The dove at mmb was ABM which is now for sale at an unreasonable price.
What fun the whole operation sounds like. pity it was before my time at pid, but i did meet MM on a few occasions- what a character along with my old friend Sandy.

MM, still owes me about $6k. I would take ABM as part payment!

Hahahahah. Good Luck!!!:ugh:

And he would still owe you 6K! Plus removal cost!:} Must admit I got all my entitlements, plus some pretty good experience for a young(ish) bloke getting started:ok:

I must admit the flying was good experience although MM was the closest thing to "Arfur Daley" that has ever existed in Australian aviation.

Remember MM standing in front of the dove whilst you sorted yourself out giving a pax brief to a dozen non speaking Japs inc life jackets etc & all, getting the courage up to once again defy death all the time MM was waving frantically to get going, no air pressure 'till you where just reaching the holding point & if you didn't have enough you trailed a leg or two for a little while praying like hell that those 800 gee gees didn't quit!!! Charactor building, shame there wasn't any wealth building in it.
Vh-STP the old Sneca 11 another piece of junk, the things we flew to gain a few miserbale twin hrs:-)
And the final laugh MM recycled the cheap champers back into the bottle for the next flight 2moro!:E


CW

:ok:I never had the pleasure, but wasnt STP a Seneca 1? Must admit also the Great Ocean road runs where heaps of fun, landing in the paddock at Peterborough was a highlight!

In the hay days of the penguin flights, (early nineties) I remember MM would cobble together up to 12 aircraft for the PID run. Anything spare on the field would do.
We'd fire them out in a line, then about 10pm see them coming up the coast, all wanting city orbits and all calling out of sequence.
Just a case of turning chaos into absolute chaos.
Those were the days!

CG

'Yowie" STP was a Sneca 11, am sure of that but am willing to be corrected, old age explains a lot:ok:
Also remember landing at Peterborough with the fence still up? MM had to pay for it to be taken down for ldg, many a time I would arive & the fence was still up!!! not too sure of the LDA but uphill was just ok down hill was real man stuff, still the old Doves stalled @ around 60 kts, no such thing as 1.3 vs with those old girls:ok:
Learnt heaps way back then, not too sure if such 'exoeriences' are still out there.

RIP the old duck runs, & the old EN 26 twin loc, dreamed it up 'cause MM's Doves only had stick on ILS's cut straight from an aviation mag, top line stuff of course:E

CW

Are Capt Wally they were the days when men were men, boys were boys and poofs were something you put your feet on after a hard day at the office and the little woman was busy preparing your tea.

Just think no GPS's, no glass cockpits, no HSI's, no RMI's, no Flight Directors, no autopilots, a very basic panel, pommie ergonomics at its best and in those days you still a proper ATC/FSU system.

Whatever to Ted Rudge's Doves?

yeah Ted's old doves have well & truely gone bush. Apart from the one that modified a few peoples back yards years ago am not too sure where the rest have gone but I think they are buried somewhere in the back of his hanger, gathering dust no doubt. They where original Doves unlike MM's his where the old Riley conversions, how to make an ugly plane more ugly !:)
Seeing as we are on a roll here I can recall EN twr one day say to me after T/off rwy 17 yr gear is still down, at times one used up all the air pressure just getting to the holding point & little was left to pull the gear up 'till around Flemington racecourse, by then you had the old girls cleaned up & steaming full ahead for PID:ok: A doz japs all talking jiba jabba & smiling like there's no 2moro, oh boy if they only knew, second hand champers & by the will of God we all went sth to enjoy the penguins, had some fun though even used to take my R/C glider down to PID to slope soar off the cliff face, & to think we got paid for that, well thought we where !:E


CW

The global economy at work, Japanese tourists, Aussie Pilot, Pommie airframe, American engines and Middle East Fuel powering the beast!

Wasn't one of Rudges Doves the last one built at Hatfeild?

Word is ABM was "donated" to a museum after years sitting on the grass at YMMB. Surprised it has ended up on ebay after an act of good faith (ducks, weaves)!:ok:

Donated hey? I don't think MM would know how to spell 'donated':}
Am not surprised it's back in pvt hands (assuming here).
Still I think the current owner is dreaming wanting that high price for essentially scrap metal.

CW:)

CW,
I believe you are right, does CRT ring a bell re the 34-1? As I said I never had the pleasure but knew the few that did! I remember your R/C adventures, and the the pleasures of dining on frozen TV dinners with yourself, JT, GS, AB etc:ok:

stop it yowie yr bringing me to tears now:{

oh well a blast from the past, they where at times the good 'ole days

CW:ok:

CW,
Mate you always remember the good times, like RM walking the pax back after the gear collapse on the 402?( wasnt there but was legend). SR wanting every last dollar. Ah the memories:ok:

Geez Wally, where's me violin!

Dr :8

How many punters did you carry in the Dove, Capt Wally?

Don't forget the joys of a fully castoring nosewheel, pneumatic brakes, and that big rudder flapping about as you taxied downwind.

hey Dr I actually play the guitar, never could figure out that whingin' violin thingy:ok: How's the 'wobbler' plane going ?:) I bet that bent one (A36)elsewhere in here brought tears to yr eyes:bored:

'S8' a Doz pax in the Dove, 'MM' cried when it wasn't full! T
Try 6 pax in the AC500, cosy that's 4 sure!

Yes the joys of that castering nose wheel hence no air pressure left on a windy at once at the holding point! That coupled with 800 gee gees coming on song (if you where lucky)during T/off dancing on the rudder pedals the whole way down Sandy's strip at night with around one blown out candle per mile only to have the jap sitting beside you (12 pax meant one up front) take a pix with flash of you trying to keep everybody alive !!
Going off rwy 22 into the inky black night on instruments that ought to be in a kids playground toy plane was charactor building, hence there aint nufin' out there that would scare me now:E
Yowie it feels like a hundred years ago now but I still recall "S" chasing a warrior down his rwy in his old white XD wagon trying to collect the $5 bucks ldg fee during a touch & go for the plane, talk about an angry man!
Too many stories to tell, am sure other readers don't want to hear it all here.