interest in aviation both military and civil based. After high school Simon entered into the
New Zealand Television Broadcasting industry becoming a senior technical editor in news
operations. He remained full time in this career for 25 years and continued thereafter on a
casual basis for another seven years for a total of 32 years of broadcasting service.
He holds the record as the longest consecutively serving editor for TVNZ's South
Island bureau in New Zealand.
Right now, Simon is taking time to focus on his interests in aviation history which
includes this website, historic research plus book and magazine publishing.
(1) U.S. Military Aviation from World War II to the present day.
Specialist interests include aircraft manufacturing and procurement, cargo
transport aircraft, the Fairchild cargo transports - C-82, C-119, C-123
and Vietnam War aviation.
(2) Civil Airliners from post-World War II to the present day.
Specialist areas of interest are US civil airliners, the 'jumbo era'
and cargo transport designs.
(3) Hollywood film aviation history.
Simon's career in the visual communications industry has allowed
him great insight into his interest in aviation film and television productions.
This accumulated as a movie guide book on the subject published in 2016.
since flown in many aircraft types - some of the more rare and interesting being the
Douglas DC-3/C-47, T-6 Harvard, PBY-5A Catalina, Fokker F.27 Friendship,
Hawker-Siddeley 748, DC-10, 747-200/-400, Cessna Citation VIP jet, an RNZAF
Bell 47G and a Hughes 500D helicopter.
He has also been allowed to board and view such aircraft as a Boeing B-52G
Stratofortress, RMAF DHC-4A Caribou, Bristol Freighter, NASA's 747 SOFIA,
Avro Lancaster Mk. VII, an original Mosquito FB.Mk.VI and a Turkish Stars
aerobatic Northrop F-5A jet while on a working trip to Turkey.
flying from Christchurch to Auckland, New Zealand. I was 11 years old at the time.
holiday to the United States. During the visit I went to the USS Arizona Memorial by boat and
witnessed oil still coming from the ship nearly 50 years later! A vivid memory I still have today.
I also toured the USS Bowfin, a World War II submarine which was displayed next to the Arizona
Memorial at the time.
Simon (left), and his two younger brothers with the WW2 submarine, the USS Bowfin, at Pearl Harbor.
Airport, New Zealand for a television filming assignment.
out of Queenstown Airport over Lake Wakatipu. The aircraft was originally a C-47A-20-DL with
USAAF s/n: 42-23424 and had been in service with the RAAF with s/n: A65-9. I would later propose
to my wife on this same aircraft while on a sunset flight over Christchurch in November, 2000.
over Auckland city and Rangitoto Island. The aircraft was a C-47B-10-DK, USAAF s/n:
43-49219. It operates in New Zealand with reg: ZK-DAK.
45 minute circuit of Christchurch on a clear and calm Saturday afternoon.
held in Nagano, Japan. After the games had concluded, I took some R&R and travelled to Hiroshima on the
24th of February to tour the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. An incredibly moving and surreal experience
made more so by the intermittent light rain on that winter's day. I also toured the Hiroshima Peace Memorial
Museum plus many of the surrounding memorial sites. The most poignant being the A-Bomb Dome which has
come to symbolise the global movement against nuclear proliferation.
The A-Bomb Dome, as it has come to be known, in Hiroshima, Japan.
(RAF s/n: NX665) on display at the Motat Museum in Auckland, New Zealand.
There is no better aeroplane for taking in aerial scenic views than the Catalina's unique
waist blister windows. The aircraft was built as a Canadian PBV-1A Canso A with
RCAF s/n: 11054 and operated in New Zealand as a Warbird with reg: ZK-PBY.
An aviation hobby highlight was certainly the opportunity to fly in a rare Catalina type.
Open Day and secured a 20 minute short flight before the weather packed in! What I remember
most about this flight was the light rain coming into the cockpit through the gaps in the canopy!
The aircraft was an AT-6A-NT Texan with s/n: 41-16269 and had been in the SAAF as 7660
which it was still marked with at the time of my flight.
The chance to experience a flight in the venerable Harvard was too good to pass up!
I was allowed permission to sit in the main attraction - a DH Mosquito FB.Mk.VI (s/n:
NZ2336) and to tour around the barn area seeing the other such aircraft as a P-51D,
two P-40s and a Lockheed Hudson. I visited John again in 2003, that time taking my
two year old daughter to have a sit in the Mosquito.
which had many British and American military aircraft types spanning many decades. I was able to sit
onboard an F-86 Sabre (Australian built), A-4PTM Skyhawk, a rare VIP configured HU-16B Albatross,
a Bell 47G helicopter and a DHC-4A Caribou.
The DHC-4A Caribou (RMAF s/n: M21-04) is a classic piston-engined transport with a prime example
preserved at the RMAF Museum in Kuala Lumpur.
in Darwin where they granted me permission to board their prized display item, a Boeing
B-52G-120-BW Stratofortress (s/n: 59-2596) donated to Australia by the USAF after the
Gulf War in 1991 when the 'G' series was retired.
The eight-throttle levered center-console on the B-52 is a sight to behold!
Singapore while on a family trip to the region.
CitationJet CJ-1 that included a glass of champagne as we over flew Mt. Cook.
with a flying instructor on a 30 minute introductory flight over Canterbury.
Flying a Robby chopper was tricky to say the least but something you could get used too with practice.
identities of the C-82 Skytrucks used for The Flight of the Phoenix (1965). The three aircraft were
C-82As: N6887C (flying), N4833V (on-location wreck) and N53228 (studio wreck). Three
additional aircraft were used as the Phoenix: R4Q-1 BuNo.126580 (ground scenes), N93082
(Tallmantz flying aircraft) and O-47A N4725V (flying scenes). Since then I've also collected
on-set photos, interviewed cast and crew and obtained files of additional information on what
remains today my favourite aviation film.
Thanks to the help of the late Charles L. Lunsford, I was also able to identify the four C-119
Flying Boxcars used in the remake titled Flight of the Phoenix (2004). Chuck was a technical
consultant who received an on-screen thanks - the third last name at the end of the credits.
ANZAC Commemorations held at Gallipoli in Turkey. The flight there and back was
onboard an RNZAF Boeing 757-200 (s/n: NZ7572) with stops in Malaysia, Dubai and
Australia. After commemorations, the contingent had a day of R&R and I chose to visit the
Turkish Air Force Museum at Yesilkoy in Istanbul. There were many Cold War era US fighter
types including the F-84, F-86, F-100, F-104 and F-4 and I was granted permission to sit in an
F-5A Freedom Fighter that was once part of the Turkish Stars aerobatic team.
ANZAC Cove at Gallipoli where New Zealand and Australian soldiers landed exactly 90 years ago in 1915.
That spot at that moment is currently as far as I've ever been from New Zealand.
Retired Turkish Stars aerobatic team NF-5A Freedom Fighter (s/n: 3022).
from Wigram Aerodrome to Ashburton return. The aircraft was a C-47A-25-DK, USAAF s/n:
42-93579. It operated in New Zealand at the time with reg: ZK-AMY.
in connection with the last Wigram Open Day to be held before the airport was closed.
A brief but incredibly memorable flight in the affectionately coined "M*A*S*H helicopter."
at Fort Canning Hill, Singapore while on a family trip to the region.
covering aircraft identities and reviews for over 350 aviation themed titles. The project
was begun in 2006 so the venture took ten years to complete and represents my passion
for both aviation history and film production.
During the course of research and writing I uncovered the identities of hundreds
of aircraft that were previously unknown to movie-goers. These are presented here
with histories and comprehensive listings not seen in any previous books on
the subject of Hollywood aviation films.
which was being used for infrared astronomy projects over southern skies.
The Boeing 747, even in its shortened 'SP' form, is still an impressive aircraft today.
Civil History. The book covers the entire 224 individual aircraft built from factory to final
dispositions. There are chapters on The Flight of the Phoenix (1965) movie, the civil serving
Steward-Davis C-82A Jet-Packet saga and the Packets role in The Berlin Airlift of 1949.
This book remains the number one title available on this aircraft and I still today
research the topic uncovering additional information and photos. I believe
my C-82 photo and file collection would be the most extensive in the world.
United States Air Force (USAF) Individual Aircraft Record Cards (IARC) spanning from
1922 to 1979. The results are now published on this website and can be found in the side
menu under IARC Reel Guide. Additionally, I have also catalogued the entire 93 reel
USAF Delivery Logs spanning from World War II to the late 1950s. These can also be found
under the same side menu heading.
This was a massive project and a copy of the entire catalogue has been supplied to the
USAF Historic Research Agency at Maxwell AFB, Alabama as a thank you for their help.
Service Histories. All 1,185 Boxcar airframe histories are covered from factory to final dispositions,
a deciphering process from USAF IARC reels and FAA documents that took 12 months to complete.
It is the only 'go to reference manual' for the C-119 available in the world and covers the entire
unit histories of the USAF, AFRes, ANG, USMC, plus all foreign military and civilian operators.
British WW2-era 1935 Armstrong-Whitworth gun turret from an
RNZAF Airspeed Oxford or Anson. FOR SALE - please contact
Simon Beck at the email address below for details.