Posted
7/4/00
Dear
Mr. Ison, and all the people at ISON Aircraft,
I must
apologize for the delay in getting photographs and other material to
you after the conclusion of the Rangi Ruru aircraft construction project.
Construction dragged on a bit due to my indifferent health, but in the
end there was a successful series of flights following which the plane
was displayed on a number of occasions at places up to 425 kilometers
from Christchurch.
Finally
the plane, with its Maori name, "Rererangi," meaning, aeroplane
or sky traveler, or even celestial flyer, was sold to a Museum of Transport
at Lake Wanaka adjacent to where the Warbirds Over Wanaka flying exhibition
is held every two years.
I am
forwarding a copy of the school magazine which may be of interest to
you. See the front cover, back cover, and references on pages 7 and
18. Also there is a small copy of the large poster which was prepared
by the school to hang beside the plane which sits on an elevated position
in the museum high above damage level.
I've
included an information sheet that was used to brief helpers who faced
the public at the numerous displays to which the plane was taken. These
included an Agricultural and Pastoral Show at Blenheim, WarBirds, a
Commonwealth gathering for awards in Technology with delegates from
Great Britain, Malaysia, Australia and a whole lot more, and a six week
display at "Science Alive in Christchurch" where many of the
exhibits are interactive and change to different topics every month
or so. (Click on images for enlargement)
We
also had a month's display at the Ashburton Aviation Museum which hosted
local school children who were all given rides in local aero-club planes.
School parent-days had the plane on view at Rangi Ruru and on another
occasion over two days technology teachers from all over New Zealand
were given hands-on seminars. You can imagine all the dismantling, re-assembly
for trucking and trailering that all this involved, plus all the re-furbishing
of paintwork required to keep the plane spick and span.
A TV
crew from Channel 1 filmed various aspects of the building of the plane
until the day of its naming ceremony and later its first flight. I have
a copy of this short programme which was televised over the whole country.
It is on VHS and I don't know of any agency which could re-record it
for your American system. However, if you would like me to make a copy
on VHS, you might like to get a transfer made locally. I very rarely
meet anyone who failed to see the programme.
"Rererangi"
made a great impact, partly because it was made by a girls' school,
and because it looked so good. We believe it has been a world first
for a girls' school. We heard about a boys' school, Arrowhead High School,
I think it was in Wisconsin, who were building the MAX 103, and contacted
them but unfortunately we lost touch with them. I hope they had as satisfying
a result as we did. Our set-up allowed for girls of all ages to become
builders. When they were under pressure to get on with music lessons,
or sporting commitments they could leave at any time.
A High
School in Hamilton in the North Island of NZ set out to build a Murphy
metal aircraft a couple of years after we made a start. They had some
instructors who were deeply involved in the aviation industry. Their
plan was to sort out about 30 students and have them stay with the task
until it was done. Then the plan was to use the machine for instructional
purposes. We think that our plan was a very good one that worked well
for us. As far as I know we never had any reply to our letter to Hamilton.
It
was a stressful time when the plane was to be handed over to the Museum.
The owner told us his favourite commercial pilot would come and fly
the plane down to Wanaka. But the pilot was not able to take time off
from his commercial flying for several months. In any case the ferocious
Fohn-type winds blasting over the Southern Alps would have caught "Rererangi"
and destroyed it in the violent rotors in the lee of the Alps.
The
Museum owner then proposed to put the wings on top of other cargo in
huge curtainsider trailers plying to Wanaka. At that point I volunteered
to build huge rigid boxes to accommodate the wings; the mighty sidewalls
and end-plates would have done well as wing spars in the famous wooden
aircraft the "Spruce Goose." These boxes were then built on
to pallets to be shifted by fork-lift on to the decks of the curtainsiders
with strict instructions not to pile other cargo on top! The creation
of the containers was an exercise in design, and over a period of nearly
three months I did little else. The wings sat safely in the boxes firmly
held by padded rails and by the normal wing-attachment plates and by
special brackets on the outboard wing ribs. A triumph of engineering.
The
whole plane arrived without a scratch. The museum claimed that they
needed no help in putting it all together. But I went down anyway and
saw the assembly to a safe conclusion. Which all goes to prove the old
saying that "when your project is 95% finished you are about half
way. And when you have really finished there is still another 30% waiting
for you."
Finally
I must express my heartfelt gratitude for all the help we were given
by ISON Aircraft during the long course of our project. Our numerous panic-stricken
cries for help were generously heard by ISON Aircraft staff and we hope that
we have conveyed to you some of our satisfaction and great joy in the
successful outcome that together with ISON Aircraft we have produced.
There
is still a lot of tidying up to be done, tools to be returned etc.,
and for me several years of household chores including painting, plumbing,
gardening and so forth. But fortunately for me my wife, Janet, is very
patient and will continue to be. I hope, although I know better than
to mention a certain Pietenpol aeroplane project waiting in the wings...
If I get started on that my home chores which are regarded legally as
a suspended sentence, will all fall due at once.
I still
get pure delight out of flying my Hi-Max, ZK-JBM and hope that I can
one day become the oldest active pilot in NZ. My doctor still keeps
dishing out my medicals but it's anyone's guess how long this will continue
(I am now aged 75!). I am currently under serious scrutiny for a medical
problem which I think could be connected to my service with a NZ Army
contingent while serving alongside the American 173rd Airborne Brigade
in South Vietnam in 1966 and later with an Australian Task Force; the
name of the enemy was "Agent Orange."
Very
best wishes to all at ISON Aircraft.
With
my very warm regards,
Alastair
S. McKenzie
