|
|
Post by kiwithrottlejockey on Sept 27, 2011 17:46:16 GMT 12
Airforce acrobatics over WellingtonBy CLIO FRANCIS - The Dominion Post | 5:09PM - Tuesday, 27 September 2011  TOP GUNS: The RNZAF's Red Checkers in action at the Warbirds Over Wanaka Airshow in 2008.THE airforce's Red Checkers acrobatic team will fly over Wellington Harbour between 10.30am and 11.30am tomorrow.
The fly-over comes as the pilots prepare to perform a display during the All Blacks versus Canada rugby game at Wellington Stadium on Sunday.
The air force had grounded the Red Checkers aerobatic display team after two accidents involving the formation last year.
Squadron Leader Nick Cree, 32, a flight commander at the training school at Ohakea air force base, died on January 14 2010 when his CT-4 Airtrainer crashed into a sand dune at Santoft, near Bulls. He had been practising an aerobatic manoeuvre.
In March, the five-aircraft display team was grounded again when the canopy of one plane clipped the wheels of another as they were moving between formations. Six airshow displays had to be cancelled.
Two subsequent courts of inquiry into the accidents are yet to be carried out.www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/5693365/Airforce-acrobatics-over-Wellington
|
|
|
|
Post by stereoimage on Sept 28, 2011 1:32:49 GMT 12
I wonder if the Dom Post paid Gavin for his photo? haha
|
|
|
|
Post by mumbles on Sept 28, 2011 8:32:23 GMT 12
"between 10.30am and 11.30am"
Thats some good precise reporting right there. They have just overheaded my office in Seaview, so are either doin g the flyover now, or landing in Wellington.
Also love how the article has precisely two sentences about upcoming displays, and seven about last year's incidents.
Is there a schedule for their displays anywhere on line? I have spent about 15 minutes googling but it seems to be a closely guarded military secret.
Is it just a flyover today and full display Sunday?
|
|
|
|
Post by tibor on Sept 28, 2011 8:56:57 GMT 12
To be honest, I'm surprised nobody has commented on the wording in both the title and body of this article, which hopefully hasn't been copied verbatim from the Air Force press release....
Can we expect the pilots to be doing cartwheels and back-flips?
ac·ro·bat·ics [ak-ruh-bat-iks] noun (used with a plural verb): the feats of an acrobat; gymnastics.
aer·o·bat·ics [air-uh-bat-iks] noun (used with a plural verb): stunts performed in flight by an airplane, glider, or the like.
|
|
|
|
Post by Dave Homewood on Sept 28, 2011 10:03:30 GMT 12
Indeed, and Airforce is not a bloody word, how many times do we see the mindless media using it though? It is Air Force. FFS
|
|
|
|
Post by Dave Homewood on Sept 28, 2011 10:05:19 GMT 12
Mind you I'm sure Clio is also a spelling mistake!!
|
|
|
|
Post by kiwithrottlejockey on Sept 28, 2011 13:31:55 GMT 12
Yeah, I couldn't believe that article when it appeared on the Dom-Post website yesterday. I posted it in here and sat back to wait for the comments. Good to see everyone agrees with my initial feelings about it. And now, there is an article on the Dom-Post website about this morning's display and they once again dragged up last year's incidents. And....they've got the cheek to ask the public to send them in some photos of the Red Checkers, presumably so they can publish them in tomorrow's print edition of the newspaper. You've got to wonder what their own photographers do all day. |
|
|
|
Post by kiwithrottlejockey on Sept 28, 2011 16:06:32 GMT 12
|
|
|
|
Post by mumbles on Sept 28, 2011 16:10:06 GMT 12
You've got to wonder what their own photographers do all day. Shoot at 1/500 plus and stop the propellor usually  Two of those comments are mine. Unexpectedly for a stuff article, a couple of the points noted were actually acted upon. The point about dragging up apropos of nothing history wasn't. Anyone know what time Sunday's display is down for? |
|
|
|
Post by kiwithrottlejockey on Sept 28, 2011 20:53:10 GMT 12
Also, the dumb reporter doesn't know the difference between practice (noun) and practise (verb).   |
|
|
|
Post by matariki on Sept 28, 2011 21:37:00 GMT 12
They took a reporter up, should be on Breakfast tomorrow morning.
|
|
|
|
Post by Ykato on Sept 29, 2011 19:07:27 GMT 12
You've got to wonder what their own photographers do all day. Shoot at 1/500 plus and stop the propellor usually Two of those comments are mine. Unexpectedly for a stuff article, a couple of the points noted were actually acted upon. The point about dragging up apropos of nothing history wasn't. Anyone know what time Sunday's display is down for? Details of Red Checkers display Sunday 2 October at 2.30pm over the Wellington Inner Harbour (weather permitting) www.nzdf.mil.nz/news/media-releases/2011/29092011-rcdtwaos.htm |
|
|
|
Post by mumbles on Oct 4, 2011 20:11:25 GMT 12
Shoot at 1/500 plus and stop the propellor usually Two of those comments are mine. Unexpectedly for a stuff article, a couple of the points noted were actually acted upon. The point about dragging up apropos of nothing history wasn't. Anyone know what time Sunday's display is down for? Details of Red Checkers display Sunday 2 October at 2.30pm over the Wellington Inner Harbour (weather permitting) www.nzdf.mil.nz/news/media-releases/2011/29092011-rcdtwaos.htmCheers  Some shots of Sunday's display from Mount Victoria. I didn't get up there as early as I wanted, so missed the orbiting around the city which would have made for some nice shots. As it was is wasn't a great day for either formation aerobatics or photography; dark and windy, after a week of calm days and blue skies  . I think the wind might have abridged the display a little, as some familiar elements were missing, as well as making it hard to keep the camera steady. A better day and I might have got some better shots.       Giving the people queing to get into the stadium for the AB-Canada match something to look at:   Crop making me wish the light had been a bit better:  With Mount Kaukau in the background:  Spaghetti Break:   Crop from one of the break shots. I didn't know CT4's could generate tip vortices like these .  |
|
|
|
Post by matariki on Oct 4, 2011 20:36:41 GMT 12
It was abridged - all of the formation stuff had to be extra-spaced and no 5ship loops - because it was windy and extremely turbulent. The phrase I got was "beaten to death".
|
|
|
|
Post by mumbles on Oct 4, 2011 21:01:24 GMT 12
It was abridged - all of the formation stuff had to be extra-spaced and no 5ship loops - because it was windy and extremely turbulent. The phrase I got was "beaten to death". That's what I noticed the absence of, although I wasn't sure if it was due to the weather or the display being tailored to the location. It certainly looked bouncy from where I was standing, and you can see it in some of the smoke trails in the pics. I noted there were a few pre display orbits, both in formation and joining/rejoining; it looked like some decision making was being undertaken as to whether to display at all. That they did even an abridged performance in the prevailing weather was much appreciated . It isn't something we get to see around here often, just a pity it wasn't earlier in the week (or day even). The funny thing is it only seemed to be particularly blustery around the city itself. A little further north at my place in the hills it wasn't anything like as rough. Local wind does intensify the closer you get to Cook Strait though, so that isn't entirely surprising. |
|
|
|
Post by Dave Homewood on Oct 5, 2011 0:01:45 GMT 12
Those shots are terrific Sam, well done. That first crop of the CT/4E over the street looks like a scene from "1941".
"I wasn't sure if it was due to the weather or the display being tailored to the location."
One in the same in Windy Wellington I'd bet. Other RNZAF teams have had very close calls there in the past and they must have learned their lesson.
|
|
|
|
Post by mumbles on Oct 5, 2011 7:52:51 GMT 12
Those shots are terrific Sam, well done. That first crop of the CT/4E over the street looks like a scene from "1941". Thanks Dave "I wasn't sure if it was due to the weather or the display being tailored to the location." One in the same in Windy Wellington I'd bet. Not really. The last Checkers display I saw over the harbour was complete and in perfect conditions, and of all the displays I have seen over the harbour in the last 25 odd years, only a couple have been affected by adverse wind conditions. My comments on tailoring were more reflective of the fact the venue is a big bowl with high terrain in many directions. The irony is that as I mentioned earlier we have had a week of fine and calm weather prior to Sunday, it is just bad luck the weather closed in when it did, which isn't Wellington's fault in particular, more something that can happen anywhere. |
|
. I think the wind might have abridged the display a little, as some familiar elements were missing, as well as making it hard to keep the camera steady. A better day and I might have got some better shots.