WWII Spitfire Ace to Fly In Spitfire After 70 Years at WONZ Forum Meet

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Member for

20 years

Posts: 5,575

Hi everyone,

I hope this might be of interest. My Wings Over New Zealand Aviation Forum (http:/rnzaf.proboards.com) is having another of our Forum Meets on the 28th of September 2014, at the NZ Warbirds Hangar at Ardmore, Auckland, NZ.

As well as arranging some top notch guest speakers from the New Zealand Warbirds scene and WWII RNZAF veterans, we have also been working behind the scenes to set up something really very special which will hopefully happen during the Forum Meet if we achieve the goal.

WWII RNZAF fighter ace Alan Peart DFC, is one of only four New Zealand fighter aces known to still be alive, and he's still fit and well at 92 years old. For a bit of background Alan's a longtime friend of Wings over New Zealand. He was at our 2011 and 2014 Forum Meets, he is a WONZ forum reader, and has been the subject of a WONZ Show podcast recording. Some of you may have read his excellent book "From North Africa To The Arakan", about his wartime experiences.

Anyway, Alan recently remarked to Larry Hill in a conversation that he'd like nothing more before he dies than to have one more flight in a Spitfire. This set Larry to thinking, and he then approached me to see what I could do, and the result is we are going to do our best to make it happen. And better still, we are going to try to make this happen AT our next Forum Meet on September 28th!!

So we are raising the money required to make this very special flight happen. Larry has set up a donation site here:
www.givealittle.co.nz/cause/AlanPeartDFC

We need your support please. If you can only give a little, give a little. If you can give a lot, please do.

The plan is for Alan to be taken up for his flight in Doug Brooker's lovely Spitfire Tr.9 by NZ warbirds President Frank Parker of Warbirds Adventure Flights, and as it's during the Forum Meet anyone attending the meet will be able to see this absolute magic moment happen.

We also hope that we can get a Harvard up with them, flown by NZ Warbirds Vice-President John Kelly, with none other than legendary photographer Gavin Conroy in the back seat, to take some air to air shots of Alan airborne with Frank!

Gavin has pledged that should we achieve this, anyone who donates NZ$25 or more will be sent a photo from the flight in high resolution via their email, which they can then print out as a wonderful souvenir. And Larry has also pledged that anyone who donates over NZ$100.00 to the cause will receive a copy of the limited edition print that Ron Fulstow painted of Alan Peart battling the 20 plus Nakajima Oscars over Broadway in March 1944, based on a real event.

So please help us to get Alan up in the Spitfire, and if you can, come and join us on the day to see it happen. And spread the word about this to all your friends who might like to donate towards making this piece of history happen.
And for more on the Forum Meet as a whole, have a look here:
http://rnzaf.proboards.com/thread/21771/ardmore-forum-meet-september-2014

And to donate to the cause, click here:
www.givealittle.co.nz/cause/AlanPeartDFC

Original post

Member for

11 years 9 months

Posts: 151

I haven't met Alan but have spoken to him via email and over the phone a couple of times. A lovely man and very, very understated. I am really happy to see this coming together for him and can't wait to see the video and photos.

I have a copy of the print hanging on my wall. It's apparently the only painting showing an RAF Mk VIII in action against the Japanese. Alan's account of the action is, of course, detailed in his book but, if you haven't read it yet, here's a very quick look:

http://aircrewbookreview.blogspot.com/2010/04/alan-peart-in-action-new-spitfire-print.html

Always pleasing to see any old flyer go up in his old mount again. Very special knowing it will be Alan this time around.

Member for

14 years 8 months

Posts: 131

Well the donations are certainly coming along nicely. We only need approx NZ1200.00 to achieve our worthy goal. So if 12 people donate $100 we've done it! And you get a print of his action with 20 Japanese fighters and a photo of him taking the flight.

Member for

9 years 8 months

Posts: 107

Well done Dave...........I sincerely hope Alan manages to take the flight.
I did tours on a WW2 bomber but the museum stopped Vets etc going on board due to "Health and Safety" and these were the men who flew OPERATIONALLY.
I was gutted. Hope you dont have any problems like that!