Unfortunately the majority of New Zealand Warbirds Ardmore based aircraft were unable to attend Warbirds Over Wanaka 2014 due to the remnants of Cyclone Ita lashing the country. This must be the first time in many years that our flagship Roaring Forties Harvard Aerobatic Team has not performed at a major New Zealand airshow. This author was however wearing his Warbirds polar fleece, displaying the Warbirds logo. Graham Bethells Mustang was also on display and the T-28 Trojan arrived late on Saturday afternoon. Wanaka itself was blessed with fine weather over all three days of the airshow and large crowds enjoyed some excellent flying. The airshow this year celebrated 25 years of Warbirds over Wanaka, and also marked 100 years since the start of WWI. Six aircraft from The Vintage Aviator (TVAL) flew at the show. A highlight was the Gigatown Wanaka Jet Race. Two teams: Team Reno (3 L29 Delfins) and Team New Zealand (2 Vampires, 1 L39 Albatros) raced along a 14km course with the jets at times flying at speeds of 600kmh! It was exciting to watch and Team New Zealand were the eventual winners, with Paul Huggy Huhgan being crowned overall championship winner for the weekend. Jets were also well represented by two BAE Hawk 127 jet trainers from the RAAFs 76 Squadron based at Williamtown. The RNZAF also displayed its skills in Hercules, NH90 and Seaspite. Champion aerobatic pilot Jurgis Kairys once again thrilled the crowd with his display and participated in a race with NZ V8 Supercar legend, Greg Murphy- the verdict is still out on that one! The afternoon was devoted to the heavy metal warbirds including: Mustang (Graham Bethell), Spitfire (Sean Perrett), P-40E Kittyhawk (Stu Goldspink), Corsair (Keith Skilling), Avenger (Jim Rankin), Avro Anson (Dave Phillips and Bill Reid), and two Yak-3s (Arthur Dovey and Graeme Frew). Each day culminated in the traditional airfield mock attack and fighter Balbo, with Yak-52s filling in for the Harvards. It was another fantastic Warbirds Over Wanaka and we look forward to 2016. More photos to follow.
Posted on: Sat, 26 Apr 2014 03:40:28 +0000
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