I just thought i would take this opportunity to wish all of you the very best during this festive period and hope that you all have a fantastic Christmas and New Year.

If you are curious, Batfink shows us where Santa currently is?!?Despite initial reports he survived this scare:

All the best!

Maverick

You too Mav!

A merrie Christmas morning to all ye awaking kipper-noshing Brits, from ye last loyal colonial bastion of our glorious British Empire, New Zealand (fly to Melbourne, then take up a true track of 090 for 1,400 nm and you should sight me outside my humble sod hut, waving a Union Jack). I wish to thank the three known readers of my meandering ramblings and beseech ye to stick with me...I shall try to do better during ye 2009 (if the mighty Mav. does not Moderate me from the ether). We may be a primitive simple culture, but my chums in our Civil Aviation Authority have had the charity to concur with my pleading, grovelling and whining, and allowed our Douglas Dakotas to continue operating in the air transport category, even though, shock, horror, they are not fitted with escape slides to reach the ground three feet below the door-sill level. But I do hope ye Dame Fortune smiles down upon ye and yours during ye Northern Hemithingy 2009. And always remember, and never forget, to maintain thy ball in the centre and to lower ye nose a tad in ye turns. And, oh yes, it is ye power levers that make ye aeroplane elevate to ye higher FL (or clear ye trees); not ye dinky little stick thingy. But I must leave ye now to relish ye merrie yuletide day. God bless ye all...and Tiny Tim.

"Happiness is a sodding great P & W...supreme bliss is two on each wing!"

....and is there honey still for tea?  

Returning the wishes, Maverick .....

To you and all the friends of Flightglobal .....

Do you remember, Dakota, when RNZAF got a Vulcan bomber ?

Merry Christmas from Italy .....

Gadzooks; I must have been up in PNG when the RNZAF replaced its Canberras with Vulcans. But I do recall rather vividly when RNZAF Ohakea received a somewhat bent Vulcan for a long stay. I was a few hundred yards away from the Vulcan that touched down a tad short on RW 34 at the 1959 opening of Wellington Airport. From memory, it had done two trial touch and gos in really gusty conditions and on the third approach he was looking real serious about landing (I am not sure of his intent). Aircraft sank badly, power went to max, but left main gear impacted into soft ground. One hell of a bang, gear folded back violently, left wing dropped, nearly struck runway, engines spooled up just in nick of time and Vulcan staggered away to land at Ohakea. A day of alarms as a RNZAF Sunderland did a low run, sank, ripped part of keel out and also staggered away with bilge water trailing. It flew to RNZAF Hobsonville, landed in harbour and did a very fast taxi to ramp. What a day! One highlight was F-101 Voodoos at very high speed. Another was the first Lockheed C-130s we has seen. Handley-Page Herald was there as was Fokker f-27. We purchased F-27 which caused a stink as it was not British.......better not ramble on to long.

"Happiness is a Rolls-Royce Dart...misery is several of them if outside without ear muffs..."

Dakota .....

You are referring to a 1959 episode .....

"The undercarriage of a Vulcan made heavy contact with the runway during an air show for the opening of Rongotai (Wellington) Airport New Zealand in 1959. Despite one main undercarriage leg being non-functional the aircraft returned to Ohakea and landed safely, toppling onto the grass verge at the end of its run. There was a long delay while it was decided whether to scrap it, ship it back by sea, or repair it in situ. In the end, the aircraft was repaired by the RNZAF - who helpfully applied kiwi roundels. A display at the Ohakea branch of the Royal New Zealand Air Force Museum includes honeycombed skin from the damaged aircraft. "

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sp-HBypWY5M

..... While I was referring to a 1972 episode .....

http://www.avrovulcan.org.uk/vulcan_people/562_kiwi.htm

..... a 1959 episode .....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sp-HBypWY5M

..... while I was referring to a 1972 episode ..... .....

http://www.avrovulcan.org.uk/vulcan_people/562_kiwi.htm

..... when another Vulcan (XH 562) was treated in the same way .....

Here is another video of the 1959 Vulcan's mishap .....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3iMw7Q7H68&NR=1

Here we have the aircraft after the landing at RNZAF Ohakea .....

And here we can see the very LOW run of the Sunderland .....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hu2qxgtFvW8

 Thankyou very much dear..What are your plans for this year..I pray God to give all you a peace and prosperity..