Airnews, April 2010
Aerolineas Airbus A340 Argie Aerobatic Aviator Admires Advanced Aerodynamic Anglo Airfreight Aeroplane At Antipodean Ardmore Aerodrome, Auckland, Aotearoa.
THIS MONTH we asked self-confessed dinosaur aviator and well-known New Zealand aerospace personality, aviation enthusiast, writer, et al, Mike Feeney, to be a guest writer on Hangar Talk. He began flying in 1955 and has done it all – from bush to airline flying in New Zealand, Australia and Papua New Guinea, flight instruction etc. etc. etc.
He has been writing on aviation topics for more than 30 years and more recently on web/blog sites. In his writing, he is particularly fond of the use of alliterations. His headline (above) and ending to the article tell it all….
THE ACCOMPANYING photograph on the top centre showing a long-since grounded Bristol 170 transport aircraft of the Royal New Zealand Air Force, captured the enthusiasm of an Argentine aviator whom can only be known as “El Condor”. Upon discovering this ex-RNZAF Bristol 170, Mk.31 “Freighter” (aka “Frightener” and “Vibrator”), El Condor became delirious with joy and explained that he had dreams of using it on the international air show circuit as the World’s Largest Aerobatic Aeroplane and, as it had nearly 4 000 horsepower, would also fly it in the Red Bull pylon racing programme.
He further amplified that, during the off-peak season, he would enhance its annual utilisation by starting a service between Argentina and New Zealand to cater for the masses of New Zealanders who wish to cycle across the Andes then spend time as “El Gaucho la Bicycle”.
This particular aircraft was once the pride of the RNZAF long-haul Strategic Airlift Division (SAD) and was on strength as NZ5911. The other photograph is of a Royal Canadian Air Force Bristol 170, Mk.31, and a Douglas C- 47 Dakota over a European airfield. I don’t know where it is. Probably Germany. Have any of you readers seen it during your earlier flying years? I thought I would attempt a little deduction exercise from the photograph.
The sun seems to be shining from the right rear of the formating aircraft and if you study the shadow cast by the wing of the Bristol on the ground, it appears to be making an angle of about 40 degrees from the vertical. Ergo: summertime and about noon with the aircraft heading about south. So by crunching a few numbers I deduce that the aerodrome is located at approx. 51-53 degrees north latitude....maybe on that lower lying flat country south of the Baltic? Before this even went into print in Hangar Talk, someone must have had access to my thoughts and quickly came up with the answer. That someone was Simon Youens who sent me the following email: “Nice try with the sun angle, but a few degrees too far north. It’s RCAF Grostenquin in NE France, home to 109 Communications Flight which had C-47s and Freighters. By the way, did you know that the AAF was an early Type 170 customer?”
But back to the Bristol 170: Interestingly, the 170, despite its fixed undercarriage and large bulk, could cruise somewhat faster than the C-47. I certainly recall our PNG “Freighters” passing our C-47s with our fellow company pilot chums gesturing somewhat rudely from their lofty cockpit as they steadily drew away. In a somewhat battered heavy C-47, we could make 140-145 knots true airspeed, but I recall that the 170 could reach perhaps 155 knots as it bludgeoned its path through the air. I had a pole of them a few times and they seemed to handle rather well; albeit in a somewhat “stately” fashion. Sadly though, they suffered from a serious wing fatigue problem.
One of our NZ machines lost a wing near Christchurch.... A chum, known to several of us as Lindsay Fenwick (aka Lindsay of Arabia) has informed me that he once flew this actual aircraft from NZ to Singapore or from Singapore to NZ. He is quite unable to recall in which direction he went. This would back up the claims of many who travelled within the resonant metal box (aka Cabin) that they were so stupefied and mentally shattered by the experience, that all they can recall about the days, and sometimes weeks, that they endured within the bowels of this British masterpiece that was expected to end the American domination of the air transport market, is memory flash-backs of their copilot trying to lead them in stirring renditions of “Land of Hope and Glory”, “Rule Britannia“ and hummed versions of the “Dam Busters March”.
They were advised, by hand-written notes, that this was to hold up their seriously flagging morale.....
We can only wish El Condor all the best of luck in his noble endeavour to bring some further excitement to the international air show circuit and his admirable ambition to further enhance relations between our two mighty nations; the “powerhouses” of the Southern Hemisphere! (We are considering allowing Australia to join New Zealand as our “Third Island’). The somewhat bemused and amused couple watching-on are amigos of El Condor but may not wish their full names to be associated with this item of utter drivel, so I shall refer to them simply as a retired Air New Zealand B-747 skipper and his ex-flight instructor wife... the Happy, Helpful, Humorous, Hale and Hearty Hinterland Hunua Highlander Herdsfolk.
