Memoirs from Bob Allen.
Bob Allen was a Fieldair pilot from 1952 until 1975, initially flying Tiger Moths, then moving to the Beaver, then the Lodestar and DC3. He trained numerous pilots on the Lodestar and DC3 and was the first Fieldair pilot to fly both aircraft. Bob is living in Queensland, Australia and I made contact with him over 3 years ago when I was looking for photos and information for my website. We have remained in contact since and I send Bob a few photos now and then which he enjoys immensely. He has blown the dust off his logbooks and has written a small article entitled “Bob’s Meanderings” which is about his very early days with Fieldair.
Dear Graeme,
In early 1951, after responding to a Fieldair advertisement for topdressing pilots, I met Lawson Field and Noel Marshall in Auckland City and after the formal interview, I was taken to Mangere Airfield where a Beaver, which was to become ZK-AZB, was being assembled alongside another Beaver for Rural Aviation.
I commenced the process of obtaining a Commercial Pilots Licence which took a while, as the cost of the required flying hours (very modest by todays standards) was nonetheless a strain at the time. In due course, all was in order and I arrived in Gisborne in January 1952. There was no aircraft available for me to fly so I worked in the hangar, delivered fuel and oil to airstrips as required and also did a stint of loader driving.
In mid February, a crate containing a Tiger Moth arrived and was duly assembled. I made the first MacGregor hopper outlet (my engineering background a big help) from a set of plans. Training in the topdressing industry involved a few take-offs and landings, watched by the Chief Pilot, Noel Marshall, from a large paddock at Ngatapa (a rural area outside Gisborne).
Tiger ASV was finally assembled and included accommodation for the driver in the hopper, the first of the fleet, not comfortable but adequate. Until this modification, crews stayed on the job, sleeping in scungy old caravans. My first foray in topdressing was in April 1952, after advise from Noel and supervised by him (from a safe distance). Scared myself witless at times but I was a fast learner and never broke anything. That endured for my near 25 years in the industry.
I did the Beaver endorsement in BBX on February 2nd 1953 and took over AZB on June 23 1953 and we were good friends until the arrival of BFN on April 5 1955. I took BFN to the same strip I had been operating AZB from (Bakers strip) and here the true potential of the Beaver was demonstrated. With the 2 originals, 17cwt had them “grunting”. With the same load as per the previous day in AZB, I was astounded to find myself airborne at about two-thirds the distance. In short, I was carrying the “magic ton”. How much drag that was created by the hopper outlet was not appreciated at that time. Looking at pictures now, it becomes obvious. The clamshell outlet on BFN certainly gave the performance so badly missed but was troublesome with “build-up” and was soon to be replaced, to that as seen on later photos.
I took BFN to Wellington on April 18 1955 as De Havilland were having a Field Day demonstrating fence material delivery, returning to Gisborne on the 24th. This coincided with the arrival of Lodestar BJM. As I has, coutesy of the RNZAF and RAF some 500 hours of multi-time, Lawson as his want had a pilot on the cheap. As a matter of accuracy, Alan Mayfield had much more experience of that type, serving 2 tours in Bomber Command, but he was not interested. Setting the record straight, I was the sole pilot of the Lodestar, until I went to Bankstown, Australia in mid 1956 to test fly BMC and deliver it to Gisborne. From Camden, NSW, I topdressed a farm beyond Mittagong, the first in Australia by a large aircraft. During that period, from my log book, I see that odd spells saw me flying Beavers and Tigers, no leisure allowed during Lodestar maintenance! During this period, the viability of the large aircraft was established in Gisborne, Napier and Takapau.
That Beaver AZB and Bob had a future in aviation was, in large, partly due to the inherent strength of the Wasp radial engine. I was working at Waiau (inland from Tokomaru Bay) and had just commenced a sowing run. A loud bang up front and, in concert, the motor tried to tear itself off the mounts. I dumped the load and at reduced Power/RPM crept back toward the strip, with nowhere to go, all steep, broken ridges around, this was the longest 3 miles/minutes of my life! Got back to the strip (later my driver said my complexion was between chalk and putty). When finally back in Gisborne and opening the crankcase, it was found a gudgeon pin had sheared, leaving the conrod flailing around, tearing through the cylinder skirts and finally breaking into several pieces (A Rural overhaul). A replacement motor was fitted after several days, again from Rural, and I went off, working a few miles from Base. Did just under 2 hours, stopping due to an increasing Westerly wind. After a few hours, we decided to go home. I went to pull over the prop, prior to start-up, and found it immovable. In this instance, the impeller bearings had seized – was not happy!! After this fiasco, motors for a fair period were overhauled by De Havilland in Wellington.
I have referred back to my logbooks for dates but still have vivid memories of events, many not so pleasant and recalling, a little depressing.
Kind regards,
Bob Allen.
Bob Allen in Beaver BFN post dropping 1955
Bob Allen 1955 in front of BFN
Lodestar BJM 1955