WONZ 238 – Andy Higgins

Guest: The late Andy Higgins(Andrew William Higgins – 13 September 1931 to 2 January 2020) Host: Dave Homewood with Nigel Godfrey Recorded: 19th of July 2019 Released: 28th of June 2021 Duration:  51 minutes 15 seconds In this episode Dave Homewood and Nigel Godfrey sat down with Andy Higgins to record what he remembered about his days working with James Aviation Ltd on the conversion of the Douglas C-47 Dakota ZK-AZL to become an aerial topdresser. Andy worked as the draftsman on the project and was most probably the last member of the team who was involved in the conversion of the very first DC-3 topdresser in the world. He also talks about his days as a pilot in the RNZAF, and working for other aviation firms. And he discusses his amazing collection of photos he took while with James Aviation, which were made available through the Wings Over New Zealand Forum. Andy was rather unwell at the time of this interview, and this was to be the last opportunity to get his memories recorded before his death. This episode is pieced together from that conversation. Andy Higgins Andy at the draft board whilst drawing up the designs for the C-47 conversion (Andy Higgins photo) DC-3 ZK-AZL being loaded (Andy Higgins photo) Above and below: The hopper conversion (Andy Higgins photos) ZK-AZL dropping a load of superphosphate (Andy Higgins photo) Above and below: The Fletcher accident as discussed (Andy Higgins photos) Quick Links: • Andy Higgins’ James Aviation Photo Collection NB: The music at the end of this episode is Wild Flower by Joakim Karud