Buried aircraft found at Wigram, New Zealand

[M14_P]

Buried aircraft found at Wigram, New Zealand

On Friday the news broke here in NZ that the contractors who are building houses on the land that was formerly RNZAF Base Wigram, unearthed wreckage of buried aeroplanes. The rumour was confirmed on Saturday by Air Force Museum staff (the Air Force Museum of New Zealand is also at Wigram).

I have heard that three fuselages have been discovered but what they are I do not know. Wigram was the site of the Canterbury Flying School from 1917-1923, and in 1923 was the site where the Air Force in New Zealand was established. From 1923 to 1995 it was an Air Force station/base, and from 1995 to 2009 it was an active airfield.

When the RNZAF moved out in 1995 it was handed to the Christchurch City Council. They later handed the base to the local Maori Ngai Tahu tribe who closed the airfield and have since been building houses on the old historic base. Wigram was NZ's first ever dedicated aerodrome, and the site of the arrival of the Southern Cross on the first ever successful Tasman Sea crossing by flight, and so was our most historic airfield. So who knows what might be under there. Aircrfat that have operated from the station/base vary from Britstol Fighters to Harvards to Devons to Gordons to Avro 504K's and even a Bf109 was disposed of there in WWII.
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I can confirm, this is absolutely true. There is a rather dodgy coverup taking place, although it is failing since a number of people saw the aircraft recovered but were either not able to see what they were or simply weren't aviation people and so didn't take much notice driving past.

[Captain Nomad]

Please tell me that they are going to protect the findings in some way and not just continue bulldozing...? :uhoh:

[aldee]

Be a different outcome if they found a bit of green rock or some bones :ouch:

I absolutely hate what they're doing there
Prior to the earthquakes it might of been a bit hard to sell houses backing up to an industrial area
Different story today

[NZFlyingKiwi]

I really hope this gets the attention it deserves - it's such an awful double standard that we live in a place where major construction projects can be halted to avoid annoying a mythological creature, but when actual tangible historical artefacts are found as in this case it's all kept quiet because the local tribe happens to be in charge of the building project.

So does anyone know, have the aircraft been "recovered" to a safe location, or are they heading for the local scrappers? :uhoh:

[remoak]

Just tell them a Taniwha is living in one of the wrecks... see what happens then

[M14_P]

It appears that various parties involved are being silenced while authorities are denying that anything has been recovered. Watch this space.

[Yankee_Doodle_Floppy_Disk]

You need to talk to some serious collectors of old aircraft (i.e. the ones with deep pockets).

I'm sure some sort of injunction could be put in place.

[Experimental]

Hi to all the journalists that read these pages.

This has got the beginings of a good article!

[Norwester]

I've not read anything in the local newspapers, or heard anything other than on here. Any updates from anyone?

[PegasusNZ]

A friend of mine flew his Tiger Moth in the movie Bad Blood to represent a Vickers Vilderbeest which was the original aircraft used to search for Stanley Graham. I remember him saying at the time that it was believed 3 of this type were buried somewhere on Wigram Air Base but nobody knew the exact spot. Maybe, if there's any truth to a "find" being made at Wigram, it could be that the final resting place of these aircraft has been found.

[rennaps]

Heard a rumour, years ago, that WWII aircraft were dumped off the end of the runway at Hamilton airport???

[NZFlyingKiwi]

There were a very large number of aircraft dumped near Hamilton airport, most of them ended up being scrapped but there are still quite a few bits and pieces being unearthed in the area from time to time; I don't think any complete aircraft were buried though.

[DeltaT]

well I sent a email to Close Up via their website about this when the thread came up, perhaps others would like to do the same

[aldee]

Any updates on this ?

[Lindstrim]

Posted on the Wigram facebook page.

To all of our followers-
There is a rumour doing the rounds on the Internet and talk-back radio that substantial bits of aircraft fuselage have been dug up during excavation work for the new Wigram sub-division and that they have been hidden in a hangar. The reason for this is supposed to be so that work on the subdivision is not affected by any archaeological process.

What do we know about this?...

First, we have been in contact with Wigram Aerodrome Limited who are managing this work and they assure us that there has been nothing dug up at Wigram. They further advise that if they did find anything they would let us know straight away and would work with us to identify whatever it was.

Second, we know that Wigram Aerodrome Limited are very committed to aviation history. They have spent a great deal of time and money researching appropriate street and neighbourhood names that will reflect the history of the former Air Force Base. The first of these was the Cecil Hill neighbourhood which features as street names some of the first pilots trained at Wigram in 1917. They have also just refurbished the former control tower with a heritage plan to ensure it retains its special features. And, on their behalf, the Museum is currently caring for the plaque that marks the spot the Southern Cross touched down after the first trans-Tasman flight in 1928. Their plan is to reinstate this in a small park area once subdivision infrastructure work is complete. None of this suggests an organisation that does not care about Air Force history.

Lastly, it is highly unlikely that an aircraft fuselage could have been buried for decades, and dug up from soil looking anything like a fuselage, with any markings still visible. While it is quite possible that bits of broken up aircraft were put into dumps around the perimeter of the former base, they would have been burned, hacked to pieces and flattened by bulldozers before being buried as rubbish. Aluminium alloy panels would have corroded, fabric and timber would all have rotted completely.

In the absence of any evidence, we can only assume some piece of equipment being used in the excavation has been mistaken for a fuselage and the rumour has taken hold from there

[helidan30]

Lastly, it is highly unlikely that an aircraft fuselage could have been buried for decades, and dug up from soil looking anything like a fuselage, with any markings still visible.

I work in PNG and have taken US MIA teams out excavating wrecks from WW2 and this is not true I've seen P-38's P-47's B-25's and others dug up after crashing and the marks can still be clearly seen
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=421549761573&set=a.421548506573.201995.725206573&type=3

[Engineer_aus]

Sounds like a bit of a cover up, or someone that has no idea about "wrecks"

[aroa]

Wasnt the P 40 of the late great Col Pay dug up on a farm in Canada and eventually put back in the air. Ditto other stuff from PNG