Hi everyone,

Some very interesting info here, thanks.

Denys, what has become of the RNZAF Museum’s spare fuselage which was loaned to a Christchurch art gallery? Surely that must count on your list. I recall seeing it in the 1990’s and it was a whole fuselage and fairly complete in the early 1990’s. I hope the arty people haven’y wrecked it. I realise the other fuselage section at Ohakea is hardly worth mentioning, but I’m sure the Christchurch one is.

I was told once that Hudson fuselage was used in the TVNZ series ‘The Sea Urchins’ (I think that’s the title) which was the first thing that starred Rebecca Gibney (NZ actress now claimed by Aussies since The Flying Doctors) in the 1970’s when she was a child. I have a vague memory of seeing this series and they found a wrecked plane in the sea.

Mark P., thanks for the info. I’d forgotten about Monty Armstrong who always used to be listed as co-owning the various aircraft with Charles Darby. I am pleasantly surprised to learn the P39 we’ve seen a bit of on this forum as arriving at Duxford is the same one that was a ‘wreck’ at Motat as its gate guard in the 1970’s. I shall pay more attention to its progress now, knowing its Kiwi connection.

Mark12, an easy way to remember the difference between Lockheeds is the Hudson has windows in the nose. I think the only other type with nose windows was the RB-34 Lexington, which was the Army version of the Ventura but I doubt many of these exist anywhere (Motat’s one is an RB-34, but here in NZ they were still known as Venturas and not Lexingtons). Hudsons look like a pregnant Ventura or Lodestar, the shape is quite stubby and robust in comparison. The latter Harpoon looks like a Ventura with more power. So really only the Hudson and it’s civvie equiv, the Lockheed 14, were shorter and fatter. The Lockheed 14 was the type Chamberlain flew back from seeing Hitler in after the 1938 crisis withe the ‘Peace in our time’ note.

I saw a re-enactment done of this a few years back where John Cleese played Chamberlain. He held up the note from Hitler and the propwash blew it away! I’m sure they used an accurate Lockheed 14, Hudson or similar model (Lodestar?) fo the comedy re-enactment).

Thanks too for the info on the Lodestar’s pedigree. I thought it couldn’t be a straight derivative of the Hudson as stated in the piece I’d read. It is nowhere near as beautiful as the Huddie!

Cheers
Dave

Thanks chaps.

To correlate between mine and Flood’s list a bit, (thanks for the list btw):

NZ2013 – RNZAF Museum (completely restored) See below

NZ2031- Motat (almost completely restored, including inside, but without wings fitted. This is due to lack of space, which hopefully may be rectified when their large hangar is expanded. The wings have sat next to the fuselage since they were restored in 1973. 🙁 This one is in the earlier RAF Brown and Green scheme. I prefer the later Pacific Blue/Green scheme of the RNZAFM example.

NZ2035 – Ferrymead Museum, Christchurch (under restoration, long term I think, to static)

NZ2049 – John Smith Collection (stored, unrestored. John bought this from scrapdealer Mr Edwards in 1949, who’d had it since disposal in 1947. The interior was stripped completely as the RNZAF gave all the guages, wiring, etc to the desperate universities who couldn’t get such items. I saw this plane in Feb 2004, the fuselage is inside but the wings are outdoors, and the engines and props and other bits are strewn about John’s property in a sorry state. At least it still exists though, and may well be restored one day)

NZ2084- RNZAF Museum (fuselage only, on loan to the Christchchurch art gallery)

NZ20?? – RNZAF Museum Ohakea (fuselage portion only), see here
http://www.fleetairarmarchive.net/Aircraft/Hudson.htm

Also two wrecks are known in the sea, one recently discovered off the West Coast when a fisherman pulled the engine and prop up with his net, in fairly good order too! And NZ2024’s wreck sits in the mudflats in the Upper Auckland Harbour nd can be seen from the Greehythe Bridge at low tide. Not alot left of it though, it spun in on landing at Whenuapai and killed both crew.

I’ve heard that pieces from another wreck in the forest north of Auckland were recently up for sale too.

As for Lodeslars, there are three here in NZ. One at Motat in a very sorry state, half stripped and half in Feildair colours. It has been otside for 30 odd years. However it is about to be restored and put inside. 🙂 🙂 🙂 I guess it’ll be repainted in its Fieldair colours again.

Another in the same company’s scheme is with the Gisborne Aviation Preservation Society (GAPS) at Gisborne (formerly Gisbone’s Darton Field airport gate gaurd, now indoors and restored. 🙂 🙂

And the third is the ex-Aussie one, ‘Flew The Coop’, owned by Gerald Rhodes of Wanaka. This theoretically is airworthy but I haven’t heard of it flying for some years. Anyone confirm it’s status? When I visited Wanaka in Feb I saw it outdoors and looking a bit shabby. I hope it isn’t going to waste away there.

We also have one Ventura in NZ, again at Motat. It’s an RB-34 model with the glazed nose, and is sadly in a made-up scheme, and not displayed too imaginatively, in the restoration hangar on poles facing the back wall!! But it is complete and if they ever took the dust sheets off and gave it a wash, she’d look a picture.

There was talk in NZ Wings about 1990ish that a syndicate may get a flying Ventura for NZ. sadly never happened. I’d love to see one. There’s a flyer in Aussie which looks nice in the photos I’ve seen.

What happened to the Beaufort that Charles Darby recovered and brought to NZ. I’ve seen a 1970’s photo of it on poles at Ardmore. Did it go abroad later? He was on the Tallichet mission to New Guinea, etc., and he brought back also a P47 (now under restore to fly in Aussie), a P39 and several P40’s (which formed the basis of Pioneer which he started in the early 1990’s. What happened to his P39 too by the way?