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International Plastic Modellers Society Serving the modellers of |
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This page is dedicated to my late father-in-law, Ken McKay, and
his brilliant research document on the Douglas C-47 Dakota in the service of
the Royal New Zealand Air Force, Anything, Anywhere, Anytime. This document is held in the |
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Model :
C-47B-45-DK USAAF : 45-960 Built : Date : 21/7/45 Construction number : 16963 /
34223 |
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Introduction Just
31 days before the end of WW2 an aircrew left Delivery After
arrival at Whenuapai on 14 August it then flew to NZ3551
was the first of 49 C-47s allocated for the second half of 1945 and it
arrived on the day that attempts were begun to cancel all undelivered Lead /
Lease aircraft. Seven more were to arrive but two which had reached It is
interesting to speculate what would have happened to over 100 surplus C-47
aircraft at war's end. Operational
Service It was
nevertheless busy soon after, in the Island Group area with No 41 Squadron,
as the whole RNZAF operation in the Pacific was to be dismantled as soon as
possible and personnel returned to Chart
to be added This
bare outline does of course not tell the whole story. Three hours out from Whenuapai oil streamed from the port engine cowling and
oil pressure was lost. An initially unsuccessful attempt was made to feather
and 2,000 ft was lost before it was eventually accomplished. As NZ3551
continued back to base it was still losing height despite freight being
jettisoned and 45 minutes later the aircraft was below 5,000ft and still
dropping. When the luggage was jettisoned height was maintained at 4,50ft for
the next two hours. With
power reduced on the good engine the The
firewall and wheel well was covered in oil but no sign of the cause was
obvious until the oil reservoir was filled and the engine started. Oil
immediately jetted from a split hose. A
Catalina and a Hudson had been despatched to assist as the C-47 was returning
but fortunately their services were not required. High praise was given to
the captain of NZ 3551. By mid
1946 NZ 3551 was flying the As WW
2 receded into the past, the RNZAF C-47s spent more flying in New Zealand and
although a number of them served in Malaya, NZ 3551 seems to have largely
done its flying here in home territory. November
1949 saw NZ 3551 attached to B Flight, 41 Squadron, at Whenuapai.
It flew a 1.20 hour task from Whenuapai to Rukuhia and return two days
later a one hour search from Whenuapai although the
log did not specify what was the object of the search. On the 23rd and 24th
it was based briefly at Wigram for long range
navigation exercises to the Bounty and The
Empire (now Commonwealth) Games opened on 25 January and once again a
dwindling number of C-47s participated in a flypast at the Games at the Games
Opening Ceremony in While
practising circuits and landings at Whenuapai on 15
May, two C&Ls had been accomplished
successfully. While taking off for the third circuit, white smoke began to
pour from the cowling of the starboard motor. The aircraft was taken to 300
ft to feather the propeller in a gusty wing and with a 284 ft hill nearby.
The propeller would not feature so the fuel and ignition switches were turned
off and the aircraft was landed with the port engine only. A
court of inquiry was suggested but not thought necessary. The pilot was
commended for his quick reaction. By
January 1952, NZ 3551 was one of the nine C-47s left in the RNZAF. The
following month Ohakea signalled Air Headquarters
that NZ 3551 had been sent to Palmerston North that
day, 21 February. On the 26th Air HQ signalled Whenuapai
with a decision on storage had no yet been madeso
the aircraft was to be kept in serviceable condition at Whenuapai
for the meantime. Once
again the misfortune over took “51” on takeoff from Whenuapai but as the damage was slight it was not noticed
until arrival at Wigram. The all up weight on takeoff
was 29,199lb which as below the permitted maximum. It was decided that the
damage was caused by the premature raising of the undercarriage at Whenuapai due to a misunderstanding of the
engineer’s signals. Minor damage was caused to the port aileron and
navigation light. April
17 1953 again saw a signal from Air HQ to Ohakea , and Te Rapa, that
NZ 3551 was to be placed in short term storage pending requirement. Seven
week later “51” was flown toParaparaumu
in preparation for conversion to VIP status for the Royal Tour later in the
year. It was then delivered to the de Havilland plant at Rongotai
on 5 June 1953 for refurbishment. A
photo reputed to have been taken some time in 1953 shows NZ 3551 with 42
SQUADRON RNZAF on the cheat line, white above the line and polished metal
below. The roundel had no bans and there was no logo. The rings and centre
were of equal width. At the
conclusion of the work “51” was flown from Rongotai to Ohakea
on 13th November where it joined C Flight of 42 Squadron in
readiness for the beginning of the tour the following month. Press
reports published at the time of the completion of the refit gave a full
account of the finished product. It was described as the equivalent of a
five-star hotel and those who saw it before leaving the hanger for Ohakea were suitably impressed. The
interior had been striped of its transport seating and two "beautifully
finished compartments" built. The rear compartment was the Royal
compartment and the forward had seating for four others accompanying the
Queen and the Duke. Aft of the main compartment was a dressing room, while in
the tail was a servery staffed by two stewards. The
colour scheme in the main compartments was a 'symphony' in grey in various tonings and the seats and windows facing were of
fireproof material. The seating was particularly comfortable with a curtained
window beside each seat. There was also the
obligatory light switches and call buttons. Folding
tables were available between the seats while in the toilet there was a
dressing table and stool plus a wash basin with hot and cold water. There
were also wardrobes for the Royal pair. An
anonymous donor, later known to be CAS AVM D B Carnegie CB CBE RAF, provided
wooden plaque replicas of the RNZAF Squadrons Nos
1, 3, 4, 14, 41, 42 and 75. (It should be remembered that 40 Squadron was
disbanded at this time). There was also the crest of the RNZAF itself on
display. The
refitting by de Havilland Aircraft company was supervised by the RNZAF
Director of Engineering (W/C W G Woodward) and his predeccessor
W/C J C pope and Mr J A Kerr was the New Zealand Manager for de Havilland. In
preparation for the tour of the The
early part of the tour was overshadowed by the disaster at Tangiwai on Christmas Eve 1953 when the While
undergoing a test flight after an inspection, the starboard engine began over
speeding and the generators overcharging following the feathering. On
inspection back at base, it was found that the feathering relay had stuck and
the engine could not be featured. By
1955 NZ 3551 and NZ 3553 were the only two C-47s left in RNZAF service both
being used on VIP and communications work. The In January
1961 a mercy mission was flown from One
brief note for 1963 puts NZ 3551 at Wigram on 11
July 1963 but no details were given. Early the following month a flight from February
22 1964 was Air Force Day at Ohakea and after
arriving at the Base Sir Bernard and Lady Fergusson inspected the guard of
honour. A further visit was made to Ohakea by the
vice regal couple when they arrived from Early
in July Whenuapai became fogbound and NZ 3551 used A
further flight by Sir Bernard and his wife on 9 November took them from In the
period 9 November 1964 to 11 June 67, there appears to be no evidence that NZ
3551 did not leave Only
three entries for 1965. 14 February saw NZ 3551 take the Minister of Works,
Mr Allen, to Kawerau from where he went by road to
see flooded areas around Whakatane. Later the same
month this aircraft carrying the Governor-General,
landed at Rotorua to pick up another passenger then
flew on to Napier. It was later seen at Further
briefs for 1971 included flying the Governor-General (Sir Arthur Porritt) to Invercargill during the first week in March,
an overhaul by NAC at The
Governor-General, Sir Arthur Porritt, made an
unusual farewell visit at the end of June, to Ohakea
Air Base to say goodbye to No 42 Squadron. Equipped with
six Dakotas 42 Squadron was the RNZAF's
communications unit, charged with flying the Governor-General and most other
VIP's around the country. After
seeing members of the Squadron, Sir Arthur was presented with a framed photo
of NZ 3551, the RNZAF's VIP Dakota in which he had
done most of his travelling. A short time later he left the Base on one of his
last flights in that particular aircraft
Retirement Time
eventually ran out for this C-47 which was one of only two of this type of aicraft which spent their flying careers with the Royal
New Zealand Air Force. By 2 May it had flown 12,135 hours, much less than
many other which had flown with NAC as well as the RNZAF. It should also be
remembered that it flew few of the long overseas flights or the day by day
flights of a civil airliner. It was also virtually brand new when the war
finished. With
NZ 3546, NZ 3551, the last two RNZAF C-47s flew a circuit and landed at Ohakea before being ceremonially retired from the
service. A note at the time described the landing as synchronised whereby
both aircraft landed on runway 27/51, one on grass and one on the runway, one
of few such landings with aircraft of this size. The pilot of NZ 3551 was S/L
Brausch. Some
details of hours flown and inspection times as at November 1977 are given
below. The
aircraft was test flown on 20 January 1978 and again on the 24th.
The next day it departed Ohakea for Wigram at 0946 hours on what surely must be the last
operational flight of an RNZAF C-47. NZ
3551 was struck of the RNZAF charge and transferred to the Government Stores
Board for disposal in March but fortunately it was not to be., High level
discussions were underway initiated in part, it is understood, the S/L Brausch and eventually then the Minister of Defence the
Hon. Mr Allan McCready gave approval for the
aircraft to be assigned to what is now the RNZAF Museum at Wigram. It was placed on static exhibit in 1979. |
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Meetings |
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The A-4K Skyhawk |
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Created : Saturday,
25 October 2008 |
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