You missed 4 Victa Airtourers. And if you want to get pedantic, 1 Harvard, 1 Tigermoth and 2 non-flying De Havilland Doves, though we did run the engines periodically.
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Royal New Zealand Air Force
- Thread starter Lucasnz
- Start date
How could I forget the 4 Airtourers. The mighty combat weapon that it was.
They have kept 1083 intact and the fuselage of 1009 in storage just in case the Historic Flight prangs 1015.
What do you mean in case? That would never happen - yeah right. NZ1015 bellied in a paddock beside Ohakea a couple of weeks or so back. By all accounts not much damage. Nothing that won't buff out, a coat of paint and some 100 mph tape won't take care of.
Forced landing of historic aircraft near Base Ohakea
While I was at PTS we had one particularly arrogant instructor pilot (ex 75 sqn) who used to stomp into the crew room each morning demanding "where's my jet!". So the next time he was scheduled to fly one of the Airtourers (just to keep his hours up) our S & S guy manufactured two very lifelike sidewinders and attached them under the wings of his plane. He was very impressed when he walked out to the flightline and saw it, although he did make us remove the sidewinders before he took off. I wish I'd taken a photo, it looked awesome.How could I forget the 4 Airtourers. The mighty combat weapon that it was.
Another jape I remember from my PTS days was when Desert Shield happened we received an official looking order requesting that all of the Airtrainers were to be re-painted in desert camouflage and each squadron member was to be issued with 1 M60 and 5 rounds of ammunition. We never did find out who sent it.
We have an ex NZ Harvard here in Darwin. He flys around every Sunday and pulls out all stops on Feb 19 as he imitates a zero for the Bombing of DARWIN ceremony at the Cenotaph.
A RNZAF Orion to be based in Japan to enforce UN sanctions against North Korea: Government to send RNZAF Orion maritime patrol aircraft to enforce UN sanctions against North Korea
Orions seem to have been based offshore for months at a time over the last few years, hopefully there are enough P-8's to continues such deployments with only four.
Were there similar long-term deployments in the 70's/80's/90's or is this a more recent thing?
Orions seem to have been based offshore for months at a time over the last few years, hopefully there are enough P-8's to continues such deployments with only four.
Were there similar long-term deployments in the 70's/80's/90's or is this a more recent thing?
40 deg south
Well-Known Member
My (civilian) impression is that deploying the Orions for extended periods off-shore is a new thing, beginning in the Middle East in the early 2000s. My impression is that Hurcules and Andover aircraft were previously stationed offshore for extended periods, but the Orions only went overseas for exercises.
Happy to be corrected by someone who knows better.
While reading the local news paper this week I came across an interesting piece. This was discussing state highway improvements to be done in the Manawatu area. One of the improvements was to the number one state highway intersection with Ohakea. The reason given was to improve safety especially as to the increased vehicle usage expected with the arrival of 4 P8s and 9 F15's of the SAF. While this is obviously not official, does this mean negotiations have progressed a significant amount.
I actually heard the Singas might not be coming anymore because of the P8 posting but would rather not believe that one, kinda why I don't take anything as gospel until it actually happens as rumours are exactly that regardless of if it comes from media, politicians, serving pers or Joe public.
They could have got cold feet? (Manawatu joke eh eh?)
Yea nothing gospel about it, but interesting as it was given as a reason by a government agency. Don't see why the 4 P8's would stop the F15's from coming as they are building completely new facilities, including aprons and hangars for the P8's.
Cold feet????? Try the Maniototo (Otago, South Island) in the middle of winter when even the beer lines in the pubs freezes. Nothing like -15 to -20 C
I've been hearing rumours about the Singa's F-15's too and as most of us ex NZDF know, the NZDF rumour mill is very prolific, with truth, or some semblance of fact, never standing in the way of good rumour. Certain nameless Messes were, and probably still are, prolific rumour mills
.Yep, in most cases, but in some the info may be able to be backed up by multiple sources, but you still have to be careful.
Yep, agree on the P-8 building program. Was it NZTA who said that or a local body pollie? I am asking because I saw an article about a mayor or some such rabbiting on about it.
Haha yip be a definite change here in NZ from Singapore in more ways than one.Cold feet????? Try the Maniototo (Otago, South Island) in the middle of winter when even the beer lines in the pubs freezes. Nothing like -15 to -20 C
I've been hearing rumours about the Singa's F-15's too and as most of us ex NZDF know, the NZDF rumour mill is very prolific, with truth, or some semblance of fact, never standing in the way of good rumour. Certain nameless Messes were, and probably still are, prolific rumour mills
Yep, in most cases, but in some the info may be able to be backed up by multiple sources, but you still have to be careful.
Oh yes I've heard some good ones over the years good and bad, some in depth disscusions, planning and sheer brilliance have been shared over and ale or 12 at the usual afterwork informal O groups with every corp and services top minds on the job haha
Not a 100% sure but the article was about the changes to the state highways and what was happening. It did appear as though the writer was using NZTA info but I am not guaranteeing this as no reference was made directly to his source. The reason I found it interesting was that the article was a largish one and the P8 / F15 reference was simply a small paragraph buried in amongst all the other writing, with no attempt to highlight it or expand on it. Just the basic statement that one of the reasons for the work at the Ohakea intersection was due to the increased traffic that would be caused by 4 P8's and 9 F15'sCold feet????? Try the Maniototo (Otago, South Island) in the middle of winter when even the beer lines in the pubs freezes. Nothing like -15 to -20 C
I've been hearing rumours about the Singa's F-15's too and as most of us ex NZDF know, the NZDF rumour mill is very prolific, with truth, or some semblance of fact, never standing in the way of good rumour. Certain nameless Messes were, and probably still are, prolific rumour mills
Yep, in most cases, but in some the info may be able to be backed up by multiple sources, but you still have to be careful.
Yep, agree on the P-8 building program. Was it NZTA who said that or a local body pollie? I am asking because I saw an article about a mayor or some such rabbiting on about it.
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I did see a similar article online (may have been Stuff) and I also thought that brief mention interesting in terms of it's suggestion there was perhaps progress on the RSAF proposal... but I shrugged it off as too vague to make a call on. However, I can't remember if the article I saw said 9 x F15... that is a very specific number and that does suggest, perhaps, that the proposal has got advanced enough to determine specific numbers of airframes.
The arrival of the P8 fleet in a few years shouldn't have any impact of the RSAF as the airspace won't be that much busier as a result, nor would there a shortage of space for new-build RSAF facilities - the P8 is getting new build but I suspect one of the old hangars either side of the control tower will be demolished to make room for 5 Sqn.
If the P8 is used publicly as an excuse to decline the RSAF proposal I'd interpret that as complete whitewash and assume the peacenik element of this Govt has made enough threats to scare the leadership.
No. 2 and 3 hangers at OH are Historic Places Category 1 so demolition is unlikely. However, there is ample space to the north of the refurbished No1 hanger for a new large hanger as well as to the south between Frecklington Rd and the new maintenance facility. Chances are the P-8's will be housed in one of those locations.
CC'd these two over from the Military Aviation & News Thread because they are pertinent to this thread.
Yes it does now make the option of the KC-390 more attractive. Whether or not a front runner is debatable, not due to availability, but more to how it compares to the other competitors in the eyes of the Joint MOD NZDF assessment team. Boeing already is responsible for export sales marketing and after sales maintenance so that wouldn't be so much of an issue, especially now that it would be manufacturing the aircraft in the US. Regarding the short timeline, the original RFI requires one aircraft to be delivered to NZ by end of Feb 2020 and that could be done off the Brazilian production line.
However methinks that the decision has already been made and is awaiting approval and sign off by Cabinet.
Todjaeger
Potstirrer
I would still think availability could be a key factor in any decisions regarding the KC-390 in RNZAF service. The clock is definitely ticking on (into overtime IMO) before the NZDF either suffers mission failures, or has to abort missions due to a lack of reliable, functional airlift. While Boeing being involved could open the KC-390 up to additional markets, and/or provide a greater ability to support/sustain the aircraft worldwide, Boeing's involvement would be irrelevant if the first such supported KC-390 is not available until after the RNZAF's first C-130H Hercules has to be replaced.
I agree and like I said in my last paragraph, I think that the race is over and now it's just the formalities that have to be observed with all the i's being dotted and t's being crossed.
I agree and I expect to be disappointed with this one. If it is the C130J ( most likely) I think it is "Too Little To Late", in other words 10 to 15 years to late and with too little capability improvement. However better than nothing.
Redlands18
Well-Known Member
Sounds like the only choice to be made is will it be Standard length or the -30 length.