Spectrum 072. Wing stands and barrel rolls

Rights Information
Year
1973
Reference
30050
Media type
Audio
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Rights Information
Year
1973
Reference
30050
Media type
Audio
Duration
00:28:15
Credits
RNZ Collection
Perkins, Jack (b.1940), Producer
Alexander, Ron, Interviewee
McMullen, Jim, Recording engineer
Alexandra, Errol, Interviewee

Spectrum was a long-running weekly radio documentary series which captured the essence of New Zealand from 1972 to 2016. Alwyn Owen and Jack Perkins produced the series for many years, creating a valuable library of New Zealand oral history. 

In this episode, Jack Perkins visits the Golden Age Flying Society at Omaka near Blenheim, where he takes a flight on top of a Tiger Moth.

Jack describes how he has flown in Friendships and Boeings, peering out in cushioned security through a peephole at the countryside, and replacing that with a wooden frame, canvas, struts, a single engine and an open cockpit. In a word, a Tiger Moth.

The Golden Age Flying Society was formed four years previously, restoring old aircraft and putting on flying displays.

He speaks with the society’s president, Ron Alexander who tells him about the Society’s two Tiger Moths, built between 1943 and 1944, when 600 were built in Wellington. Tiger Moths first flew in 1932 and were used as training aircraft. He tells Jack about the skill of flying a Moth.

Jack describes the fitting of a standing frame to the upper wing of the moth. This is where he will stand during the upcoming flight. He goes on to describe the strapping in, take off, observations during the flight and his reactions upon landing.

Jack meets Ron’s mother, the oldest wing-walker in the world. Mrs Alexander tells Jack she is a 70 year old great grand-mother and has been flying since 1969 and has performed 18 times at various air pageants. She describes her first flight and the reaction she got from audience members.

Jack goes aloft again, not outside this time, but in the cockpit, for a bit of aerobatics. He describes flying to 4000 feet and doing a loop, a barrel roll and a stall turn.

Jacks meets Ron’s son,14 year old Paul, who tells him about his first flight with his father and the great thrill he gets doing aerobatics.

The Golden Age Flying Society has several acts it performs up and down the country, including ‘Snoopy and the Red Baron’, featuring young Paul, though he doesn’t fly the Tiger. Another act is ‘The Keystone Cops’ and Jack asks Ron and Errol about the difficulties of performing the act.

Technical direction by Jim McMullen, Narrated and produced by Jack Perkins.