Don't think it's been mentioned that during flight testing at Christchurch, a prototype was being flown with the CG progressively further aft until the pilot (Ron Clear I think) ran out of elevator in the flare. The aircraft smote the ground an almighty blow which left the Centauruses lying on the grass alongside the wheel ruts from the impact. As far as I can recall other damage was relatively light and the aircraft flew again fairly quickly.
Afterwards, the engineers presented Ron Clear (if 'twas he) with a beautifully mounted ship's telegraph with the dial set to "Finished with Engines".