A while ago I received a care package including an Airfix Dauntless kit - I'm so sorry I don't remember who sent it - but I had no idea what to do with it as I'd previously received a started example and done it as an RNZAF example. Then the other day I remembered a custom decal sheet for a CAC Ceres - an Australian WW2 aircraft-based agricultural aircraft - in the colours of Wanganui Aero Work, the company I used to work for and I think the oldest topdressing company in New Zealand.
So.
Untitled by
Zac Yates, on Flickr
After WW2 the method of using aircraft to spread fertiliser over New Zealand's hill country meant every war-surplus DH Tiger Moth was snapped up, converted to carry fertiliser, and flown by mostly ex-RNZAF pilots to give new life to the country's vital agriculture-based economy. However the little biplane was hardly the best tool for the job and industry leaders began to seek out new, purpose-built aircraft designed specifically for New Zealand conditions. Others persisted with finding and converting other war surplus types.
Wally Harding, head of the growing Wanganui Aero Work aerial application company, purchased the last ex-RNZAF Douglas SBD-5 Dauntless dive-bomber before it went to the scrapper and had his engineers convert it into a topdressing aircraft. The forward-facing gunmounts and front cockpit were removed and replaced with a fertiliser hopper and the cockpit controls moved to the rear. Originally the plan was to keep the front cockpit and put the hopper in the rear however this was ruled out due to centre of gravity issues. The upper dive brakes were disconnected, fixed in place and faired over, a taller tailwheel leg and larger wheel fitted to help with ground visibility, and the main undercarriage were fixed in place and the bays faired over. Finally a WAW-designed hopper box and fairing were fitted below the centre section, with a sturdy actuating handle fitted to the lower left of the pilot's seat.
Its sword-to-ploughshare conversion complete, the one-time NZ5062 was rolled out as the civilian ZK-BSQ in an attractive silver and red paint scheme and flew from Wanganui Airport in early 1952. Initial trials showed the aircraft handled well when fully loaded and performed well on the job. However the one-off nature of the conversion - and that there were no more Dauntlesses left in the country to convert - meant that ZK-BSQ remained the sole example of the "dung-dusting Douglas Dauntless". By 1955 the Fletcher FU-24 had been developed and chosen to form the backbone of the WAW fleet and the Dauntless was retired and broken down, only a fuselage panel and the tailfin surviving into the 1970s in the spares department.
Untitled by
Zac Yates, on Flickr
Untitled by
Zac Yates, on Flickr
Untitled by
Zac Yates, on Flickr
Untitled by
Zac Yates, on Flickr
Untitled by
Zac Yates, on Flickr
Untitled by
Zac Yates, on Flickr
Untitled by
Zac Yates, on Flickr
This is the third time I've built this kit but the first time I've realised it has no exhausts. Nice one, Airfix! Anyways there's no way I can ID where most of the extra bits came from but that doesn't matter...it looks cool, and I had a lot of fun "designing" and building this thing. I hope you like it and it's a bit of a change from the military stuff.