P-40 Restoration in New Zealand

[Gary M]

I was in NZ last Spring and popped in to see this gorgeous P-40 that was being finished up and getting ready to fly. It had been grounded for over 60 years! The folks at Pioneer Aero Restorations were super nice and allowed us free access to the hanger there are Ardmore Airport which is just south of Auckland, NZ.







It has since been back in the air and if you click this link, you'll see a great shot of it!

http://pioneeraero.co.nz/index.htm

[avenger2504]

You'd think they would have been sick of P40s by now. They have done about 9 of them now!

[Gary M]

Must be why they are so good with them! You can see a spare wing laying along the side of the hanger........

I have some more Ardmore Airport photos that I'll post later....

[avenger2504]

Must be why they are so good with them! You can see a spare wing laying along the side of the hanger........

I have some more Ardmore Airport photos that I'll post later....

Look forward to seeing them. That particular P40 is flying in Canada now and they took up the WW 2 pilot of the original P40 the paint scheme is based on!
I think Pioneer did the wings for the Aussie based merlin powered P40F too.

[Gary M]

You'll probably enjoy my Omaka Air Show photos from last April as well.......

[Alan Brooks]

Gary, any photos/info of the current ongoing P-40 rebuild which I believe is owned by Keith Hopper? I realize that Pioneer may have imposed limitations, but in my opinion, you can't have too many P-40's flying around! Alan

[Gary M]

Al, not familiar with that P-40. I actually live in Florida and only visit NZ occasionally.

Last year, while visiting the guys at AvSpecs at Ardmore Airfield in NZ, I saw an open door into a different hanger with a few warbirds in it. Not being shy at all, I shouted in to see if anyone was "home" and after not seeing anyone, I took a minute to snap a few more photos including this additional P-40. Anyone know what country flew with these roundels?



On my visit out there this past spring, that same hanger was then empty and I have no clue where the P-40, Stearman and Me-108 went.....

[b29flteng]

China

[Gary M]

Anyone know what country flew with these roundels?

Whoops! I posted the wrong P-40 photo! The Flying Tigers version above was in a Museum in Addison Texas!

Here's the one down in NZ that I saw in a hanger.......... I don't recognize those roundels but P-40s flew for about 30 different countries





Here's the little Me-108 that was right behind it.......

[RickH]

That 108 looks funky with the flat engine and cowling !

I believe those are a version of the New Zealand roundels.

[Andy in West Oz]

They're RAAF roundels, guys.

She's the one with the working guns - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVOfjU1A-mE

[Gary M]

Thanks Andy....... nice video too.

Here's the third airplane that was in that hanger that day....... My Dad learned to fly in one of these as a 20 year old in 1942.

[Dave Hadfield]

Hey, that's the P-40 I'm flying now at Vintage Wings of Canada. In fact I was there last spring watching Pioneer finish up. When were you there? I may have been in the back room writing up Checklists and things.

We won "Best Fighter" at OSH this year with it -- a very proud moment for a large team.

I've got about 30 hours on it, my first fighter, and it's looked after me very well.

Dave

[Dave Hadfield]

Here's an article I wrote about flying it, with some air-to-air photos.

http://www.vintagewings.ca/page?a=1159&lang=en-CA

Dave

[avenger2504]

That was a great article Dave. And I couldn't begin to understand how you felt when he handed over his gloves!! A friend of mine does air to air photography here in NZ and he took some shots of "your" P40. I would attach a link to his website but it seems to be down at present. I'll post it later.
Regards
Baz

EDIT: Here's the link: http://capphotography.ifp3.com/#/page/home/