Warbird Information Exchange

Status?

Also what about Ferrymead's examples?

Or what about the CAF example?

Wings and engines of one sitting outside in the sunny weather (for now) in Chino.

Ferrymead has a FB.6 which has been under slow restoration for the past 20 odd years. There is now a wood worker working on it, so things may move ahead a bit more quickly. The aviation section is a small part of Ferrymead Park and has only a small number of part time volunteers. There is a rear fuselage section from a combat vet there as well.

Dave, interesting photo. An interesting aircraft too, having flown in both 487 (NZ) Sqn and then postwar RNZAF. I was just wondering if the said woodworker is thae same chap who restored the Motat Mossie's wing at Wigram? He was a real master craftsman and it's very pleasing to see the wing back on the plane now.

Ferrymead is sadly one of those places that doesn't seem to get enough attention. I first visited there in 1992 and on returning there in Feb 2004 I found very little had changed. Sure, there was a new hangar so the Viscont and that variant of the Antarctic C-47 and a few things were indoors, but that was beginning when I lived down in Christchurch in the early 1990's. The restorations hadn't progressed much at all considering, which was a disappointment. I know it isn't their fault, I just feel it's a pity they don't get more funding and volunteers. It has the potential of being as good as Motat.

Another thing I found hadn't changed in those 12 years were the pies, I'm sure they'd been in their warmer that long! Yuck.

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Dave

The FB.6 in the pic. never served with a wartime Squadron..only the rear fuselage of the other section that has visible flak marks, haven't got the serial off hand.
Manpower and funding is a definite problem, but the Hudson is making good progress.

Dave

FB Mk. VI HR339/NZ2382

FB Mk. VI TE758/NZ2328

What about Jim Dearborn--he has THREE Mossies!!

Thanks Dave, I never knew they had remains of two Mosquitoes. Cheers.

So NZ2382 was the one that had the interesting career, while this one is NZ2328.

Was the J. Clark that previously owned NZ2328 according to adfserials the same Jim Clarke that according to NZ Wings had two Hudsons? One of them was NZ2013, now at Wigram. I cannot pinpoint the other Hudson. I'd like to know more about him, he saved a number of interesting aircraft it seems.

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Naughty naughty David I corrected you on that matter of which mossie was which on that other forum a wee while ago...however north islanders can be forgiven I suppose.

Firstly the guy in charge of our mossie project is Dag Guest and the guy at Wigram was Brian Smith. Brian is now in oxbox mode, while we're in the phase of building a new workshop specifically for the mossie project. Foundations are due down next week and erection a couple of weeks later, feel free to journey down and give a hand. Its due to the fact that we built those hangars and other things like that ourselves that the restoration projects haven't made the progress both you and us would have liked.

As for Jas Clark. He only had the one Hudson and the Mosquito. He was however party to the saving of the other mossie which after passing through the hands of Phil Burns and Ted Packer, is now at Wigram. Said second mossie was with Pat Hayman at Studholme Junction out of Waimate. Hayman and Clark were cousins and Hayman's father (I think that's the right relationship) was a member of Parliament. He used his influence to get a dispensation from the road cartage restriction of 50miles which was in place in those days to protect the railways, and so the two mossies were carted from Woodbourne to the two farms.

When we were looking for a fuselage to go with NZ2382/HR339 we looked at both and opted for NZ2328/TE758 as she was more structurally sound. At that time Phil Burns was a member of ours but when he spun out to do his own thing he then teamed up with Ted and they went and got "our reject". He and Ted later parted company and Ted donated pretty much all his stuff to Wigram. (This is all in Stuart Howe's Mosquito Survivors book)

As for the comments on the Hudson making progress thanks DaveM...all my own work.

Denys Jones
Secretary-Treasurer
Hudson Project Manager
Ferrymead Aeronautical Society