, some aerial shots of Feltwell would be interesting. Several RNZAF squadrons were based there at various times, so I’m keen to see what’s left of the place.

As for my next weekend, I hope to contact some veterans of RNZAF General Reconnaissance squadrons, as I am hoping to embark on a new project to record the history of these squadrons which served in NZ and the Pacific. I have found some names of GR Sqn veterans and hope to start making contact and forming the basis of a project, hopefully. Other than that, not much happening down this way – but I’m looking forward to the end of the weekend so I can see some legendary photos on the forum…

Incidentally, the commercial value of the project was clearly a stalling point to the New Zealanders who wished to buy her…

Bruce

Yes. Solent Sky could offer more for the airframe because their after-purchase outlay for a static restoration would be much less than the money required to get it flying.

You chaps seem to forget that this was not going to be restored in Britain had the flying project deal been done. If it had come to NZ it was to be restored in Christchurch by a highly skilled and dedicated team of warbirds owners and engineers, with proven track records and total dedication. Restoration rates are much cheaper here than in the UK or US, yet the work is as good. And I believe there was to be sponsorship in the restoration by a well known aircraft engineering firm too, with a great track record for helping out on warbird projects. So the astronomical costs you perceieve are probably quite wrong in real terms.

And why does it need a market value? I don’t think they were restoring it to sell onwards. They wanted desperately to see the type flying again. They are enthusiasts before they are businessmen as far as I’m aware. There was a hell of a lot of interest in this project within New Zealand and the financial backing was there I’m told. The aircraft type was as much part of our history as the RAF’s. Both our Navy and Air Force flew the type. Many people were interested in securing its flying future.

I congratulate Solent Sky for securing the airframe, they won the bidding on the day and have a fantastic aircraft to show on static. But all this talk about it now being “safe” makes it sound as if you Poms all thought it was in some great danger by going to New Zealand. I cannot see why. It’s in no more danger than any other warbird that flies anywhere in the world.

Yes, you have it forever (perhaps) in the museum, but we’ve all lost the opportunity to see and experience it flying. You could have seen it at your beloved Flying Legends if it had gone to the NZ consortium, as well as at Wanaka and probably Oshkosh other airshows round the world, as it was always the aim for the NZ’ers to take it on a world tour once it was in the air. Oh well, your loss and ours.

The good thing is, with the funds they’d already raised, the New Zealanders are now looking at securing at least one – maybe more aircraft to make up for the lost deal. So you better watch out for your other beloved warbirds…