Warbirds 4

Last night I was watching The Politically Incorrect Guide to Grown-ups with Nigel Latta on TVNZ One whilst I was footling around doing other things at the same time - principally eating dinner and attempting a crossword. Suddenly my brain processed the fact that he was up in a jet plane which was very familiar to me.  In fact ever since Art Deco Weekend I had been trying to work out what the plane which I'd seen at the airport display was.  It was the only one I hadn't identified.  And there was Nigel flying around in it.  It is absolutely unmistakable but it had no call-sign on it which is the easiest way to identify an aircraft.  What was he saying?  Well the bit I recall best was that when he got in there was a notice in front of him stating something like "This plane does not meet current New Zealand aviation safety standards".  He then went on to describe the procedure for getting out in the event that the pilot lost control or the plane went on fire (the ejector seats had been removed).  Basically it seemed to amount to forget it: perish.  Anyway he did obligingly mention that it was a Czechoslovakian (remember that country?) Aero L-39 Albatros.  Whoopee.  So here it is parked a few yards away from me at Napier/Hastings Airport.  Isn't she a beauty?

Just for the record she consumes about 400 gals/US of fuel an hour at take-off. 

Warbirds 3

I suppose that it's not really true to say that these are warbirds because they will never see military action. However the pilots who fly them certainly obtain skills useful when they fly the real thing. For the time being the crowds at Art Deco Weekend in Napier simply oohed and ahed as the little Pacific Aerospace CT/4E Airtrainer Aircraft pilots showed what they could do. 

Warbirds 2

One of the most well-known names in aviation history must be the de Havilland Tiger Moth.  8868 were built between 1932 and 1944.  Here are two of the very many survivors:

de Havilland D82 Tiger Moth

de Havilland DH-82A Tiger Moth Forward cockpit

de Havilland DH-82A Tiger Moth Rear cockpit

de Havilland DH-82A Tiger Moth II Aircraft,

de Havilland DH-82A Tiger Moth II Aircraft,

Warbirds 1

On Saturday Napier/Hastings Airport threw open its gates (which is a metaphorical way of saying that they were having an airshow because their gates are never shut) and all the aircraft which were flying for the Art Deco weekend were on display and some were taking passengers for flights too.  I shall show more planes over the next while but just now I shall show you two:

Although not originally an RNZAF Mustang, the NZ Warbirds Association operates an ex-Indonesian Air Force Mustang P51 built around 1945 in the markings of NZ2415 from № 3 (Canterbury) Squadron:

This Curtis Kittyhawk IV has a dual identity. It is A29-1050 on the rhs and A29-448 on the lhs.  It is probably the only plane in private hands still to have working machine guns.

Plane Spraying and Windows Live Writer

I think that, like Heather, I am firmly convinced that Windows Live Writer is the way forward for me for my blog postings.  I can use it to post to each individual blog without changing my browser or exiting one blog and signing into another.  In addition it is possible to insert more items such as a table or map directly.  Images can be framed easily in a number of different ways including the set Blogger format. Drafts can be saved to your own computer as well as to Blogger.  Many of the editing functions can also be done and saved off-line.   Significantly there is an ‘undo’ button which is handy when a photo has just been inadvertently been deleted.  I’ve used various image borders on these photos.  One of the best things is, as Heather pointed out, the fact that ‘preview’ gives you an exact look at what is to be posted.

Perhaps the most common way of fertilising and weed-destroying in New Zealand is by fixed wing plane or helicopter.  These photos are of that activity.

Taken at Pauline’s when I visited Northland

Taken from the deck of The Cottage

The little fixed wing sprayplane which buzzed over The Cottage one early morning before any wind got up.

Aircraft: Bombardier Dash 8 v Saab 340

The first time that I came to New Zealand I started and finished my journey on a plane ostensibly run by the national carrier of the Country concerned, operated by a wholly owned 'franchise' operator and running identical Saab 340 aircraft.

The last time that I left the UK I travelled from Stornoway to Glasgow on an identical - it may even have been the same - Saab 340 aircraft operated by Loganair on behalf of British Airways. From Auckland to Napier I travelled on a Bombardier Dash 8: the Saab 340s in the Air Nelson fleet having all been replaced.

An amusing aside is that the operator with the largest number of Saab 340s after Mesaba Airlines (an American Indian name for "soaring eagle") with 49 aircraft is Colgan Air which operates 42 of them out of Logan Airport.

So why is all this of interest? I suppose only really because the Dash 8 is a far more comfortable and quieter plane.

Originally designated as the SF340, the aircraft first flew on 25 January 1983. After Fairchild exited the aircraft manufacturing business in 1985 after about 40 units, Saab continued aircraft production under the designation 340A. An improved version, the 340B, introduced more powerful engines and wider horizontal stabilizers in 1989 and all the later standard 340B's also had the active soundproofing system. The final version, the 340B Plus, was delivered for service in 1994. Loganair operates 2 A series and 13 B series.

The de Havilland Canada Dash 8 is a series of twin-engined, medium range, turboprop airliners introduced by de Havilland Canada (DHC) in 1984. They are now produced by Bombardier Aerospace, which purchased DHC from Boeing in 1992. Since 1996, the aircraft have been known as the Q Series, for "quiet" due to installation of the Active Noise and Vibration Suppression (ANVS) system designed to reduce cabin noise and vibration levels to less than those of jet airliners. Over 700 Dash 8s of all models have been built. Bombardier forecasts a total production run of 1,192 units of all -8 variants through the year 2016

However the really big difference between them from the passengers' point of view is that in the Dash 8 the wings are mounted above the windows and therefore the passenger has a view of the spectacular country over which he or she is flying.

Loganair Saab 340 in British Airways livery

Air Nelson Dash 8 in Air New Zealand livery over Napier