A British Airways Concorde was flown to New Zealand on Sunday 6th April 1986 and I Ied a flight of three A4K Skyhawks to escort Concorde to Auckland. A British Airways Concorde was flown to New Zealand on Sunday 6th April 1986 and I Ied......
November 2022 marks 50 years since the RNZAF’s de Havilland Vampire fleet retired from service. The Air Force operated 58 Vampires within New Zealand, and at least 44 more leased Vampires in Cyprus and Singapore. In this episode of the WONZ Show, Dave Homewood talks with......
My final RNZAF flight as an aircraft captain was on 11th December 1987 from RNZAF Base Ohakea, wherein I flew a two-seater Skyhawk TA4K NZ6251, with passenger LAC Glen Edwards in the back seat. The purpose of my flight was to be a ‘Red Air......
In late 1972, after phasing out from service the De Havilland Vampire, the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) began to introduce to service the first ten of what eventually became a squadron of sixteen British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) Strikemaster Mk88 dual-seat training aircraft. The......
Address given by Air Commodore Jim Barclay AFC, RNZAF (Ret) to the ‘RNZAF Heritage Dinner’ at Draken International, Lakeland, Florida, Wednesday 10th April 2013....
75 Squadron RNZAF – Exercise Golden Kiwi/Cook Bi-Centennial, Gisborne, September/October 1969 ‘Exercise Golden Kiwi’ was the name given to 75 Squadron support to New Zealand’s 200th year commemoration of the landing at Gisborne, New Zealand, by Captain James Cook in 1769. Supporting the ‘Cook Bi-Centennial’......
In early 1981, Joanie Barclay, wife of the then Squadron Leader Jim Barclay, a Royal New Zealand Air Force exchange pilot with the 31st Tactical Fighter Wing (31 TFW) at United States Air Force (USAF) Homestead Air Force Base (HAFB), located near Miami, Florida, was quick to respond to an invitation from Jim’s 308th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron (308 TFTS) to experience a ‘Burner Bust’. Like a number of other USAF squadrons, the 308 TFTS annually invited the wives of squadron aircrew to experience an overview of what their husbands did while away at work. ...
Sqn Ldr Jim Barclay F4E Phantom II AF66-309 309th TFS, 31 TFW, Homestead AFB, Florida, September 1979 In May 1979 I travelled to Florida, USA, with my family for a ‘two-years, plus training time’ RNZAF/USAF exchange posting flying the USAF F4 Phantom II with the......
RNZAF Hastings in service – The RNZAF operated four Handley Page (HP) Hastings (serial numbers NZ5801 to 5804) CMk3 four-engined transport aircraft from 1952. These aircraft were flown initially by No. 41 Squadron, but they were transferred to No. 40 Squadron when it reformed on......
May/June 1973, by Jim Barclay Flt Lt Jim Barclay strapping into the ejection seat of 77 Squadron RAAF two-seater RAAF Mirage IIID A3-104, RAAF Base Darwin, Australia 1st June 1973 Eight RNZAF A4K Skyhawks from No 75 Squadron were flown from RNZAF Base Ohakea on......
My introduction to flying in Vampires with 75 Squadron (Sqn) began when I was posted to Ohakea in April 1966 as an 18 year old Secretarial Officer. At that time 75 Sqn aircrew were located in the north western corner of No 2 Hangar at......
A4 painted drop tanks – what some may think is ‘useless’ information – a photo of Skyhawk A4K NZ6208 at Ohakea carrying the first set of drop tanks with camouflage paint applied to the top part of the tank. Since we had had the Skyhawks......