Tnxs 'Dog' yr obviously knowledgable on this one.
I would have loved to have flown the Heron, the Dove was as far as I got with Pommy planes. The ergonomics of the old Doves was a nightmare, I guess the Heron might not have been that much better. Instead of 2 of everything placed hickeldy pickeldy (in the DH104's) it might have been 4 off !:( CW |
The original Series1 Heron had fixed gear and two bladed fixed pitch props.
Prinnair that operated 25 plus Heron's in South America had Continental TIO-520. Don't forget the Saunders ST-27 Heron, with a lengthened fuselage and the piston engines replaced with 2 PT-6's. But nothing beats the mighty Airfix Heron complete with Shell VIP flight or for the RAF VIP Fleet. Did Max Langshaw fly the Herons for Kendall's? |
Capt Wally the bloke who designed the Dove and Heron cockpits migrated to Florida and did the instrument layout for the Twin Comanche!
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The original Series1 Heron had fixed gear and two bladed fixed pitch props. That lead some to assume that they only had fixed pitch also. The Twin Commical was a bit higgeldy in the A and B models, but they had it pretty well sorted out in the C onwards. |
Dog One
The first time I heard the "hunting lodge" story it was believed that it was the fuselage of CLT. However, on further digging, it seemed more likely that it was that of ZK-TAJ which was shipped over from Vincent Aviation in NZ but found to be corroded beyond economical repair. Do you have any thoughts on this? Don't suppose there are two Heron hunting lodges? Rgds |
The original Series1 Heron had fixed gear and two bladed fixed pitch props. That lead some to assume that they only had fixed pitch also. Capt Wally the bloke who designed the Dove and Heron cockpits migrated to Florida and did the instrument layout for the Twin Comanche! |
Don't suppose there are two Heron hunting lodges? |
I believe CLT was the original lodge, it was moved up by one of AOT's engineers, well before the Vincent aircraft arrived in Tassie. I am not sure what happened to the fuselage or wings. Maybe AOT bought anything servicable from Vincents. The fuselage may have gone to the Evandale Tip where the fuselage of CLY was eventually dumped.
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Having spent many hours in the Jandakot Heron VH CJS it was sad to see it rotting away at Jandakot. VH CJS was, if my memory serves me correctly, the first Heron built. Imported to Aust from England in early 70's.
Fixed gear and Gypsy Queen 30 engines. I did my initial CIR in the beast. A pleasure to fly - "Fill the oil and check the fuel" |
DesertDuck
Did it really have fixed pitch props ? Must have been a swine to synch. Would've sounded like a DH86. |
I believe the old fixed gear Gypsy Heron that operated out of Auckland Int. in the early '70s, was once given a clearance to "track via your previous oil slick"
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Kendall Herons?
Did Max Langshaw fly Kendall (Kendell) Herons - Yes
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Stationair8
Max Langshaw flew Herons at Kendalls, he was Chief Pilot at the time. |
tinpis,
Ours, EJM, BBM and EKO were not operating out of Auckland until 1976, so the oil slick early 70"s must have been someone else's.;);):D |
Geez mate,an old fella can be a cuppla years out cant he? :uhoh:
Actually the fella what was flying it at the time went on to the whistling wheelbarrow across the Cook Strait and then to ANZ. Last heard of traversing the ditch in a 737 but more than likely retired/about to. Know who I mean? ;) |
What routes did Kendall's operate the Heron on?
What happened to VH-CLW? |
Launy Heron
Does anyone know if the Heron bought by the museum in Launceston is stored
or on display? I think it's VH-CLX. Used to fly it (and the other 2)for Airlines of Tas in the mid-90's. |
Stationair , here are some blocks from a 30 yr. old log book of KendEll Heron flying in NSW and Vic. - The port identfiers are a bit out of date.
WG - ML - WG , WG - GTH - WG - CB - WG - GTH , WG - ML - WG - NAR - GTH - ML - GTH - NAR - WG , WG - CB - MER - ML , GTH - ML - MER - CB - WG , MEL - MER - MCO - ML , WG - GTH - ML - MER - ML - GTH - WG. There were various other combinations linking these ports. |
Stationair8
VH-CLW went to Sunflower in Fiji as DQ-FDY. It is now with the Aust Aviation Museum at Bankstown, still as DQ-FDY. Bigbus330 The Queen Victoria Museum in Launceston have CLV & CLZ. I believe that one is on display and the other is in storage. I don't know which is which. Anyone in Launy had a look recently? Rgds |
Fris b
Thanks for the info. VH-CLX resides in another museum on the mainland. My logbook shows me and the skipper (Nigel Peart) crewing it's last flight ever,LT-FLI-LT on July 8th 1994. 30,000 hours airframe was the limit I recall! :ok: |
CLX is currently on display at Moorabbin Aircraft Museum. CLX was the lowest time of the Heron's operated by AOT. The reason being that it got very badly bent by a Departmental Test Pilot doing certification flying for Coonnair at Alice Springs. The fuselage was bent and I understand that external straps were fitted to the fuselage so that it could be ferried to Adelaide for repairs. When AOT got it, it had just 15000 hrs on it and needed a spar change, AOT eventually used the wings off CLY (which crashed at Launceston airport) to get CLX airworthy. From all accounts it was a dog to fly compared to the others. The life of 30,000 hrs was for the centre section carry through spar to be replaced and I understand British Aerospace quoted something like 750,000 UK pounds per aircraft. My engineering colleague said that the Manager of AOT needed oxygen when he read the quote!!! as the whole box and dice of AOT wasn't worth the cost of doing one aircraft.
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I have a feeling that VH-CLV still has some hours remaining...???:ok:
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My notes show the only high time Heron was KAM, which retired at 29,999 hrs 42 mins. I think Nigel Peart was the Captain on that last flight.The others except CLX were between 25 and 27,000 hrs.
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As someone has already subtly tried to cover, is is actually KENDELL with an E.
I remember standing on the tarmac with Dad waving goodbye to CLW on the way to Tarawa after some late night painting of the bird on the tail and dramas with some fuel leaks on the (from memory, lamax help me out here) rarely used outboard wing tanks that were on CLW not KAM. As DK and JM departed overhead we discovered the antenna for the newly acquired emergency beacon still sitting on the desk in the office! KAM and "Whiskey" were fantastic aircraft but sufferd the fate of the late 70's fuel price hikes and had to make way for the Metros. Heard some gresat stories of the landing ability (especially on grass at WG). Many fond memories of both aircraft in Kendell colours. And for the previous poster who asked about other aircraft, yes they had two Navajos, DAP and CLU, and a Shrike KAC (from memory). Sadly DAP crashed in the Tasman Sea off Nowra during a target towing incident. Believe it was an airspeed / engine failure / releasing the target issue that cuased the crash, not 100% sure. Thought CLU crashed near CNS, but from reading the post above maybe I confused that with the Connair Heron......:confused: |
CLX was retired from AoT service first,followed by KAM. Pretty sure Capt Kevin Swiggs was in command for KAM's last trip.
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My notes are a bit vague around the retirement time, but indicate CASA were worried about the airframes due to operating in coastal climates and the problem of sourcing spares, and AOT being very short of cash, entered a financial arrangement with Tamair to operate a Metro. Some where about this time (late 1995?) they must have ceased operations as my notes show them operating only the Metro and a E110, plus some Navajo's. Where you there then, BisBus330? If so, could you refresh my memory so I can update my notes. I was o/seas during that period of change and really only caught up when I came back, and by that time AOT had been wound up.
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Bigbus330
QAM's history of KAM shows that the pilot on her last flight was indeed as you have suggested. 04NOV94 Last flight (Launceston-Flinders Island-Launceston). Pilot Kevin Swiggs. Last log entry (29,999 hr 7 min). You quote KAM's total time as 29,999 hr 42 min. She might have been worth restoring to airworthy for 53 mins flying but 18 mins is out of the question :) Who would have expected a four page thread about the lovely Heron in 2008? With so many of her pilots on the thread, QAM would be pleased to hear any anecdotes about KAM. PM me if you prefer. Rgds |
Agony ,
CLW almost always leaked fuel when filled to capacity - the outboard tanks were selected for take off and landing. J McK. who is presently in the USA , is an authority on that last KD flight under the command of Capt. DMK. |
Didn't Don Kendell get a job flying Herons in the Scotland.
JMck, is he the former airline owner turned cotton farmer? lamax thanks for the detail on the Heron timetable, some long days their and plenty of sectors. |
I suppose most of AOT's Heron captains like Peart, Swiggs, Duff, Batchelor and Dawbin to mention a few would be retired by now, like their aircraft. Does any one know who the captain was that they called "pumpkin head"?
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Gunna have to send back to Oz for my old log book to answer that.
Recall Harris, Loffel, Shoebridge and of course Dallas fom AOT. |
Spent '91 to '95 flying DQ FED and DQ FDY in the Islands. Many happy memories of the Heron. If you could sync all those props up nicely, the pax would be all asleep by Top of Climb !
http://i205.photobucket.com/albums/b...untitled-2.jpg |
The original Heron designation was DH-114, did the Riley Heron carry the same designation?
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Just checked the licence, the endorsement is just DH-114...
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Ex Connellan Heron VH-CLW
Ex Connellan Heron CLW was purchased by Central Australian Aviation Museum inc. in June 2012 from Paul & Christene Ewold. It was trucked on a low loader from Bankstown (Via Hume Hwy to avoid the Blue Mtns). A new hangar is under construction where it will be put on public display. It is missing most of the panel instruments/radios, but has props & "dummy" engines made up of mounting brackets and the two front Lycoming cylinders. It still has the Sunflower livery, but will be re-painted in it's original Connellan colours. The cabin still has the original seats & interior lining etc. The original plush seat that was used by Konrad Adenaur is still stored at the Museum, and will be part of the display. President Cent Aust Aviation Museum 2014.
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Good to see it will be saved.
As the person who brought it back to Australia as DQ FDY we were going to put it on the Australian register until we found out the spar was cracked. It had had an engine fire in Fiji, and the spar had never been looked at. Hence why it languish at Bankstown for so long as being uneconomical. With regard the comment about original interior, I sorry but the seats are AOT designed ones. And the "Plush seat" you are talking about comes from VH NJP and was a standard original DH commuter seat refurbished by the Royal Navy. The executive seats when it was with the Luffwaffe are totally different. |
It has just gone twenty years since DH 114 VH-KAM operated the last RPT flight, for Airlines of Tasmania.
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Flew the DH104 Dove for some years, very near to where the Heron used to roost.
If I remember it used to go somewhat like this "CLP-Roper bar-cancel SAR-tah-cha,cha,cha" Memories of F/o Howard R Cheers Donderwolkje |
Wanna see my painting? Too bad, you're going to anyway......
[IMG]http://i1032.photobucket.com/albums/...nnairHeron.jpg[/IMG] These were the days when the Ayres Rock airstrip was right next to the monolith. |
"CLP-Roper bar-cancel SAR-tah-cha,cha,cha" Memories of F/o Howard R Cheers Donderwolkje "Charlie Lima Papa at the bar cancel SAR ta... PS I always thought CLP was a Twin Bonanza???? |
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