Bring our birds home campa

[Aviator 1]

I don't know if your familiar with Airside Tv on youtube there is currently a plan to bring back historical airliners back to New Zealand

cheek out the link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCNlEo-RwEk

[Ian Warren]

It would be interesting to see how this go's also interesting to find out were they are going to park them if they can get the hulks home.

[Aviator 1]

That's what I am interested to know. At the moment there trying to get a 747. Why not the 737-300 there is one parked at Chch. There were two 747 sitting at Auckland for a bit and now two freight fokkers.

[Ian Warren]

by compare they are still recent , big thing is even if you got them back in country there is then the job of returning them back to the Air New Zealand standard or least recognized , it won't come to the South and be a mission to .. and money to plop em somewhere, , only place is Auckland where you may have an interested crowd or least population base to pay the bill ... I dearly would love to see it happen but I think this is shot down before even started.

[Splitpin]

" I dearly would love to see it happen but I think this is shot down before even started."
Sadly , so do I Ian.
A wonderful thought , in fact , one Iv'e had for many years ... and should I win the big Lotto prize , i would back it 100%

Re the location of the (if it happens) display , I think that huge block of vacant land just before the airport at CHC would have been ideal.
Somehow link up with Wigram , VXE-6, USAF, , ANZ , and get them all under one roof in that spot ... a "National aviation heritage center" ..... but the cost

Who knows ...QANTAS did it , maybe we can.
The thing is , to picture it complete .... and then work back , and see how we did it.

[Aviator 1]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GScO_7nnjII
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_y94iKYhbIY

[Aviator 1]

We will just have to see but I am not counting on anything happening.

[Ian Warren]

Good example of trying for something and squashed by a council was to try and save a C-141 out Templeton way .. bunch of school kids started it but in come the 'nay says' or the excuses... sorta very typical.

[K5054NZ]

It's a noble idea but it needs serious financial backing and there are a lot of questions that need answering:
- who will pay for disassembly and transport?
- who will disassemble them? We're not talking about Fireflies or Sea Furies, these are decent-sized aircraft
- where will they be stored in New Zealand (a 747 and DC-10 would need a decent-sized shed) pending restoration
- who will pay for and carry out restoration? I can't imagine volunteers being able to do much in less than a decade on any one of them, let alone five
- where will they be displayed, and who will pay for the facility/facilities? A couple of posts/replies by the project seem to indicate (or at least they read to me like) that's not really their problem and that all they want is to get the airframes into the country
- the DC-8 is hoped to be part of a "cultural exchange" with Brazil, but beyond a handover ceremony I'm struggling to see what Brazil gets in exchange

Just getting the airframe is only the first step - just look at my Fletcher! That's been sitting in my parents' driveway for almost eight years, sure it's safe from scrappers but nothing's been done with it. I shudder to think at what's involved in getting multiple airliners to NZ.

I don't want to come across as completely negative. I just think there are a lot of answers needed before I invest anything into the project. And I think it'll be a hard road to convince the general public to chip in.

[Ian Warren]

It's a noble idea but it needs serious financial backing and there are a lot of questions that need answering:

Smack on the nose there ! Great idea BUT!

just look at my Fletcher! That's been sitting in my parents' driveway for almost eight years, sure it's safe from scrappers but nothing's been done with it.

I told you Zac, your model building skills .. the Manawatu/Naki region with ole No.8 wire .. (don't tell the missus) 'The Zac mobile - Chick magnet'

I shudder to think at what's involved in getting multiple airliners to NZ.

There is also the place to create an area for them, only place I can think of and is now called the 'Aviation Park' is out Christchurch's Pound Rd or further southwest on the corner of Ryans Rd .

[Splitpin]

K50 ... very valid thoughts and well put.
Sentiment is wonderful, but putting it into practice is another thing (in this regard)
Being the optimist I am, I stand by my "picture it done etc etc stance" ... but when i "look back" I can see millions of dollars needed ...and so on.

Maybe, determine, which is the most valuable, and concentrate on that for a start .... market it, get it into the public forum ... sell cakes, collect scrap metal , I dont know.

[Ian Warren]

I think this is were you have to admire one for example Alistair 'Al' Marshall , old Bristol Freighter, won't fly but has the balls to get it running .. that is a feat in itself so we never know.... there could be a million dollar plane visionary out there.

[deeknow]

sheesh ... tough crowd !!

[Ian Warren]

sheesh ... tough crowd !!

Dirty Job , but someone has to do it , ... Wigram would the ideal spot with the way it is getting continuously worked also customer patronage , biggest difference compared to Australia's QANTAS museum they were able to fly the aircraft in, it would be good to see but doubtful .

[emfrat]

This website will give an idea of the sort of cost involved, and ways to meet it. 18years to raise £3.0million from thousands of small donations, and a few major sponsors, and they still have £200k of debt. That is in a country with a large pool of steam railway knowledge to draw on, and a big population to provide funds, for routine maintenance, crew training and so on.

https://www.a1steam.com/how-you-can-help/

Now think how much more would be needed for a ground-up, rebuild/restore of even a relatively simple unpressurised airliner like a DC-4. Consider the time it would take to raise the funds, and ask if the job skills will still be available at the end of that time-frame, and how much training would be needed to ensure that they are. Multiply all that by the number of rescues proposed
It would be nice to see the campaign succeed, but it is just not realistic to think that it will.

[Ian Warren]

You are correct and smack on the nose Mike, if New Zealand cannot maintain a Strike Wing , loose millions with the skill people lost , no bloody hope ... Good example is even in the United States museums simply don't make it or thing left derelict, look at the constant work by volunteers at Wigram alone, that is with existing and intact aircraft , the large ones flown in thirty years ago .. now that idea is gone .

[Aviator 1]

Latest on bring our birds home on the Dc8 looks like its been sold and chopped up.

[Ian Warren]

Latest on bring our birds home on the Dc8 looks like its been sold and chopped up.

I would think that would been on the cards, it is a pity even to get the Cockpit would a cheap option or cue.

[Aviator 1]

I must admit I never like to see aircraft chopped up, But agree would be good to get some part of it.

[Ian Warren]

I must admit I never like to see aircraft chopped up, But agree would be good to get some part of it.

Be the next best thing and looking toward a possible price range , the variety of aircraft , so that prob more realistic .