Thread: Old huts

I love this one.
Written in charcoal on the inside of the Burn Creek hut door.

Anyone know D. Trafford????

Des Trafford.Still alive n kickin.He's not a stretch as it goes.Average build 5'9".Knocked knees and deaf as a post.But then all of them are

Originally Posted by bluebaiter222

Des Trafford.Still alive n kickin.He's not a stretch as it goes.Average build 5'9".Knocked knees and deaf as a post.But then all of them are

That is a very cool piece of NZ history right there.

Originally Posted by Barry the hunter

yes helicopters - have they not come a long way from that Bell 47 - I worked out I have been lucky enough to fly in 12 different makes and models - favourite McDonnel Douglas 500E - most impressed by Kawasaki Bolkoff twin turbine - bloody piece of kit - fun factor Hughs 300 C- scary Robbie R22 on a windy day

I think you will find the Bolkoff is a Messerschmidt product. A mate of mine owned one for a few years. Yes, bloody impressive bit of kit. Entire rotor head is made from one piece of titanium. Fleet wide they have logged something like 13 million hours in the air with not a single rotor head failure.

Originally Posted by XR500

I think you will find the Bolkoff is a Messerschmidt product. A mate of mine owned one for a few years. Yes, bloody impressive bit of kit. Entire rotor head is made from one piece of titanium. Fleet wide they have logged something like 13 million hours in the air with not a single rotor head failure.

yes likely like a lot of machinery ya dont realize what's underneath - or from where - we had a Finnish Valtra 390 hp tractor on demo was a Massey Fergusson in disguise - our Clause tractors John Deere engine Massey Fergusson trans - helicopters likely the same - our big rig helicopters here are Augusta Westlands Augusta is Italian -Westland is I think English - Aussie have a chopper in the outback - looks like an old Bell 47 but is I believe a Kawasaki

Originally Posted by XR500

I think you will find the Bolkoff is a Messerschmidt product. A mate of mine owned one for a few years. Yes, bloody impressive bit of kit. Entire rotor head is made from one piece of titanium. Fleet wide they have logged something like 13 million hours in the air with not a single rotor head failure.

Essentially same machine from memory, made under license by Kawasaki.
Awesome air ambulance

Yes, mate was telling me about a crew he knew that were operating in the North Atlantic doing rare species protection or some such. UK Govt dept said "you guys are doing a great job, its time to replace your helo. What new helo do you want?" They said " This Bolkoff, sent back to the factory and zero hour rebuilt." Says quite a bit from a crew that spent an awful lot of time flying over the North Atlantic sea in all weathers a long long way from any assistance.

Obviously there are some helicopter enthusiasts on here that got enjoyment out of the helicopter photos, so I have put some more up here for people to view.



Another photo of the same helicopter involved in the food drop. In the photo you can see the writings of Helicopter NZ Ltd, for aviation enthusiasts just do a Google search.



To those that are interested this was the bivy I got to that had a whole pile of food in it. In those days it was surprising this Ngamako bivy seemed to be seldom visited.

One of those galv bins in the food drop would have been full of plain ( & probably weevilly) flour with several lbs of butter buried deep within.Would keep without going ransid right thru the heat of summer while sweating in the tin dog box.Plunge your hand into the flour and the temp would be surprisingly cool 6°

More photos for helicopter enthusiasts out there....

A helicopter taking off from the Pohangina base in the Southern Ruahines.



I obviously have other associated photos to this area and will put up in due course and other links to other threads / posts etc.


A helicopter in the Hunter Valley Otago region



I used to work for the NZFS as a carpenter in the Southern Lakes / Otago area.
Most probably put up some more photos for viewers enjoyment etc.

Originally Posted by bluebaiter222

One of those galv bins in the food drop would have been full of plain ( & probably weevilly) flour with several lbs of butter buried deep within.Would keep without going ransid right thru the heat of summer while sweating in the tin dog box.Plunge your hand into the flour and the temp would be surprisingly cool 6°

Hah I can smell weevly flour from a mile away, the taste never leaves you.

Originally Posted by bluebaiter222

Des Trafford.Still alive n kickin.He's not a stretch as it goes.Average build 5'9".Knocked knees and deaf as a post.But then all of them are

So this isn't @SmokeyJason but the description is identical.

Originally Posted by RUMPY

So this isn't @SmokeyJason but the description is identical.

Beat me to it,lol.