The Wings Over New Zealand Show

Guest:  Don Mackenzie Hosts: Dave Homewood Recorded:  2nd of September 2009 Duration:  1 hour 20 minutes 39 seconds In this episode Dave Homewood has delved into his archive and pulled out one of his early interviews from back in September 2009 with the late Flight Lieutenant Donald Malcolm Mackenzie AFC, mid, RNZAF, retired (NZ401776) of Hamilton. Don joined the RNZAF on the 2nd of July 1940, and...

Guest:  Murray Wallace Hosts: Dave Homewood and James Kightly Recorded:  16th of November 2015 Duration:  1 hour  12 minutes  25 seconds In this Wings Over Australia episode, Dave Homewood and James Kightly speak with Murray Wallace who spent five years as an engine fitter in the RAAF in the 1950’s before transferring to the Australian Army in 1961 to become a test pilot. He learned to fly t...

Guest:  Nick Veronico (Public Affairs spokesman for NASA’s SOFIA project) Host: Dave Homewood Recorded:  18th of June 2016 Duration:   49 minutes 48 seconds In this episode Dave talks with Nick Veronico of San Carlos, California, USA, who is currently working in Christchurch, New Zealand, with the NASA SOFIA project. SOFIA is an acronym for Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy. T...

Guest:  Matt Henderson Hosts: Dave Homewood and James Kightly Recorded:  15th of November 2015 Duration:  1 hour 37 minutes 40 seconds In this Wings Over Australia episode, Dave Homewood and James Kightly speak with Matt Henderson, who keeps his pristine NZAI CT/4 Airtrainer and Cessna Bird Dog at Kyneton Airport, in rural Victoria, Australia. They discuss the history of the Airtrainer, or Plastic...

Recorded:  12th  of June 2016 Duration:  1 hour 26 minutes 52 seconds In this episode we hear the recording of the New Zealand Bomber Command Commemorative Service held in the Hall of Memories of the Auckland War Memorial Museum.  This annual event remembers the thousands of New Zealanders who served with Bomber Command in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. The Master of Ceremonies w...

Guests:  Andy Wright, Ron Gretton and Geoff Matthews Hosts: Dave Homewood and James Kightly Recorded:  15th and 17th of November 2015 Duration:  2 hour 2 minutes 9 seconds   In this episode Dave Homewood and James Kightly visit the Royal Australian Air Force Museum at RAAF Point Cook in Victoria. James is a regular volunteer guide within this museum so he gives Dave a tour of the exhibits and...

Guest:  Matt Jolley, James Kightly Hosts: Dave Homewood and Grant McHerron Recorded:  April-May 2016 Duration:  3 hour 16 minutes 11 seconds (179 MB) In this special episode we celebrate marking the 100th episode of the Wings Over New Zealand Show. Host Dave Homewood is joined by his WONZ Live Show co-host Grant McHerron, and together they look back over the series and discuss how it came about, s...

Guest:  Mac Bettjeman Host: Dave Homewood Recorded:  30th of October 2015 Duration:  1 hour 39 minutes 26 seconds (136 MB) In this episode Dave Homewood talks with Mac Bettjeman, who lives in a retirement home in Tauranga. Mac talks about his childhood in the fascinating wilderness settlement in the Maungapurua Valley, near the Whanganui River and how the community failed to thrive and was pushed...

Guest:  Ian Whitney Host: Dave Homewood and James Kightly Recorded:  14th of November 2015, at Romsey, Australia Duration:  2 hours 5 minutes 20 seconds In this episode, in the Wings Over Australia sub-series, co-hosts Dave Homewood and James Kightly interview warbird recovery expert and restorer Ian Whitney. Ian talks about his background in aviation and how he got into the unusual field of recov...

Guest:  Lindsay Budge Host: Dave Homewood Recorded:  30th of October 2015 Duration:  43 minutes 57 seconds (60.3 MB) In this episode Dave Homewood chats with WWII RNZAF veteran Lindsey Budge of Tauranga, who is now aged 96. He was a herd tester before the war,then spent some time in the Army before he transferred to the RNZAF to train as aircrew. He trained in Canada and by the time he was ready t...

Guest:  Andrew Gormlie Host: Dave Homewood Recorded:  Friday 8th of January 2016 Duration:  28 minutes 36 seconds (41 MB) In this episode we hear from Andrew Gormlie of the Classic Flyers Museum in Tauranga about the upcoming “Classics To The Sky” Tauranga City Airshow, taking place on the 23rd of January 2016. He discusses what the public can expect to see, including the Spitfire at S...

Guest:  Nat Eichler Host: Dave Homewood and James Kightly Recorded:  15th of November 2015, at Werribee, Australia Duration: 59 minutes 27 seconds In this episode, another in the Wings Over Australia  sub-series, co-hosts Dave Homewood and James Kightly are given a guided tour of the magnificent ex-RAAF Consolidated B-24 Liberator restoration at Werribee, near Melbourne, Australia. Our guide is 95...

Guests:  Dave Sodastrom, Ewan McArthur and Ashley Briggs Host: Dave Homewood and James Kightly Recorded:  14th of November 2015, at Moorabbin, Australia Duration:  1 hour 57 minutes 46 seconds In this episode the “Wings Over Australia” co-hosts Dave Homewood and James Kightly visit The Australian National Aviation Museum at Moorabbin Airport near Melbourne, in Australia. Here they&#821...

Guest:  Phil Vabre and Maurice Austin Host: Dave Homewood and James Kightly Recorded:  13th of November 2015, at Essendon, Australia Duration:  1 hour 30 minutes 30 seconds In this episode, in the Wings Over Australia sub-series, co-hosts Dave Homewood and James Kightly are given a guided tour of The Airways Museum at Essendon Airport, Melbourne, by Phil Vabre and Maurice Austin. The museum is unu...

Guests: Gavin Grimmer, Chris Rudge, and the Reverend Richard Waugh Host: Dave Homewood Duration: 1 hour, 7 seconds Recorded: 10th of August 2015 Published: Topic: Over the decades many aeroplanes have simply vanished mid-flight in New Zealand, disappearing without trace. Most are thought to have gone down into the bush-clad rugged hill country. Three men who have devoted their time, energy and res...

Guest: Noel Kruse Host: Dave Homewood Duration: 1 hour 17 minutes, 28 seconds Recorded: 28th of July 2015 Published: 6th of September 2015 Topic: In this episode of the WONZ Show we continue the story of Noel Kruse’s aviation career. He talks about his time as a pilot, Flight Commander and then Commanding officer with No. 38 Squadron RAAF, flying the venerable transport aircraft, the DHC Car...

Guest: Bee Dawson Host: Dave Homewood Duration: 43 minutes, 11 seconds Topic: Dave talks with author Bee Dawson about her history-based writing, her RNZAF service, and her RNZAF-themed books, including High Flyers ,  Spreading Their Wings , Hobsonville , Wigram and her upcoming book on the history of RNZAF Station Lauthala Bay in Fiji. Quick Links: •  Bee Dawson’s Website By the way the smal...

Guest: Peter Tremayne Host: Dave Homewood Duration: 2 hours, 20 minutes, 42 seconds Topic: In this second episode with Peter Tremayne we begin by revisiting a few of the stories from episode one to add some corrections and a little more information. We then get into his fascinating post-Air Force career, from flying with Capital Aviation across the Cook Strait region, and James Aviation as a demon...

Guest: Peter Tremayne Host: Dave Homewood Duration: 2 hours 8 minutes, 5 seconds Topic: In this episode of the “Wings Over New Zealand Show” the host Dave Homewood speaks with Peter Tremayne about his flying in the Royal New Zealand Air Force between 1957 and 1977. Peter trained on Harvards and then went to Devons, and onto Bristol Freighters. He then volunteered for the RNZAF Antarcti...

Guest: Flight Lieutenant Douglas Stanley Peche Smith, DFC (NZ41948) Host: Dave Homewood Duration: 54 minutes, 20 seconds Topic: In this episode Dave Homewood talks with 97 year old WWII veteran pilot Flight Lieutenant Doug Smith, DFC, about his vivid and colourful memories from his flying days. Doug, who now lives in Orewa, tells of his background, joining the RNZAF and training, and then his serv...

Part One – The Wellingtons Guests: Jack Wakefield and the late Nick Carter Co-Hosts: Dave Homewood and Glen Turner Duration: 1 hour, 57 minutes, 38 seconds Topic: This is the first episode in a planned series detailing the long and proud history of No. 75 Squadron – both with the Royal Air Force and then with the Royal New Zealand Air Force. Regular WONZ Show host Dave Homewood is join...

Guest: The late Ron Noice Host: Dave Homewood Duration:  1 hour 42 minutes, 34 seconds Topic: In this episode Dave Homewood talks with his late friend Ron Noice, an RNZAF veteran who flew in RAF Bomber Command. Ron was a Navigator-Bomb Aimer, training in New Zealand, Canada and Britain, before being posted to No. 405 Squadron RCAF, which was part of the elite Pathfinder Force. The squadron flew Av...

Guest: Frank Parker Host: Dave Homewood Duration: 25 minutes, 24 seconds Topic: In this episode, another recording from the Wings Over New Zealand Forum Meet at the New Zealand Warbirds Association hangar at Ardmore, we hear from NZ Warbirds President Frank Parker, who talks about his experiences flying New Zealand’s one and only FlugWerk FW190. This is a full sized, full noise replica of th...

Guest: Peter Wheeler, Roy Montrowe, Keith Boles, Bill Petersen, Reg Dunbar, Des Hall and Alan Taylor Host: Dave Homewood Duration: 39 minutes, 31 seconds Recorded: 28th of September 2014 Topic: In this section of the Wings Over New Zealand Forum Meet we had a panel in which questions were put to ex-RNZAF and RAF Bomber Command veterans by Peter Wheeler of the New Zealand Bomber Command Association...

Guest: John Lanham Host: Dave Homewood Duration: 39 minutes, 06 seconds Recorded: 7th of January 2015 Topic: In this episode we hear from well known airshow display pilot John Lanham in his capacity of the Display Director for the famous “Wings Over Wairarapa” airshow which is coming up next week. John talks about the various aircraft displays that we can expect to see there, as well a...