The Wings Over New Zealand Show

Guest: Ian Quinn Host: Dave Homewood Recorded: 13th of July 2025 Published: 14th of July 2025 Duration: 1 hour 19 minutes, 55 seconds In this episode Dave Homewood chats with Ian Quinn, aka ‘chinapilot’ on the Wings Over New Zealand Forum – https://rnzaf.proboards.com Ian started his aviation career volunteering as a schoolboy at the Wellington Aero Club in the 1960s. He then went on to a long career in commercial aviation, including flying skiplane Cessnas with Mount Cook Airlines, flying in Australia, New Britain, Bougainville, Fiji, NAC, Air New Zealand and Cathay Pacific. He lives in Hong Kong, where this interview was conducted from via Zoom, and since retiring from Cathay he has worked for the Hong Kong air accidents authority. Ian talks all about the interesting roles he has had in aviation, the places he has lived and the people he has met along the way. Photos from Ian Quinn’s collection. All are copyright Ian Quinn. [https://cambridgeairforce.org.nz/WONZShow/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/471259803_10163231427649048_5289091285234127424_n-1-1024x734.jpg]https://cambridgeairforce.org.nz/WONZShow/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/471259803_10163231427649048_5289091285234127424_n-1.jpgAbove: Ian in the captain’s seat of a Cathay Pacific Lockheed Tristar in 1994. [https://cambridgeairforce.org.nz/WONZShow/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/38ae166c-bd63-458d-b881-c1f58de58a42.jpeg]https://cambridgeairforce.org.nz/WONZShow/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/38ae166c-bd63-458d-b881-c1f58de58a42.jpeg [https://cambridgeairforce.org.nz/WONZShow/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/472526609_10163305717839048_3385305953189269530_n.jpg]https://cambridgeairforce.org.nz/WONZShow/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/472526609_10163305717839048_3385305953189269530_n.jpgAbove: 17-year-old Ian Quinn with a Tiger Moth at Omaka Aerodrome, Blenheim, while he was working as a refueller for SAFE Air [https://cambridgeairforce.org.nz/WONZShow/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/468718689_10163091304629048_3201320247957315248_n-1024x767.jpg]https://cambridgeairforce.org.nz/WONZShow/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/468718689_10163091304629048_3201320247957315248_n.jpgAbove: ZK-COH, one of the ski-equipped Cessna 185E tourist flight planes that Ian flew while working for Mount Cook Airlines. [https://cambridgeairforce.org.nz/WONZShow/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/468569632_10163091306744048_6877340083720193613_n.jpg]https://cambridgeairforce.org.nz/WONZShow/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/468569632_10163091306744048_6877340083720193613_n.jpgAbove: Ian and Cessna 185A ZK-CBS on Tasman Glacier, New Zealand, in 1968. [https://cambridgeairforce.org.nz/WONZShow/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/468047364_10162849014324048_2559732198168336721_n-1024x683.jpg]https://cambridgeairforce.org.nz/WONZShow/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/468047364_10162849014324048_2559732198168336721_n.jpgAbove: Ian at the Inus Plantation, Bougainville, PNG, in 1971. [https://cambridgeairforce.org.nz/WONZShow/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2f40ce1c-94c5-4c33-92f7-e8f311595e2b-1-549x1024.jpeg]https://cambridgeairforce.org.nz/WONZShow/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2f40ce1c-94c5-4c33-92f7-e8f311595e2b-1.jpeg [https://cambridgeairforce.org.nz/WONZShow/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/468628719_10162931480139048_4766617056483178134_n-1024x693.jpg]https://cambridgeairforce.org.nz/WONZShow/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/468628719_10162931480139048_4766617056483178134_n.jpgAbove: Ian flying over Tarawa, in the Gilbert & Ellice Islands, 1975. [https://cambridgeairforce.org.nz/WONZShow/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/468703791_10163035635519048_4147586361146507223_n-1024x684.jpg]https://cambridgeairforce.org.nz/WONZShow/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/468703791_10163035635519048_4147586361146507223_n.jpgAbove: Ian with a Twin Otter. at, Mitiaro [approximately 150NM NNE of Rarotonga], Cook Islands, 1979. [https://cambridgeairforce.org.nz/WONZShow/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/472225367_10163298145179048_2113906967465919473_n-1024x506.jpg]https://cambridgeairforce.org.nz/WONZShow/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/472225367_10163298145179048_2113906967465919473_n-scaled.jpgAbove: An Air New Zealand Fokker F-27 Friendship, as flown by Ian in the late 1970s and into the early 1980s. The photo was taken in 1981. [https://cambridgeairforce.org.nz/WONZShow/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/467764691_10162830583359048_8095640271179410274_n.jpg]https://cambridgeairforce.org.nz/WONZShow/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/467764691_10162830583359048_8095640271179410274_n.jpgAbove: The Cathay Pacific Lockheed Tristar as flown by Ian in the 1980s. [https://cambridgeairforce.org.nz/WONZShow/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/468779626_10163028076784048_8822713897548686860_n-1024x498.jpg]https://cambridgeairforce.org.nz/WONZShow/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/468779626_10163028076784048_8822713897548686860_n-scaled.jpgAbove: The Cathay Pacific Boeing 747 Jumbo Jet. [https://cambridgeairforce.org.nz/WONZShow/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/f18796f7-1e9d-4869-8866-33b0763213fb.jpeg]https://cambridgeairforce.org.nz/WONZShow/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/f18796f7-1e9d-4869-8866-33b0763213fb.jpegAbove: Ian with his son, also a pilot. [https://cambridgeairforce.org.nz/WONZShow/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/a14c3205-8ac1-4ac7-a5d2-5e7c4788a5a7.jpeg]https://cambridgeairforce.org.nz/WONZShow/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/a14c3205-8ac1-4ac7-a5d2-5e7c4788a5a7.jpegAbove: Ian with his daughter who is also a pilot. [https://cambridgeairforce.org.nz/WONZShow/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/38b3b227-1ef7-4ba7-9e71-2412f86261c2-755x1024.jpeg]https://cambridgeairforce.org.nz/WONZShow/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/38b3b227-1ef7-4ba7-9e71-2412f86261c2.jpegAbove: Ian in the cockpit of a Cathay Pacific Boeing 747.

Guest: Martin Hedley Host: Dave Homewood Recorded: 2nd of March 2025 Published: 27th of June 2025 Duration:  32 minutes, 38 seconds In this episode we hear the final presentation given at the WONZ 20th Anniversary Forum Meet at Ardmore. The presenter is Martin Hedley, foreman at Pioneer Aero Ltd., the warbird restoration company at Ardmore. And he is talking about the company’s current main project, the Douglas SBD-5 Dauntless dive bomber from WWII. The Dauntless is being restored from a wreck recovered from Lake Michigan by Taras Lyssenko, General Manager of A and T Recovery, and combining it with parts from a second aircraft that had been a wind machine in the film industry. The project started at Pioneer under the ownership of Jerry Yagen, but he has since handed all his collection over to the care of his museum, the Military Aviation Museum, at Virginia Beach. Quick Links: • The Wings Over New Zealand Forum [https://rnzaf.proboards.com/] • Pioneer Aeros Ltd. [https://pioneeraero.co.nz/] • Pioneer Aero Ltd. on Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100057148672320] • New Zealand Warbirds Association Ltd [https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nzwarbirds.org.nz%2F%3Ffbclid%3DIwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR5nusw87bRnsznHt8vi70tPGHodj9hYF9lmGiwa0D3UIlR3CN6E0A6khtYHQQ_aem_zhWkxTmojI0pxmJZrPh2vQ&h=AT2Odl0ONVs6utLTlhFjUD23Vv8tJwqioCnAgYZ3HSvzyIQ2a1d7DxpI7ex6-Izs4AoC7CITSSZqTb7eiqiCyMhmK7nIIEf9G9Saf6ZojdPGxB0tAaR2XmzJmJXFY-0ScFY] • NZ Warbirds Association of Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064406511092] Thanks to Stu Russell for the recording. The music is Wild Flower by Joachim Karud. [https://cambridgeairforce.org.nz/WONZShow/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/IMG_4530a-1024x778.jpg]https://cambridgeairforce.org.nz/WONZShow/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/IMG_4530a.jpg [https://cambridgeairforce.org.nz/WONZShow/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/IMG_4550-1024x768.jpg]https://cambridgeairforce.org.nz/WONZShow/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/IMG_4550-scaled.jpg [https://cambridgeairforce.org.nz/WONZShow/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/IMG_4554-768x1024.jpg]https://cambridgeairforce.org.nz/WONZShow/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/IMG_4554-scaled.jpg Above: Photos from Martin’s presentation, taken by Phil Treweek. [https://cambridgeairforce.org.nz/WONZShow/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/476797952_1122270923021186_1244486305572925806_n-1024x692.jpg]https://cambridgeairforce.org.nz/WONZShow/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/476797952_1122270923021186_1244486305572925806_n.jpgThe Dauntless when it was pulled from Lake Michigan. (From the Pioneer Aero Ltd. Facebook page). [https://cambridgeairforce.org.nz/WONZShow/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/478975668_1123030149611930_1866590573427898651_n-1-1024x768.jpg]https://cambridgeairforce.org.nz/WONZShow/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/478975668_1123030149611930_1866590573427898651_n-1.jpgMartin unwrapping the Dauntless when it first arrived in New Zealand. (From the Pioneer Aero Ltd. Facebook page). [https://cambridgeairforce.org.nz/WONZShow/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/479970851_1123030076278604_5798265164720400656_n-1024x768.jpg]https://cambridgeairforce.org.nz/WONZShow/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/479970851_1123030076278604_5798265164720400656_n.jpgThe Pioneer Aero Ltd. team with the Dauntless fuselage in 2023, with Martin standing in the cockpit. (From the Pioneer Aero Ltd. Facebook page). There is also a video version of this podcast below, thanks to Stu Russell.

Guest: Phillip Harrall AFC, MPhil, FRAeShttps://www.linkedin.com/in/phillip-harrall-afc-mphil-a9609416/overlay/about-this-profile/?lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Ad_flagship3_profile_view_base%3BxG8KsdAVTqGzkNZwbgHW3A%3D%3D Host: Dave Homewood Recorded: 23rd of February 2025 Published: 15th of June 2025 Duration:  41 minute, 36 seconds In this episode we hear an edited down presentation given at the WONZ 20th Anniversary Forum Meet at Wigram by Phillip Harrall, a former Royal Navy Observer. Phillip was born in New Zealand but his career took him into the Royal Navy, where his father was a pilot. After his training, Phillip flew as observer in the Hawker Hunter as lead in to the Blackburn Buccaneer, which he enjoyed immensely till a medical issue saw him move to the Rotary Wing of the FAA. He ended up flying in the Sea King and the Westland Lynx helicopters for a lot of his career, on and off ships. He was involved in weapon development work, and when the Argentinians invaded the Falkland Islands he and a team working on the Sea Skua missile and other developments rushed them into service. Phillip was deployed to the Falklands in command of a Lynx, and he ended up involved in several combat actions, which he describes. He is Secretary of the Canterbury Branch of the Royal Aeronautical Society New Zealand Division, and Vice President of the RAeS New Zealand Division. And he is a volunteer at the Air Force Museum of New Zealand. There is also a YouTube version of this recording so you can see the PowerPoint slides that Phillip used. Quick Links: • The Wings Over New Zealand Forum [https://rnzaf.proboards.com/] • The Air Force Museum of New Zealand [https://airforcemuseum.co.nz/] • The Air Force Museum of New Zealand on Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/AirForceMuseumofNewZealand] • The Royal Aeronautical Society New Zealand Division – Canterbury Branch [https://aerosociety.nz/branches/canterbury/] The music is Wild Flower by Joachim Karud. Thanks to Allan Udy for his help with the audio recording. Thanks also to Phil Treweek. [https://cambridgeairforce.org.nz/WONZShow/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Untitled-1.jpg]https://cambridgeairforce.org.nz/WONZShow/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Untitled-1.jpg

Guest: Bob McGarry Host: Dave Homewood Recorded: 23rd of February 2025 Published: 8th of June 2025 Duration:  58 minutes, 19 seconds In this episode we hear a presentation given at the WONZ 20th Anniversary Forum Meet at Wigram by licensed aeronautical engineer Bob McGarry. He talks about his career in aviation, which included the RNZAF, and working with Arch Finch at Rotorua where he learned his trade. He then worked for Fieldair in their engine shop at Palmerston North. He then went to Christchurch to run the engine shop for Airwork (N.Z.) Ltd. Next he set up his own aero maintenance business with Alan Mincher at West Melton airfield. It was while he was there that he decided he needed a project, and he acquired the remains of Simmonds Spartan ZK-ABK back to airworthy condition. The Spartan was New Zealand’s first airliner, having operated originally with New Zealand Airways Ltd of Dunedin in 1929. Bob tells the story of the restoration in some detail. [https://cambridgeairforce.org.nz/WONZShow/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/DSC_6699-1-1024x680.jpg]https://cambridgeairforce.org.nz/WONZShow/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/DSC_6699-1-scaled.jpg There is also a YouTube version so you can see the photos, which have been extracted from Bob’s PowerPoint presentation. Quick Links: • The Wings Over New Zealand Forum [https://rnzaf.proboards.com/] • The Air Force Museum of New Zealand [https://airforcemuseum.co.nz/] • The Air Force Museum of New Zealand on Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/AirForceMuseumofNewZealand] • The Ashburton Aviation Museum (now home of the Spartan) [https://www.aviationmuseum.co.nz/] • The Ashburton Aviation Museum on Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/Ashburtonaviationmuseum] The music is Wild Flower by Joachim Karud. Thanks to Allan Udy for his help with the audio recording. Thanks also to Phil Treweek.

Guest: Anthony Galbraith and Stephen Carruthers Host: Dave Homewood Recorded: 23rd of February 2025 Published: 23rd of May 2025 Duration: 48 minutes, 34 seconds In this episode recorded at the Air Force Museum of New Zealand, during the WONZ 20th Anniversary Forum Meet held there on the 23rd of February 2025, we hear from Anthony Galbraith and Stephen Carruthers on their project to bring the 1928 Gloster Grebe biplane fighter back from extinction. They have formed the SHW Aviation Trust, named after Sir Henry Wigram who had donated the money that purchased the New Zealand Permanent Air Force’s first Grebe. The trust is working to gather parts, remnants, drawings, photos, and history of the Grebes and the people who flew and maintained them. Quick Links: • The Wings Over New Zealand Forum [https://rnzaf.proboards.com/] • NZ501 Gloster Grebe [https://www.facebook.com/groups/347963671009520/] on Facebook • The Air Force Museum of New Zealand [https://airforcemuseum.co.nz/] • The Air Force Museum of New Zealand on Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/AirForceMuseumofNewZealand] The music is Wild Flower by Joachim Karud. [https://cambridgeairforce.org.nz/WONZShow/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/WgF139-1024x774.jpg]https://cambridgeairforce.org.nz/WONZShow/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/WgF139-scaled.jpgSide view of Grebe NZ501 at Wigram Aerodrome. Air Force Museum of New Zealand WgF139. Here is a video version so you can see the slides.