Big Stuff !

I recently received these photos in an e-mail. It occurred in the early part of last year and it is apparently the biggest load ever moved in WA. With 4 trucks pulling and 2 pushing, it took some 6 days to move this 700 ton load a distance of 230kms which include some unsealed roads.

Wheels at WoW

Wings Over Wairarapa featured a large contingent of military vehicles. Here are some snaps of them; and other vehicles in the car park.

Half-track looks at home in the "desert"conditions,

I don't know much about tanks, but these guys looked as though they were having an enjoyable time.

Heavy-weight 1973 Kaiser (American Motors) M81.
The cab styling of this vehicle was produced by more than one American manufacturer for their military, including Mack.
They all looked the same, so you need to be an expert to determine whose factory made each individual example.
This one is an ex NZ Army tractor (they had eight of these in the 70s/80s), used for long haul operations and training
The truck behind is a Canadian Chevrolet from 1943.

1962 Jaguar 3.4 was parked next to....

....this 1935 Ford V8 sedan.

Ford Zephyr Mk IV was from 1969.
There were some mechanical problems with the V6 engines, but Ford must have got them sorted as I don't recall too many hassles with the Capri V6 models.

The Lotus Elan 2+2  from 1972 was one of my dream cars when I was a teenager.

Lots of people in one place produces a lot of effluent.
Spik'n'span had their 2004 Kenworth T350 there to cart it all away.

Loaded to the MAX.

Thanks to Max for sharing some great photos of a long load that he managed to catch a ride with.

All loaded up with panels of insulation on the Volvo FH12.

It really is a long load.
Ford pilot vehicle at the ready.

Kenworth of Farmers Transport passed in the Manawatu Gorge...

...and a PTS Renault, hauling post holes.

JRT (Junction Road Transport) has a line-up of Volvos to pull loads of almost any shape or size.
JRT  specialize in the business of constructing, maintaining and transporting wind turbines, but now also do general freight with particular attention towards oversized loads.

New Truck for Burling Transport

Fred Burling, for many years, was a staunch International man, but when the supplies of the Aussie built models stopped he tried other brands like Mitsubishi, Foden and even a Mercedes before finally settling on an all Kenworth fleet....until now.

Spotted this Freightliner Argosy coming over the Rimutakas on Monday and managed to snap it Burling's yard this afternoon.
Still to be sign-written.

WOW (2)

A bit more from Wings Over Wairarapa.

The RNZAFs new trainer, the Beechcraft T6 Texan II, did a short demo flight, but they haven't had them long enough to learn an aerobatic routine as yet.

The smoke from the Harvard is chopped up by the wash from the prop.

A US built MX2 aerobatic aircraft is made mostly of carbon fibre and is capable of enduring plus or minus 12G.
In this snap it is actually falling tailfirst.

A team of Harvards....

....performed a memorable.....

....aerobatic display.

As did the Yak 52s.

The Douglas DC 3 did a fine display of its manoeuvrability.

Avro Ansons performed some surprising feats during WW II.

Corsair, Avenger, Kittyhawk.

The final flypast.
Front row: Goodyear Corsair, Grumman Avenger, Curtis Kittyhawk.
Back row: Supermarine Spitfire, North Amrican Mustang, Yakovlev Yak 3.

From the UK.

I recently had the pleasure of meeting a couple visiting NZ from the UK.
They allowed me to upload these images from their camera,taken at RAF Marham in August 2014.
The couple, who are aircraft enthusiasts, has their own business, whereby they commission artists to paint portraits of aircraft, which they then sell the prints of. Check it out at  www.sapiart.com

The Boeing B 17 "Flying Fortress" passes over.
This example is known as "SallyB", but has appeared in many films and TV shows with different names painted on her fuselage.
She is the only one of her type still flying in Europe

What must be an event I will never see in my lifetime: two Avro Lancasters flying in formation.
One was visiting from Canada and the other belonging to the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight.

WOW

Wings Over Wairarapa was held this weekend and one of my daughters managed to score some free tickets. Here is a sample of what was there.

Dave Phillips is said to be the best Tiger Moth pilot in the world.
He showed his skill by throwing this example of de Havilland's DH82 all over the sky without it falling apart.

A silent aerobatic routine was performed by this DG 1000S glider of the Wanganui Manawatu Gliding club..

The North American P51 Mustang always looks impressive.

Another North American product, the Harvard, passes with that familiar crackle from its prop.

A Yak 52 taxis out.

The two seater  de Havilland Vampire streaks across the clouds, upright......

.....and inverted.

The Bell Iroquois performed a "goodbye", as the RNZAF is phasing them out to be replaced by the new NH90.
Although the Air force intends to keep a couple of "Hueys", as the Americans call them, for display purposes.

The NH90 also had its own display including a demonstration of its winching capabilities.

The Hughes 500 is commonly used in NZ in all kinds of roles.
This one performed a routine which left no-one in doubt of its capabilities

The Corsair shows off its cranked wings, which enabled it to have a short stable under carriage, but still keeps its massive propeller clear of the ground.
Although most Corsairs are remembered as being a Chance Vought product, this one is a Goodyear example.
Corsair production was 4631 by Chance Vought, 2485 by Goodyear and a further 735 were produced by Brewster.

You Tube Find

Take a look at this link on You Tube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvd5Y_maKQc
Wally is driving a diesel S model Bedford (see my blog Sep 27 2012) fitted with a Scammell coupling (see my blog Sep 14 2011).
Sorry, can't copy any pictures to here, must be protected.

A Ride in the Sun

Yesterday (Jan 3) I decided to take a ride through some unexplored back roads around the lower Hawkes Bay area. There really wasn't much to see and very few trucks on the road. Looks like most of them start work again on the 5th. However, here are some of the stationary ones I managed to find.

A line of resting rigs at Matamau.
DAF, Volvo x3, Kenworth and two UDs.

Just a few metres away these loggers also parked up.
Three Scanias, two Volvos and a DAF.

South of Takapau this Austin/Morris FG rusts away.
If you were restoring one I guess the glass in this example would be useful as I would it imagine it's difficult to find new now.

Commer Superpoise a bit further north is in slightly better condition, but someone has already made use of the headlamps.
Glass isn't so critical in this model, as it's all flat and could easily be made.

Ben Allen's MAN 26.480 looks clean in shining white at Waipukurau.
A check of the rego reveals this previously belonged to Hawkins River Transport from Darfield in Canterbury and was painted bright yellow.

The John Deere dealer at Waipukurau has this low deck 8 wheeler Isuzu to move his tractors about.

A sea of green in Stephenson's yard at Waipawa.
4 Freightliner Argosys and the rest were Isuzus as far as I could tell.

Brand new Mercedes-Benz, Scania and Renault await bodies at Jackson's in Pahiatua.

New KW also awaits a deck in the same yard.