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Hi Rob, you'd be most welcome to visit and see both Harvards. 👍

The debate on whether aircraft are original, restorations or replicas is an interesting one as the definitions are vague and constantly debated. Something straight out of the factory is clearly original but is it original after the brake linings have been replaced at a major service, or new seating and interior are fitted at some point in it's life? If a wing is damaged beyond repair and replaced, is the aircraft original? Look at the Mosquitos flying today - the wooden fuselages, wings and tail feathers are all new but some parts of the original aircraft are added to keep the original identity. At the other end of the scale are "original" aircraft that may just consist of the makers data plate. The aircraft may have been built using original plans and construction techniques but is it still "original"? In the case of NZ906, it is being restored as a flight simulator and not an airworthy aircraft but the main frame, firewall, instrument panel surround and electrical boxes are all original and form the basis for its identity. I would never claim that everything I put on it is from the original aircraft because clearly parts are being added from other aircraft but the core of what I have is from an identifiable machine. I fly an Ag-Cat that is made up from three aircraft. Its identity comes from the main fuselage and data plate but, like NZ906, it is not 100% original. Most aircraft are not original if you use the definition of what it looked like and what it had on it when it came out of the factory. A great debate. 🙂👍

@@biplaneflightsWow, thank you for the answer, I got your point and i didn't mean to offend you!

@@leocompot Hey, no worries - no offence taken. I think it was great you raised the topic as it is interesting to discuss what is the difference between an aircraft that is deemed original, a restoration or a replica. I thank you for you input. 😄👍

Nice. We’ve had CAT for 15 years now and RTA for over two years, which was also in Rotorua. I have an original brochure from the time CAT flew tourists over Lake Tarawera.

Funny. Not quite, but if you're talking about New Zealand's air combat force, yes, you are 100% correct. At the moment we would be hard pressed to fight our way out of a paper bag. 🤣

Thanks for the comment. As mentioned in previous videos, I have no intention to restore this to airworthy status - very few components could be used due to corrosion and damage. The intention is to restore the cockpit so it can be used as a flight simulator. In a sense, this will restore it to "flight" status where people can enjoy it again. The two cockpits I have are recorded as "survivors" on a published list of surviving New Zealand Harvards - hence the reference it this aircraft as a "survivor". 👍

@@samwhittaker6718 Nice. That would have been music to the ears. 😀

Thanks for your comments. Glad you’re enjoying the progress. Might not look it, but it’s been the wettest September I can remember - fronts coming through almost 24 hours apart.

Thanks for the comment and support - much appreciated. It was all fairly logical in the end given I needed to keep each cockpit as original as possible. I was pleased I already had the windscreen and front canopy to give NZ906 an instant boost to how it looks. Yes, a couple of side panels would improve things greatly and it would be possible to extend the framing on NZ906 at some point in the future too. 👍

Thanks for sharing the memories. Must have been amazing for the town to see the Airtruck fly for the first time. Do you have any photos of the Harvards in Bennett's yard?

Awesome Gerard. Give me a call sometime at Aviation Adventures Ltd.

After I started VR flying, never looked back at my screen

Thanks for sharing your memories. Had to laugh about your Dad checking out the aircraft hoping to find cigarettes and rubber dinghies! Good times to be a kid. 👍

Thanks for the great tip. If CRC fails to move things, I'll try that.

@@biplaneflights 50/50 acetone and transfluid,or brake fluid even works better than anything.

@@Mercmad Thanks for the advice. I'll try that mixture on hard to move parts. Cheers. 👍

This will be a static restoration as a flight simulator. None of the original parts could be restored to airworthy condition.

Nice. I was hoping to be there myself but had to head south a few days back. 👍

​@@biplaneflightsunfortunate, the displays are always awesome

Nice. Thanks for the feedback.

Interesting. Great to know both those aircraft escaped the trip to the scrap dealers. 👍

Yes, the A-4K was fitted with a Ferranti 4510 wide-angle Heads-up Display. Unfortunately I do not have a manual for it, nor was I a pilot flying the Skyhawk in RNZAF service so do not know the full workings of the control panel yet. 👍

I'm interested. Please send email and photos to me at Chris.Rudge@redcat.co.nz

Yes, I saw some walkaround photos of other New Zealand Harvards and saw it matched the rear seat fitted to some aircraft.

I own harvard NZ1068

@@NickSheehan-c2p Very cool! I saw that at John Smith's place when he gave me a tour of his shed many years ago. Great to see you are going to restore it to flying condition. It certainly looks a lot more complete than NZ946.

Contact planes of fame in Chino California they have parts to sell trade or donate

@@michaelvalentine4867 Thanks for the info. If I can't find parts in New Zealand, I'll drop them a line. 👍

Unfortunately, it didn't come with plans, otherwise I would have been happy to send you a copy. You might be able to get measurements online or perhaps you could take measurements from a large scale model and scale them up. Great to hear you are going to make an Aussie A-4 sim. I identify as an Australian pilot on DCS because there is no option to be in a New Zealand squadron. 😄

Glad you enjoyed it. I've learnt a lot from watching other people's RUclips videos, so it is nice to give something back that helps others.👍

Thanks for the comment. Yes, after doing the video I did some research and discovered it was, as you stated, the hatch for the hydraulic tank. And the hatch further aft? I see that a fire extinguisher was located inside that area so I’m guessing it was a hatch so that ground crew could access the fire extinguisher too.

Sounds interesting. Will check it out. There is so much stuff I've yet to add but a shaker to the seat could be a cool addition. 👍

@@biplaneflights This is a great tip. I did not realise how much immersion a butt kicker adds until I installed on, and I highly recommend it. The cockpit comes to life.

@@cabdude2 definitely! Just don’t actually but the “buttkicker” brand unless you really want a simple “turnkey” solution at 100% markup

Thanks Blair! 👍

I think the slide you visited was the one at Pahiatua. It has been replaced by a fibreglass replica and the original is now on a pole at Mangatainoka acting as a weathervane. The one I have was in a playground at Methven (south Island) in the late 60's and early 70's.👍

The only bits left are the front and rear fuselage, and centre section. I won't be fully restoring it - just getting the fuselage tidied up for static display, but I would like to add interior fittings such as seat, throttle, stick and rudder pedals. I have an instrument panel for it. 👍

Thanks for your comment. I played in the Pahiatua Harvard as a kid. The original Harvard has now been replaced by a fibreglass replica (which, as you pointed out, can be seen on Google Maps and Google Earth). The original aircraft was taken away and mounted on a pole at a nearby location and rotates in the wind, acting as a windvane. Here a link to the news story: www.nzherald.co.nz/hawkes-bay-today/news/pahiatuas-harvard-lays-claim-to-flight-record/AAWN4GL7QBGLXBAHLT72AFUCOY/

ZK-CAT is actually a bit of a hybrid. The B model has longer wings and they have a bigger tail (CAT still has the smaller tail). With longer wings, they have more lift and therefore get off the ground quicker than an A model if carrying the same weight. The B model could carry a heavier load. With the longer wings, roll rate is slower. Also, longer wings and greater wing area means the stall speed is slower and it can be landed at a slower speed.

Good minds think alike. I had considered doing that with the C-47 cockpit I have but a photo in a Harvard would be very cool. With a blue screen you could have any background you wanted. 👍

Yes, great to have it back in a hangar for the first time in 69 years.

There is a Harvard that was used as a slide in Pahiatua, although it was replaced by a fibreglass replica and the original is now on a pole being used as a weathervane. The one I got will now live in a hangar where it is dry so the aluminium doesn't corrode further.

@@biplaneflights When I was a kid in the 1960s a small play ground at the local shopping centre had new tubular monkey bars installed including a stagecoach a vintage car and a biplane but best of all was a rocketship that was about twenty five feet or more tall and had four floors two with slides I now live in Grafton in northern NSW, thirty years ago there was one of these rocketships near where I now live it only had one slide and I don't think it was as tall as the other one I mentioned but it had been removed before I return to this area ten years ago, but not too far away in a large park is a biplane exactly like the one I mentioned at the shopping centre About eight years ago a drunken imbecile was driving around the park at night and crashed into the biplane and bent the ends of the wings on one side but it's still there and okay and it wouldn't be hard to straighten out or replace the damaged tubes I know a young bloke who occasionally works at the local airfield and suggested he should tell the people who run it to ask the local council to have this now vintage monkey bar airplane moved to the airfield but I don't know if he ever discussed it with them They have a radial engine on display near their club house and I think it would be a fitting and safer place for the old plane A few years ago I was visiting family graves at Blackheath Cemetery in the blue mountains west of Sydney and noticed a new headstone with the image of what was obviously a rocketship complete with a slide on it At the time it made me think this fella must have really like rocketship monkey bars but later I had a great nephew staying up here and I was telling him about the rocketship that had been just around the corner and did an internet search to show him what I was talking about and found information about these things, it seems the Mayor of Katoomba had been to the USA and come back with the plans for them and they were built by a steel fabricator at Blackheath who I suppose must now be burried at Blackheath Cemetery The Blue mountains had been covered in these types of monkey bars there was even a very large submarine up there I believe there is an original rocketship at The Entrance north of Sydney and I understand they have recently installed a new rocketship at Blackheath with wheelchair access So don't get me wrong I thought restoring your fuselage as a slide was a good idea 🚀

@@biplaneflights Don't get me wrong I think restoring it as the slide is a good idea Like how many kids would have used it and remember it ? I did post a long reply explaining but it's disappeared

Thank you.