WONZ 313 – Graham Bethell

The Wings Over New Zealand Show

Guest: Graham Bethell

Host: Dave Homewood

Recorded: 20th of October 2024

Published: 21st of October 2024

Duration: 53 minutes, 58 seconds

In this episode Dave Homewood talks with well known Mustang pilot Graham Bethell about his life in aviation. Graham’s father flew fighters in the RNZN with the Fleet Air Arm in WWII, and Graham wanted to fly from a young age.

He joined the Royal New Zealand Air Force in 1968, and by the age of 21 he was a fighter pilot, flying de Havilland Vampire jets with No. 75 Squadron RNZAF. In 1970 Graham became one of the first pilots to fly the new McDonnell Douglas A-4K Skyhawks with the same squadron.

Graham left the Air Force after six years’ service and joined Air New Zealand, flying the McDonnell Douglas DC-8, and later the DC-10. He then moved to Hong Kong and took a job with Cathay Pacific, where he flew for the rest of his commercial flying years as a 747 captain.

In 1990 he was convinced by his friend John Sagar that they should go in together and purchase the North American P-51D Mustang ZK-TAF, which had been flying in New Zealand with Tim Wallis’s Wanaka-based Alpine group since 1985. It had come up for sale so that Tim could finance his Spitfire XVIe. So Graham and John bought the Mustang, and six years later Graham bought out John’s share and he became the sole owner. For many years the display pilot for TAF remained Trevor Bland, who had also flown it for Tim, but eventually Graham worked up his own routine and he debuted his Mustang display at Warbirds Over Wanaka 2004.

Graham displayed the Mustang around New Zealand for 20 years till his emotional farewell display at Warbirds Over Wanaka in 2024. The Mustang, which has also been a popular aircraft for paying passenger rides over the years too, was sold in 2024 and it is heading to Ross Pay’s collection at Scone, NSW, in Australia.

Quick Links:
• NZ Warbirds Association Inc.

Above: Graham Bethell with Mustang ZK-TAF taken in the NZ Warbirds Association hangar on the day of recording, 20th of October 2024, by Dave Homewood

Above: Graham with ex-RNZAF Skyhawk NZ6209, which he got for NZ Warbirds to get when they were disposed of, so it has his name on the side. Beside Graham is a manikin wearing his own flight suit, helmet and glasses that he wore in the RNZAF.