Classic Fighters 2015 - ANZAC PIONEERS

[ErrolC]

Well, at least a new TVAL Albatros! And if the Hanriot is ever to leave Masterton, this would be the best bet.

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[Dave Homewood]

I nearly forgot to put this up here:

OMAKA FORUM MEET
As mentioned previously on the forum, we are planning a special Forum Meet gathering at Omaka, as one way to mark the forum's 10th Anniversary. This will be held on the:
Saturday Evening, 7.00pm
Venue: John Saunders' hangar (next to JEM Aviation, and opposite the AHC)

This will not be too formal, but basically we just hope that lots of you forum members who'll be at Omaka for that weekend can pop along and catch up with mates, etc.

Make sure you've had your dinner before the event (there's plenty of time between the end of the airshow and the start of the forum meet), but feel free to bring along your own beverages for the evening.

Sadly - although he has been part of this plan all along - John himself will not be able to attend as his work intervened and he'll be overseas. However he is happy for me to use his awesome hangar as a venue for this gathering. I ask all those who are attending to please respect John's property and his generosity.

We'll have a couple of presentations during the evening, one of which will excite a lot of you, as Al Marshall has kindly agreed to bring his big Bristol Hercules along for a special 'private run' for us all. That never ceases to cause a stir.

If you are intending to come along please let me know, email me on [e-mail] and that way I can keep track of numbers we're expecting.

[Deleted]

Email inbound after work Dave, for now consider this my RSVP :-)

[harvard1041]

Hi All - yes, hope you have a good Meeting ... kinda good way to wind down after a 'hard day' doing the Airshow thing ...beer in hand, talking old aircraft with old mates ( and new ones ) - doesn't get any better than that

Enjoy

[Deleted]

Thanks John, you're very kind and I can't wait to see your Harvard in the flesh (if it's there?).



Alright folks. Today marks one calendar month to Practice Day and the official kick-off of Classic Fighters 2015. Who's going? I'll be there (by myself) for all three days, from gates-open on Friday to the end of the Dinner on Sunday.

[ErrolC]

Coming down on ZK-DAK!
So Thursday arvo to Monday morning.

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[ErrolC]

And people that have been slack in RSVPing to Dave should pull finger! Like I did this morning :-)

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[lumpy]

Zac , I wont be staying for the dinner , but otherwise , like yourself , I will be there for the duration .

Errol , thanks for the reminder , rsvp , now done .

[Peter Lewis]

I will be there as well. Email sent.

[baz62]

Teresa and I will be there all three days. Anthony and I are combining the Forum meet (with Dave's kind permission, thanks Dave!) for a gathering of Auster owners. A couple of them are also TVAL pilots(and are part of the Fokker Triplane Jasta ) so I will point them out to those who would like to chat and ask about flying WW1 aircraft.
John a real shame you can't be there we must catch up next time you are here.

[minicooper]

I can only may it on Sunday due to work and family.  On the bright side getting there on the Air Chathams DC3 will be cool!

[kiwithrottlejockey]

Mar 3, 2015 15:07:42 GMT 12 ErrolC said:

And people that have been slack in RSVPing to Dave should pull finger! Like I did this morning :-)

As I already posted earlier in this thread (before the date of the meet was announced), I can't make a meet-up on the Saturday night, because I already have other commitments that night (guests for dinner at the place we are staying at in Picton). But I'll be around all weekend, mostly in the Gold Pass enclosure, and will be at the Awards Dinner.

And speaking of the Awards Dinner, I posted a query on Classic Fighters' Facebook page about the dinner back in January and they replied and said dinner tickets would be onsale on their website sometime in February. It hasn't happened yet....there is an Awards Dinner page, but it still says “details to come”.

[ErrolC]

Latest newsletter

COUNTING DOWN TO EASTER....

With just a month to go, the tempo at Omaka airfield is reaching fever pitch as preparations get underway for hosting this milestone event. We can call it that as we are trying several new displays which will really add some extra spicy elements to the show structure!

As always our Props teams are going crazy building cool things to add spectacle to the proceedings, and we're confident that both of our theme elements - ANZAC and PIONEER will be satisfactorily addressed!

Uptake of all things we have to offer has been impressive. Food stall sites sold out very early, Trade stall sites likewise sold out, but we buckled under the pressure and made more space available for these. Corporate Marquee sites also sold out early although we do have the ability to create one more space if your company is looking for the ultimate entertainment hosting experience. Keeping on the gourmet experience front, the Platinum Pass sales are also going very well for those wishing to host a group of 10 for an umbrella table on the front fence with full gourmet catering. The ever popular Gold Pass tickets meanwhile are being steadily taken up and 1-day Gold Passes are now on sale.

On the aircraft front, we're once again looking at well over 100 display aircraft appearing on the field, including over a dozen debut machines if all plans come to pass, so there is much to look forward to as it all comes together over the next few weeks.

Tickets are now on sale for the ever popular Awards Dinner on Easter Sunday night. The coverage of the gala event in the airshow DVD from 2013 gave many people who'd never attended before, a great impression of what this excellent night is all about, and so interest this year has grown considerably. We'd suggest you get your tickets happening straight away as these are strictly limited and we will be having to turn people away.

We'll look forward to seeing you all over the Easter weekend!

Cheers,
CF'15 Team

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[Dave Homewood]

BUS SERVICE

A bus service will be operating from central Blenheim on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Also from Picton on Saturday and Sunday. For full details and to purchase tickets please see the website

[Dave Homewood]

Here is a bit more detail on what you'll see at the show ...

THREE SPITFIRES TO GATHER FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER IN AUSTRALASIA!
Visitors to the biennial Classic Fighters Omaka Airshow will be able to witness a ‘first’ for this side of the Equator. This is because we will be in a position to present no fewer than THREE Spitfires flying together at a public airshow. Restored Spitfires in flying condition are not common. Since people began restoring and flying historic aircraft, there has never been more than two operational Spitfires flying in New Zealand. The same can be said of Australia where there are only two in flying condition.

This is all about to change with the completion of the 17 year on-again / off-again rebuild of the rare late model Spitfire Mk.XIVe which was so dramatically and very nearly fatally crashed by Sir Tim Wallis in 1996.

The Spitfire Mk.XIV is noticeably sleeker, more ‘svelte’ than the other two New Zealand based Spitfires, the Mk.IX of Brendon Deere of Marton and the two-seater Tr.IX of Doug Brooker of Auckland.

The wreck of the Spitfire XIVe was gathered from the crash site at Wanaka and taken initially to Rotorua, and then to Ardmore Airport in Auckland where work has continued sporadically on it ever since. During this time it has changed hands several times leading to long delays in progress. Several years ago it was purchased by Murray Miers’ Chariots of Fire Fighter Collection which also owns the only flyable Focke-Wulf Fw190A in the southern hemisphere.

The Chariots of Fire Fighter Collection is based right here at Omaka and both the Spitfire and the Focke-Wulf will be seen in action here over Easter, after which both will take their places in the WW-II display at the Omaka AHC when the new wing opens later this year.

[Dave Homewood]

Here's some photos i took on Wednesday and Thursday of the Spitfire Mk. XIVe at Avspecs

[wolfofbadenoch]

Any helpful hints and tips for me coming over from Sydney late on Thursday, driving up on Friday ? I thought to drive up to Omaka, have (another) look around the great indoors display there and hang around for any Friday flying before going up to Picton (closest accommodation I could find) for the night. I am open to other suggestions from those in the know ! Can't wait for Easter - it should be a great trip....

[baz62]

I would suggest you get online and try and book now (even try Blenheim) otherwise you might miss out! Friday is the practice day so there will be plenty of flying. My normal motel room courtesy of the Warbirds DC3 group failed this year as all the rooms are taken. GULP! Fortunately the forum meet last weekend had Don tell me he had room at a house he got from a friend. I said I had accommodation sorted ...............but a hurried email yesterday turned that around! Phew, only downside is Johnnyfalcon is also staying there and from memory he snores...........

[johnnyfalcon]

Ouch! I resemble that!!

[lumpy]

As Baz says , Friday is practice day , but its also a really good day to have a good look around at the static displays and other ground based stuff . Most aircraft that are taking part will also fly on Friday , so my advice is simply to get there as soon as you can .
Having to stay in Picton is no big deal , its only about 25 minutes to Omaka .
Dont forget to bring some warm clothes for Friday nights show - it can get cold ( but dont bother with a rain coat - its NOT going to rain ) !