Salvaging of Plane Parts
(N Z Press Association)
WELLINGTON,
February 22.
Parts of a wartime Kittyhawk fighter which crashed in the Orongorongo Ranges near Wainuiomata 27 years ago were salvaged at the weekend to assist a Mapua man’s efforts to rebuild one of these aircraft.
The secretary of the Wellington branch of the Aviation Historical Society (Mr R. S. Dunlop) said tonight that the branch had been asked by Mr John Smith of Mapua, near Nelson, to retrieve a number of components from the plane, which crashed while on an army co-operation exercise on May 1, 1943. Mr Smith has already restored a Mosquito twin-engined fighter-bomber and a Mustang fighter and is working on the Kittyhawk, which he acquired—minus a number of parts—from the warplane “graveyard” at Rukuhia, near Hamilton.
“It’s quite a well-known crash,” said Mr Dunlop tonight. “It’s only about two miles into the bush from Wainuiomata, and every year or so it is reported by a hunter or a tramper as a new discovery.”
When the aeroplane crashed in 1943, the wreckage was spread over about half a mile, and since then, some parts have been taken by the Air Force and souvenir hunters.
“We wanted a number of brackets, cowlings and other small pieces, so we had quite a search,” said Mr Dunlop.
Pieces had to be dug out of the ground, and bolts and rivets removed with hacksaws and chisels. Mr Dunlop said he believed that Mr Smith did not intend to fly the rebuilt Kittyhawk. He imagined the salvaged parts would be used as patterns for the casting of replicas rather than being incorporated in the rebuilt machine.
