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Post by Deleted on Mar 25, 2010 17:26:54 GMT 12
That is fantastic news to hear it is already in the country, I'd forgotten about it to be honest! How exciting! Will be a highlight of the show for me.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 26, 2010 11:54:09 GMT 12
Zero Heading South!
Wanaka: Staff at the Port of Tauranga took delivery of some extremely rare and valuable cargo last Friday when a historic Japanese fighter plane arrived by ship from the United States, en route to Wanaka for the Warbirds Over Wanaka International Airshow.
The Mitsubishi Zero, one of the most feared fighters during WWII, was lifted by crane and transferred onto a truck for transporting by road to a secure hangar at Tauranga Airport.
Overseeing the delicate operation was Warbirds Over Wanaka aircraft co-coordinator Ray Mulqueen who said the port staff and transporter crews ran a well planned and faultless unloading of the aircraft.
Two highly-experienced American warbird pilots, Jason Somes and Stephen W. Barber from the Southern Californian wing of the Commemorative Air Force (CAF), arrive in Tauranga today. They will then fly the fighter down the country tomorrow stopping at various points for refueling, and it is expected to arrive in Wanaka late tomorrow (Saturday 27th). Accompanying the Zero will be an XL Pacific Aerospace aircraft with CAF and Warbirds Over Wanaka personnel aboard.
Estimated itinerary for photo opportunities - Saturday 27th March:
Leave Tauranga airport 11am
Omaka Airfield - refuel 1pm
Christchurch airport 3pm (will stop if media wish to view)
Ashburton/Timaru overfly
Wanaka airport arrival 4pm (all times approximate, depending on weather).
The light-weight fighter is expected to attract aircraft enthusiasts to Wanaka from far and wide as airworthy examples are now virtually unseen anywhere in the world.
The Zero is one of the World War II classic fighter planes and was deeply feared by Allied airmen in the Pacific. It was designed by Jiro Horikoshi and when it was introduced into service was the best carrier-based fighter in the world. It's design combined excellent maneuverability and very long range.
Japanese Zeros were used in the raid on Pearl Harbour and later it was utilised for kamikaze operations. In all, eleven thousand Zeros were produced between 1940 and 1945. Today a few exist in museums around the world, but it is believed that only two or three still remain flying.
The airshow begins on Friday April 2, with the traditional ‘practice day’ with the scheduled airshow running on Saturday and Sunday. The combination of the Zero, the arrival of four modern jet fighters from Australia, a wing-walking act, world-class aerobatics and host of war bird action is attracting huge interest and organizers are expecting around 80,000 visitors through the gates over the three days.
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Post by ErrolC on Mar 26, 2010 12:18:27 GMT 12
Thanks liverfan15
What's the source of that?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 26, 2010 13:45:13 GMT 12
It was posted on the Warbirds over Wanaka Facebook page, unsure of their sources.. sorry  |
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Post by ErrolC on Mar 26, 2010 14:01:04 GMT 12
It was posted on the Warbirds over Wanaka Facebook page, unsure of their sources.. sorry It reads like a press release, so I'm not surprised. My excuse is that I can't look at Facebook from work... |
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Post by Brett on Mar 26, 2010 14:07:43 GMT 12
They might want to make sure they don't stray too far south when the cross over to Omaka. The Corsair or P-40 is going to be in Wellington for the Aero Club open day on the 27th...
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Post by Deleted on Mar 27, 2010 6:24:52 GMT 12
I saw pictures today on warbirdsoverwanaka.com of the Zero being unloaded in Tauranga and road-transported to the airport. What an exciting weekend to be in that part of the country!
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Post by furyfb11 on Mar 27, 2010 11:16:57 GMT 12
The Zero departed Tauranga for Omaka at 1140 am this morning. I will post some photos shortly.
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Post by furyfb11 on Mar 27, 2010 11:52:50 GMT 12
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Post by Brett on Mar 27, 2010 12:20:48 GMT 12
Some boy-racer in a Mitsi has just gone barrelling past my place at a great rate of knots.
Looks to be heading to Wellington Airport rather than taking the usual cross-strait route.
Cheers,
Brett
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Post by Dave Homewood on Mar 27, 2010 13:48:57 GMT 12
Awesome photos. Thanks for posting them!!
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Post by Peter Lewis on Mar 27, 2010 16:02:15 GMT 12
I was lucky enough to be standing beside furyfb11 when he took those photos. Good to meet up with you in person David after all these years. Having seen mention of the proposed departure from TG here, I nipped over to Mt Maunganui after the early start for the balloons at Hamilton. Fortunately, the Zero was a little late in getting away, apparently there was a small fuel leak in one of the outer wing tanks which caused the delay. Time for a test run - note the classic back-to-front headgear  All set, so pilot Stephen Barber gets ready for the flight to Omaka, the first leg  Settled in, ready to go  A bit of smoke on the startup  Taxiing out at TG  The gear goes up pretty quickly on the climbout  A bit of a buzz downwind   and off away  For those interested, a bit of history on this airframe from my Zero website A6M2-21 c/n 3869, recovered from Babo airfield, Irian Jaya, Indonesia in 1991, P&W R-1830 motor. Restored to airworthy in Russia as an A6M3-22, flying as N6582L, later N712Z since 28 April 1998, code X-133 Registered to Liberty Aero, Santa Monica, operated by Southern CA Wing CAF and flying from their base at Camarillo. |
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Post by ErrolC on Mar 27, 2010 16:24:57 GMT 12
Sweet photos team! Gavin has a couple on the WOW page. |
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Post by Dave Homewood on Mar 27, 2010 16:37:45 GMT 12
Nice photos Peter! Did much of a crowd turn out at Tauranga for the departure?
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Post by mumbles on Mar 27, 2010 17:48:07 GMT 12
Some boy-racer in a Mitsi has just gone barrelling past my place at a great rate of knots. Looks to be heading to Wellington Airport rather than taking the usual cross-strait route. Cheers, Brett The Aero Club Open Day at Wellington got a visitor a little after 1300. Apologies for the quality, I was at the wrong end of the runway    |
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Post by shorty on Mar 27, 2010 17:51:38 GMT 12
Noticed in the clip on TV3 about WAC open day it showed the Zero but not a word about it! The Nanchangs are apparently more newsworthy!
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Post by obiwan27 on Mar 27, 2010 18:09:52 GMT 12
Noticed in the clip on TV3 about WAC open day it showed the Zero but not a word about it! The Nanchangs are apparently more newsworthy! I was just about to say the same thing Shorty, another item for "The News" thread. Those TV3 guys really don;t do their research do they? |
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Post by Dave Homewood on Mar 27, 2010 19:16:19 GMT 12
I'm at Mum's so forced to watch the old people's news (TV1) but they did have a lovely photo of the Zero and a short item that it was flying down the country.
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Post by Peter Lewis on Mar 27, 2010 20:18:58 GMT 12
Nice photos Peter! Did much of a crowd turn out at Tauranga for the departure? From where David and I were, just those involved, some of the Tauranga air museum team and a few other people from the hangars. About 30 or so. There may have been more in the terminal or aero club areas, but they would have been out of sight where we were. What impressed me most was that the finish on the Zero was genuine well-worn patina, not showroom polished up. This A6M is actually the second Zero to fly in NZ, W/C Willis flew NZ6000 at Hobsonville in December 1945 - admittedly just for one circuit. |
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Post by mumbles on Mar 27, 2010 22:00:19 GMT 12
Noticed in the clip on TV3 about WAC open day it showed the Zero but not a word about it! The Nanchangs are apparently more newsworthy! Nor a word about the Corsair and Trojan also present |
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