Iconic top-dressing plane coming back to life
After 37 years, the DC-3 aircraft that is part of aviation icon Ossie James’s legacy is being restored.
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It’s a steep walk down to the bottom of Mystery Creek’s gate number three, flanked by thistles and dying grass.
At the bottom is a basic wooden frame with a roof on it.
Noticeably absent are walls, a floor, or anything which attempts to make it even the slightest bit pleasing on the eye.
Although this building has an underwhelming presence, what sits inside it grabs your attention by the scruff.
“She’s a big girl, she’s gorgeous,” remarks Ossie James’ daughter Lynnette.
The ‘girl’ she refers to is the red, black and white coloured James Aviation DC-3.
The aircraft forms a significant piece of New Zealand aviation and farming history, having been the first of its kind to be converted into an aerial top dresser.
After remaining stagnant for the last 37 years, the aircraft is being restored to something near its former glory.
Despite cutting a lonely figure right now, from June 12-15, thousands will visit the DC-3 as part of the 2013 National Agricultural Fieldays.
Ossie James is certainly the most well-known aviation figure in the Waikato, and perhaps the whole of New Zealand.
He got started in aviation by rescuing a Tiger Moth plane from floodwaters in 1948 before developing the largest fleet of Fletchers in the country.
By 1949 Ossie had formed the aptly-named James Aviation company, which began operations in Northland and the Waikato.
James Aviation ‘s fleet extended to include 38 Fletcher Aircraft and DC3 which spread 200,000 tons of superphosphate and over half a million pounds of grass seed each year.
The Ossie James DC-3 Conservation Trust is the enthusiastic driving force behind the $700,000 restoration project of that DC-3 aircraft.
In existence since May 2010, the trust can lay claim to having one of the Waikato’s most powerful men in John Gallagher on board to direct their vision
In dollar terms they have around half the amount they need to finish the DC-3, which was donated to the NZ National Fieldays Agricultural Heritage Museum by James Aviation in 1974.
Over the next three decades she was an unwanted child, neglected and left to feel the full wrath of the at times harsh Mystery Creek elements.
This saddened Ossie in the last few years of his life, when he would visit the Fieldays with Lynnette and witness the deprived mess.
“It came to a crisis point four years ago, we had to decide whether to demolish or restore the dilapidated plane as she had become a safety issue with bits falling off,” Lynnette says.
The answer was resoundingly in favour of restoring the plane, dubbed the ‘Hi Land Duster’ due to its ability to spread fertiliser across even the steepest New Zealand terrain.
Trustee Andy Higgins, who was formerly an engineer with James Aviation, says parts have been surprisingly easy to locate locally considering the age of the aircraft.
“We know where they all are, it’s just a matter of getting our fingers on them. A lot of them have come from Ashburton.”
The DC-3 has her looks once again thanks to being stripped down, repainted and decked out in new parts, but the interior is another issue altogether.
“It’s made to look alright for now, but there is still a lot of work to do,” Higgins says.
“The cockpit looks as if it came from the bottom of the ocean, there is not an instrument in it.”
The restoration project transcends the simple fact of bringing back a plane which is dear to the hearts of many in New Zealand.
It is also about recognising the man who created it, and if you like, about restoring his legacy for future generations.
Former Wanganui Aero Work owner Richmond Harding describes his long-standing business rival as, “an exciting man to know, he was full of enthusiasm,” while his daughter recalls a perennial optimist, constantly searching for new opportunities in life.
Oswald George (Ossie) James had served in the Second World War as a mechanic, positioned in the Solomon Canal area.
Upon returning to New Zealand he purchased a Tiger Moth aircraft with his brothers Ian and Colin.
Armed with an abundant supply of unused New Zealand Army paint they started on a mission of a new kind.
“They pretty much painted every shed that was around the East Coast, from Gisborne to the East Cape,” says Lynnette.
That was when the interest in aviation started to become a love, and also where Ossie spotted the potential for his next venture.
While most who laid eyes on the eroded hillsides around New Zealand’s East saw just that, Mr James visualised dollar signs, and the chance to help the country greatly improve its productivity.
In the early days of top dressing Ossie worked exceptionally hard, often only pausing to sleep under the wings of his plane at night.
“The hours that man worked…he was going to be best man for Bob Scott, one of his pilots in Rotorua, but the day before the wedding he collapsed with bleeding ulcers and had to be in hospital for 7 days.
“It was at that point that his mother sat him down and gave him a talking to, reminding him that you could not have a love affair with an airplane and that he better find himself a wife.”
Although James Aviation eventually grew into a multi-million dollar business, Andy Higgins says Ossie’s ideas, in particular the DC-3 conversion, often garnered looks of bewilderment from within the industry.
“This was a shocker. I think there were a lot of people saying we couldn’t do it, but we just got on and did the job.
“We had our moments with little things but really it all went to plan.”
Farming as we know it today could also be a very different proposition had Ossie and the DC-3 top dresser never come along.
Former Waikato Federated Farmers President Stewart Wadey insists the lush hillside pastures which we now take for granted are a direct result of the DC-3’s work half a century ago.
“Ossie and the DC-3’s legacy can still be seen today in the fertile farms that are now in their fiftieth year of pasture.
“The DC-3 was used in challenging topography, it required some skills and of course in those days pilots learnt to fly by trial and error.
“Ossie took things a bit further and had the passion to see if a large airplane could be an economical way to service the primary products industry.”
This particular aircraft was never meant to even grace New Zealand shores.
On May 23, 1945 the DC-3 rolled off the production line in Oklahoma City, got stamped with the US military number 44-76984 and departed for its original destination at the United States Army Air Forces.
Some would call it luck, others fate, but it never arrived and was instead handed over to New Zealand under a lease-lend deal.
As part of the Royal New Zealand Air Force fleet for nine years, it was most notably used as the baggage aircraft for the Royal Tour of New Zealand by Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip in late 1953.
The following year Ossie purchased it and produced the world’s first DC-3 top dresser plane.
The Hi Land Duster, Ossie James and the Fieldays are a three-piece with a rich history.
Mr James was the first ever president of the NZ Fieldays Society, and he found the piece of land which the annual show is now hosted on.
The current retirement home of the DC-3 is also just a few kilometers down the road from the old James Aviation Headquarters.
The conservation trust have big dreams for this big plane at Mystery Creek.
“What I would like to see is a very interactive and fun place for the DC-3. Something exciting and modern, with things like holograms, so kids will love it. It will be very cool,” Lynette says.
“I’m hoping it is going to bring back a lot of memories for people and keep alive the contribution that these aviation pioneers made to the country.”
From being a near-condemned public safety hazard only four years ago, the DC-3 is now ready to be shown off to visitors from all over the world.
The restoration process has been a rewarding, challenging, and at times emotional experience for those involved.
“To see it all come together, we are very proud,” Lynnette says.
“The DC-3 made a major contribution to New Zealand and it has a rightful place at the NZ Fieldays in my opinion.”
