Chris has posted a few more of his photos on our New Zealand forum. Please feel free to come and take a look.

Especially of interest is the Thunder Mustang on this page, WOW!!!
http://rnzaf.proboards43.com/index.cgi?board=Airshows&action=display&num=1111964169&start=15

Andy, not a problem mate. It has been awfully dull round here lately after the mass exodus. It’s good to see you back. I hope a few others return soon too.

Getting back to Crowded House – Neil Finn lives here in Cambridge when he is at home in NZ, as does most of his family. Neil is good mates with Eddie Vedder from Pearl Jam, and they apparently made an album together in Neil’s front room – I saw this on a news report. I am keen to learn, was in his Cambridge house” It was made here in NZ so it makes sense. I’d love to know if it was made here in Cambridge. There were some other well known people on it too, can’t recall who. It was about five years ago or so. Eddie also released a Split Enz song believe it or not!! I’m not a fan of Split Enz, but CH is cool.

The Warbirds P51D was painted by an RNZAF team, including me, in a temporary scheme to make an advert for Singapore’s “Tiger Beer”. During an airshow at Wigram just before filming they flew it in wet weather against our advice, and little bits of the mask paint job began to chip away in the wet. It was fine for the best part and the advert was successfully made, but fleks of paint apparently got into the radiator (so we were later told) and the engine blew. It was stranded at Queenstown for some time.

The story and my exclusive photos of the paint job are here
http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/showthread.php?t=23371&highlight=tiger+beer

He left before the band split, in 1994. He returned for the ‘final concert’ on the steps of Sydney Opera House in 1996.

Tim and Neil are currently in London. They are meant to e playing at the Royal Albert Hall tonight but think they’ll cancel and are deciding whether to call off the tour. I guess they replaced Hester back in 1994. He’d quit because touring was getting too much, but I don’t think it was bad blood or anything.

He has two daughters and a partner too.

OFMC Fan, Last month Garth Hogan told us that he was keeping his P40 based at Ardmore. It was only Charles Darby’s share that sold, as you probably know. Garth still half owns it.

Wow!! Those are fantastic photos. Thanks Alex. I love the one of the Corsair, and the WWI scene with the hunting pack of Triplanes is brilliant. They’re all excellent.

Is that colour scheme on the P51D a wartime RAF one? Or postwar? It seems familar, I think Dad had a 1/72nd scale model in that scheme when I was a kid. I’m surprised they allowed temporary paint on the Mustang after 1993 when peeling paint blew the engine up. But I guess technology on the removable paint is a lot better these days.

Cheers Dave, I meant Lockheed, not sure why I typed Beech. So it is the one that was used for the film then?

The P36 makes more sense, thanks. It looks pretty good.

Any photos of the P51D please?

That is fantastic news about the Blenheim for Blenheim project. I will follow this with interest.

Ray Hanna is building a new hangar at Wanaka? What’s he going to base there? The Yak and La-9 perhaps? Or will he bring more stuff from the UK? MH434?