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Post by suthg on Apr 1, 2013 11:46:38 GMT 12
Opportunistic shot Zac - Nice!
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Post by Dave Homewood on Apr 1, 2013 13:20:16 GMT 12
Well, I must say I have had an absolutely awesome experience at the airshow. Classic Fighters has done it again, a superb long weekend with tons of entertainment, great flying, and an amazing array of aeroplanes. But for me personally it has been great to catch up with so many friends from the forum and the warbird community, and to meet many new friends too.
I have to say a huge thanks to some great people - Jessica and Geoff Cooper and the entire Fly DC-3 team who were simply marvellous, without a doubt that is THE best way to fly to an airshow - champagne, good food (lots of), very smooth flying in a wonderfully classic warbird, and lots of great warbird fans onboard. Thanks so much!
A huge thanks too to John and Lisa Saunders for the wonderful hospitality and accommodation. It was great to catch up again John and to spend time with some great houseguests and lots of old and new friends in the hangar.
Big thanks to Graham Orphan for the media pass, and to Bruce Scott for very kindly surprised me with a Gold Pass for the weekend too! Awesome!!
Thanks to all the team who put the airshow together, all the elements of the show were very well done. There were some pretty impressive ground shows this year as well as the airshow. Even some really interesting classic cars too.
For me the highlights apart from meeting many great people were seeing the Anson really put through its paces and duelling with the Bf108, very cool!
Also the FW190 which is a stunner. Seeing that with the two Spitfires was really spine-tingling.
All the Fokkers - including the Fokker F-27 - were brilliant. That Freindship was the best postwar airliner display I have ever seen. It really brought back the memories of when we used to see them around everywhere. And as for the 'older' Fokkers and all the WWI aeroplanes, a real treat once again. Seeing all those aircraft particularly yesterday flying around with the amazing cloud backdrop was neat, I hope some good photos were captured then!
There are really too many other high spots to list them all. Not one single display disappointed. Well done to all the pilots, groundcrew and organisers.
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Post by baz62 on Apr 1, 2013 13:30:06 GMT 12
Keith Skilling as usual in the FG-1D looking cool with his huge aviators on... - he really throws the Corsair around so smoothly. Is there no P40 there with him this show? Those two performed a wonderful tandom act together at Hood. Both P40s were there but performed separately from the other types apart from the big battles, final flypast etc. Teresa and I have just got back, enjoyed the show,apart from an Aussie behind me and Lumpy who moaned about aircraft not being where he wanted them, and not being given enough warning that they were about to flypast a right a***hole. Thank god he wasn't there on Sunday, probably moaned that the Airshow should have booked fine weather!!  Favourites for myself were the Anson, FW190, the two Yak 3s and the final massed flypast on the Sunday. The RNZAF did a great job too especially with the seedy weather early on the Sunday. We will post a few photos that Teresa and I took on her new camera. I took a bit of video which I'll review to see if any of it is worth posting. |
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Post by Dave Homewood on Apr 1, 2013 13:39:10 GMT 12
Shit, I forgot to mention a huge thanks to Al Marshall and Marty Nicholl. I had the great pleasure of being in the cockpit on Saturday when Marty started and ran the Bristol Freighter engine as one of the many displays around the grounds. But then I had even more great fortune after the show on Sunday (last night) when Al took me into the cockpit of the Bristol again, and he put me in the left hand seat, and under his guidance I was involved personally in the start and the run up of the port engine!! Wow, what a huge thrill that was. An enormous buss sitting in the captain's seat and seeing the big blades turning over just to your left, and the engine kick into life.
I had never, ever started an aircraft of any sort before, so having the thrill of my first aircraft engine start being in a real classic rarity that is loved by thousands of people was beyond words. Thanks Al and Marty! .
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Post by Dave Homewood on Apr 1, 2013 13:42:37 GMT 12
Both P40s were there but performed separately from the other types apart from the big battles, final flypast etc. It was superb to see the two P-40's flying an aerobatic routine together by a husband and wife team! Frank Parker and Liz Needham. Has that ever happened before? |
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Post by baz62 on Apr 1, 2013 13:50:03 GMT 12
Both P40s were there but performed separately from the other types apart from the big battles, final flypast etc. It was superb to see the two P-40's flying an aerobatic routine together by a husband and wife team! Frank parker and Liz Needham. Has that ever happened before? Might be a first Dave (not the P40 duo that's been done) must be unique to have a Husband and wife carrying it out!  Yes a big thanks from Teresa and I for the hospitality from the locals and the friends from the forum we met up with. What amazed me is Dave would pop up in all sorts of places. I think he has a Star trek Transporter and just beams himself around the airfield! Great to catch up Dave!;D |
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Post by lumpy on Apr 1, 2013 13:51:09 GMT 12
All the Fokkers - including the Fokker F-27 - were brilliant. That Freindship was the best postwar airliner display I have ever seen. It really brought back the memories of when we used to see them around everywhere. And as for the 'older' Fokkers and all the WWI aeroplanes, a real treat once again. Seeing all those aircraft particularly yesterday flying around with the amazing cloud backdrop was neat, I hope some good photos were captured then! Well not the best photo ( especially with just the dull grey sky as background ) but I agree that it was a pretty good display , a real pleasure to watch .  |
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Post by baz62 on Apr 1, 2013 13:56:48 GMT 12
Nice photos Lumpy! ;D
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Post by Andy Wright on Apr 1, 2013 14:38:38 GMT 12
A bloke who is clearly not watching what's going on. Have to have your head on swivel and try to keep a mental 'stocktake' of what's up and about. His problem.
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Post by lumpy on Apr 1, 2013 14:58:50 GMT 12
A bloke who is clearly not watching what's going on. Have to have your head on swivel and try to keep a mental 'stocktake' of what's up and about. His problem. Yep , and he even complained during the the display by the two yak3's that they were " just having fun with each other " and that they " should be flying slower and closer to the crowd so that people could get better pictures of them "  |
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Post by ngatimozart on Apr 1, 2013 15:32:50 GMT 12
Souds like a real whinger. Should deport the mongrel. ;D Send him back as deck cargo ;D
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Post by suthg on Apr 1, 2013 16:32:26 GMT 12
Thanks for all the positive responses!! A wonderful show - I should definitely plan for next time around - I don't see myself getting to Wanaka next year so I may be missing some shows for a while! Oh well, there are local shows I can get to occasionally.... now to wait for all the photos!
Oh, I'm glad to hear the two P40's were flying together, we just need another Corsair or one day perhaps the Tempest, two high performance radials together. Sad story that, a lot of water to pass under the bridge yet, here's hoping.
Graeme
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Post by davelochead on Apr 1, 2013 16:50:57 GMT 12
Im glad all you guys enjoyed the show, and it was great to meet some forum members last night while cooling down over a beer.
My favorite airshow moment:
The night pass of the Huey just as the band started the intro to "SUZIE Q"
I stood watching and thought that if this is the last time the RNZAF fly a Huey at an airshow, then CCR playing a farewell for them is poingnant.
The UH1 pilot thought so too.
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Post by baz62 on Apr 1, 2013 16:53:36 GMT 12
Sounds like a real whinger. Should deport the mongrel. ;D Send him back as deck cargo ;D I agree, but it wasn't because he was an Aussie, met some great Aussies at the show including Ando (who is on the forum but cant recall his username)at the Cork and Keg. He was an announcer at the Ardmore Mosquito show and he had some great stories. |
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Post by lumpy on Apr 1, 2013 16:58:44 GMT 12
The things people get up too before the crowds arrive !   |
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Post by baz62 on Apr 1, 2013 17:03:16 GMT 12
I had never, ever started an aircraft of any sort before, so having the thrill of my first aircraft engine start being in a real classic rarity that is loved by thousands of people was beyond words. Thanks Al and Marty! . Welcome to the club Dave its bloody exciting isn't it? Al's a genius at putting people in that seat without them realising what's up! |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 1, 2013 17:43:21 GMT 12
Sounds like everyone had a great time! Thank-you all so much for sharing the experience with those of us not lucky enough to get there this time.
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Post by delticman on Apr 1, 2013 18:13:10 GMT 12
Zac, were you outside to see the Harvards and the Yaks fly north, got a few folk out of their houses.
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Post by baz62 on Apr 1, 2013 18:46:23 GMT 12
Just a few photos to start with. Teresa bought a camera especially for the show and this is her first attempt at an airshow. I picked the shots I thought were pretty good and thought i would post them with occasionally a few comments to go with them as only I can. ;D "You know I'm pretty sure we've done this before...........and we lost!" (As it turned out this photo was taken on Saturday and the Germans and the Japanese won both battles!!  "Ummmm sir? I'm pretty sure you have to face the other way........."  I forgot about the Venom and the Strikemaster not performing on the Sunday because of the rain delaying the start of the show. LOVE the Venom!    The Fokkers taking off  Coming back  Going over the field looking for targets.....  Oooo there's one, the DH5 taxying out  Two more! Camel and the Sopwith Triplane....  World War 2 gets into the act. A neat photo showing the temporary nose art NZ2415 got.  Couple of P40 Kittyhawks  Getting airborne  Nice shot of Keith Skilling landing the Corsair  NH90 display. I love this beast!   "Hey. How you doing?"  I'll post some more later on. |
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Post by No longer identifiable on Apr 1, 2013 19:11:13 GMT 12
I love the caption on the first photo - priceless ;D
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