After switching rigs at Jucy, we drove out to Auckland's MOTAT (Museum of Transport and Technology) to see its Aviation Hall and its vintage aircraft and memorial to one of New Zealand's WWII heroes, Sir Keith Park, who commanded the 11th Fighter Group defending London during the Battle of Britain. The Aviation Hall has some dozens of aircraft, and I'll focus on just a few either new to me or of special interest.
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A replica of Park's personal Hawker Hurricane, OK-1, which he
used to get around to the various airbases in his command; the
Spitfire is pretty much the emblem of the Battle of Britain, but
the Hurricane accounted for 70% of the kills, mostly among the
German bombers; part of Park's strategy was to let the Spitfires
engage and distract the German escort fighters, while the slower
Hurricanes attacked the bombers... |
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The Brits' Avro Lancaster heavy bomber, somewhat similar to the
US B-24; of "Dambusters" fame |
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Evidently, quite a number of New Zealanders were in the RAF's
Bomber Command |
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| A Bomber Command office |
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The Mosquito, aka the "Wooden Wonder," high performance
fighter/bomber; made from composite wood...kept the UK's
furniture manufacturers busy during the war |
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| Sunderland flying boat/patrol bomber |
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| There, beneath all the craft above |
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| The Solent, post-war commercial and passenger flying boat |
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| Lockheed Electra |
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| The Flying Flea (below) |
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| A kit plane from the 30s |
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| Dangerous, never popular... |
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| DeHavilland Dragon Rapide |
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The US Navy's TBF-1 Avenger, standard torpedo bomber after
Midway; President George W. H. Bush flew one of these (until
shot down in central Pacific action) |
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| About as large as a single engine plane ever got; I reckon |
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| The Navy's Mark XIII torpedo...lots of problems |
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| And finally a Curtiss P-40, earlier WWII US fighter |
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