NZFF

Perhaps a strange thing to do, given the present Omicron surge.
But it's a bucket list thing, and we need to live our lives.

The Omaka Heritage Centre is a gobsmacking exhibition as you would know if you've been there.
Let's get to it: the Merlins.
They are hung on a Mossie that spent more than half a century sheltered in a shed in Mapua.
Every so often they are started up to see if they still work.





The last two exhaust ports are Siamesed to avoid interfering with the radiators, I was informed.
The engine development kind of worked backward - initially the manifold exhausted into a single pipe.
But they found that doing them individually added 15mph. They simply ran out of room, and so lived with the compromise.



OK so the Merlin rulz...but they also display an engine which was the go-to for fast and powerful machinery for a few decades from 1917.
The Napier Lion
It powered a version of the Supermarine racer, granddaddy of the Spitfire.
It's a W12, essentially a V8 with 4 more cylinders stuck into the V.
The museum are working toward getting this one running.
I'd go back just to hear those 24 litres speak.



There is of course, More.

Charl ...keep them coming Sir.

It's a great wee museum, brilliant displays

I was there in 2016 with Marty and his brother Sam. SIX YEARS AGO almost to the day

Mike

What a coincidence. I visited there last week. A fantastic display and a great cafe too.
It’s the first time I’ve ever visited Omaka.
Although the WW1 exhibits are interesting it is really the heavy metal from WW2 that really “spins my wheels”.
It will be even better when the next additional WW2 hangar is finished………or will that be for WW3?

My first time, too.
The hand of Sir Peter is definitely present, it's less of a museum than a movie prop set!
One space to the right of the Mossie is the Yak 3, in a splendid installation, snow and all, with (presumably) pilot Olga looking on.



Then stepping outside for a coffee (at aforementioned Great Cafe) later on, the flying Yak 3 with breathless Kiwi joyrider posing after the flight.



The Allison in the nose is quite loud enough, and a great sight as it buzzed us at 350 OK OK 300kts.



All shot with a phone, so just enjoy the content rather than the whizz resolution

Couple of sneaky buggers why didn't you let me know you were in Blenheim it would have been great to have met up said good day and had a coffee with you both.

Charl wrote:Every so often they are started up to see if they still work.
.

Not quite! Since being fitted to the airframe, the engines have only been run up on one occasion. We were supposed to have a public run day last month, but Covid put a stop to that. Hopefully later this year.

Glad you enjoyed Omaka. Its certainly a great collection. Of course there are plenty of other aircraft scattered around the hangars. I spend my Sundays in one of the nearby hangars helping rebuild a P-40. In the same hangar also being restored is another P-40, a Harvard, S.E.5 and an RV-8 !!

Doug - yes I would have loved to meet for a cuppa but we were in a Hot Dog group with an agenda that included a Day One bike ride... of 50km!
I did think of you when I took this one:



Deane thanks for the comment, what a way to spend your Sunday!
Omaka reminds me of a friendlier Ardmore, certainly a lot of things going on.
Here you go, Radial Mike: Looking over the shoulder of the Stearman, I fancy this shiny red beauty would be a WACO?

The Waco would be this one:

https://www.jemaviation.co.nz/projects/ ... /WACOUPF7/

Nice photos and also on my bucket list ..

That battle of Stalingrad audio visual presentation was quite sobering. At the end they compare the European military deaths. One small person represented 1000 lives lost and there were 10 person symbols in a row.
The Russian loses were huge.The image just kept scrolling up the screen for what seemed like an eternity and long after the German losses (which were the next higher). I cant recall the exact figure but it was around 8 to 9 million. Although it did state that figure may have been low and that the actually toll was closer to 19 million. Please correct me if I'm wrong here. A stupid waste of life..........and yet here we are again repeating it.

Yes pretty slick - seated in a bombed-out building getting bombed... I counted the delay between seeing the Heinkels and experiencing their delivery.
Seemed pretty convincing to me, and would have been terrifying.
The Russians do have some hefty death toll numbers.
Stalingrad: more than Auckland and Christchurch population combined at 1.9 million.
WWII dead: 8.6 million
Deportations/executions etc in Joseph Stalin's various purges: 3.3 million
And starved to death in 1933: 6 million
It must affect your national psyche.

Back to the aircraft:
Loved the P-40, it has terrific original paint and patina of wear, another of John Smith's warplanes stored for quite a time on the farm.
"Gloria Lyons" was a 19 year old girl in hospital with TB, who had answered a newspaper ad placed by lonely servicemen in the Pacific.
She was adopted by 4 Service Unit and her name was put on several Kittyhawks.



There's also a Mk XIV Spit in there, impressive prop but for me there is only one Spitfire: the MK IX



My photos you will notice are largely about guns props and feets.

The first installation on entry is spectacular alright.
But on sorting thorough all the photos you realise that there’s a depth to the whole museum that makes you want to go back and look, all over again.
Who’s ever heard of Igo Etrich?
This Etrich Taube made its way to NZ in 2005; it’s an extraordinary and faithful reproduction.
And it is a real flyable machine hanging here, one of many that make the place so special.



At first the small-scale models surrounding it don’t make sense, then you realise that this is a moviemaker’s diorama: if you stand just here you can see the shot in the making.

I did wonder why it all seemed so very familiar, then realised I had been "visiting" this place for around a decade!
I rate Robin's Marlborough package as one of the best flightsim sceneries ever.

Came across this and would have loved to have been there.
Maybe Deaneb can tell us.

Was a great day. First time I've seen a Mosquito run since the BAE one in 1996. Steadfast display was fabulous and seeing Tiger Moth was special too. Cheers Dean and Al and everyone else involved. Wish I could've cornered you for a chat

Yeah sorry I missed you. Was a busy day! But would have been good to catch up.

chopper_nut wrote:First time I've seen a Mosquito run since the BAE one in 1996

Like this!
https://youtu.be/qcCkojrJq88

And they also did this!

https://youtu.be/zy03UVxfxqg

Crikey what a bunch of lads...