AIRVENTURE OSHKOSH

I’m on my way to Oshkosh -
to the world’s greatest general aviation air show

Aircraft parking at Airventure Oshkosh

I’m all booked and ready to go to the 2013 Airventure air show at Oshkosh, Wisconsin which runs from 29 July to 4 August. Oshkosh is on the west shore of Lake Winnebago about 200 miles north of Chicago.

Airventure was started by the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) in 1953 as part of the Milwaukee Air Pageant with only 150 registered visitors and a handful of home-built aircraft. The EAA moved the air show to Oshkosh in 1969 and the show continued to grow rapidly.

The EAA now has 160,000 members and each year half a million people from 60 countries visit the week-long show. The show is run by more than 4,000 volunteers.

But I won’t be joining the 10,000 visiting aircraft that will swarm into the three airports at Oshkosh and nearby Appleton. I’ll be driving from Los Angeles.

My itinerary includes visits to the Grand Canyon, the Colorado Rockies, and the Cessna production line at Independence in Kansas, some Route 66, and some back country roads to Oshkosh.

Returning to Los Angeles I’ll stop off in Minneapolis before taking in one or two of Minnesota’s 10,000 lakes on the way to North and South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming and Idaho. Mount Rushmore, the Devil’s Tower and Yellowstone will be visited along the way.

EAA Founder Paul Poberezny

In Utah, I’ll look at some more canyons, drop into Las Vegas for a return visit and then down the I-15 to LAX.

My interest in Airventure Oshkosh goes back to 1979. In that year EAA founder and president, Paul Poberezny, was the after dinner speaker at New Zealand’s Auckland Aero Club 50^th anniversary reunion.

Poberezny, now aged 91, has been a pilot for more than 70 years and has flown more than 400 different aircraft types. He taught himself to fly in a glider that he restored himself.

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COUNTRY COMEDY

A fun way to get a haircut After watching and listening to this…tell me you don’t like country music? Click to listen: Country Comedy

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HAPPY READING

ORDER IN THE COURT

Stand up for the court, or else

A man accused of rioting during last year's Sydney, Australia Muslim protests has been read the 'riot act' by a magistrate.

Mohammad Issai Issaka refused to stand up in court claiming it was against his religion.

Mr Issaka appeared in court faced with charges of riot, assaulting police and resisting arrest over last year’s riots.

In a 20 minute stand off, the Lakemba man refused to stand for the Magistrate, claiming it was against his religion . . . .

Full story: nz.news.yahoo.com

Peter’s Piece

To the credit of Magistrate Jacqueline Milledge she found a suitable way out of the impasse. She allowed the accused man to enter the court after she had taken her seat.

However she said that in her four years as a magistrate she had never encountered such a situation. Has she not before seen defendants who were too sick, disabled, or drunk to stand as she entered the courtroom?

Why do court rules demand that people must stand when a judge enters? Isn’t that a bit archaic? Surely the people who make such rules must understand that true respect must be earned, and returned, and cannot be ordered like ringing a bell for a servant.

One should not have to have a reason for not standing for the judge.

HIGHWAY HANK GOOD

A ride through Oregon in a KW with Highway Hank Good

Highway Hank Good

Highway Hank Good (Henry) is a legend of the American highways. Mostly he works the eastern and mid-west states and he has over 600 friends following him on Facebook.

Highway Hank Good's Kenworth, Hank Two

Hank operates two trucks, Hank One and Hank Two, and travels with his large dog, Bear. He lives in upper New York State and is a connoisseur of truck-stop food and frequently posts photos of heaped-high food on Facebook.

Hank Two often participates in truck shows around the country. It is his pride and joy and he lives for trucking.

You can take a ride with this gentle giant by clicking on the link: Highway Hank Good in Oregon

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COUNTRY MUSIC DOWNUNDER

Kiwi entertainers at 
Bay of Islands festival

The scene at Paihia on opening day of the Bay of Islands Country Rock Festival

Last week we traveled north to New Zealand’s beautiful and historic Bay of Islands for the 24^th annual BOI Country Rock Festival – a truly wonderful event from Friday to Sunday with more than fifty local and overseas entertainers.

This 12 year-old unofficial artist was later invited to sing with several  draw-card performers 

Friday started with free street performances from most entertainers, line dancers and one or two unofficial acts on the street and in car parks. Passing showers on Friday and Saturday afternoons did little to dampen the enthusiasm of the artists and the thousands who came to hear them.

The Kerikeri River, Bay of Islands, New Zealand

The main program was spread over seven indoor venues in the townships of Paihia, Russell and Kawakawa. Shuttle buses and ferries transported people between venues, but some venues fell short on space for the audience and their suitability for stage performances.

Seventeen year-old Abby singing at historic Russell

The Bay of Islands event has long been New Zealand’s premier country music festival but attendance in recent years has fallen due to hard times and the loss of some key venues due to circumstances beyond the control of long-time dedicated organizer Shirley May.

Crowd pleaser Dennis Marsh

Perhaps the time has come to re-locate the festival to Rotorua or Queenstown, also tourist towns, but with an abundance of excellent facilities at that time of the year. The Rotorua District Council and the Rotorua business community would leap at the opportunity to fill beds, shops and conference facilities.

Roger Tibbs, 'The Golden Voice'

The Bay of Islands Country Rock Festival could retain its good name while spreading the event over more than one locality and weekend. The absence of organized tour groups at the festival was noticeable and Rotorua and Queenstown could add thousands more visitors from overseas.

Win Blakeborough and festival organizer Shirley May

Graeme McCardle, a regular attraction at the festival

Meanwhile, the Bay of Islands, although historic and scenically attractive, only attracts about 5% of New Zealand’s overseas visitors. Even the best brands need re-inventing from time to time and re-invention requires looking right outside the square.

Top performer Marian Burns 

Enjoying the fun of the festival, Margaret and Geoff Arthur

We traveled and camped at nearby Haruru Falls with fellow motor-homers Bob and Judy from Thames, Lloyd and Joan from Taupo, and Graeme and Fay from Napier.

When it was all over we took the scenic route back home. Not recommended for large vehicles
or rentals. The state highways are much better.

SLEEPING PILOTS

Air India sleeping pilots suspended

Two Air India pilots, and the cabin attendants who took their place in the cockpit of a jetliner, have been suspended by the airline.

An Air India Boeing 747

The aircraft was flying on autopilot at 33,000 feet between Bangkok and New Delhi with 166 passengers on board when both pilots felt tired and decide to take a nap in business class seats. They asked two cabin attendants to keep watch on the cockpit during their 40 minute absence.

But their slumber was suddenly interrupted when one of the cabin attendants accidentally disengaged the autopilot. It is reported that the pilots rushed back to the cockpit in time to avoid a disaster.

Air India officials have made light of the incident and claimed that there was always one pilot in the cockpit at all times and that the attendants never handled the controls. They have also stated, almost in the same breath, that the incident was both serious and minor.

The pilots may have slept soundly for a time, but future Air India passengers will surely fly with their eyes wide open.

Near disasters like the Air India comedy of errors should only 
happen in fiction . . . . Fiction like . . . .

Murder at Wairere

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BARMAID EXPOSES COP

Corrupt cop exposed again in death

Exposed as corrupt by a Royal Commission and dogged by bitter public opinion for four decades, New Zealand’s Detective Inspector Bruce Hutton has been exposed again by a barmaid who was afraid to speak out while the former officer was still alive.

Detective Inspector Bruce Hutton

Forty-three years ago Queenie Edmonds was the barmaid in a private bar at an Auckland hotel while the bar was being used exclusively by police investigating one of New Zealand’s longest-running and most controversial murder mysteries.

According to Edmonds, Hutton and other officers were joking about planting evidence and framing local farmer Arthur Allan Thomas. They planted a bullet that had been test-fired from Thomas’s rifle in the garden of the house where Harvey and Jeanette Crewe had been murdered in 1970. That was the finding of a Royal Commission of Enquiry into the police handling of the case.

Police unsuccessfully challenged the Commission finding.

Harvey & Jeanette Crewe

Hutton had earlier received a Royal honor for his work on the case and the honor was never revoked. Meanwhile, Arthur Thomas, later pardoned, was twice convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. While in prison he lost his marriage and his farm.

Queenie Edmonds said Hutton and other officers joked about how they had framed Thomas and described him as a half-wit.

In essence, police searched the garden immediately after the murders and failed to find any bullets. Months later they impounded Thomas’s rifle, test fired it and planted one of those bullets in the garden and asked some junior officers to search the garden again.

Arthur Thomas

But the bullet that they found later failed to measure up to scientific scrutiny on several points. It was not a match with the bullets found in the bodies and showed no evidence of having been exposed to a wet winter in the garden.

It took nine years for the Arthur Thomas Retrial Committee to succeed in having him freed from prison and awarded compensation.

Hutton’s crime was a stupid stunt that was bound to fail in the face of Thomas’s and the Retrial Committee’s tenacity.

Arthur Thomas may appear to be casual and quietly spoken, but his life before and after his unfortunate brush with the law has shown him to have always been a man of integrity. The Crewe case divided the local South Auckland community and over the years Thomas must have had to quietly turn the other cheek many times.

This leaves one to wonder just who was the half-wit in this case.

IS THIS APARTHEID?

A fair go demanded for New Zealanders living in Australia

New Zealand Citizens living in Australia are experiencing discrimination in areas such as employment, education, training, student loans, social security, social services, and access to Australian citizenship as a result of the amendments to the Social Security Act.

As a result of these changes, many people who live, work, pay taxes, and raise families in Australia are now never able to enjoy equal rights simply because they come from New Zealand. In short, the 2001 amendments have made an underclass out of New Zealanders.   We are asking for a fair go by being recognized as residents under the Social Security Act and as permanent residents under the Australian Citizenship and Migration Act.

From NZ Citizens living in Australia

Peter’s Piece

If this is not an embarrassment for the governments of Australia and New Zealand, then it should be.

Australians living in New Zealand have long enjoyed equal status with New Zealanders and the stance of the Australian Government smacks of one-eyed racism.

I urge all New Zealanders and Australians who believe in a fair go to sign the petition by clicking on this link: 

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/fair-go-nz-citizens-in-oz/

A TRUCKER'S NIGHTMARE

How not to turn a semi

This almost happened to me in 2001.

U.S. Truck Drivers, Family & Friends's photo.

I had run just over 4,000 miles in the previous seven days and I was looking for a shipper on a lonely country road in Georgia at about 1 am. Then I realized I was on the wrong road and looked for a place to turn back. Continuing would have taken me thirty miles round the block.

Finding a narrow road that intersected at an angle, I attempted to back into the side road, stopped and got out to check with a torch, and found that I had ten foot ditch between the driving wheels and the tandems.

Back behind the wheel again, I eased back onto the road and opted for the extra thirty miles.

You can read about this and other misadventures in my book 

Highway America – the Life of a Trucker.

HAPPY READING

 

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A WEEKEND IN NEW ZEALAND

Full-on Downunder

Peter and Win have had a busy weekend in New Zealand.

It started on Saturday 20 April in the afternoon with the club day for Hauraki Country Music Club in Ngatea. Guest artists Craig Robertson and Andy Mac from Thames kept the crowd on the edge of their seats. Peter’s two numbers were Don’t Take Your Guns to Town and Ghost Riders. (One young cowboy and two old cowboys)

Dennis Marsh

Saturday night, and Win and Peter were in Pukekohe for the Dennis Marsh-Eddie Lowe concert which was a sell-out. These two entertainers are currently numbers one and two on the New Zealand music scene and Dennis performed particular well after we fed him up on Pizza before the show.

After the show we drove in our motorhome to stay overnight with our friends Keith and Heather. Next morning after a lovely breakfast we called on Dennis and Yvonne who live in the same locality.

For a sample of Dennis Marsh click here: Dennis Marsh

Next we called to see old friends at the Pokeno Market where we used to be regulars before life got too hectic. Then it was on to Hamilton for a meeting of Hamilton Writers and to hear guest speaker James George, a creative writing tutor from Auckland.

James George

Unfortunately (good for the drought-stricken farmers) the heavens opened during James's address and he had to compete with thunder and heavy rain on awnings above the garden center café. But James has a powerful voice and he stayed the distance like an unfazed auctioneer in a cattle stampede. He had lots of excellent advice for budding novelists.

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AFTER BEWITCHING HOUR

A nocturnal nomad 

An elderly man was stopped by the police around 2 am and was asked where he was going at that time of night.

The man replied, "I'm on my way to a lecture about alcohol abuse and the effects it has on the human body, as well as smoking and staying out late."

The officer then asked, "Really? Who's giving that lecture at this time of night?"

The man replied, "My wife."

From Nev Blakeborough on Facebook

Narrandera, New South Wales Australia

He could have had a great time staying 

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HOW TO RUN THE WORLD

Wow, this girl has a great plan! 

WRITTEN BY A 21 YEAR OLD FEMALE
This was in the Waco Tribune Herald, Waco , TX , Nov 18.

PUT ME IN CHARGE . . .

Put me in charge of food stamps. I'd get rid of Lone Star cards; no cash for Ding Dongs or Ho Ho's, just money for 50-pound bags of rice and beans, blocks of cheese and all the powdered milk you can haul away. If you want steak and frozen pizza, then get a job.

Put me in charge of Medicaid. The first thing I'd do is to get women Norplant birth control implants or tubal ligations. Then, we'll test recipients for drugs, alcohol, and nicotine. If you want to reproduce or use drugs, alcohol, or smoke, then get a job.

Put me in charge of government housing. Ever live in a military barracks? You will maintain our property in a clean and good state of repair. Your home" will be subject to inspections anytime and possessions will be inventoried. If you want a plasma TV or Xbox 360, then get a job and your own place.

In addition, you will either present a check stub from a job each week or you will report to a "government" job. It may be cleaning the roadways of trash, painting and repairing public housing, whatever we find for you. We will sell your 22 inch rims and low profile tires and your blasting stereo and speakers and put that money toward the "common good.."

Before you write that I've violated someone's rights, realize that all of the above is voluntary. If you want our money, accept our rules. Before you say that this would be "demeaning" and ruin their "self esteem," consider that it wasn't that long ago that taking someone else's money for doing absolutely nothing was demeaning and lowered self esteem.

If we are expected to pay for other people's mistakes we should at least attempt to make them learn from their bad choices. The current system rewards them for continuing to make bad choices.

AND While you are on Gov't subsistence, you no longer can VOTE! Yes, that is correct. For you to vote would be a conflict of interest. You will voluntarily remove yourself from voting while you are receiving a Gov't welfare check. If you want to vote, then get a job.

Peter’s Piece

Wow!

This arrived in my inbox today and I was told that if I didn’t pass it it on I lacked guts.

I’d rather pass it back to its originator and see if that person has the guts to accept that the whole things is a load of vindictive nonsense.

Peter at the controls of a
Boeing737 flight simulator

Firstly, the person who turned this into a circulating email is sexist. The inference at the start is that a female is not normally good at writing or having an opinion.

However, if the writer really was only 21 that explains quite a lot. At age 21 many young people can be influenced by what others say without having the experience and maturity to form their own opinions on complex matters.

This particular 21 year-old obviously has never had to make do with anything less than the very best that life and fortunate parents have to offer. In other words she comes from a family that can afford to pay the tax, but begrudges paying tax.

Almost every promise she makes (she’s a politician now) would be broken if she were elected. Almost everything that she rants on about would be unjustified, harsh and, in any event, unworkable and undemocratic.

Does she have any idea of the bureaucracy that would be needed to administer the voucher system that she wants? What would be the point in spending billions to save mere millions while causing even more hardship?

I just hope that this girl with the poisoned mind grows up soon and that it won’t be as a result of sudden unemployment, sickness, loss of family, natural disaster, traffic accident, or unwanted pregnancy.

Meanwhile, pay your taxes, young lady, and be thankful that you are able to pay taxes, because there may be a day when you are no longer able to pay. That will be the day that you grow up.

A TWIST OF FATE

Readers race through this spellbinding thriller, eager to see
if this vicious serial killer will ever be brought to justice.

A Twist of Fate

By Peter Blakeborough

Bob Asker is running for his life. He’s a young man going places, places to hide, places to make fast money, places to hunt for Bryce Russell. 

Asker has been sentenced to die for Russell’s rape and murder of Heather Brownlee, Asker’s teenage sweetheart.

Both want freedom and to get it one will use political power, the other the power of real money. They are big-stakes gamblers, one brash and reckless, the other cold and calculating.

A Twist of Fate will have you spellbound all the way to the final, surprising, twist of fate.

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JUSTICE PERVERTED

New Zealand evidence planter dies

By Anna Leask / NZ Herald

 

Inspector Hutton at the Crewe murder scene in 1970 / Photo NZ Herald

The policeman found to have planted evidence that led to the wrongful conviction of Arthur Allan Thomas for the murders of Harvey and Jeannette Crewe in 1970 has died.

The Herald has learned that former Detective Inspector Bruce Hutton, 83, died in Middlemore Hospital late on Sunday night after a short illness.

Mr Hutton was the officer in charge of the homicide inquiry after the Crewes were murdered in their home at Pukekawa in Waikato in 1970.

Mr Thomas was convicted of the crime in two trials before being pardoned . . . .

Full story: NZ Herald

Peter’s Piece

Bruce Hutton’s handling of the Crewe case became the turning point of the public perception of New Zealand Police conduct.

Prior to 1970 police enjoyed a high reputation and to many they could do no wrong.

But in the decade following the Crewe murders that reputation took a tumble as campaigners, led by Pat Booth of the Auckland Star, fought to have Arthur Thomas freed.  

The police reputation suffered even more after retired Australian Justice Robert Taylor sitting as a Royal Commission found not only that Thomas should never have been charged, but also that he had been convicted on evidence planted by detectives.

If the police reputation was not already suffering enough they added to their woes by trying to tough it out; refusing to reopen the case, refusing to investigate the offending officers and claiming that all was well within their ranks. One could easily ask, who did they think they were fooling?

No doubt the police and politicians feared an opening of the floodgates if they admitted the error of their ways, but changing public opinion opened the floodgates in spite of police recalcitrance. Since Arthur Thomas was freed there has been an unprecedented number campaigns to free wrongly convicted prisoners, many of them successful.

New Zealand Police can only restore their image by openly admitting past wrongdoing, rooting out the offenders and establishing a genuine police culture where noble cause corruption has no place.

The Royal Commission was in no doubt that Inspector Bruce Hutton and Detective Len Johnston planted the cartridge case after pressure from Bob Walton, their superior. By the time Thomas was exonerated Walton had become the Commissioner and was unlikely to reopen a case that could have had implications for himself.

Walton was as guilty as Hutton and Johnston. The whole thing was a set up to keep up the conviction rate and gain promotion and royal honors.

But the story may not end there. Several writers have put forward theories that are difficult to discredit linking one of the detectives to the real murderer.

Meanwhile the Commissioners who have sat on their hands since Commissioner Walton include Ken Thompson, Malcolm Churches, John Jamieson, Richard Macdonald, Peter Doone, Rob Robinson, Steve Long (acting), Howard Broad and the incumbent Peter Marshall.

To Police Commissioner Peter Marshall I have this piece of advice: Get a sign placed on your desk, or over your office door, The buck stops here.

Harvey and Jeanette Crewe, and daughter Rochelle, would probably appreciate that.

The Crewe case has parallels with the plot in this novel

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