Warbirds Over Wanaka 2010

[Bearcat]

Thanks to those that have posted pics .... but to be honest I am very surprised that so few have been posted Is there another NZ site that might have more pics ...or does one have to wait for them to appear on airliners.net ?

[efliernz]

Thanks for the shots. Very difficult conditions with overcast / into the "sun"...

Its been 20 years since four of us took a PA28-161 from Stratford to WOW... apparently it's changed a bit!!!

[Gavin Conroy]

These are the only ones I have sorted out so far.
It is a long way to Wanaka so the guys that went will proabably not have been home long so a delay should be expected I think.

[skyhawkdon]

Apr 6, 2010 21:16:06 GMT 12 vs said:

Not much room left for the Vampire to take off!!!!! Was the Navy Blue T6 there? (66 I thinK)

Yes the Vampire uses all the runway for both take off and landing! Must be pretty marginal operating it out of Wanaka. By comparison the L-39 only uses half of the runway.

Yes there was a Navy Blue T6 there.

[stu]

Sigh.....

the sound of somebody who had to work over Easter and also put up with umpteen people say "I thought you'd have been at Wanaka".

Great photos everybody, keep them coming

[Kereru]

Some nice pics here already well done guys.

Some of us only got home last night so will take a couple of days to work my steam powered computer to churn a couple of pics out. ;D

Colin

[Dave Homewood]

Thanks for those photos Gavin, they're stunning. The LA9 alone has brightened my day. It looks like Stu is about to be eaten by the Kittyhawk too.

[furyfb11]

Great photos Gavin..luv the Hornets over the Spitfire.

[Kereru]

This machine was a highlight for me as we lose it soon.



Cheers

[Dave Homewood]

Awesome shot Colin!

[skyhawkdon]

Yep my favourite too Colin. Anyone know who has bought it? All the Pioneer guys could say is it is going to the US. I saw Jerry Yagen having a good look at it - I wonder if it is going to his collection?

[baz62]

Great photos guys! I like the personal touch Gavin with the pilots in closeup. (I think the pilot of NZ1015 wants a word with you by the looks of the photo ha ha)
Yes the La9 is a sweet looking aeroplane alright and a shame she is leaving. Ah well have to replace it with something else!

[beagle]

Mosquito would be nice

[vs]

be great to see the Sea Fury and LA9 together

[Gavin Conroy]

The La9 was the highlight for me as well, lots of great stuff to see but boy that La9 is quick and looks so good andthe La seriees of aircraft are pretty special and so rare now.

Ray Hanna once said that the aircraft is superior to the Bearcat in every respect and John has said to me before that flying it is like holding on to the tail of a Lion.

On Monday I had the opportunity along with Phil Makanna to photograph the La9 Air 2 Air.
That was very interesting as the speed for base turn in the La9 is 220kmh and out Nanchang wasnt going much faster than that with the pedal nearly right down!!!!

Once we got the photos we turned back to Wanaka while John did a few aeros and then over took us for a low pass on landing.
Special thanks for Garth for allowing the Air 2 Air flight and to John for flying it so well, the La9 is a slippery beast and it gets to a point where John can only slow it down so much and luckily we had the speed to keep things bearable for John.

Funny how things turn out, I had airline tickets for Monday morning and would have left Queenstown at 10.30am and got home at 12.45pm.
When the possibility of the La9 flight came about I cancelled those flight and had to get a rental car which meant leaving at 3.45pm and getting in the door at 12.45am but for 5 minutes alongside the La9, I would have done anything!!! well nearly...

[Dave Homewood]

Keith Skilling was telling me the same the other week about what Ray Hanna reckoned. He said Ray had told him that it would eat both the Sea Fury and the Bearcat, and people in the west are only now beginning to realise it. Keith said it's a very difficult aircraft to land, and everyone who has flown it has had problems on landing at some stage, he said, running off the runway, etc. Even Ray. But he reckons it is as tough as they come. Keith said he groundlooped it once in the UK, and had it been a Spitfire or even the Corsair it would have been a write off, but the LA9 suffered no damage whatsoever. Amazing.

[slackie]

Great to hear that everyone enjoyed the show "from the outside"...cos "from the inside" the Thursday & Friday practices and the Saturday show were chaotic...the "Display Director" (in quotes 'cos I wouldn't call him one!) never got his finger on the pulse, and Sunday only went well because he backed off and let the pilots do what they're best at. Was actually embarrassing at times and was in serious jeopardy of ruining the show's reputation with the international display pilots.

[skyhawkdon]

That was the general impression I got of the flying displays for the three days from the "outside" too. Interesting to hear a view from the "inside". For me the Friday was shambolic, Saturday slightly less so and Sunday ran very well. But I'm glad the pilots and aircraft all had a safe and incident free air show.

[lesterpk]

I talked briefly to Tim Wallis on Saturday evening and someone asked him what he thought of the show, he said there were to many breaks between flights for his liking .

[kiwithrottlejockey]

Apr 7, 2010 7:44:38 GMT 12 skyhawkdon said:

Yes the Vampire uses all the runway for both take off and landing! Must be pretty marginal operating it out of Wanaka. By comparison the L-39 only uses half of the runway.

Who can remember the Grumman Albatross that used up the entire runway at Wanaka, plus a hundred yards or so of grass beyond the end of the runway? That would have been in 1994 or 1996.