Get thee to a theatre (3 February 2025)

Marcus spends a night celebrating and remembering the Hercules C-130s, which are officially ending their service in New Zealand's Defence Force.

LISTEN ABOVE 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Marcus lush Night's podcast from News Talks.

Speaker 2 (00:11):
A'd be.

Speaker 3 (00:13):
Good evening everyone, and welcome, Welcome to February. Well, although
I think it's been February for three days now. Oh no,
this is the first time I've been on Aaron February,
isn't it? Saturday? The first Sunday? The second, Monday the third?
So that's exciting. Greetings, one of them is Marcus. Here
till twelve o'clock to night. It's my job. But that's

(00:35):
it for the next three hours fifty three. I'm in Chargish.

Speaker 4 (00:38):
Hey.

Speaker 3 (00:39):
Something I haven't seen mentioned in any media, and that's
not surprising is the flyover of the Hercules. I presume
that was today. First question for me, did you because
I believe it must be down in Vicargo Leper It
was going to fly down the length of the country,
down the west coast and landing in Vercago tonight and

(01:00):
fly north up the east coast tomorrow. Did he want
to see it? I was going cross p Harn down
through the west coast towns I think, came in and
down across Juanaca, Queenstown, Riverton. So if you saw that,
give me a holler. The other thing too, if anyone
out there is a plain identifier, can you go back

(01:21):
on can you go back and watch flight radar retrospectively?
I was in Viicago this morning about ten past nine
and a plane floor overhead appeared to be a jet.
I've got no idea what it was or where it
was going. It wasn't he in New Zealand and we
don't get jets down here, So if anyone could look up,
can you do that retrospectively? Dan, I'm asking you to

(01:41):
do it, But can you go back on flight radar
and see what when a plane was? I think with
a pro account you'd need to have that. So if
you've got a pro account and you go and see
what whenever in Vericago between nine and nine thirty, I'd
really really appreciate that. Appreciate But the first question for
you is if you saw the flyby by the last
of the Hercules. Now, the SEMs have gone on for

(02:02):
a number of times, but tonight I think was one
of the final ones. If you saw that, how was that?
Did you see it? You might have a news crew
on it, because if anyone who saw the Hercules fly over,
that's what I'm curious to talk about tonight. That's obviously
not the whole show. I just want to get going
with that because yeah, but we're going to be farewelled

(02:25):
at North Island's West Coast towns in the South Island today.
So did it happen? There were five and this is
their last hurrah? So I think it's coming up the
East Coast tomorrow. So if you saw that, that's important

(02:48):
to me. Now I don't know what's happening to them.
I feel I've discussed there so many I've lost the
plot with what's happening to them. I think there's one's
going to the Air Force Museum. Yeah, so I don't
know why they're saying they're retiring on Friday, because the
fly of is tomorrow at Christchurch Airport at twelve twenty five. Oh,

(03:12):
then it's going to go back over the other side.
Then it's going to go over north into the central
North Island. Four of the museums would then retire to
the RINZAF base in Woodburn and the fifth would go
to the Air Force Museum at Wigram. I don't know
what they'll do with them at Woodburn. So if you
know anything more about that if you're going to work

(03:34):
on them, let us know. These are the planes that
have been to Antarctica a number of times, very much
involved with Erebus. They dropped a bulldozer onto the pitkins.
It's a good article there in the ODT. Actually, I'm
going to be replaced by new five new C one
thirty J thirty hercules, which you've already arrived. I think.

(03:56):
So if you saw those, let me know what that
was like, and if you've got any comments about what
they do with them for it would be and I'd
be curious to know about that. We've had them since
nineteen sixty five. They're sixty years old. That's unbelievable service.
Of course, originally used for transporting Indian Army one six

(04:17):
one battery to Vietnam. I think, of course through upgraded
the kit and can bodle on them as well. But
if you have seen those today on the fly of
I want to talk about that before I go on
with anything else. Sometimes you guys take a long time
and I ask you something like that. But these things
are roadblocks. If we don't get over that, when we
can't do the next one. So where were you? How

(04:38):
did you see them? And how low were they? Marcus
Good Evening. Potentially useful topics sometimes could be the huge
number of pop up messages coming in over recent months
from some particular retailers. They pop into your phone and
plague proportions unless you purchase an anti Spirer program like

(04:58):
fish Shark. Don't know about those, but nice to hear
from your Brent Good Evening, Tony, it's Marcus, welcome, MICUs,
good time. You asked about those sliver Yes, yeah, up.

Speaker 5 (05:14):
And bolts and they fell over, about three of them,
about about as too.

Speaker 3 (05:22):
Oh great. I didn't realize there was three. I thought
there was only going to be one. That's quite special.

Speaker 6 (05:27):
Yeah low, pretty pretty loud.

Speaker 3 (05:32):
Could you pick a guess how low they would be?
Would there be a thousand feet? Ah?

Speaker 5 (05:38):
Oh not pretty good high than that, but okay yeah yeah,
maybe maybe had one thousand meters pretty high?

Speaker 3 (05:46):
Yeah, okay, were you aware they were coming or caught
you by surprise?

Speaker 6 (05:50):
I just heard them, definitely, definitely heard them.

Speaker 3 (05:53):
Brilliant. Okay, I might even see them fly over tomorrow morning.
I might even get up for that. Jason, Marcus Good Evening, Hey, mate, Hi, Jason.

Speaker 7 (06:04):
Right, Yeah, I was just concerned about the guess prices
and these things that are going to be retired. How
much is that colas's going to flow into Wellington? And
let's sort of carry on just concerning I guess if you've.

Speaker 3 (06:16):
Got an air force, right, you probably are aware they're
going to use fuel. That would be my take. How
much would they cost to run?

Speaker 8 (06:22):
I don't know, thousands of a day, I guess, bro.

Speaker 3 (06:27):
I guess the big thing about an air force is visibility.
When people see it, they believe they're safe. Would that
be right?

Speaker 9 (06:34):
Possibly?

Speaker 5 (06:35):
Possibly?

Speaker 7 (06:35):
But we're a safe country, mate, we're nuclear free. Yeah, okay,
pir enough Yeah, yeah, there's a way to petrol mate,
the way they're parading. Who's been congoled aeroplanes?

Speaker 3 (06:47):
And yeah, I take your point. I take your point, Jason.
I was more talking to those people that had enjoyed
those real aviation that's what they thought of it.

Speaker 7 (07:01):
Yeah and fair cool mate, Yeah, just so taxpayer mats
paying for it. So can they hang up the boots, mate,
they're over get some new ones on the go.

Speaker 3 (07:09):
But yeah, at one thousand feet so that was right
according to flight radar, Marcus, what number can I send
a flight radar screenshot? Too, Dan. I'm just trying to
think what number they can send a flight radar screenshot too?

(07:29):
Could you put it? Give them my number or that
would you give them yours? And yeah, and then you
can send it to me. You'll send back to them text.
I was out in Muddawaii and West Aukland Thursday and
Friday last week, swimming and suit saught to wear force

(07:50):
planes that looked like the Hercules fly over not sure
reflate to day and where they were flying low and
up the coach hitting north get someone got to see
who a little excited at the time, three of them.
Marcus saw them put you and they're at a thousand
feet look great, just one sweep over us, Mark, So
please the Hercules are landing and blend them tomorrow. They're
flowing into would been many times over the years, and

(08:11):
they're so majestic Annoise every time. We'll miss them immensely.
Cheers Gilly Marcus. The three planes threw free low over
putet of a beauty Thesavo is so spectacular. I even
said a swear word very loudly. Caro or Caro, Could
someone tell me what they'll do with them? At Woodbourne

(08:35):
Marcus three flew over the Marina today quite low was
awesome rawity on the Superchi is what Marinian three Oriyans
flew low over our house and wake and I the SSAVO.
There we go. You're get in touch. Oh eight hundred
eighty ten eighty nine nine two de text. My name

(08:57):
is Marcus, welcome, get in touch now. I've got other questions.
But also if you never know what's happening to the Hercules,
give us a whole eight hundred and eighty nine text
Marcus till midnight. Anything I want to talk about tonight?
I've got another question for a topic, right, So I

(09:23):
just got to do some texting back to people as well.
It was the boys first day at intermediate school today,
but I put a page. I put a post up
on the z'd b Facebook page upposed to be my
private Facebook page. That's why I took it down, so yeah,
which I thought was fair enough. He isn't asked for that.

(09:43):
He did look happy, though, Boy was he happy? Boy
was he happy? Great years the intermediate years. Hello, Dennis,
it's Marcus welcome.

Speaker 8 (09:53):
Oh Marcus, how you doing? We saw the fly over
at New Plymouth today?

Speaker 10 (09:57):
Great?

Speaker 8 (09:58):
And just fantastic at about thousand feet heading out over
the islands and hidden down south. Have to bet it
wasn't more a bit of advertised.

Speaker 3 (10:08):
You know, you decided to be starkled to go on
about it because I only found out on Facebook.

Speaker 8 (10:15):
Yeah, yeah, it was a bit of everdise. I think
you'd have a lot of people out on the streets.

Speaker 3 (10:21):
And yeah, I agree because I always remember at school
when special planes flew over it was always a bit
did they were people on the breakwater and it came
across over the ocean? Is that just off the coast?
Is that where they went?

Speaker 8 (10:34):
Well, just just sort of over New Plymouth Harbor, hitting
over the island around the coast. Just beautiful.

Speaker 3 (10:41):
I would have been at the top of Peratutu. That
would have been the spot, wouldn't it.

Speaker 8 (10:45):
There you go, mate, absolutely you might have seen a
few marland jumping.

Speaker 3 (10:48):
Too good to hear from your dinners. What do you
say if you watch E didn't hear that? John Marcus, welcome.

Speaker 11 (10:55):
Good Marcus, here you go, good time. I'm just ringing
up about the planes. I live in Little Beach for
rapper Hoey Beach, just north of gray Mouse, and the
planes came flying past here today this afternoon. I was
out in the shed and the missis came running out
and she she thought we were getting invaded. They were
that low and anyway, they flew along the beach here

(11:19):
and point Elizabeth's a big head land at the end
of the beach here.

Speaker 3 (11:24):
Oh, yes, I've done that. I've done that walk over
port headling there from from Graymouth or from Cobdon Elizabeth.

Speaker 11 (11:30):
Yeah, yeah, And they were flying along there. We thought
they were going to fly straight into it, but they
went over it very low, you know, like, yeah, they
were low anyway, I don't know how high were certainly
logo along the beach was quite spectacular.

Speaker 12 (11:47):
I think.

Speaker 3 (11:48):
I don't think I've talked to anyone on on talk
back from Rapahoey before.

Speaker 11 (11:53):
You're spoken to me once along back now it was
the laugh was about here anyway, that was all good.
I've rung you once before. Yeah, I think I give
you a dingle.

Speaker 3 (12:05):
Okay. It's still in a public rapperhoy.

Speaker 11 (12:09):
Well it's still there, but it's not operating anymore. A
guy lives here. It's just the house now. Crime ah, sure,
as it was one of the best little pubs around
that one. But that's the way it goes these days,
a bit the.

Speaker 3 (12:21):
Way it goes. Everyone wants a twelve dollars craft beer,
don't they anyway? By the way, still to know what
plane fly over in ver Cargo at nine nine thirty today,
If anyone's got flight rad I can go back in that.
I should ask the bosses to get me a professional
could tell you what When you're at It's like it's
like before I was into trains, I never heard of train.
Now I can at three k's away, I can hear

(12:43):
when one of the the exes is going by. And
just the same when you live in a place where
there's refute planes, like in Vericago, when something's a bit
different bore you notice it. Marcus, could you ask if
anyone knows when they will fly over Wellington? I haven't
missed them. I think Wellington was today. I think tomorrow.

(13:03):
They just fly up to christ Church and Wellington at
one thirty tomorrow, so that's happening, and then they must be
going back up. Got to long farewell. It's like Maddy
from Breakfast Day. That took a while. Here we go.

(13:23):
I can tell you thanks very much for the purse.
That texted this, A Pilates jet flew out of in
the Caarde at nine thirty this morning to christ Church.
The jet is registered to Distinction hotels in the cargo Well,
that's the guy that's turning the building into a moto.
That'll be him. Didn't think it a jet. Goodness. They

(13:50):
came over Warner Care at four to twenty. Sounds so good.
All three of them could smell the fuel for about
an hour after brilliant Joe, I run a topic that
a hot topic for me. Wellington won thirty tomorrow Tuesday
at Trentham at one twenty eight understandab flood in hut
fully too willing to over the harbor and city. Then
Gonski Matthew AT's Marcus good.

Speaker 13 (14:11):
Evening today, Marcus, I was just wondering why someone of
your caliber wouldn't have even the three flight radar.

Speaker 4 (14:20):
It's a great app.

Speaker 13 (14:22):
It's a great app. You know you can pay for
the pro My family called me rain Man. I look
at it so much. It's just good and it's also
good to have when people are arriving from overseas, you
can track their plane. You can see where they are,
so you can leave to go to the airport. It's brilliant.

Speaker 7 (14:44):
I love it.

Speaker 3 (14:45):
I have ship tracker because I live in a port.

Speaker 13 (14:48):
Oh see, I would love the ship tracker, but I'm
not near the ocean.

Speaker 3 (14:52):
Like there was a cruiser and it's one of those episodes,
a bit weak because sometimes I start asking you for money. Yeah,
well there's a cruiser because I came to work there
was a cruise ship leaving bluff tonight.

Speaker 13 (15:06):
Yeah, okay, so there you go.

Speaker 3 (15:08):
But I've I had ship track.

Speaker 13 (15:09):
And where was where was it coming from and where
was it going to? Did you no.

Speaker 3 (15:14):
Well it's not currently active by ship trekker.

Speaker 13 (15:19):
Oh okay, okay, but you get the flight radar free,
just download it. It's awesome. It's awesome. I'm constantly looking
at it. And you know, and then with these private
jets that you see, you see like a global mask
of six or eighty flying around, you wonder where is
that coming from? And there was a yeah, a private
tip flew out from Blenham into class hips today and
I'm wondering who was on that SI.

Speaker 8 (15:40):
You know, why don't you want to say.

Speaker 3 (15:42):
Why don't you upgrade with.

Speaker 13 (15:46):
Well it's too expensive? How much is free?

Speaker 3 (15:48):
How much is professional.

Speaker 5 (15:51):
I don't know. I don't know.

Speaker 13 (15:52):
I just just I just deal with the ads or
look at it. But it's amazing.

Speaker 3 (15:56):
I love it. It's thirty five dollars a year.

Speaker 13 (16:00):
Yeah, that's a lot of money to look at a
free app.

Speaker 3 (16:05):
Today.

Speaker 13 (16:07):
Still still if I was going, because then you can
get I think the three you can get like three
D view and like cockpit view and all sorts of
as they're coming into cities and stuff like that. You
can really be immersed. It's quite important.

Speaker 3 (16:22):
It's quite important from a broadcasting for because quite often
there's been planes that have been sent back and people
will text us from the plane and say we're turning around,
and then we can look and see where they are
in the ocean. So they're probably you know, as far
as keeping people aware of what's going on, probably is.

Speaker 13 (16:36):
Quite a app. It's a great app.

Speaker 6 (16:39):
I really wholly.

Speaker 13 (16:41):
I think everybody should have it on their phone constantly.
Like you see a Jetstar or or an Air New
Zealand ATR fly over you and where where's that come from?

Speaker 14 (16:51):
Oh?

Speaker 13 (16:52):
Maybe okay, then they're going into class church. It's quite good.

Speaker 4 (16:55):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (16:56):
I think sometimes we get and bluff, we get the
planes going from Australia to South America come across there.
It's a regular fla.

Speaker 13 (17:03):
Lately lata latam Yeah, yeah, they right, And you look
at their track, they's like near the Antarctic and then
they come around.

Speaker 3 (17:11):
Leam's the one where they had the spook them And
what happened to that that dropped, didn't it? They all
get injured.

Speaker 13 (17:17):
The turbulence, the turbulence, ne'.

Speaker 3 (17:20):
You used to hear about turbance. Now every second day
there's a story about turbulence.

Speaker 13 (17:25):
Yes, I know it must be that.

Speaker 3 (17:27):
It must be the turbulence. It must just be what
do they sayd I A that's what they blame. It
must be the diversity program, turbulence, just bad piloting. That's
the way it's all going in at Matthew. I've enjoyed you.

Speaker 8 (17:43):
Thank you.

Speaker 3 (17:44):
Hello Colleen, it's Marcus Good evening.

Speaker 12 (17:47):
Hello Marcus. How are you?

Speaker 3 (17:48):
Thank you?

Speaker 13 (17:49):
Colleen Good.

Speaker 12 (17:50):
I'm just ringing to say about I witnessed the planes
coming over just about over my house. I almost thought
as I had to duck because they were so close.

Speaker 3 (18:01):
Are you on a hell?

Speaker 5 (18:03):
Not?

Speaker 12 (18:03):
No, just a wee bit risen but not a proper
Hill right in the center of Richmond.

Speaker 3 (18:08):
Oh god, Oh, they would to come up the valley,
wouldn't They would to come across, and they would have
come up from over Nelson and up the valley.

Speaker 15 (18:14):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (18:15):
Then, and then it's a show. We couldn't do it
live because we've could have said, okay, Colleen, they're coming
through now, okay, watch that rapper. Are we here they come?

Speaker 1 (18:22):
Well?

Speaker 12 (18:23):
I heard the noise. I was actually just sitting looking
out my lounge window and I could hear the noise,
and I just looked out the window and here they
are just up above me. Oh goodness, me, great experience.

Speaker 3 (18:35):
I think there's something quite emotional about seeing plat I
don't know what. Is it something because I remember in
the school yard you'd always hear the first time the
concord float. You know, there was all the first seven
sixty seven, and it's it's sort of good thing because
everyone can see it, can't They's you know, you don't
need to go, so you don't need it's not like
a ship coming. You don't need to go to the port.
You've got to look up into the sky.

Speaker 12 (18:56):
I know, it's fantastic. Where I live, I can actually
see the planes coming in from christ Church and when
maybe duneed and tow you, they sort of almost fly
past me, and yeah, there's something emotional about them. And
the noise is that when they start to let the wheels,
do you know?

Speaker 16 (19:12):
Yeah? Absolutely?

Speaker 3 (19:13):
Were you aware it was? Were you where it was
on its way today?

Speaker 12 (19:16):
I kind of was because I've been listening to your
radio station and they had flown over Pariston North or
Napier or somewhere like that. So they're on their way
down here.

Speaker 3 (19:27):
Good stuff, Colleen, thanks so much to talk about flight radar.
What are the apps you've got for transport? You anyone
got ship radar? Flight radar? Is there a train one?
Wouldn't be that interesting? A train one? What would it
be interesting? I don't know. Depends you've lived near the
railway line. I think we're going to get two shuns
a day going in the cargo bluff. I normally see

(19:47):
them cutting the gorse, soays about three o'clock it goes.
Can you hear it going? But the tracks restricted to
about thirty k's they go so slow. Hello David, it's
Marcus welcome.

Speaker 5 (19:57):
Hello.

Speaker 6 (19:58):
Yes, well, we were very lucky to see them. We
were tracking them. We had a telephone call from a walker.
We live in power. We had a telephone call from
a walker to say they'd seen them there. And then
they came around past Maniah. My daughter saw them there,
and then we were just sitting outside waiting and he
had suddenly the three of them. We weren't expecting one,

(20:22):
but they were absolutely magnifism.

Speaker 3 (20:24):
This is a great story. So they came past the
harbor at Port Taraniki did who was your contact to ARCA?
Who called you from there?

Speaker 9 (20:31):
Oh?

Speaker 6 (20:32):
My son in law?

Speaker 3 (20:33):
Okay, okay?

Speaker 6 (20:34):
And then another another one was a cato. He rung
his his father in harbor here and we'd had a conversation.
I couldn't get him off the line quick enough because
I wanted to get outside.

Speaker 3 (20:50):
You need for those sorts of that's interesting around the
mountain like that. That's good.

Speaker 17 (20:55):
Hey.

Speaker 6 (20:56):
We we saw Hercules in New Plymouth years ago, landed
a New New Plymouth Air air show and that was
one of the first ones we saw in a great
big truck came out at the back of it. They
were fantastic machine.

Speaker 3 (21:10):
Did you ever you Yeah? I was fortunate enough one
year to fly on Hercules, and goodness yeah, I'll tell
you the story. I said it before, just becase I
worked with radio because with a one called Linda. Linda
and her husband or partner was a Air Force training
pilot or navigator. And I think every year they have
a competition with the Australians and the Canadians are like

(21:32):
a navigational low flyover kind of a competition. And they
allowed last we were to go up with it. And
she was fascinating because.

Speaker 6 (21:41):
You're quite you're.

Speaker 3 (21:43):
Quite high up on those cocks, but they're quite a
high plane. It's quite exciting.

Speaker 6 (21:48):
Look, we were waiting here a few months ago. Well
it one way long ago. They were going to fly over,
but they we had the tsunami, didn't we and they
had to go up to help them. And yeah, it
was great and you were so lucky, David.

Speaker 3 (22:05):
What's the biggest problem facing horror at the moment?

Speaker 6 (22:09):
We want to more raid?

Speaker 3 (22:11):
Great question, Marcus twenty seven to nine. Marcus, I just
checked my flight radarut there's a rescue a helicopter going
in circles above Picton. That's not good. What it's a
grid search pattern. We're looking into it. By the way,
I don't want to over do it. I don't want

(22:33):
to do a disrespectful segue. But I've often had a
mixed relationship with Picton. I've often thought what's the point
of Picton? But today I was in the supermarket and

(22:55):
I had a flashback, a taste flashback like from a
Proos novel, and I started retasting the toasted sandwich I
had in January from Picton. What was good?

Speaker 4 (23:13):
Boy?

Speaker 3 (23:13):
It was good? And I thought, Wow, I've never had
a toasted sandwich have that sort of mouth memory for
me before. So yeah, I think everything bad about Picton's
been redeemed by that toasted sandwich shop they're trying to franchise.
Gee it was good. Oh I'm not gonna get a

(23:34):
foot in our bus back up there. That tried again?
But gee it was good. Mind you hope? Yeah, and
I hope. What's happening with the grid Search is not
toasted sandwich lated. I don't know what's going on there,
but as soon as I heard picked it in grid Search,
all I could think it was that toasted sandwich Again.
I'm not wanting to become a toasted sandwiche ambassador. I
think almost I am. By the way, I spent some

(24:00):
time today watching a four hour YouTube video a woman
has done of her experience at the Star Trek Star
Wars Sorry, at the Star Wars Millennium Immersive Experience motel

(24:24):
at Disneyland that costs six thousand dollars per person and
ended after about a year. And it's damning. But gee,
that's a compelling listen. Wow, for four hours she goes
on about her trip there. Four hours. It's a bit
like Wicked. You wish it was longer. Yeah, no one

(24:46):
warns the Wicked? Did my mate for anyone from Wicked
Gidney Grammys? Dan, I don't give them more? Yeah, anyone
from Wicked Gidney Grammys. I think she's already got the Tony, Grammy,
Oscar Cynthia. I think what you got the egot Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony.

(25:09):
I think she's got the Egot. I think she got
it for color purple or whatever. I think she got
the Tony. I think she got the Emmy. I think
she's got the Oscar. I think she's got the Egot.
By the way, it was only this year I learned
about the egot egots. If you get the Emmy, the Grammy,
the Oscar, and the Tony, what's the New Zealand equivalent

(25:30):
of the egot? I don't know if you haven't seen Wicked.
Get thee to a theater quickly. Twenty one from nine
high nickets. Marcus, welcomeod evening, Marcus evening.

Speaker 16 (25:47):
Nick, you're there.

Speaker 3 (25:48):
Yes, you said good. I said good. I said good evening,
and then you said good evening. Then I said good evening. Yeah,
I think I said how'd it work? What was there
a gap? I said good evening, Marcus. Here you said
good evening. That's right? Then I yeah, that's right.

Speaker 13 (26:03):
All good.

Speaker 16 (26:04):
I just wanted to respond to a call you had
about a half an hour ago. I think a lot
of people don't realize with aviation licenses that you have
to fly a certain amount of hours to maintain your
proficiency and therefore maintain your license. And so the follow
that was on and I'm not having to dig that.

(26:26):
I'm just trying to educate the the filla that was
on complaining about their wasted flights. I guarantee every crew
member on those three aircraft were racking up hours to
maintain their proficiency. Not to mention that because they were
doing flybys, they were also in formation, which is a
completely different proficiency in itself. And also at one thousand

(26:50):
feet over.

Speaker 3 (26:54):
When I was in that event, we did that, we
were the low flyover.

Speaker 16 (26:58):
Yeah, which is a completely different efficient proficiency. Again, if
you watch flight radar quite often I live by, and
it's just planes up all the time, just flying in circles,
and you know, the layperson would look at it and go,
that's really wasteful. But yeah, in the aviation industry you
have to maintain proficiency, which equals you have to fly

(27:19):
a certain amount of hours a month because we can't
have pilots sitting there for six or eight months with
a license but not flying, and then suddenly getting called
to duty and oh, hang on, how do I do
this again? It's it's a completely different ballgame to say
a car license or a motorbike license or anything like that.

Speaker 3 (27:42):
Are you x air Force Nick?

Speaker 16 (27:45):
No, I'm not ex air Force. I'm actually a dairy farmer.
My father was a pilot, not in the Air Force,
but he was a general aviation pilot and I'm a
bit of an aviation nerd are the.

Speaker 3 (27:57):
Reason the question I was asked going to ask, right,
is there any technical or military advantage in lying in
formation in the battleground.

Speaker 16 (28:12):
In some circumstances, I would imagine, So I couldn't answer
you specifically, but I would imagine there would be Yeah,
I can imagine there'd be some tactical advantage in it
at a certain points of time.

Speaker 3 (28:23):
I'm I'm not asking that. I'm not asking that to
be clever clogs. I was generally curious to know if
what when that cap became for blanket bombing or something,
would that be it?

Speaker 16 (28:32):
Yeah, stuff like that when you when you're flying in
for for for those types of things, or like if
you're trying it, if the three hirks are coming and
dropping gear off at somewhere doing a parachute drop out
of the back of them and all lining up nice,
and you know, you've got to pay attention to the
plane in front of you and all keep the same
line so the gear all lands in the same place.

(28:52):
That kind of thing.

Speaker 3 (28:54):
How's the dairy sweet spot, Nick?

Speaker 15 (28:57):
Yeah?

Speaker 13 (28:57):
Not too bad, not too bad, but dry.

Speaker 16 (29:00):
But no, we're hanging in there.

Speaker 3 (29:02):
Trump not going to ruin it with tariffs.

Speaker 16 (29:05):
I couldn't, I tell you, to be honest, I'm just
a farm hand.

Speaker 7 (29:08):
I don't deal.

Speaker 16 (29:09):
I don't deal with the politics.

Speaker 3 (29:11):
Brilliant, brilliant, that's what we need to know. Someone's texted
me and said, oh my god, there was a flight
radar for ships. You start watching flight radar for ships
called ship ship Radar, ship ship tracker, and you think, gee,
a lot of ships, especially around the straits of the

(29:34):
ones around Singapore, there's a lot of ships, a lot
of ships. You think, gee, that's a lot of ships
Straits of Malacca. Most of the ships are just carrying
stuff from China. No one really needs. It's not the

(29:58):
timmy stuff because it comes by plane. Marcus just wanted
to winch in a really good film. I watch it
the week and it was on TV cat Out of
the Blue. I'm sure Bruce Russell was the radio announcer.
Is they had some z be stickers on some yute
what's that about? When was the last time, if ever

(30:21):
a three C one thirty hercules overnighted in ver Cargoll. Yeah, yeah, hi, Kevin,
it's Marcus. Welcome day, Marcus, you tonight, good thank you, Kevin.

Speaker 18 (30:39):
Good Now. Years ago, when I was about sixteen, my
brother was in the air training corpse. Yeah, and we
went for a fly in the Hercules from Wangaprara in
Auckland really and yeah that was good. Yeah, I enjoyed that.
And it was Ratleigh. It was very very rarely inside,
very noisy. But what I was mainly ringing your course

(31:03):
that I'm staying at a motor camp in Raglan and
the three of them flew over. Now I'm just trying
to think of the time. It would have been probably
just before midday, maybe one o'clock, and they were going
due west and very low one thousand feet.

Speaker 3 (31:19):
Yeah. Yeah, they came down the west coast and came
down to win vercg or Kevin. So I appreciate that.
I am on a Facebook page about what's tappening in picton.
So situation two rests, two helicopters doing grid flying Marlborough
Rescuer out there with a Bluebridge rescue boat and a
Nelson fishing boat. That's a situation that's out there north

(31:46):
of Pickton and Pickton siren went off trice this evening.
It seems to be off Cape Jackson or Atapoa Island.
We'll get your more information when we can. It's nine
away from nine if you listening to Sean Friday. Mainly

(32:06):
we talked about wooden pubs burning down. But around about
eleven o'clock some guy rang up they'd seen a meteorite.
In fact, that was corroborated by several other people that
rang up. He was sitting seeing it from Kenterbury looking south.
I can tell you that the fireballs are website or
Facebook pages all over that they'd gone to the telescope

(32:27):
at Louder Knee was Louder Atmospheric Research Station. So there
is now video footage of that fireball on fireballs are Tierro.
They reckon, it's in the air mountains. They reckon. If
they find it will be New Zealand's eleventh meteorite that's
been found and they're looking for it. So there you go.
And that was they would have got alluded to that
by people that rang up our show. Then that went

(32:48):
to the Facebook page. That's exciting. Hello, Marty, it's Marcus. Welcome.

Speaker 2 (32:53):
You know Marcus the Yeah. But anyway of an era,
I guess you're gonna put old Jills down on some stage.

Speaker 5 (33:04):
Where where are they going.

Speaker 2 (33:05):
To take the recitled or broken up or fature America
or China.

Speaker 3 (33:11):
I feel I've asked this question. I feel I haven't
really got a satisfect the answer. I think it might
have been a talk back answer that no one really knew.

Speaker 2 (33:18):
Yeah, yeah, a lot of element So.

Speaker 3 (33:23):
It says it says for the aircraft would then retire
to the r n z AF base and Woodpoon. But
what does that mean they turned into a cafe.

Speaker 2 (33:33):
Well, I've been it's been trying. My favorite memories of
them is watching them fly down make Capuro. They saw
like cruise around and twos and threes and fire real
low under the radar, and their training one or whatever
you remember. Okay, Yeah, it's probably like Fist twenty years ago. Yeah,

(33:54):
pretty low, pretty lower and slow plane. It's not going
to break the speed records, but I think they're they're good.
Attribute was taking a lot of cargo, like take everything
here everywhere. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (34:10):
I wonder what will happen to them? Maybe they break
him up for parts and there's some money in that,
because I wouldn't imagine there'd be many others flying. But
I might be wrong about that.

Speaker 2 (34:20):
I've got a Marcus, do you want to find that report?
What do you want to report?

Speaker 3 (34:26):
How's the cafe?

Speaker 2 (34:28):
The caf? He started up Dallas? Also, I had as
a pizza like a Spokes pizza kitchen.

Speaker 3 (34:35):
For those that For those that don't know, this is
our old boss from Radio Dallas who then went to
run what was the other radio station was at Megic
or one of the other ones that didn't work out
quite so well. Then he retired to take over the
general store at Farnanaki. And it's booming, right, it's going
really good.

Speaker 2 (34:52):
And he's he's bought a house in the village, so
he had a very good thrist year. So he's a
lot close. They could be on the family land at Maurits,
so he's he's close.

Speaker 4 (35:02):
And the shop was booming.

Speaker 3 (35:04):
And any feedback in cases listening with prices, all right, the.

Speaker 17 (35:09):
Prices all right.

Speaker 2 (35:09):
We've got some margarita mixers for the ten agers and
they went too bad. They went to eighteen plusses went
too bad. But so we don't see Winston there but
finished but I think started watching everyone from No Fish
when we turned up to the flood, so the water everywhere,

(35:30):
and then but the waves are pumping really good. No
Fish And remember we left was a hurricane or some
other wins situation. Still as actually came, Yes.

Speaker 3 (35:43):
You heard me at the tell me because it's it's
it's a trip for some pizza owners right to give
the pizza's silly names. Is that what he's done.

Speaker 2 (35:55):
I think it's just gone quite awesome because of the
classical names. A margarita that trees. It's like rast pizza,
it's not pepperoni.

Speaker 3 (36:08):
Yeah, cheese margarita, pepperoni, Hawaiian little peggy vegetarian. He's gone
straight without a Yeah.

Speaker 2 (36:15):
Yeah, yeah he's Yeah, he's quite classy. He's got one
of my daughters bought fun making make like from almost
like you know that toilet and.

Speaker 3 (36:27):
Yeah, I was very impressed. Yes, yes, I was really impressed.

Speaker 5 (36:30):
With the.

Speaker 2 (36:32):
Toilets coffee mark, so they're on that.

Speaker 3 (36:35):
We spent a bit of time in North at Patawa,
but I was very impressed. I thought the hunt of
us A building was sensational either. That was that was
that was really worth while looking around. The kids loved it,
We all loved that. So it's quite taken by that.
So I can see what.

Speaker 2 (36:51):
And I've seen Pilots and Auckland are paying to through
that and people's bathrooms. But yeah, smashing up two thousand
bathrooms and broken piles just for the phone arrays work
which is pretty hes a toilet built pretty yetifying at
it looks.

Speaker 3 (37:08):
Bad, it looks terrible.

Speaker 2 (37:09):
You got it.

Speaker 3 (37:09):
Yeah, it looks easier than there is. I gotta run
a text or texts. Growing up and daring hercules memory
growing up in Golden Bay. Every summer see one thirty,
a couple of who He's would arrive, put a mohoy
airstrip and then spend two weeks locating and plug out
dope plants from the local bush. Daily visions of helicopters
with a sling load of plants underneath never really made

(37:32):
a dent in production. Like most things, it's just the
war on drugs. It's just about optics. So I would
think it's not a place I know put a Mahuila.
Look up that, Jeff, it's Marcus good.

Speaker 17 (37:43):
Evening, Mark, Harry you down there, buddy, good Jeff, Buddy.
The Hercules bring great memories for a lot of army guys.
By first when one massive buddy plane up a Panel
Bay in nineteen sixty seven where they used to take

(38:04):
us across the Fiji to do our instructor course training
in jungle warfare. So that was great. Another time that
they took us was in the nineteen seventy three went
on our way to Singapore. We went via Australia during

(38:26):
cyclone Tracy, how buddy, it broke down and the pilot
to put us up with the check from the New
Zealand government and the travel lodge in Darwin for the night.
We thought that was great. But essentially, you know, the

(38:47):
Hercules was a brilliant, great troop carrying plane and it
took us to Vietnam in nineteen sixty nine.

Speaker 3 (38:59):
And it would have seen it would have seen brand
new then too, wouldn't it.

Speaker 17 (39:03):
No, No, no, sixty nine. He was pretty old. It
took us from where was it Cheney Airport in Singapore,
and I can tell you the number was two seven
zero zero two Aarons at af Pariculey c one Thie.

(39:24):
That was the name. It took us to Vietnam. We
were part of Victor four Company sixty four Australian Regiment
in May nineteen sixty nine from Cheney to Vungpaw Airport.
So it took us to war. Now you would not

(39:47):
believe it, But fifty years later we had our Vietnam
reunion in Burnham Military Camp just about twenty five k's
out of christ Church and one of our guys, fill
O'Connor from porta a proas for Royal New zeal On
Air Force and said, hey, would you like to take

(40:11):
us back to Burnham, back to Hereward Airport? Was that's
what it was called then for our re union and
the Air Force obliged. So fifty years later, members of
Victor four Company their wives flew from Phenolpi and several

(40:38):
stops on the way, went all the way to Christiach
Airport and deliver us and brought us back to our
fiftieth anniversary for Victor four Company in Vietnam. So that
is it was the same plane that took us to

(41:02):
Vietnam that took us to our reunion. So how about that?

Speaker 3 (41:06):
And I'm reading was nineteen sixty five they first arrived
and their first mission was to take people to Vietnam.
So they were four years old when you went on them.

Speaker 17 (41:13):
Correct, yep, yep.

Speaker 3 (41:15):
Me tell me something, Tell me something, Jeff. Why did
you do jungle training in Fiji? Is the bush there
quite different to what it's like here?

Speaker 17 (41:25):
To be honest, we didn't know. That was my first
time on a plane, but it was part of the
instructor's courses that were held at Darrek, Defo and Woohu.
You did seven weeks of the drill on the parade square,
seven weeks of weapons training, and you did two weeks

(41:47):
tropical training. I suppose you caught it we went to Fiji,
but I think in later times they cut back on
things and they did it out in the bush at
a kerney and those sort of things. A chance your question,
I don't know that was what happened in those days.

Speaker 3 (42:05):
You didn't get to go on any R and R
and for us just two weeks jungle training, was it?

Speaker 17 (42:11):
No, No, we had a good time when we come out.
We were in two We're having a great time with
Dilver Dragon on all those places. It was great marks.
So I thought shared with you that is a fact
that a lot of infantry guys in the New zeal
Army held that aircraft hercules see one thirty in a

(42:34):
high regard, very high regard. And ourf guys were absolutely brilliant.

Speaker 3 (42:43):
And you weren't going to Dialwin to help with sideline Tracy.
You just having to get diverted there.

Speaker 17 (42:49):
We're actually on our way to to one R ene
that I are. We had a lot of territorial forces
with us on exercise. Was their training on an exercise
called Jungle well of Jala and Ulu which means road,

(43:10):
so it was them to give them tropical training. But
I went over there part of the Inns of Essays
to do a recruitment drive for the for the Inns
of the Essays at Paprika to try and get more
guys and there, you.

Speaker 3 (43:28):
Know, did you see the planes this morning?

Speaker 7 (43:30):
Jeff?

Speaker 17 (43:32):
Sorry?

Speaker 3 (43:32):
Man, did you see them flying over this morning?

Speaker 17 (43:35):
No? No, I don't even know where are you? I'm
an Orphan Monday, New South Orphans. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (43:42):
I think they might have come over there anyway. But Jeff, look,
I enjoyed talking to you very much, so thank you
for that there, Jif's the real deal. Graham Marcus good evening.

Speaker 14 (43:51):
Yeah, Hide, I've got memories of the hook of course
he got them in nineteen sixty five, but about nineteen
sixty two or sixty three, where there were a couple
of Herculars aircraft as part of Operation Deep Free belonging
to the Yanks that food down here to Dunedin and
set up a static display at the Mimona Airport and

(44:16):
like your previous call, I regarded them as remarkable utile
aircraft go anywhere, carrying anything up just make some paload
even carried troops. And at one stage, just shortly after
Y two came, when I was living in the Hutt Valley,
we had one flyover the CBD of Wellington at about

(44:41):
all probably six hundred meters or so and the aesthetic
parachute drop. It might have been your previous cause mates
from the saesc parachute drop.

Speaker 3 (44:53):
I remember an ory. Okay, I'm just trying to think
you won't know this because in Auckland a couple of
times they had planes that sprayed for the painted apple moth.
You remember that.

Speaker 14 (45:10):
I heard of that.

Speaker 3 (45:11):
Yeah, I don't know there was that was a Hercules
or not, but there was. They spread over West Auckland.

Speaker 14 (45:18):
There might have been there and over which is a
small aircraft. But the Hook has been known around the world,
around the Western world as to go to cargo plane
of choice and gone through quite a few iterations. I
haven't seen the last fly of it, but I did
see one flyover Dneed and I think about three four

(45:39):
years ago, probably on.

Speaker 3 (45:40):
The train Tomorrow for Tomorrow for you Graham.

Speaker 14 (45:44):
Tomorrow for me. Right, well, I'll keep my eyes peeled
for the sky. They are beautifully crafted and pranktically beyond
praise from Yes, yeah they are. They've got a remarkable history.
In the course. They were the arguable hero of the interviiary.

(46:04):
You know that was all remember yeah, we're nineteen.

Speaker 3 (46:10):
Whose brother died?

Speaker 14 (46:13):
Yeah, john, yes, right, he was the only casualty in
the whole exercise. Was quite sniper.

Speaker 3 (46:19):
That was quite a good film. So it was an
angola and they hijacted them, is that right? Hijacted them.

Speaker 14 (46:25):
They rescued the rest of the whole pile of people.
They had one guy dressed up in a limusine dressed
up as Idiom, and that took the enemy centuries obviously,
guards for the vital seconds that they needed to get
the element of surprise. But that operation was headed by Johnny.

(46:48):
That's Benman, who's older brother.

Speaker 3 (46:52):
What was the movie called, Oh.

Speaker 14 (46:56):
I don't know what they was, but the airport was
at in Tibbi. Yes, you'll be able to find it
on your We're in Tibbet. It was one of the
most steering HoTT suggest ras again yeah, yeah, well.

Speaker 3 (47:16):
It seemed to be a turning point. It was portrayed
in the movie that I saw as a turning point
for the Israeli military that they were going to any
any insurrection against their people or anything, that they were
going to fight back. That seemed to be the cause
for that movie, that they were going to go in
and they got their forces up to scratch.

Speaker 14 (47:37):
Yeah, that was pretty much my interpretation too, personally.

Speaker 3 (47:41):
I didn't see the fireball on Friday, did you, Graham?

Speaker 2 (47:45):
No?

Speaker 14 (47:46):
I didn't. I hear it about it.

Speaker 3 (47:48):
Okay, I can't.

Speaker 14 (47:49):
I can't be up all out of the night, can
I can?

Speaker 3 (47:52):
I I'm just taking it all. Something's going to be
a search for the air mountains to find the meteorite.
Now Jay has emailed, and it's quite an email. I
just hadn't up and go. I didn't realize they changed
the straw from plastic to paper. What a complete flop.
Paper straw was falling apart. Jay, we're right to sanitarium.

(48:14):
What would I say about that? I don't love a
paper straw. I'd rather have a bamboo straw. Or there
must be something else. Can't they potato starch it or something?

Speaker 2 (48:28):
Mind?

Speaker 3 (48:28):
You could just cut the top off and put it
in a glass. Is your life so busy that you
can't I don't know about the mentality of up and Go.
It's not my breakfast of choice.

Speaker 2 (48:40):
For me.

Speaker 3 (48:40):
It's not the breakfast of champions. It's more the breakfast
of I think. I say, it's more the breakfast of
hungover roofers. But that's more an energy drinking a meat pie,
isn't it. I don't know who has up and go
taste a bit waxy on the tongue. I've always thought,
you don't know rebody who's for up and Go. It's
it feels about astronaut foody for me.

Speaker 10 (49:02):
Like.

Speaker 3 (49:04):
Yeah, I've got a weakness for respital getting touched. My
name's Marcus Hittel.

Speaker 4 (49:09):
Twelve.

Speaker 3 (49:09):
We are talking about the hercules. It'll be the last
time we've talked. We're talking about a while over the year,
but this'll be the last time we talk about because.

Speaker 4 (49:17):
They're gone.

Speaker 3 (49:19):
Nineteen sixty five, twenty twenty five, sixty years. Marcus, Jay
is right, the new paper straw on the upper Go
is terrible. Now it's basically up and feel disappointed, Marcus.
The plane they used for spraying the moths was a

(49:40):
Viscount four engine turbo prop NAC used them until they
got the dcight. Cheers, Dave. Now a lot of people
are discussing what the movie was about, the hostage drama
at in Tibbi. I think people are referring to a

(50:05):
TVC that was a bit older. I watched one that
was quite recent. I'll bring that name for you. There's
lines free. We are talking about the hercules, Oh, eight
hundred and eighty Tatty and nineteen ninety de Text and
the flyover. I think the film was just called in Tebbi.

(50:33):
That might be right, Yeah, in Tebbi Seven Days in
Tibbi that was the film. Marcus. I suspect you may
know the answer this and regards to the meteorite. Somewhere
in my brain, I've heard that you aren't allowed to
keep it if you find it. I don't know that's true.

(50:59):
I know that the person that had it fallen to
their house in Mount Wellington. I think she went on
the talk so it was even on Letterman. But she
sold it in the end, I think to the Auckland
Museum because she wanted to stay in the country. But
someone might know about ownership of them. Marcus. Just watching

(51:24):
flight radar. The helicopter from cook Strait has just landed
at Wellington Airport. Also, the three Hercules will fly from
in the cargo to Woodburn tomorrow, passing over christ Church.
Between twelve noon and twelve thirty couple became so sick
after eating at an Auckland restaurant they called an ambulance

(51:48):
and need an ivy drip. Jeepers for free wet and
taiwan as sorry in Northern Queensland as well. Now startling
vision of sharks in Sydney Harbor a sign of things
to come. Sydney needs to prepare for more sharks and

(52:11):
popular swimming areas as climate change raises sea temperatures and
makes conditions more hospitable to bull sharks and tiger sharks.
Professor Callum Brown, a shark expert at Macquarie, said bull
sharks spend summer and embayments and estuaries such as Sydney
Harbor because the warm water was good for the development

(52:33):
of the young. So just like adults move to places
in the right school zone, shark moves to places that
are good for their baby sharks. Baby shak Do Do
twenty seven past nine gal It's Marcus welcome.

Speaker 15 (52:51):
Oh, baby shark Marcus, you're terrible. How many heads are
going to be stuck with that tonight?

Speaker 3 (52:57):
Baby shak do, baby sh.

Speaker 4 (53:03):
No.

Speaker 15 (53:03):
I wanted us to talk about the hercules.

Speaker 2 (53:05):
My oh gosh.

Speaker 15 (53:07):
I was a nineteen sixty six.

Speaker 11 (53:10):
Baby and.

Speaker 15 (53:13):
We lived in west Auckland and from our house back
then you could see well, not Cecy, but you could
see the planes flying over vanua Pie Airport and dropping
parachuters out of it and things like that. We had

(53:34):
dead binoculars and that kind of stuff. But and that's
great memory. And he was he was a policeman and
he went to the nineteen seventy for Olympic Commonwealth Games
as security and they went down in a horicule.

Speaker 2 (53:56):
Here we go.

Speaker 3 (53:56):
It's all coming together. I can imagine that.

Speaker 15 (53:59):
Yeah, But not only that. Bean a plane fanatic. We
used to go to vanulla Pie all the time as kids.
Every air show he would take us, and they were
absolutely brilliant memories.

Speaker 19 (54:17):
But not only that.

Speaker 15 (54:20):
I was wondering if I had a thought that many
years ago there was was it an infestation of bugs
or moths over Auckland and did they use the hercules?

Speaker 3 (54:37):
I think there was Dutch elm disease and painted up
apple moths.

Speaker 15 (54:43):
Yes, yes, that was it and it was just destroying everything.

Speaker 3 (54:48):
Yeah, and I don't know. Watch what planes they used
for those freaked out a Yeah, oh.

Speaker 15 (54:57):
My gosh, did they ever?

Speaker 2 (55:00):
Yes?

Speaker 15 (55:01):
Born and bred in Auckland, now live in the South
Island at s Andrews.

Speaker 2 (55:09):
Is this you?

Speaker 4 (55:11):
It is me?

Speaker 3 (55:15):
Oh you live in Saint Andrews.

Speaker 15 (55:17):
Yes I do, Yes, I do now.

Speaker 3 (55:22):
And okay, run out of things. I can't remember what
it was this plane that was used. Someone will know.
I can't do it quick Google.

Speaker 4 (55:30):
Google.

Speaker 3 (55:30):
Wasn't back there when we had the Dutch elm disease
and the painted apple moth, that's what it was called.
Keep those calls coming through, people, we are talking about
the hercules. If you've got stories about the hercles, this
is the show for that tonight and they have been
great to long way. That last someone said it was

(55:52):
a DC four from Canada. I believe they're probably right.
Someone also, someone reckons the Pokey's and the smoking era
at SkyCity Ara wrought. I'm certain they are programmed with
lower payouts to stuck through your money faster. Well, I
imagine they realize it's the smoking people are probably easier,
even easier addicted. You ever seen them move the pokes

(56:15):
from the smoking area to the other areas. No, I
try and stay out of the casino. Yeah, that's right,
because no joy in there. Although I do watch card games,

(56:37):
and I do think i'd like to play competitive poker,
but I'm gutless when I get hopped. Get in touched
by name as Marcus Hittle twelve. We are talking the Hercules,
the fly of Day and the Flyer Tomorrow and your
memories of those planes. Marcus. I was lucky enough to

(56:59):
see the three Hercules living Queen Saturday from the BP
gas station in Frankton. What a cool sight to see.
Couldn't work out how they can take and be so
close together, so it's quite a successful pr mess. I
don't know how the air Force is going to people
want to join the Air Force. I suppose you've got

(57:19):
some cool new planes that have arrived that they're getting into.

Speaker 2 (57:29):
Oh.

Speaker 3 (57:29):
Someone sent me the ombudsman report of the spraying of
the painted apple moths and the apple gypsy moth. But
I think there was also they sprayed for Dutch elm disease,
didn't they. I think I've got that right. I think
there was aerial spraying for that about ten years earlier.

(57:52):
By the way, this is dear to my heart, the
big fire at t Y where the aluminum smelterers that
seemed to start quite close to the smelter. They've said
today that's thought to have started from electrical event. South

(58:13):
and Front Emergency on Facebook said per and reinvestigation of
the Ara Pridge to far indicated the cause of exit
resulting from electrical event involving a power line. So I
don't know why that would have happened, because that shouldn't
happen because that's I mean, it was a mess of
fight to fight and the I think this sort of

(58:34):
like free special kind of plants in that area that
will all have burned. Marcus, I can assure you and
the listeners that Hercules was not used to spray insects
back in the nineties. What about Dutch elm disease? Is
that an insect? It's a good question, Evening Mackett's Marcus, welcome, Hi.

Speaker 10 (58:56):
I've quite a bit of time in C one TV Hercules.
The one that stands out was the difference between our
rains and the Americans. I went down to the Antarctic.
I was attached to the d S I R as
part of my Army career, and it took eight hours

(59:18):
for Sea one thirty to fly down to the ice
and it took five hours to come back on a
starlift courtesy of the American military. Gosh, much quicker, Yeah,
much quicker, but they were okay. I enjoyed my time

(59:38):
and I basically went around the world. I went over
to England and Germany, going through VG Singapore, and then
we stopped off because we had to refield the short hops.
I think we had a two hour layover in Sri Lanka,

(59:59):
so I can say I've been to Sri Lanka, but
I didn't see anything.

Speaker 4 (01:00:03):
What was your job?

Speaker 3 (01:00:04):
What was your job the attached to the to the
Air Force.

Speaker 10 (01:00:10):
Yeah, I was an arm Army medical instructor in the
Army Medical Corps and we used to do the first
day and the medical coverage for all the d s
I AR training at DICAPO, where everybody, all the university parties,

(01:00:32):
everybody had to attend that two week training where they
spelled out what you could do, what you couldn't do,
what the rules were, the fire safety rules, all of
those things so that they knew that everybody had had
had all that instruction before they went down to the ice,

(01:00:54):
and because it was a dangerous place to be. There
were some days that were brilliant, that were beautiful, but
there are other days where it was pretty rough.

Speaker 3 (01:01:05):
What were the king what were the conditions? Like I
was just sitting along the side of them for big crowds.
Is that right? You were just when you went down
to the ice.

Speaker 10 (01:01:16):
Excuse me, Yeah, I've got a bit of lung problem. Yeah.
We had a rather unusually vent on the way down
to get to the toilet. It was it folded down
from up high and you pulled a canvas cheating around,

(01:01:39):
and there was these two Japanese scientists and I could
see them talking, and I nudged my mate next door
to me and I said, I think they want to
use the lupe, but they don't really want it because
it's not sort of in their culture. So we took
bets on how long it would be before the water
got into your eyes, and one of them finally went

(01:02:00):
up to the end, pulled the thing around, and we
waited and pulled it all back again. We gave them
around of applause, Wow.

Speaker 3 (01:02:11):
Did you ever did you ever fly down there to
turn back because they couldn't land?

Speaker 12 (01:02:15):
Oh?

Speaker 10 (01:02:16):
Yeah, we on my my particular flight, we turned back
twice because there was a cut off point, a point
of no.

Speaker 3 (01:02:27):
Reason, point of no return if you if you go
beyond there, you're forced alne because you're going to fuel.

Speaker 10 (01:02:33):
Yep, that's it, that's exactly it. Or there's a light
out going on at Mickmeadow and you can't land. So yeah,
so we we go. We we finally got down there.

Speaker 3 (01:02:48):
Did you see them fly over today?

Speaker 18 (01:02:51):
Yes?

Speaker 13 (01:02:51):
I did.

Speaker 10 (01:02:51):
Yeah, I went out and how do we are?

Speaker 4 (01:02:53):
We look?

Speaker 10 (01:02:54):
Yeah? It was Yeah, brought back a lot of memories
and I yeah, it was very, very fortunate to be
involved with things like that.

Speaker 3 (01:03:06):
Nice to hear from you, Mack, Thank you so much.
Twenty s teen. My name's Marcus. Welcome. Hello, Bobb, it's
Marcus Welcome.

Speaker 20 (01:03:14):
It's good evening, Marcus. I just picked up on your
last caller when I turned the radio and talked about
hercules and places they've been.

Speaker 4 (01:03:21):
We'll go to them.

Speaker 20 (01:03:22):
Yes, yeah, I'm ex services and back in the eighties
I went to UK on in exchange with Isaac's Navy
and its exchange called Long Rock back then it still
goes now and sixty odd sixty five US lefto Matic
from Vanu Pai and went through the States to the UK,

(01:03:45):
and then a few months later we did the same
thing from the state from UK back through the States
in New Zealand. Takes seven days each way, what about
eight to eight to ten our flights in a fly
from Vanu Pai to Fiji, Fiji to Hawaii, Hawaii to
the west coast of the States and then the States

(01:04:05):
across actually Andrew's Air Force Base in Washington, and then
from there out to the Azurs in the middle of Portugal,
then through Germany and enter Brise, Norton and u k.

Speaker 3 (01:04:21):
Goodness, it almost seems that they'll be cheap and just
seenes on in New Zealand.

Speaker 20 (01:04:27):
Uh, I doubt it. We weren't in any ny money.

Speaker 3 (01:04:32):
We'll hang on for those seven days. Did you sleep
on the plane?

Speaker 16 (01:04:36):
No?

Speaker 19 (01:04:36):
No, I know.

Speaker 20 (01:04:38):
The best thing about Kiwi's they can't see so they
can't fly at night.

Speaker 3 (01:04:43):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, every night.

Speaker 20 (01:04:45):
I mean we had an overnight stop in in Fiji
and overnight stop in Hawaii. I think we had a
two nights stop in in the West coast the States,
another night, stop in Washington, and stop in the in
the Azores, and then through to as I say to
through the Brice Norton. So you know, every every night,

(01:05:06):
different different run ashore. Great fun. But ah, and you're
sitting on a parent because we were in paratroop seats.
And but when we got into the air, they had
the they had some stretches up in the so basically
I think there were about twenty stretches, so you could
a third. You'd get up in the stretches and rotate

(01:05:27):
every couple of hours, so you got a bit of
a lie down and then back down under the paratroop seats.
And every day you got a sort of a bag
lunch for lunch.

Speaker 3 (01:05:37):
But when you when you stayed at all those places,
right yep, where did you stay.

Speaker 20 (01:05:43):
In forces bases?

Speaker 3 (01:05:45):
Okay? Okay, they won't putting up in motels.

Speaker 4 (01:05:49):
Okay, so no, no, no, Well, but you.

Speaker 20 (01:05:51):
Know, one of the actually one of the best places
we stayed was in the Azores, which is the American
well it's you know, and had the submarine base basically
for their for the arions in the Atlantic, and are
great facilities and things they got bowling clubs and the
PX and all that sort of stuff. You know, the
Americans can certainly, you know, where they where they based,

(01:06:13):
they can certainly put in the facilities for their guys.

Speaker 3 (01:06:16):
And what, by the way, did you come back? Would
you come back counterclockwise?

Speaker 20 (01:06:23):
No, we came we same babe.

Speaker 5 (01:06:24):
We went.

Speaker 20 (01:06:24):
We went eastwards going there and westwards coming back.

Speaker 18 (01:06:29):
So we didn't do that.

Speaker 20 (01:06:30):
I mean, I've done it the other I've been. I've
flown a Singapore and a Hurk and things like that.
But I was in the Navy. But this particular thing
was east Baseway through the States. But your caller also
talking about going down the Antarctic. Never never been to
the ice, but I spent a few months. He talked
about the point of no return. Yes, back in the

(01:06:53):
back in the sixties, before they had the jets, the
Americans were flying these things called globe Masters, you know,
the propeller driven aircraft. And the New Zealand Navy along
with the Americans. We used to sit down sixty degrees
south one sixty degrees east, and we'd sit there for
about three weeks just doing weather picket, releasing balloon, you know,

(01:07:15):
weather balloons. Every six hours and reporting so that we
sat at the point of no return. So if the
aircraft got to us, and you know, they we then
reported that the weather, you know what the weather was
like in McMurdo. They either carried on because they were
committed to land. When they got to McMurdo. There was
no all like, as we come.

Speaker 3 (01:07:36):
Back, Bob, what vessel will you on when you're jacky
and it's and yes, we're bouncing around there to just
assist the Yanks to get down there.

Speaker 20 (01:07:45):
Yeah, yeah, we sat there. We shed with the end
because it was their Operation Deep Freeze, which still go.
But these days you don't need a ship down here
because you got satellites and of course the aircraft can
get right down there and no, we don't like it
and turn down and go back to christ Church.

Speaker 3 (01:08:01):
You know what, Bob, I don't know if they can can,
because I was fortunate enough to fly down down fifteen
years ago one of those was it called a steer
Master or a globe. But well, and they still had
a point of overtow. I don't know if they can
get down and get back on them. Well, maybe they can.

Speaker 4 (01:08:17):
I was of the.

Speaker 20 (01:08:18):
Impression I remember unfortun you know the Arabus crash and
the DC so that was that was a joy ride.
You know they flew down with no intention of landing
down there.

Speaker 3 (01:08:29):
Yes, someone might corroborate that for me, but I was
certainly aware when I flew down those what seemed like
modern planes, that we had to have the point of
no return, big planes, big vist. Someone will let me
know more about that. Nice to talk, Bob, Thank you.
Twelve to ten Marcus. Just as I was getting out
of the seats at Takapuna after wonderful swam, three stunning

(01:08:52):
planes came roaring along the beach in type formation around
twelve thirty disiplit of the house towards thee. I found
it surprising moving the boys in blue Expenny. Marcus flew
from a harky in the Singapore and one of the
the old girls three days via amble out of Brisbane,
Darwin then onto Singapore. Loud, hot and noisy, with a

(01:09:13):
MUFS on the whole way was terrible. Wouldn't trade it
for the world. Plenty of kings and assholes. Games played
on the backpack on the floor where we could find space.
Great memories, looking forward to seeing them. Christ Church tomorrow, Marcus.
Christmas Day seventy four, I was in a Hercules to

(01:09:35):
Willie Field, Antarctica. We departed christ Church, but prior to
point of narrow turn we turned back due to high
winds on strip chairs. Miles, Marcus, I going to assure
you that the list is that the Hercules was not
used to spray insects. In Auckland. Back in the nineties,
specialist aircraft were used. Marcus too. Hercules flew right over
our house and Cody and near fang Aade.

Speaker 4 (01:09:56):
We live on a hill.

Speaker 3 (01:09:57):
They seemed very close. Loved seeing them. They came up
over Manga fire, up over us, then around little town
of HIKANGI was it today? By the way, someone has
told me that the well, of course, the name they're
no longer called gypsy moths are now called spongy moths
because the term gypsy is offensive. No one has mentioned

(01:10:27):
the C one thirties nickname b u if if big
ugly fat expletive, get your emails and if you've got
them also, Marcus till twelve, looking forward to what you've
got to say, Nol says, be you if if it's

(01:10:48):
the nickname for a B fifty two bomb and not
a C one thirty hercules. Thank you. Someone says meteorites
belong to the landover where they fall. Never use a
magnet there a meteorisers can erase the stored magnetic data,
use gloves to avoid. Can tell me the meteorite leave
in place for someone to come and transport the meteorites safety.

(01:11:09):
That's really good information. I never thought there was a protocol.
When you find it, romance along at midnight. Today is
Golden Retrieve a day. Let's remember golden retrievers. I've always
probably had those in my mind, slightly confused with the labrador.

(01:11:29):
But enjoy Golden Retrieve a day today people. Also, today
is the day that Richie Allen's buddy Holly JP or
the Big Boppa, died in the plane crash. This day
is also the day of the Napier quake in nineteen
thirty one at ten forty eight am. And Canterbury Counsel

(01:11:55):
is paying influences to boost tourism in mid Canterbury. You
wonder how effective that stuff is. Know about influences, but
I think I'm sure some of them overstate the amount
of influence. They have. For me, it's not so much
the problem. They're spending money on influences, but they might

(01:12:16):
be spending money on the wrong influences because all these
people would be pretty pushy for business because that's their career.
As kind of nebulous as it seems, we are talking
the Hercules. Their last flight today, there was five of them.
They arrived in nineteen sixty five. Of course they've been
updated often with new kit and kaboodle. I think they've

(01:12:44):
got avionics. But every time they've gone to take our
leaders elsewhere, they seem to have been a problematic. Although
it took a long time to get to seven days
to get to Europe, imagine the logistics are getting all
that organized, all those meals and the azuls and stuff.
So what we are talking about tonight, looking forward to
your calls. Eight past ten, Laureatescus.

Speaker 9 (01:13:06):
Welcome, Hi Marcus.

Speaker 21 (01:13:09):
Yeah, I saw them today. They flew beneath us. We're
out over by the Body Glen sort of landfill out
between Martin Turuquinaway and we're about two thousand feet and
the three hrks came through about ten pas two. Yeah,
did you get a shot? Impressive?

Speaker 19 (01:13:31):
No, I didn't.

Speaker 21 (01:13:32):
They were just out a shot. Actually, we just finished.

Speaker 3 (01:13:34):
You should have got the pilot to twist.

Speaker 2 (01:13:36):
Yeah.

Speaker 21 (01:13:37):
But the interesting thing was we'd been right by the landfill.
The pilot We've been down about fifteen hundred feet earlier on,
and the pilot was worried, got worried about how many
seagulls are around, So we went up a bit higher.
But they didn't bother the herks. They came, what were you?

Speaker 3 (01:13:56):
Were you in a cessner there?

Speaker 22 (01:13:59):
Yeah?

Speaker 21 (01:13:59):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, so they were he didn't you bet.

Speaker 3 (01:14:03):
Were you taking? Were you taking photos of the dump
to say how much of it was full?

Speaker 14 (01:14:08):
Yeah?

Speaker 21 (01:14:08):
Yeah, Well yeah, they've got a resource consent type stuff
going on and engineering issues as well, so yeah, we
do it on a regular basis.

Speaker 18 (01:14:16):
Yeah, but.

Speaker 21 (01:14:20):
You I've done a number of the flights to the
ice as well, some of the startupter but it had
about three in a hurt and come back in a couple.
It used to be the quality of the hercules. The
New Zealand ones were quite popular early on because some
of the American ones had got a bit older, and
if they were the ski cooked ones, they were even slower. Again,

(01:14:40):
you know, because usually the New Zealand ones I just
went down when the sea ice runway was available, they
landed on wheels.

Speaker 3 (01:14:48):
Yeah, Lorry, did some Hercules have skis and wheels? I
guess it would to take off.

Speaker 21 (01:14:54):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, they can rack them in between. And
sometimes that was a problem with them because the It's
funny that the Navy, or the actually six Squadron, the
Navy did actually run a lot of the Hercules down there,
but the ones that did the open what they called
the open field landings unprepared runways. They were actually the

(01:15:17):
aircraft had the body had to be that strong. They
were especially built for the National Science Foundation, and they
owned the air frame. The US Navy owned the engines
and flew them a lot of the time, except when
they did the open field runway stuff and using like
the Jojo bottles. They're bringing US Marine pilots for those jobs.

Speaker 3 (01:15:38):
Who is the Jato bottles.

Speaker 21 (01:15:42):
Americans? That well, the the the X of the x
Sex they put them on the hirks. But that so
if they were at the stage when they were putting
out field parties into the deep field and up on
the plateau, and the runways you know hadn't been there
was no preparation done. They usually would have to use

(01:16:03):
Jojo bottles to take off kick them out of the snow.
And when they got one stage there there's one place
called Dome Charlie back in the ogies where they actually
they had landed and were unable to take off. The
bottles either fired unevenly and they there was no that
did damage but no loss of life. They actually had

(01:16:25):
to bring another one in to try and repair it
and with a crew, and that one ended getting stuck
as well. They had it one stage there. There was
actually three three of the highly expensive herks up at
Dome Charlie left some of them for years. Eventually they
I mean they were it was economic for them. They

(01:16:46):
went back and set up a big camp up there
and extracted them.

Speaker 3 (01:16:50):
Yeah, but so they broke. They couldn't get them out
of there.

Speaker 21 (01:16:55):
No, they they brought them out. They threw them out.

Speaker 3 (01:16:58):
They did fly them out.

Speaker 21 (01:16:59):
We threw them all out. Yeah, don't Charlie. But hey,
there was the thing I always bother interested me. I know,
when you drive through Wauru, you're probably unaware that there's
a sealed quite a good looking sealed runway after the
on the western side by the golf club, and it's
I've always thought that, you know, purposely where they would

(01:17:20):
bring the hirks and different things in there for you know,
technical sort of training and stuff like that. But I've
never seen one land there the and I can't I
don't know anybody that's actually standard in a fixed wing.
The it still look looks they're quite pristine and the
ring you see it, you look at it on Google,
you'll see it. But I've asked to use it in
the cess last summer when we're doing some work for

(01:17:44):
the army, and they won't allow any fixed wing aircraft
on there, but they say this these days, it's just
reserved for the for the helicopters.

Speaker 3 (01:17:55):
Yeah, okay, if anyone's landed there in a fixed wing, would.

Speaker 21 (01:18:00):
You, yeah, well, because I mean obviously it was built
by the Ministry Works, and I often thought it may
have been gone right back to when they built the
like the Mofonger damn, you know the hydroalytric scheme yep,
I mean, you know, like they did at Alexander. The
Ministry Works built into the build good good runways anywhere
near where there was a project, and there was mainly

(01:18:22):
for bringing in i think bringing in the pay and
the architects and all stuff like that.

Speaker 3 (01:18:28):
Lay asked you if I can find out more about that,
But thank you, nice to talk to you. Fourteen past
ten Fayett's Marcus, Welcome, Hi Marcus.

Speaker 23 (01:18:37):
There's these pains. They weren't really advertised where they they're
going to fly over much time?

Speaker 3 (01:18:42):
Well, how would you advertise? How would you advertise it?

Speaker 23 (01:18:46):
I'm saying it's going over at Clark, But where.

Speaker 3 (01:18:49):
Would you Where would you do that? Would you do
that on the would you take ads on the TV?

Speaker 4 (01:18:56):
Well?

Speaker 23 (01:18:57):
I don't know how, but.

Speaker 3 (01:19:01):
Clark it was on Facebook and I tried to promote
as much as I could. I mean, but you know
these days the media it's quite fragmented, so I don't
know we had you know, we had put something on
TikTok or quite what you do.

Speaker 23 (01:19:12):
These days and listen love it and it wasn't aware
of just gone home? And have you talked about the Napier.

Speaker 18 (01:19:20):
Earth?

Speaker 3 (01:19:21):
Craig wouldn't be many survives, wouldn't be many survivors, I
wouldn't think. But I'm curious to fifty six.

Speaker 23 (01:19:29):
In the TV or navy. It is Craig nineteen thirty one,
seven point eight killed two hundred and fifty six.

Speaker 19 (01:19:37):
Yes, it's say, isn't it.

Speaker 3 (01:19:40):
But I don't think there'd be many. Well it's a
long long time.

Speaker 4 (01:19:42):
Ago, ninety thirty one, but I don't think that.

Speaker 3 (01:19:47):
I just try to think that I wouldn't imagined there'd
be many people still alive that experienced it.

Speaker 23 (01:19:52):
Yeah, and Buddy Holly, you were only twenty two New
York called.

Speaker 3 (01:19:58):
Very good faith. Thank you so much for that. Two
young fifteen past ten minames market stall about the hercules
in Naples. You want to pivot to there also, if
there's something different you want to mention and good The
hercules are at Invercargaro Airport tonight. Help My seven year

(01:20:19):
old came home from school scratching his head. Sure enough
cringe lice. He didn't have them this morning. Could you
please recommend a non chemical treatment. Well, you don't know,
he's not the spreader. I think there's a service they
come around to your house, not the lis, but someone

(01:20:40):
to get rid of them and numb. Mark van Rob
says the fly basks past have been on Facebook at
the end Died Deaf website. That's where I've got my
information from. Someone wants a quick life cure Marcus. Impressive
sight back in the Fiji cou nineteen eighty seven, just

(01:21:01):
off the coast with the Aussie Navy, a single Hercules
flying out to drop our Sayes troops into the warm
waters off the coast. Zodiac first out the door, followed
by at least ten to fifteen of our troops to
help with the evacuation of Nandy if needed. If you
have seen the films where they jump with flippers on,

(01:21:22):
directing their shoots with pinpoint accuracy to land so close
to the Zodiac, then watching them pick up the other
guys still floating in the sea, reimpressive with a final
flavor by the Hercules. Wow, it seems a long time
ago now the fijiqu look more. I don't know our

(01:21:43):
sas were up there. Wouldn't mind some more information about that, Marcus.
I was working the Chattam Islands last year. We landed.
There was a Hercules on the tarmac was dropping off
drums of fuel and a helicopter to cul wild cattle.

(01:22:04):
Funny thing there was no fuel on the island there.
Thought the cavalry had turned up with fuel for the island.

Speaker 4 (01:22:09):
Not to be.

Speaker 3 (01:22:10):
It was for the chopper one engine was always running,
wondering if it was generating power for lighting and hydronics.
Mark is so proud of the service men women who
fly these great aircraft. A live in christ Church should
have been to open days and cues of folks to
see inside them. Ugly huge, told by Captain the crew attached,
our attached that played for two years contract. Hence go

(01:22:32):
with the plane anywhere in the world needed. Craft doesn't
have a roster, but dedicated staff stay with her, love it,
Thank you. The hookles to be put tomorrow christ Church
waving blown kisses. What'd you say, Dan, Oh, she's going
to be out tomorrow. Still kind of fundy information with

(01:22:56):
the SAS and Fiji during that curve. Someone's got some
more information about that that would be of interest to me.
I thought we didn't see and that was the whole
point long ee wouldn't do it, but get in touch
you might know something more about that. Yeah, David's Marcus

(01:23:17):
h Dave welcome.

Speaker 17 (01:23:19):
How I am.

Speaker 4 (01:23:21):
I was in the US the Navy in A seven
and we went to Fiji with the que because of
Ram Booker, and we did personal security for the New
Zealand High Commissioner and his family. At his home, and
we would sort of spend five days at his home

(01:23:41):
and then we'd ten of us would go five days.
Then on top of this building an office and that's
where all the facts were for say, all the presidents,
that for overseas. And we got told we had to
shut this door as like a big at Boult door
that the military came in. Wow, it's got here, and

(01:24:08):
we had to sort of come off the navy boat
in the middle of the night and take our weapons
off to go to his house and to the place
where all the secret stuff was. And because the military
we were watching us like anything coming off the boat

(01:24:30):
and they were searching us, you know, for weapons, and
all the military they all had balaclavas on.

Speaker 3 (01:24:40):
So whose place did you say you were protecting?

Speaker 4 (01:24:43):
The usual high commissioner And he had a pull of
the shape of a kiwi out the back. And the
first night we were there, the ten of us we
got really drunks. They had a big bar and we started.

Speaker 7 (01:24:56):
Shooting the Chaine toads out the back.

Speaker 4 (01:25:01):
And yeah, after after about the third day, I think
he he said to us that enough they were alcohol
because he kept pumping up the bar, you see, and
we'd sit there drinking all day and all night.

Speaker 3 (01:25:15):
What vessel did you go up on? I was on
the Canterbury then, okay, so you went up quite quick.
Was it was it urgent or not really that urgent?

Speaker 4 (01:25:24):
Yeah, our role was to it was quite urgent. Our
role was to take any New Zealanders off the island
and if we had to so that. The first thing
we had to do was go to the New Zealand
High Commission's residents and make ourselves sort of present there
and protect him like his wife has two daughters, and

(01:25:50):
also look after the business side of things.

Speaker 24 (01:25:54):
It was.

Speaker 4 (01:25:55):
Like a big office on top of a building and
the door was like a bank vault, and inside it
had all these files that were marked secret, pop secret,
things like that, and of course we're reading all the
top secret stuff and you've got faxes, you know. I
remember there's a facts that had America on it and

(01:26:16):
other facts from Australia, you know, and then through the
information used to come through through there.

Speaker 3 (01:26:22):
And did you have to evacuate anyone on the ship
or no?

Speaker 4 (01:26:27):
No, not not in the end. But we were there
for a good over two weeks.

Speaker 13 (01:26:31):
We were there, you know, just making ourselves present.

Speaker 4 (01:26:33):
We were tied up actually on the wharf and yeah,
you know, business as usual way for the navy, Like
guys were still going out drinking, you know, from the ship.
But it was quite dangerous in town because you'd see
a lot of riots, you know, between the Indians and
the Fijians and that really big, you know, riots about

(01:26:55):
you know, one hundred one hundred odd people at a
time that it would sort of flare up and get
quite violent.

Speaker 3 (01:27:04):
It was probably your most event full time in the navy,
was it.

Speaker 2 (01:27:08):
Oh?

Speaker 13 (01:27:08):
Yeah, it was really good, really really interesting. Yeah, it
was definitely, I definitely remember it.

Speaker 3 (01:27:16):
Brilliant. Thank you so much for calling. Nice to talk
Dave until midnight romance along from twelve people. We are
talking about the hercules and people's experiences. He's also talking
about the kuh and Fiji, which seems like a long
long time ago, doesn't it a big deal at the time?
Was certaining a big deal for the people of Fiji?

(01:27:39):
I still don't care. It's really quite hard to find
out the information of what New Zealand did in response
to that. It took seven days to fly to the
United Kingdom. Still can't quite work out why our navy

(01:28:03):
sounds amazing drinking day and night on Judy, I am
if I own. I wonder they sunk the ship in
Tonga Tongue was at Samoa. But yeah, I'm here. Ayah
Thursday plantation head license Kip from the pharmacy works. Ooh

(01:28:26):
hi Marian, it's Marcus. Welcome, Hi Marcus.

Speaker 25 (01:28:30):
How are you tonight?

Speaker 4 (01:28:31):
Good?

Speaker 3 (01:28:31):
Thanks Marion, that's good.

Speaker 25 (01:28:34):
Listen, I heard you talking on the ready before that
the earthquak Navia. Yes, my mother it's just had her
ninety sixth Thursday on the first of January this year,
and an uncle of mine was born when the quake
was happening. My grandmother was a neighbor. Would know her
one with her brothers?

Speaker 9 (01:28:53):
Wow?

Speaker 25 (01:28:54):
Yes, so I thought, oh, yes, my mother is still
alive and you wouldn't think she was ninety six, but
her brother had students passed on. But yes, I thought
that would be interesting.

Speaker 15 (01:29:04):
To let you know that.

Speaker 3 (01:29:06):
So she would have been two during the quake.

Speaker 2 (01:29:10):
Is that right?

Speaker 25 (01:29:11):
It's more than Look, I was trying to look at
that and everything, but I just couldn't work it out.
When I was trying to get gets told of you.
But so she more than likely could have been. Yeah,
well was she was?

Speaker 3 (01:29:22):
Was she she was born in nineteen twenty nine, might
have been twenty nine, that would be that, right, and
then she would have hit then grabbed my head.

Speaker 18 (01:29:31):
Uncle Philip.

Speaker 25 (01:29:32):
She was the oldest of twelve children. Okay, and I
know that uncle Philip was born bring the Youth quake
when a napier and they actually lived at paki Fack
and on the FM, she must have been brought them.

Speaker 16 (01:29:45):
To make your hospital.

Speaker 3 (01:29:46):
Yes, so she didn't she'd ever talked about experiencing the.

Speaker 25 (01:29:51):
Quake though, Well mum didn't because she was still No,
she didn't. Well yeah she wouldn't have really known. Grandma's
talked about who needs to talk about it? But because
when your uncle Philip was born.

Speaker 3 (01:30:02):
Yeah, well that's amazing born in the hospital.

Speaker 4 (01:30:04):
Yeah wow, so I just thought i'd did you know that?

Speaker 3 (01:30:08):
Appreciate that, Marion, thank you for you very much for that.
Dnus Marcus welcome.

Speaker 24 (01:30:13):
Yeah.

Speaker 14 (01:30:13):
Hi.

Speaker 9 (01:30:13):
There have been fourth coups in Fiji and twice that
the Essays were deployed there.

Speaker 3 (01:30:20):
Okay, there were.

Speaker 9 (01:30:22):
Two about five months apart in nineteen eighty seven, and
then in two thousand it was another one and then
two thousand and six was the last one. The first
two were caused well, led by the same guy, and
then there was a second one was the third one,
then the fourth one, and twice the Essays were deployed.

Speaker 3 (01:30:40):
There are you a military historian.

Speaker 9 (01:30:45):
No, I just know that it happened because I was
growing up at about that time, relatively in that area.
I can't give you the dates if you like, But.

Speaker 3 (01:30:53):
You weren't Essays yourself. No, no, no, just the only
reason I was surprised about it because I mean, for
a quick look around, it seemed as though there was
a lot of talk about sending the military up there,
including the SAS, and David Longey decided not to because
it wasn't part of our country or it was not

(01:31:14):
sort of appropriate for him to do that.

Speaker 9 (01:31:18):
No, they were there more to discourage any kind of
more military action, like they just sent them in. Need
to keep your own calm, So they went first, let's
have a look here. Well they there was second they
went in two thousand and they didn't initially deploy them
to directly intervene. They just sent a contingent there as
peacekeeping mission. But the second time, or sorry, the first

(01:31:41):
time was in nineteen ny seven, which is when it
first happened. They sent them on just to calm everyone down.

Speaker 13 (01:31:45):
A little bitter.

Speaker 24 (01:31:46):
What are you reading that, friend, Well, it's on the internet.

Speaker 3 (01:31:53):
Mate, No, you said, I'm just looking here. What are
you looking at?

Speaker 9 (01:31:59):
Well, what I've done is I've used chat GBT to
pass the information that's on the internet, and then when
you start looking it up, you look up the dates
and timelines from there. They actually well military history they
tell you this. Yeah, I mean if you just look
up the like how many coups have there been?

Speaker 3 (01:32:16):
No, I'm familiar. I'm familiar with all of that, Dean.
It's just it's quite important that we deal in the
facts in this situation. And I can't see any factors,
you know, not chet GPT. It says they were sent.
All the information I can see is it said they
weren't sent. They decided to stand them down. And that's
why I'm curious to know where.

Speaker 9 (01:32:35):
Well, they weren't sent in a combat role. They were
sent to calm that down and the peacekeeping role, which
is what New Zealand generally does when they're send troops overseas.

Speaker 3 (01:32:42):
But you wouldn't notice an essay. Isn't a peace keeping role,
would you?

Speaker 9 (01:32:46):
Well, yes, you do. Actually that's mostly what they do.
Sometimes they go in in a serious combat role, like
in Afghanistan, but occasionally you'll seend them in it's a
bit of a threat because even though our military isn't
particularly good at threats, the essays definitely are Okay.

Speaker 3 (01:33:03):
So what say, what year and what day and d
seven they were sent there?

Speaker 9 (01:33:07):
Yeah, May fourteenth, nineteen eighty seven was the first time
that the coup happened. What time to look at what
it's what time did?

Speaker 3 (01:33:14):
Yeah, I don't know. I'm not sure about chet GPT, but.

Speaker 9 (01:33:18):
Well, what it does is that you I mean, I'm
not trying to talk down to you. If you know
how it works or it doesn't. It passes the information
and it gives it to you in plain language.

Speaker 3 (01:33:28):
So yeah, but I think we're going to deal with
the original sources.

Speaker 9 (01:33:35):
Well that's what it does do though. Yeah, So New
Zealand did spend esay did see especially a services trips
to Fiji during one of its coups. The most notable
incidence was the two thousand coup and fig the Cool
Lad by George Bate. Right, we don't need to hear
about that. So they sent them there and so I've
asked it. Did it send it to any other time? Yes,

(01:33:57):
Also in the nine to eighty seven coups in Fiji,
because there were two five months apart.

Speaker 3 (01:34:03):
Twice all it says for the government website, it says
follow the first Fiji in con eighty seven and the
hijacking of an Indies in aircraft at Nandi Airport promise
that David Longer directed the Armed Forces to prepare to
send the team of sas soldiers to Fiji. The requirements
later upgraded to military personnel sufficious sufficient to protect news
ends interests because of the co defense leadership considered the

(01:34:25):
use of the military and their circumstance to be problematic
and delayed acting on the prominence and instructions on the
grounds that the Defense Council rather than Prime Ministers should
give such directions. Okay, the hijacking was overcome before the
troops could be deployed.

Speaker 9 (01:34:46):
I mean, if we're going to quote websites.

Speaker 3 (01:34:48):
At each other, Oh no, Dean, I'm not quote that.
This is the government website. I've just but this is
not check GPT all I was looking for is some
official document that said where they were, and it should
be pretty you should does chech GPD he's gone, Graham,
it's Marcus. Welcome, good evening, a good email.

Speaker 24 (01:35:07):
I guess your account of the Essays involvement in nineteen
eighty seven is one hundred percent correct. The Essays did
not deploy to Fiji, and there there new there's numerous
documentation to back that up.

Speaker 3 (01:35:24):
Okay, yep, And I won't ask you how you know,
so that's fine, Okay, great.

Speaker 24 (01:35:33):
Yeah, I know I was serving in the army at
the time, and I know that it didn't happen. Ane
other thing that the previous call was talking about. In
the airfield and way, there is one there and let's
see one thirty capable. I've flown in and out of
it many times back in the seventies when the Americans
used to come over here for training exercises. They used

(01:35:55):
to fly in and out of there all the time.

Speaker 2 (01:35:58):
Wow.

Speaker 24 (01:35:58):
And it's it's still there and still operable.

Speaker 3 (01:36:03):
Yeah, but you wouldn't see planes. You don't see playing
is the much that well? I guess the wire is
not what.

Speaker 2 (01:36:08):
It was, is it?

Speaker 14 (01:36:10):
No?

Speaker 8 (01:36:10):
No, no, not not anymore.

Speaker 24 (01:36:13):
But you'll get small aircraft going there now, but we
used to fly in and out of there on a
regular basis and seventies.

Speaker 3 (01:36:25):
In herculesies.

Speaker 7 (01:36:27):
In Hercules, Yeah, yeah, okay, And I.

Speaker 24 (01:36:30):
Always remember flying on it being loaded. We used to
load our toury onto Americans Sea one thirties. And why
I never forget it is because we used to go
through all the weight and balance problems on the New
Zealand Hercules and the Americans when they came and they said,
it fits, it flies, just get it in. There wasn't

(01:36:54):
a problem then.

Speaker 3 (01:36:55):
And I suppose in those days with a lot more
exercises with the Americans before things went a bit sour.

Speaker 24 (01:37:01):
Yeah, there was in the seventies before there were the
tropic lightning exercises and they used to bring out phantom
fighters all sorts of things. Wow, before things went down
until in nineteen eighty five, I think it was when
they stopped coming.

Speaker 3 (01:37:17):
Nice to talk round. I really appreciate that. Thank you
so very much for that. Not seventeen away from eleven o'clock.
My name is Marcus. Welcome eight hundred and eighty ten
eighty nine nine to text well and please resolve that
because that guy other guys were testy. You see what
chet GTPT does. It just runs through and sees every mention,

(01:37:38):
but context or not. Yeah, that's not kind of the
way it works.

Speaker 9 (01:37:52):
Noel.

Speaker 3 (01:37:53):
It's Marcus. Good evening, Good Marcus.

Speaker 5 (01:37:56):
How are you good?

Speaker 2 (01:37:57):
Thank you?

Speaker 8 (01:37:57):
Noel.

Speaker 5 (01:37:59):
Yeah, with mate Graham Evans and Taranaki. You just gave
me a call. I'm in Perth, Australia and it's regards
adding the first Fig coup and apparently you had someone
calling about it, so I didn't hear it. So there
were two keys. We went to the first one in

(01:38:21):
eighty seven. I was on the Canterbury and we sailed there.
Wellington was held in the harbor in Fig and they
were under lockdown, so we had to go there on

(01:38:44):
the Canterbury and Minawai the survey ship, not the one
that just sunk. There was another one that was full
of Australian sas members and we set off the coast
for thirty days. During the first keyp I don't know

(01:39:05):
what the last guy. During that time we had a typhoon,
so we had to do two weeks at sea in
a typhoon and we were rocked around big time. And
while I was over in Australia. I bumped into a

(01:39:25):
guy I made friends with working in the mining industry
and he was a major in the New Zealand Army.
And apparently, and not a lot of people know this,
David Longe let the New Zealand's s A S the

(01:39:46):
whole of them hop on a couple of herts to
fly over there to get the Wellington out, but the
hercules broke down.

Speaker 3 (01:39:58):
Did the Wellington? Did the Wellington just happen.

Speaker 4 (01:40:01):
To be there?

Speaker 5 (01:40:03):
Yeah? Yeah, yeah, yeah, and the who happened and they
couldn't meet. So like we're in kens on the Canterbury
and because we had a main turret, were sent there
to actually we could sit off shore and shoot the

(01:40:27):
ship out of them, but we couldn't. And the lucky
thing was if anyone had gone ashore, those jan boys
are big boys and they've been trained for the New
Zealand sas, so like it would have been a blood bassomer.
So yeah, no, no, I was seventeen years of age
when I went to that, and that was probably that.

Speaker 3 (01:40:49):
That was so you're on the you're on the Keny,
not the Wellington. We show there was the which was
the newer vessel. The Wellington was the newer vessel, was it.

Speaker 5 (01:41:00):
Oh look mate, they're all ex World War two vessels. Yeah,
yeah they were. They were in they got bought off
the Poems and they were actually in moth Balls, so
New Zealand bought them. So yeah, they're all works World
War too. So I think the Wellington was newer than
m Cannery, but lot they went under reef it quite

(01:41:23):
a few times.

Speaker 24 (01:41:24):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:41:25):
Where where'd you say you are now?

Speaker 5 (01:41:29):
No, I'm in Perth, mate, and my mate in New
Zealand listens to you every night.

Speaker 3 (01:41:34):
That can I talk to you about Perth? Is it
going well for you?

Speaker 24 (01:41:39):
Mate?

Speaker 5 (01:41:41):
I'll tell you what. I had two properties back in
New Zealand. I've been here twenty three years. I had
two properties in New Zealand. I had to go back
and fix them up just before Cavid and I went
you know, I've worked for some major fortune five hundred

(01:42:02):
companies and I thought, yeah, New Zealand would welcome me back.
I couldn't get a job, mate, overqualified, So fixed the
properties are sold them just after COVID did it right
and got back here and then just started the business
up day one and making them killing again. Mate, So yeah,
five years.

Speaker 3 (01:42:23):
And Pertha out in the mining area in town.

Speaker 5 (01:42:28):
I did twenty years in the minds. I had a
consultancy and taught people how to set up supply chain.
So set up Andrew Foris's supply chain. You would know
them for the Skew Metals. Yeah, ran Wilworth here for
a good five years and that, and you know, worked

(01:42:48):
for some really good companies Mitchell and France and that,
and went back to New Zealand with some really good skills. Mate,
I couldn't even get a job as a storman, mate,
so just yeah, spent five years back in New Zealand,
did my properties, came back here and just went, yeah,
you know, I'll starting other business. So yeah, look a

(01:43:10):
lot of people go every I's moving to Australia. I
lived in New Zeale until I was twenty five, came
over here, went back and wanted to live there. It
wasn't the country I thought it was when I grew up,
and then just decided no, no, I'm coming back here
and no I won't look back again.

Speaker 3 (01:43:30):
So not hear for me, No, thank you, Marcus. We
grew up with these hercules. My late father was in
the air and today if the legend known as Tao,
he did some work for deep freeze in the eighties.
He had soiled he had soil shipped down to Antarctica
and one of these hercules and done a hangey on
the ice. Wow. As far as I know, he was

(01:43:55):
and will forever be the only one that has done this.
I have photos of this also. It's a great but
effect Tao. As a sprat growing up, we always hitched
to ride on these up and down the country. Not
reappealing to a kid at the time, as they're very
noisy with air plugs and mufs on no view, no lollies,

(01:44:16):
loll My father was also an MB so we had
one of these hercules fly low over his grave as
he was being buried. It was re emotional seeing these
fly by today over Tahuna Nui. Oh, that's a nice
story that Tao, Tao. It's amazing doing a hungy Marcus.

(01:44:48):
Is something going on with the moon tonight looks a
blood red kind of vibe only a slither showing Hi, Marcus.
Let's say Joseph Parker beats Daniel Dubois, making him a
two time world heavyweight champion. This will increase his chances
greatly to then take about with alas under Usak to
unify the titles for that to beg If Joseph beats Usak,

(01:45:11):
would that make Joseph mu Zian's grat athlete, Useuan's great
sports achievement. Can't wait for the fight with du Bois,
have a great night, when is it? I kind of
lost a I kind of lost touch with fighting, it
was said for me Motsu with the being beaten so soundly,
although she said she had asthma and stuff and deep
von from Bosas now a desagnya surprisingly or unexpectedly beaten.

(01:45:37):
I didn't see the fights, but thank you for that information. People.
The coup, and of course the other thing about the
coup is that not only at the coup, but there's
also a hijacking at the same time of a plane.
And someone said they thought that was resolved by someone
swinging a bottle of a bottle of spirits. I think

(01:45:58):
they're right about that. It seemed to be a very
busy year for international used nineteen eighty seven. There was
a lot happening. It was an Easy and Flight twenty
four that was hijacked, scheduled refueling stop en route from Narrita.

(01:46:24):
Most of the passages on the board were Japanese and armored. Aji,
armed with dynamite explosives from a gold mine, boarded the
aircraft he worked for Eternal Services, told the company was
carrying dynamite, we blow up the aircraft. That demands were
not met, He demanded the release of the deposed Fijian

(01:46:49):
Prime Minister. All passages in twenty one of the twenty
four crew disembarked WOW. Meanwhile, the Special Air Service in
New Zealand were placed on a state of preparedness, and

(01:47:13):
around one pm, while Ali was distracted with the radio
flight engineer Walsh Graham, Walsh hited with a bottle of whiskey.
The crew members were able to overpower him and hand
him over to local police. He received a suspended sentence

(01:47:34):
for taking explosives onto an aircraft. Following the instant New
seuand promis to David long A said he was grateful
the incident was over. Ahmed Ali later became a member
of the House of Represents of Fiji. In twenty fourteen,
he confirmed the Dominion Post that he had been granted

(01:47:56):
permanent residency in New Zealand since two thousand and nine,
might be listening. It's an interesting story, isn't it. I
think I might have found a photo highly googled it
of the hangy and Antarctica pretty amazing, Hungy at McMurdo

(01:48:25):
sounds on the Antarctic New Zealand website. That's all there
is of that number of people five to ten nineteen
ninety three, nineteen ninety four description group of people besides
smoking hangy pit. Well that's fact because you can see it.
Well that weren't met it now with people, Yes, Ah,

(01:48:53):
John AT's Marcus. Good evening.

Speaker 26 (01:48:56):
How's good evening, Marcus. I just want to say my
little bit about my directions with the heatles in nineteen
sixty four based in Willington with the twenty second Battery
of sixteen Field Regiment, and the government was at that
stage trying to decide what aircraft they would replace the

(01:49:19):
old ones with, and Rocky flew a demonstration vircules out
here for them too and have a look at and
the side on things. Anyway, we were told to take
lane drover and a holter to the airfield and to
show how it could be loaded inside the aircraft. Anyway,

(01:49:42):
when the demonstration plane arrived from America, had had a
whole lot of seats put in it for all the government,
the IDST, so we couldn't put the landrove and gunner it.
But they did allow us to go on the IP
flight with them, and that was really interesting, include down

(01:50:03):
the east coast of the South Island, then back up
the west coast, and of course they were demonstrated all
its capabilities, flying on three engines and three engines and
one engine and going along with the victors open and
all that sort of thing. Anyway, I can't remember just
what month it would have been. Anyway, earlier in nineteen

(01:50:24):
sixty five, and the first of them alive out here,
and and I was on the first deployment with the Hercules,
the first technical deployment to take us over the Vietnam.

Speaker 4 (01:50:39):
Wow. And so.

Speaker 26 (01:50:43):
It was like things to be with Hercules. And of
course we came home with the Hercules, and yeah, and
they had one of these flights with Hercules, American Hercules
and Vietnam at departments. Well but yes, and then we're
now Hercules actually live here. They were the very latest model,

(01:51:06):
the G model, and even the American Air Force wasn't
issued with the model at the first Air Force to
be issued with the model. So when our aircraft would
leave in Bmre, the American crews were all coming running
over to have a look at it. And you know,
I mean, I don't know what differences they were seeing

(01:51:26):
that there was some Russian moment have looked because it
was of their new hercules and they'd never seen h
That's my little story about.

Speaker 3 (01:51:35):
So what what what was what was your role there
where you hit to try and work kind of would
fit the howitzer and the and the land drover?

Speaker 2 (01:51:44):
What what? What?

Speaker 3 (01:51:46):
What was your role in the forces?

Speaker 26 (01:51:50):
I was in the artillery Okay, yeah, and of course
it was the R tour unit that we all got
turned over the Vietnam yea.

Speaker 4 (01:51:59):
And what do you put?

Speaker 23 (01:52:00):
What do you what do you?

Speaker 27 (01:52:01):
What do you put to that land at Wellington?

Speaker 26 (01:52:06):
And we were we were based out at Port at
Sea and we went into demonstrate that we could lay
these or the aircraft could take them, but we didn't
all the seats for.

Speaker 3 (01:52:25):
Was it a pretty when they flew around the South Island?
Was it was it like a pretty slick presentation? Was
it like putting food on everything? To really impress everyone.

Speaker 26 (01:52:36):
Oh no, no, it was purely to demonstrate the air
which which was interesting because we we got to do
all sorts of things on with the aircraft that you
normally would it.

Speaker 3 (01:52:51):
Because the thing that surprises me, John is that it's
not often the New Zealand forces in any area going
by the top of the line, but we went and
bought the very best and boy it paid off, didn't it.

Speaker 26 (01:53:00):
It certainly did.

Speaker 11 (01:53:01):
That certainly did.

Speaker 26 (01:53:03):
It was pretty exciting for the if our boys at
the time because I mean there was ny aircraft and
they'd only just arrived and here they were having to,
you know, delivered the betory into a war zone and
that was the very first job. They started their life
off quite busy.

Speaker 3 (01:53:25):
Do you know if there are any other planes they
looked at or was this the only flight they went.

Speaker 27 (01:53:28):
On before they chose I'm not I'm not sure exactly
what other ones they looked at, but I think they
had pretty much presided on the Sea one thirties and
so they rocky to bring one out for administration and
I think that convinced them.

Speaker 8 (01:53:47):
And beside, are you anywhere.

Speaker 3 (01:53:50):
That you could see them flying over today or to
marry John.

Speaker 26 (01:53:55):
Unfortunately, I'm almost taking the blind now i'd be able
to hear them.

Speaker 3 (01:53:59):
Yeah, okay, And John, the other thing do you keep
up with? I mean, I don't know who would know
the answers, but I just wonder if any other air
force in the world would have a fleet as old
as this. But is that something you'd have the information
about or you wouldn't know.

Speaker 26 (01:54:18):
No, I don't really know. Wouldn't be surprised if there is.
It's still some small place somewhere.

Speaker 3 (01:54:25):
Yeah, one, it might be one of those things that
people might know about. John. But look, I really appreciate
you calling tonight to thank you for that. Noel, it's Marcus.

Speaker 19 (01:54:33):
Welcome o Marcus, it's no nicknamed Budgie.

Speaker 5 (01:54:37):
And I.

Speaker 19 (01:54:40):
Heard the mention of Tao before and he was a
very good friend of mine. Oh and I just happened
to be up on the hill to hun and saw
those three beads over this afternoon as well.

Speaker 3 (01:54:50):
Now that's that's Dan Nelson, that's.

Speaker 19 (01:54:53):
All right, Yeah, yeah, copy and had a bit of
a tear of my because I also worked in and
in touch you with the with the Hicks, and I
didn't We also did a hang it was in nineteen
eighty two with the New Zealand Army cargo leaders. So
it's amazing what you can get up to using caterpillar,

(01:55:14):
caterpillar tracks and all sorts to use with hanging stones,
and that we got the job done.

Speaker 3 (01:55:21):
Did they bring because I can't imagine that'd let you
take do it from New Zealand down for a hangy
these days it built to brighten buy security concerns.

Speaker 19 (01:55:29):
No, it just wouldn't happened. But what we did. Also
in eighty two Christmas was learning. It was early December
and these guys down there were running at Christmas Tree
and of course no nothing grows and in tut so
I got the boys on forty squad to bring down
a little pine tree for me. So it's amazing what
you can chuck in the back of the heck. And

(01:55:51):
so this thing fronted up and I had a real
live little pine tree for Christmas. All the boys at
mcmurdy and wonder what on earth.

Speaker 2 (01:55:58):
Was going on?

Speaker 3 (01:55:59):
It's amazing. And what was your role and what was
your role? Were you with the Air Force?

Speaker 4 (01:56:02):
Were you?

Speaker 19 (01:56:03):
Yeah? I was with the Air Force and I was
the operations on the ice of the only Kiwi e
Force guy on the ice that year, and that was
the same year actually we ended up with three of
our hooks on the ice all at one time. We
had one comes down a problem with the one of
the props, and they sent another hork down to it

(01:56:25):
was some gear and some maintenance to fix that that
broke down, and we ended up with a third one
coming down. I think our masters probably got a bit
nervous at that point with three of our fleets stuck
on the ice at one time. But yeah, now they're
certainly a great workhoorse and it was quite moving to
see them fly over today to.

Speaker 3 (01:56:46):
What was your role then? Now it was your role
just to work out fueling and logistics when they get
I don't know.

Speaker 19 (01:56:52):
Yeah, working at the waiting balance and fuel loads and
basically it is the only qu force guy on the ice.
It was my job to coordinate through them. It was
all run by the American military. Then you know how
to slight aircraft into their program and all that kind
of stuff, work out the loads going north and organizing

(01:57:12):
the guys to prepare loads and fuel and all that
sort of stuff there and.

Speaker 3 (01:57:17):
Tell me something, Tell me something. Now, the airstrip there.
What that's got a name? Is it Whiskey? What's it
called Willy Willy Quo.

Speaker 19 (01:57:23):
Yeah, there's Willie Field which is used by the that's
the American herk's with the skis on, so they use Willifield.
But we used to land on the on the sea
ice and that that was only during the very very
beginning of the season up until Christmas. And then they
now have a permanent heir field there which is called

(01:57:47):
Phoenix and that's been that's hard pressed snow and it
takes bowing seventy five seven because doing the set up
for the first proving flight to Antarctica with the seventy
five seven, But prior to that, I did a lot
of work.

Speaker 3 (01:58:05):
With the herks in so that that airfield it's still
it's still it's still ice above the water, is it.

Speaker 19 (01:58:12):
I know that the current Phoenix airfield is actually on permanent,
permanent snow. It's packed real solid. There's they have these huge,
big rollers and compact machines and it's a permanent runway and.

Speaker 3 (01:58:25):
It is the land beneath it there or is his
sea beneath it.

Speaker 19 (01:58:30):
That would be land underneath it.

Speaker 3 (01:58:33):
Yeah, it's yeah, it's always it's always, it's always good.

Speaker 19 (01:58:38):
Yeah, but when we used to land on the sea ice,
it was it got pretty tricky. There are times towards
the end of the season because that time when the
three X were stuck down there. I actually recall flying
the air crew out to the aircraft in an American
Navy helicopter because the the where we used to drive

(01:58:58):
the four wheel trucks and take the create of the
aircraft was actually becoming a little bit of water, So
there was melting ice on the top and seawater six
foot underneath. So they Yeah, it was a bit of
a tricky season that one. We nearly ended up with
a few aircraft stuck on me on the ice, but
no great, great machine. You know, the new ones will

(01:59:20):
I'm sure we'll do the same, you know, do it
more efficiently and do such a great job, you know,
being into you know, players like Afghanistan and stuff like that.
Just you know, their an aircraft can operate anywhere around
the world.

Speaker 3 (01:59:35):
For US, noll for US. Now that didn't you know,
how so recently that I don't know if you can
answer this, but the Air Force has gone to places
carrying our Prime Minister and stuff and they've broken down
the whole time. Is it just because they're old? Playing?
Is that what that's about?

Speaker 19 (01:59:53):
Yeah, it's getting parts and stuff like that. I mean
you can never you can predict what are the usual
things that are likely to break benefits? Yeah, a lot
of things you just can't predict. And if you get
a if you get a major you know, the an
engine or a propeller or something, I mean, sometimes there's
no option but to do a change. But you know,
the aircraft are getting older. I mean the maintenance guy

(02:00:15):
is on on these aircraft. I mean, to keep an
aeroplane going for sixty years, it was a bit of
a unbelievable incredible feet.

Speaker 3 (02:00:23):
You don't know what to say. Are they using them
for parts? I don't know what happened to the old ones?

Speaker 19 (02:00:28):
No, No, there's still well, there's two on the ground
that would have been already, and then these three will
join them tomorrow and they're still fully serviceable. Although the
end of life, you know, but they'll end up with
another operator. I would imagine they've been so well maintained,
there'll be you.

Speaker 3 (02:00:44):
Think there'll be use for top dressing or something for.

Speaker 19 (02:00:47):
Them in new Zealand. I mean it has to be
negotiated with the American military system aster where they go basically,
But you know, I wouldn't I wouldn't imagine the staying us.
One will go to the museum and cross of course music,
and with the other four who knows where they'll end up.

Speaker 3 (02:01:05):
But I always I've always a bit conflicted with Air
Force museums. No, because of course there's no no museum
to keep planes flying. Can they say, you know you
don't see them in the sky anymore, do you?

Speaker 5 (02:01:16):
No?

Speaker 19 (02:01:17):
Fairly, Yeah, take the memories away from guys.

Speaker 3 (02:01:20):
Nice to talk to you, NOL, thank you so much.
Well the other thing too, just as something completely off topic,
I wonder if there's anyone out there that has ever
been been bean to the immersive Star Wars experience two days,

(02:01:41):
two nights, the Star Wars Hotel, they called it. I
was watching a YouTube video about that today that went
for four hours of recompelling. It's called Star Wars Galectic
Cruiser or Collectic Star Cruiser.

Speaker 4 (02:02:00):
YEP.

Speaker 3 (02:02:01):
I don't know why. I presume it was at the
Epcot Center in Florida, but just seemed to be a
total disaster, and I don't know about you, however, because
the whole way that this got launched to the media
in about twenty seventeen or twenty eighteen is there was

(02:02:24):
all this talk about how they've invented a lightsaber that
was going to revolutionize lightsabers because it would unlike one
which was just like a Neon tubius turn in or
turn off. This one was just the handle and you
pushed a button. But people went to the patent office
and found out when you pushed the button it was

(02:02:46):
just like a tape measure, and you couldn't put it
back down, and you couldn't fight with it because it
was too delicate. So the whole thing was kind of
started from a false promise or premise anyway. I just

(02:03:08):
said as the off chake, because I think people are
quite keen to go through at the beginning. But really
on thanks to the Internet, anyone realized it was a
total dud. Yeah, very poorly received tiny rooms anyway, and
I think like the IT kit wasn't up to scratch. Yes,

(02:03:30):
it says here, it says I'm looking at Wikipedia about
Star Wars Galactic Star Cruiser. In May twenty twenty four,
a long form review of the Galactic Star Cruiser by
YouTuber Jenny Nicholson went viral. Nicholson detailed her own experience

(02:03:50):
with the hotel, noting many issues in customer service and
glitches in the app that prevented her from engaging with
his story, and Nicholson's opinion the Star Cruiser experience failed
to justify the hotel's high cost. Nicholson speculated that earlier
reviews of the Star Cruise were based on a press
two the lasted four hours were aspects such as the

(02:04:11):
app we're described by tour guard guides rather than experienced
by the reviewers. This was confirmed by Polygon reviewer Charlie Hall,
who noted that he and others whenever showing the app.
So yeah, anyway, it closed down very quickly after it opened.
Must have cost them billions of dollars. It was only

(02:04:32):
open for like from March one, twenty twenty two, and
closed September thirtieth, twenty twenty three, not even a year
and a half. I don't think anyway. I just said
the off chance someone might have been to that, I
don't think so. Hi, Leslie, it's Marcus. Good evening and welcome.

Speaker 28 (02:04:53):
Hi, good evening, Thank you for taking my call. In
nineteen seventy, I think it was October on November, I
can't quite remember.

Speaker 15 (02:05:02):
Now.

Speaker 28 (02:05:03):
I was traveling from duneed and to Auckland with a
small child by car. We got to Picton and the
water side workers went on strike so we couldn't sail
across Cooked straight. We were put into a motel for

(02:05:25):
I think it was about ten days. Wow, yeah, yeah,
And then I don't I don't know how the communicators
happened because of course we didn't have cell.

Speaker 3 (02:05:37):
Phone telegrams, telegrams probably.

Speaker 28 (02:05:42):
Yeah, So I mean there were one hundreds of people
waiting to get across and we we we got the
word and we I think we drove to the airport
at Blenham. We had a little Anglia car at that.

Speaker 17 (02:05:55):
Stag and.

Speaker 23 (02:05:59):
Huge ques.

Speaker 28 (02:06:00):
We our turn came and.

Speaker 22 (02:06:03):
We went.

Speaker 28 (02:06:04):
We drove on to the Hope killes. The car was
bolt the cars were bolted down. I think I don't
know how many went on at a time. I think
probably three and we were sitting like on the webbing
along the side. I see aircraft, yeah if baby on
that and we're taken across Cook straight to Wellington. Didn't

(02:06:29):
take any time at all. It was quite quite an adventure.
Never forget it.

Speaker 3 (02:06:35):
I can't believe they put you in a hotel for
ten days.

Speaker 28 (02:06:38):
Yeah, yeah, motel it was.

Speaker 2 (02:06:41):
Was it good?

Speaker 3 (02:06:41):
Ten days? Are you wandering around looking for things to do?

Speaker 1 (02:06:45):
Oh?

Speaker 19 (02:06:45):
No, we were.

Speaker 28 (02:06:46):
We were quite happy. I mean, there was nothing you
could really do.

Speaker 3 (02:06:51):
But what were they were waiting for? Did they think
the strike was going to break? Or okay, they must
have thought okay they kicked in.

Speaker 2 (02:06:58):
Yeah.

Speaker 28 (02:06:59):
I don't know how long it went on for at
that time. Yeah, I remember now, yeah.

Speaker 3 (02:07:04):
Wow, it must take a long all the time to
clear the backlock. There must been hundreds of.

Speaker 4 (02:07:08):
Cars, Yes, there were, Yes, you could a big long hue.

Speaker 3 (02:07:14):
Now were we ultimately going to Leslie to Awkland? But
it wasn't for a holiday because your holiday would have
been over?

Speaker 2 (02:07:22):
Yeah, yeah we were.

Speaker 28 (02:07:23):
We were heading to Twalkland to relocate there.

Speaker 3 (02:07:25):
Oh okay, so that otherwise you would have just turned
and gone for home rather wait in ten days, wouldn't you.

Speaker 28 (02:07:30):
That's right. The house had been packed up, everything had
been shipped and we were on our way.

Speaker 3 (02:07:37):
Yeah, it's a great story, Lezzie. Thank you for you
very much for that twenty four away from twelve o'clock.
My name is Marcus. Welcome here on midnight. Eight hundred
and eighty ten eight if you want to talk nine
two de text, we are talking the hercules. For those
that are younger, often that'd be on strike on the

(02:07:58):
Entrian theories, often during school holidays had beyond strike, just
the way they did things in those days. So that's
the way it was. But ten days because you mentioned
the cost of course with the government department, wasn't it.

(02:08:19):
But still yeah, do get in touch. Eight hundred eighty
eighty nine nine two detext News from America. FBI officials

(02:08:41):
sent out a questionnaire over the weekend to determine the
involvement of thousands of FBI personnel in cases related to
the January sixth, twenty twenty one attack on the US capital.
According to multiple people have viewed the document and spoke
on the aggression of anonymity because they were not authorised
to discuss it. The online questionaire landed in boxes a

(02:09:04):
dab of after the FBI, acting direct to said the
bureau will conduct a sweeping examination at the request of
the Just Department, of anyone who touched the sprawling January
sixth investigation. So there we go, deeming to remove anyone
that's deemed politically biased. Flood the swamp, flood the zone.

(02:09:30):
That's what he does. Trump does everything at once, gets
everyone confused. Marcus. Not many planes have a song named
after the Midnight Oil's Hercules?

Speaker 4 (02:09:41):
Is that right?

Speaker 3 (02:09:41):
I don't know if that someone been funny or not. Hello, Ellen,
it's Marcus.

Speaker 4 (02:09:45):
Good evening, Hey, Marcus Hell, Hell are you good? Allen?

Speaker 3 (02:09:49):
Thank you.

Speaker 17 (02:09:50):
I'll talk to your wallet.

Speaker 9 (02:09:51):
Back about the Hercules.

Speaker 22 (02:09:53):
I was close to Morriston here. Yeah, we had a
good mess abound Wollaston as well one night. Oh yeah, yeah,
now I did. I did a couple of tourism of
mainland situdes. You on them in the eighties and nineties.

Speaker 3 (02:10:10):
Does that mean you're on the in the Air Force
as engineer out? And is that what you're saying?

Speaker 7 (02:10:15):
Yeah?

Speaker 22 (02:10:15):
Yeah, I joined up and I joined up in eighty
nineteen eighty, then went there to forty squad in in
eighty seven. First time I went there only did like
a year, but then the next time it was like
ninety two ninety three, where I did two and a
half years there, did the old couple of cups, around

(02:10:38):
the world and down down Tartnica on that.

Speaker 3 (02:10:43):
So why did they take so long when they went
around the world. Could they not fly from what would
it take seven days to get to Can you explain
that to me?

Speaker 22 (02:10:50):
Yes, yes, go ahead before talking about it now, it's
seven days flying there. Aircrew were only allowed to fly
for a maximum of five days, so they had to
have a crew rist day, okay, and vehicules being sort
of a bit slower than a normal passenger aircraft as well. Yeah, yeah,

(02:11:16):
but the one were just rolling up there before. Regarding
the old going across cook straight, yes, that was that
was sort of quite regularly for a few profuse they
did more than one. Young might have been like two
or three times they did that, and they were called
Operation Pluto, Okay, they would they would bring a couple

(02:11:37):
of herks down to Woodburn and Wellington and probably I'm
pretty sure that these endovers there as well, and even
there might have been even earlier than that when they
were using the Bristol phrase.

Speaker 3 (02:11:50):
I thought they've seemed to remember them using Bristol phrases because.

Speaker 22 (02:11:54):
They left in seventy six. In the end, they arrived
seventy seven, tithing like that from memory.

Speaker 3 (02:12:02):
So just Ellen, just so I can understand a bit
more about your role. So say you're going on Hercules
to Europe to England. How many maintenance crew engineers would
be on that flight?

Speaker 22 (02:12:19):
Okay, the major ex side every one was called Bullseye
and that was us, the Australians, the British and the Canadians. Yes,
and supplies supply dropping exercise. It would be held over
seven days, but we'd have to leave seven days earlier

(02:12:40):
to get.

Speaker 14 (02:12:42):
So.

Speaker 22 (02:12:42):
Like the first day, our top was Penuepi to an
Air Force based Richmond and Sydney. There did the customs
checks there, then flew up to Darwin. So there that
was probably I've got it all written down somewhere.

Speaker 3 (02:12:59):
How many engineers would there be you and how many others?

Speaker 22 (02:13:04):
There was ten maintenance ten.

Speaker 5 (02:13:08):
Ten.

Speaker 19 (02:13:08):
You had a.

Speaker 22 (02:13:10):
Usually the Wine Office was there in charge, and then
you had a sergeant in charge of engines, a sergeant
in charge of avionics. You would have an armament person,
you'd have me I was called Safety and Surface technicians,

(02:13:31):
and then you'd have a couple of corporal, a couple
of corporals and couple of ground these baggies there is
helping wrong with you.

Speaker 3 (02:13:40):
Know, as soon as you landed in Sydney, would you
then do mechanical work and chicks on the plane or
were you just say just in case something bad happened.
I know we were.

Speaker 22 (02:13:51):
We were right through the work to work on it
in the UK on doing exercise went wrong on the
way up there, we would we would be there to help.
But if if there was no maintenance on a flight,
by that what you's like engineered that he was responsible
for any maintenance.

Speaker 3 (02:14:11):
Okay, so you were just there if something went wrong
to fix it. Yeah, And does that often happen?

Speaker 22 (02:14:19):
Well, it's the bathtub effect, Denny, I mean not Denny Market.

Speaker 5 (02:14:25):
The bathtub.

Speaker 22 (02:14:26):
You know, you know when you first buy something it
could be sort of quite high in maintenance, and then
as time goes on extends out and then towards the
end of its life that goes back up again.

Speaker 2 (02:14:38):
Ye yep, I say the bath.

Speaker 22 (02:14:40):
Ibea that sort of thing is it?

Speaker 3 (02:14:41):
Is it as a bathtub like that, you know, like
a like a big, huge long you what is a
bathtub like that?

Speaker 22 (02:14:53):
It's it's just called the bathtub effect.

Speaker 3 (02:14:56):
I don't know how, I don't know how that works.

Speaker 22 (02:14:59):
You know, at the start looks like a shape of
a you, and I see the time higher maintenance or thing.
At the start of people are getting used to it,
unite sort of thing, and then as the life of
the item goes along, the mellows out and nice and easy,
and then at the end start gets to get high.

(02:15:20):
Got okay, you got three of them arrived in March
April sixty five, and then the other two didn't arrive
until sixty nine. Somebody spring up earlier about was there
any other options toward at the time. I think from

(02:15:42):
probably the only other option at the time would have
been the C one forty one star list, of which
the Inks were using. And I'm not sure if it
was cost or whatever that invented that, but I know
when mister Morrison, Chad the Defense end was ordered them,
he was going to get I think he's eight of them,

(02:16:05):
because three or four of them were.

Speaker 9 (02:16:06):
Going to be.

Speaker 22 (02:16:08):
Maritime patrol until they got to the States. The riddle, hang,
I'm looking at the orions and they chose the orions
instead of maritime versions of the hercules.

Speaker 3 (02:16:20):
Hey, someone has just sent me through an article which
I should mention as well about It's from the it's
from the Air Force magazine.

Speaker 4 (02:16:27):
You'd know that.

Speaker 3 (02:16:29):
Yep, they've never had an accident. Well, that's what the
article says, and that's kind of probably true.

Speaker 22 (02:16:40):
Well, it was still five flying with three flying play
and too fluentdum would burn last year.

Speaker 3 (02:16:45):
One hundred and fifty five thousand extant free flying hours
and one hundred thousand lendings at home and around the world.
That is kind of remarkable, isn't it.

Speaker 20 (02:16:55):
He's got a pretty good feet that's thanks to you.

Speaker 3 (02:16:58):
That's thanks to you.

Speaker 22 (02:17:01):
Well yeah, yeah, Well I did twenty two years and
we were never invaded in that time, so I feel
pretty proud about it.

Speaker 3 (02:17:09):
Did you then go work in civilian street and play?

Speaker 16 (02:17:14):
No?

Speaker 22 (02:17:14):
Okay, well no, I've been in a bread factory for
twenty years.

Speaker 3 (02:17:20):
Any good?

Speaker 5 (02:17:21):
Hey?

Speaker 3 (02:17:22):
Any good?

Speaker 9 (02:17:23):
Yeah?

Speaker 22 (02:17:24):
But different day.

Speaker 3 (02:17:25):
Yeah, pretty tu unrelated things, aren't they.

Speaker 22 (02:17:29):
Yeah, so I think it was around I remember when
did what was the prime minister's name that passed away
in the early.

Speaker 3 (02:17:38):
Seventies, Big norm yet Norman Kirk.

Speaker 22 (02:17:41):
That was seventy seventy one one n yep, because they
flew his body out after the funeral out of Wellington
Airport to Timaru Airport. That's right, because they buried on
Way Metty because he'd built a house by hand of
why Metti.

Speaker 3 (02:17:56):
I think he built his house by hand at Kayapoi,
but I think he was brought up at why Metti Ah.
I think that's the case because he biked out there
each day. I'm going to Allen, but thank you very
very much. Nice to hear from you.

Speaker 1 (02:18:09):
For more from Marcus Slash Nights, listen live to News
talkst B from eight pm weekdays, or follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio.