{"id":621,"date":"2016-02-29T21:53:21","date_gmt":"2016-02-29T21:53:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cambridgeairforce.org.nz\/WONZShow\/?p=621"},"modified":"2016-06-20T12:58:31","modified_gmt":"2016-06-20T12:58:31","slug":"episode-99-mac-bettjeman-sunderland-pilot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cambridgeairforce.org.nz\/WONZShow\/2016\/02\/episode-99-mac-bettjeman-sunderland-pilot\/","title":{"rendered":"Episode 99 &#8211; Mac Bettjeman: Sunderland Pilot"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"powerpress_player\" id=\"powerpress_player_2517\"><audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-621-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/wonz\/cambridgeairforce.org.nz\/WONZShow\/wp-content\/uploads\/WONZ_Ep_099_Mac_Bettjeman.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/wonz\/cambridgeairforce.org.nz\/WONZShow\/wp-content\/uploads\/WONZ_Ep_099_Mac_Bettjeman.mp3\">https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/wonz\/cambridgeairforce.org.nz\/WONZShow\/wp-content\/uploads\/WONZ_Ep_099_Mac_Bettjeman.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div><p class=\"powerpress_links powerpress_links_mp3\" style=\"margin-bottom: 1px !important;\">Podcast: <a href=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/wonz\/cambridgeairforce.org.nz\/WONZShow\/wp-content\/uploads\/WONZ_Ep_099_Mac_Bettjeman.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_pinw\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Play in new window\" onclick=\"return powerpress_pinw('https:\/\/cambridgeairforce.org.nz\/WONZShow\/?powerpress_pinw=621-podcast');\" rel=\"nofollow\">Play in new window<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/media.blubrry.com\/wonz\/cambridgeairforce.org.nz\/WONZShow\/wp-content\/uploads\/WONZ_Ep_099_Mac_Bettjeman.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_d\" title=\"Download\" rel=\"nofollow\" download=\"WONZ_Ep_099_Mac_Bettjeman.mp3\">Download<\/a><\/p><p class=\"powerpress_links powerpress_subscribe_links\">Subscribe: <a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/au\/podcast\/wings-over-new-zealand-show\/id606143097?mt=2&amp;ls=1#episodeGuid=https%3A%2F%2Fcambridgeairforce.org.nz%2FWONZShow%2F%3Fp%3D621\" class=\"powerpress_link_subscribe powerpress_link_subscribe_itunes\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Subscribe on Apple Podcasts\" rel=\"nofollow\">Apple Podcasts<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/cambridgeairforce.org.nz\/WONZShow\/feed\/podcast\/\" class=\"powerpress_link_subscribe powerpress_link_subscribe_rss\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Subscribe via RSS\" rel=\"nofollow\">RSS<\/a><\/p><p><strong> Guest:<\/strong>\u00a0Mac Bettjeman<\/p>\n<p><strong>Host:<\/strong> Dave Homewood<\/p>\n<p><strong>Recorded:<\/strong>\u00a030th of October 2015<\/p>\n<p><strong>Duration:<\/strong>\u00a01 hour 39 minutes 26\u00a0seconds (136 MB)<\/p>\n<p>In this episode Dave Homewood talks with Mac Bettjeman, who lives in a retirement home\u00a0in Tauranga. Mac talks about his childhood in the fascinating wilderness settlement in the Maungapurua Valley, near the Whanganui River and how the community failed to thrive and was pushed out by the government during the Great Depression era, resulting in what is now known as the famous Bridge To Nowhere.<\/p>\n<p>He also talks about his struggle to achieve the academic levels to become a pilot in the RNZAF when WWII begins, and his eventual acceptance into the Air Force. He trained in New Zealand and in Canada as a pilot before heading to Britain and joining a Flying Boat Operational Training Unit on Short Sunderland flying boats.<\/p>\n<p>Mac was then posted to Lagos in Nigeria where he and his crew joined No. 270 Squadron RAF, a Royal Air Force Coastal Command squadron that was patrolling deep into the Atlantic Ocean with Short Sunderland Mk. III flying boats to hunt for German U-boats.\u00a0Mac discusses the roles of the crew onboard and aspects of the aeroplane itself, plus he imparts\u00a0memories of the work they were doing.<\/p>\n<p>And another topic discussed is the work that Mac did over many years on the Short Sunderland MR.5 at the Museum of Transport and Technology, leading the restoration of the interior of the old patrol bomber back to pristine service condition. And Mac also talks about his own personal flying boat, an Anderson Kingfisher ZK-DJH, which he built himself and flew for many years.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cambridgeairforce.org.nz\/WONZShow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/800px-Short_Sunderland_Mk_V_ExCC.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-628\"><br \/>\n<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/cambridgeairforce.org.nz\/WONZShow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/800px-Short_Sunderland_Mk_V_ExCC.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-628\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-628 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/cambridgeairforce.org.nz\/WONZShow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/800px-Short_Sunderland_Mk_V_ExCC.jpg\" alt=\"800px-Short_Sunderland_Mk_V_ExCC\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cambridgeairforce.org.nz\/WONZShow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/800px-Short_Sunderland_Mk_V_ExCC.jpg 800w, https:\/\/cambridgeairforce.org.nz\/WONZShow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/800px-Short_Sunderland_Mk_V_ExCC-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cambridgeairforce.org.nz\/WONZShow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/800px-Short_Sunderland_Mk_V_ExCC-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cambridgeairforce.org.nz\/WONZShow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/800px-Short_Sunderland_Mk_V_ExCC-150x113.jpg 150w, https:\/\/cambridgeairforce.org.nz\/WONZShow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/800px-Short_Sunderland_Mk_V_ExCC-400x300.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/a>A Short Sunderland Flying Boat<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cambridgeairforce.org.nz\/WONZShow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/P1150408.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-626\"><br \/>\n<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/cambridgeairforce.org.nz\/WONZShow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/P1150408.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-626\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-626 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/cambridgeairforce.org.nz\/WONZShow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/P1150408-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"P1150408\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cambridgeairforce.org.nz\/WONZShow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/P1150408-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cambridgeairforce.org.nz\/WONZShow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/P1150408-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cambridgeairforce.org.nz\/WONZShow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/P1150408-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cambridgeairforce.org.nz\/WONZShow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/P1150408-150x113.jpg 150w, https:\/\/cambridgeairforce.org.nz\/WONZShow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/P1150408-400x300.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a>Mac Bettjemen inside the Sunderland at MOTAT, taken by Dave Homewood on the 11th of January 2012 when Mac gave him a tour of the aircraft<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cambridgeairforce.org.nz\/WONZShow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/P1150398.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-627\"><br \/>\n<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/cambridgeairforce.org.nz\/WONZShow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/P1150398.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-627\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-627 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/cambridgeairforce.org.nz\/WONZShow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/P1150398-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"P1150398\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cambridgeairforce.org.nz\/WONZShow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/P1150398-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cambridgeairforce.org.nz\/WONZShow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/P1150398-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cambridgeairforce.org.nz\/WONZShow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/P1150398-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cambridgeairforce.org.nz\/WONZShow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/P1150398-150x113.jpg 150w, https:\/\/cambridgeairforce.org.nz\/WONZShow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/P1150398-400x300.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a>MOTAT&#8217;s Sunderland&#8217;s cockpit\u00a0taken by Dave Homewood on the 11th of January 2012<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cambridgeairforce.org.nz\/WONZShow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/JKightly_5958sw.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-632\"><br \/>\n<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/cambridgeairforce.org.nz\/WONZShow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/JKightly_5958sw.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-632\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-632 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/cambridgeairforce.org.nz\/WONZShow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/JKightly_5958sw-678x1024.jpg\" alt=\"JKightly_5958sw\" width=\"640\" height=\"967\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cambridgeairforce.org.nz\/WONZShow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/JKightly_5958sw-678x1024.jpg 678w, https:\/\/cambridgeairforce.org.nz\/WONZShow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/JKightly_5958sw-199x300.jpg 199w, https:\/\/cambridgeairforce.org.nz\/WONZShow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/JKightly_5958sw-768x1159.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cambridgeairforce.org.nz\/WONZShow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/JKightly_5958sw-99x150.jpg 99w, https:\/\/cambridgeairforce.org.nz\/WONZShow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/JKightly_5958sw-400x604.jpg 400w, https:\/\/cambridgeairforce.org.nz\/WONZShow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/JKightly_5958sw.jpg 795w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a>Mac stooping over in the aft end of the Sunderland fuselage with the rear turret behind him, in a photo taken by James Kightly\u00a0on the 11th of January 2012<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cambridgeairforce.org.nz\/WONZShow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/JKightly_5943sw.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-631\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-631 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/cambridgeairforce.org.nz\/WONZShow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/JKightly_5943sw-678x1024.jpg\" alt=\"JKightly_5943sw\" width=\"640\" height=\"967\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cambridgeairforce.org.nz\/WONZShow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/JKightly_5943sw-678x1024.jpg 678w, https:\/\/cambridgeairforce.org.nz\/WONZShow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/JKightly_5943sw-199x300.jpg 199w, https:\/\/cambridgeairforce.org.nz\/WONZShow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/JKightly_5943sw-768x1159.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cambridgeairforce.org.nz\/WONZShow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/JKightly_5943sw-99x150.jpg 99w, https:\/\/cambridgeairforce.org.nz\/WONZShow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/JKightly_5943sw-400x604.jpg 400w, https:\/\/cambridgeairforce.org.nz\/WONZShow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/JKightly_5943sw.jpg 795w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Mac in the Sunderland&#8217;s\u00a0fuselage\u00a0in a photo taken by James Kightly\u00a0on the 11th of January 2012<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/cambridgeairforce.org.nz\/WONZShow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/JKightly_5421sw.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-630\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-630 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/cambridgeairforce.org.nz\/WONZShow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/JKightly_5421sw-1024x738.jpg\" alt=\"JKightly_5421sw\" width=\"640\" height=\"461\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cambridgeairforce.org.nz\/WONZShow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/JKightly_5421sw-1024x738.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cambridgeairforce.org.nz\/WONZShow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/JKightly_5421sw-300x216.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cambridgeairforce.org.nz\/WONZShow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/JKightly_5421sw-768x554.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cambridgeairforce.org.nz\/WONZShow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/JKightly_5421sw-150x108.jpg 150w, https:\/\/cambridgeairforce.org.nz\/WONZShow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/JKightly_5421sw-400x288.jpg 400w, https:\/\/cambridgeairforce.org.nz\/WONZShow\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/JKightly_5421sw.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Mac and the WONZ Show&#8217;s Dave Homewood beside MOTAT&#8217;s Sunderland (right), with the Short Solent in the background, in a photo taken by James Kightly\u00a0on the 11th of January 2012<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> Guest: Mac Bettjeman<\/p>\n<p>Host: Dave Homewood<\/p>\n<p>Recorded: 30th of October 2015<\/p>\n<p>Duration: 1 hour 39 minutes 26 seconds (136 MB)<\/p>\n<p>In this episode Dave Homewood talks with Mac Bettjeman, who lives in a retirement home in Tauranga. Mac talks about his childhood in the fascinating wilderness settlement in the Maungapurua Valley, near the Whanganui [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[828,34,24,737,837,843,89,844,830,373,839,840,827,299,838,842,845,829,772,264,834,835,156,370,841,847,771,44,90,83,216,836,5,849,121,6,848,846,832,192,833,624,270,623,46,183,3,86,831,47],"class_list":["post-621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-episodes","tag-828","tag-aeroplane","tag-aircraft","tag-airplane","tag-anderson","tag-atlantic","tag-aviation","tag-battle","tag-boat","tag-canada","tag-e-a-t-s","tag-eats","tag-episode","tag-flying","tag-kingfisher","tag-lagos","tag-mac","tag-mac-bettjeman","tag-maritime","tag-masterton","tag-mk-iii","tag-mk-v","tag-motat","tag-museum","tag-nigeria","tag-no-270-squadron","tag-patrol","tag-pilot","tag-podcast","tag-raf","tag-restoration","tag-restore","tag-rnzaf","tag-rotorua","tag-royal-air-force","tag-royal-new-zealand-air-force","tag-scotland","tag-seaplane","tag-short","tag-show","tag-sunderland","tag-technology","tag-tiger-moth","tag-transport","tag-veteran","tag-war","tag-wings-over-new-zealand","tag-world-war-two","tag-ww2","tag-wwii","odd"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cambridgeairforce.org.nz\/WONZShow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/621","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cambridgeairforce.org.nz\/WONZShow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cambridgeairforce.org.nz\/WONZShow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cambridgeairforce.org.nz\/WONZShow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cambridgeairforce.org.nz\/WONZShow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=621"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/cambridgeairforce.org.nz\/WONZShow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/621\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":831,"href":"https:\/\/cambridgeairforce.org.nz\/WONZShow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/621\/revisions\/831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cambridgeairforce.org.nz\/WONZShow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cambridgeairforce.org.nz\/WONZShow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cambridgeairforce.org.nz\/WONZShow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}