Planes and some good walks

Every year, we try to catch up with old friends for a long weekend. They live near Wellington, our capital, some 650 km from our home and what we normally organise is a meet-up at somewhere different in NZ or the Pacific Islands; giving us the opportunity to see and do different things. This time was at Mount Maunganui in the north island’s Bay of Plenty.

Apart from the pleasure of catching up with friends, I was particularly keen to visit the Classic Flyers Aviation Museum at the Mount. For some reason, it’s not particularly well publicised but as a lifelong aircraft enthusiast, I was keen to see what they had on display. To say that I was well-pleased is an understatement and we were all pretty impressed.

The museum consisted of a display hangar which was packed to the gunwales with aviation-related items, plus a restoration workshop which we didn’t have time to visit. Here are some photos to give a flavour of what they had on display.

General view of hangar

Additional general view of hangar

Part of a B-17 fuselage mounted on a wall was particularly interesting. It graphically showed how little protection there was for the crew from anti-aircraft fire or enemy fighters. Seeing the bomb rack inside the fuselage was a sobering moment, if a stray round or two had penetrated the fuselage at that point. Also, the lack of insulation and heating made things pretty unpleasant for the aircrew.

Bomb rack with bomb bay directly below

A couple of photos of B-17 anti-aircraft armament below:

Browning .50 calibre machine gun

Ball turret

Stepping back to the early days of flight, Kiwi Richard Pearse was experimenting around the same time as the Wright brothers. Here’s a replica of his plane and some supporting notes.

The Pearse monoplane

Richard Pearse

Although many WW2 aircraft used the “shark tooth” insignia on the nose, the best known application is on the Curtis P40 – looks quite intimidating. This version has the V12 Allison motor, not the Rolls Royce Merlin.

Curtis P40

The Catalina flying boat fuselage shown below is an interesting exhibit. I wasn’t aware that it had attachment points for jet-assisted take off (JATO) to reduce drag during take off on water. There’s still a flying Catalina in NZ which I saw landing at Lake Taupo about 20 years ago.

Consolidated PBY Catalina

The Harvard was a trainer used by the air force in many countries as a stepping stone to combat aircraft. There are quite a few Harvards flying with the NZ Warbirds.

North American Harvard in USN livery

The Avenger was a WW2 torpedo bomber and I was surprised to see just how big it is. Notably flown by George HW Bush in the Pacific theatre of war.

Grumman Avenger

The Skyhawk was the primary NZ Air Force combat aircraft when we first came to NZ. My lasting memory of one was sailing in a coastal regatta when one flew fast and low over the fleet. Loud as heck and we never saw it coming. Turned out that it was being flown by a pilot who also raced in the same yacht class as us! This exhibit was equipped with a rocket pod, Paveway guided bomb and canons.

Douglas Skyhawk

The De Havilland Vampire and subsequent Venom were early UK jet fighters. The vampire entered service in 1946 but the Swiss aircraft shown below was in service until 1990!

Swiss DH Vampire

DH Venom cockpit – rudimentary and small by today’s standards

There were lots more exhibits inside which I’ve omitted for brevity but it would be poor form to leave out the pedal-operated models built for kids visiting the museum. A nice touch.

Recruiting future pilots

There were also a number of outside exhibits, some of which I photographed between passing showers. These are shown below.

F86 Sabre

De Havilland Heron and Vampire

WW2 Dambusters bouncing bomb and Grand Slam penetration bomb

The “Mount” as it’s referred to by Kiwis is an extinct volcano at the end of a peninsula. There’s a 3 km walking track round the base and for the adventurous, a track to the 235 metre summit. A brisk walk round the base taking in the sea views was sufficient rehab for my healing femur!

Mt Maunganui (file photo)

Jennie, Georgina and Mike about to start the walk

To the north of Mt Maunganui is the Te Puna Quarry Park, maintained by volunteers. Covering about 35 hectares, it’s a disused quarry with paths of varying elevation through all sorts of different plants, both native and exotic. Another great venue for strengthening the leg muscles.

A park trail

Just one of the many species of plant in the quarry

About half an hour from where we were staying, there are the McLaren Falls and rapids. Situated right by the road, no walking was required to enjoy the sight of the rapids which had a good flow thanks to recent rain.

McLaren Falls, Bay of Plenty, NZ

Great company, great food, lots to see and plenty of exercise – what’s not to like?

Skull Jewelry Chronicles – Ride, Rebel, Repeat

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