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Post by ErrolC on Mar 4, 2017 21:55:57 GMT 12
Dave, the 4 Texans that joined the Falcons for the start of the display (flown by ab initio instructors I think they said, rather the CFS ones) were,
In the order they taxied past on Saturday
NZ1403
NZ1405
NZ1406
NZ1411
The nine on Saturday
01
08 02
10 03 09
05 06
11
Other F-15 crew names on jet:
LTC Goh Sim Aik
Maj Koh Yit Boon
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Post by Dave Homewood on Mar 4, 2017 22:26:35 GMT 12
Thanks Errol.
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gregv
Leading Aircraftman
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Post by gregv on Mar 5, 2017 10:26:26 GMT 12
Hi all, been lurking here on and off since discovering this site after my video of the Red Checkers at Taupo A1GP got a few visits linked from this board many years ago. Thought I'd add my $0.02 worth.
I was on the very first bus from Manfeild Saturday, and the driver had to stop at a couple of intersections in the foggy pre-dawn to confirm his directions. He didn't seem to know about the marked bus arrows before each intersection. Once he was through the back-roads, and on SH1/3, he had two options where the lane split: "Pre-paid entry" or "Through Traffic" (or similar). I didn't see any indication that buses should choose the straight-through option, and neither did he, so our bus turned into the main carpark area, and had to subsequently turn around and turn right back onto the main road. On doing this our driver actually ended up on the wrong side of the cones for a time facing oncoming traffic, albeit at a slow speed and with quite a bit of lane width to play in. A quick dodge through the cones put us on the correct side of the road. At the second lane split "VIP/Bus Entry" and "Through Traffic" our driver proceeded straight ahead in the wrong lane. Fortunately traffic was light, so he was able to turn across all lanes into the bus entry road. Feels like there needed to be more directional signage for the drivers once on-base, as it didn't feel like he was sure about which way he should be going, and he nearly drove right past the drop-off point.
Despite all of that, we got to the entry gate just before 7am, so I was expecting a quick entry to the area. Unfortunately the barcode scanners were still about another 10-15 minutes away, so there was a bit of standing around waiting. During this time the security team started their bag searches, and were advising people that any opened drink containers would either have to be disposed of or emptied. This was annoying, as I had a nearly-full 1.5 litre water bottle, that had spent all night in the fridge. Other people had opened, frozen water, that they would have had a tougher time of tipping out! (Later on in the day the RNZAF team responded to someone else's Facebook query of this, advising that there was a misunderstanding, and security was instructed to relax their rules around this.)
Once I was on the paddock, the next decision was where to set up, as there was no real indication of where 'display/crowd centre' was. I chose a spot on the fence to the right of the disabled/elderly roped-off area. As it turned out the centre was on the other side of this area and then some, but I still had a great view of the show, as due to the large size of the Kiwi Thunder display aircraft, at least one flew directly overhead.
It definitely felt like they were catering for a much larger audience, as I don't think I've seen that many food trucks at any event I've been to! The good part of this was very little queueing for food or toilets.
The flying displays were fantastic, and that F16 display on its own was worth the trip in my opinion, even/especially with the enthusiasm of the US commentator. The mass RNZAF taxi was impressive, just a shame the weather prevented the mass fly-past for us. Felt like the show seemed to lose a fair bit of punch during the NH90/howitzer scenario, and that was even being fence-line. Crowds further back wouldn't have had much visibility of this at all. Little bit more of a lull as the wind/cloud was assessed prior to the Texan display, so I was walking back to the bus area as the Diamond 9 was airborne.
Bus ride back to Manfeild was smooth and uneventful, and I was expecting more traffic as I headed north, but didn't experience any real congestion.
On the whole a very enjoyable day out.
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Post by mumbles on Mar 5, 2017 12:01:21 GMT 12
NOW, MAJOR SMEEDING WILL GIVE HAND SIGNALS (in the manner of the commentary;)) HE CAN PRECISELY DELIVER HAND SIGNALS ANYWHERE ANY TIME, IN THE MOST CAPABLE VEHICLE FOR HAND SIGNAL DELIVERY IN THE WORLD. Including waving at the crowd during the display   IMG_3098p by Sam Hall, on Flickr The Aussies were content to be a bit more casual:  IMG_3200p by Sam Hall, on Flickr |
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Post by mumbles on Mar 5, 2017 12:12:46 GMT 12
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Post by mumbles on Mar 5, 2017 12:19:47 GMT 12
More from Frecklington Rd  IMG_2682p by Sam Hall, on Flickr NH90 about to give the assembled throng a grass shower  IMG_2688p by Sam Hall, on Flickr  IMG_2693p by Sam Hall, on Flickr  IMG_2703p by Sam Hall, on Flickr  IMG_2698p by Sam Hall, on Flickr  IMG_2708p by Sam Hall, on Flickr Pretty hot day out there:  IMG_2715p by Sam Hall, on Flickr  IMG_2745p by Sam Hall, on Flickr  IMG_2749p by Sam Hall, on Flickr  IMG_2753p by Sam Hall, on Flickr |
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Post by hardyakka on Mar 5, 2017 12:58:40 GMT 12
The F-16 was definitely the highlight; I actually enjoyed the commentary. My photos aren't the best because of my lens choice. The pilot gave quite a few hand signals whilst taxying past the flight line at the end of his display. Love heart;  That's not a Love Heart. He is a "Viper" pilot and is making the sign of the two headed snake. It is the symbol of Thulsa Doom ( the badass snake lord in the "Conan the Barbarian" stories )  |
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Post by Dave Homewood on Mar 5, 2017 13:39:11 GMT 12
Dave, the commentator mentions the name of the crew of one of the C130's (2.29) It might help you with the airshow archives to record the names of some of the crew. Thanks Marcus, so I caught the following names: Jack 'Tommo' Thompson (Navigator) - or is it Zac rather than Jack? Sgt David Snow (Loadmaster) Sgt David Wood (Loadmaster) Is that right? |
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Post by mumbles on Mar 5, 2017 13:46:10 GMT 12
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Post by mumbles on Mar 5, 2017 13:48:59 GMT 12
Also on Friday, I don't know if it was done on the show days but at least one of the practices was done with a camera suction cupped to the canopy. Here it is being removed before the canopy was opened:  IMG_2779p by Sam Hall, on Flickr |
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Post by kiwiduster1 on Mar 5, 2017 17:45:37 GMT 12
Nice pics Sam. Thanks for sharing !!
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Post by mumbles on Mar 5, 2017 20:12:36 GMT 12
Nice pics Sam. Thanks for sharing !! No worries, I just noticed there hadn't been a lot of pics posted and I've mostly finished sorting mine. |
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Post by mumbles on Mar 5, 2017 20:14:27 GMT 12
Anyone else notice the BK117 arriving in the middle of the Texan solo display on Saturday? Seemed a little unorthodox. . .  IMG_2914p by Sam Hall, on Flickr |
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Post by mumbles on Mar 5, 2017 20:19:14 GMT 12
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Post by mumbles on Mar 5, 2017 20:23:54 GMT 12
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Post by mumbles on Mar 5, 2017 20:33:17 GMT 12
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Post by Naki on Mar 5, 2017 20:47:56 GMT 12
Anyone else notice the BK117 arriving in the middle of the Texan solo display on Saturday? Seemed a little unorthodox. . . IMG_2914p by Sam Hall, on Flickr Yes thought it party crashed the display. Thought the BK would have landed at the NH 90 area instead |
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Post by Dave Homewood on Mar 5, 2017 21:41:37 GMT 12
Great photos Sam.
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Post by Peter Lewis on Mar 5, 2017 22:08:36 GMT 12
I heard (on both show days) the PA announce that the RNZAF has an active strength of 51 aircraft.
I wasn't sure about this, so I have done a quick add up.
By my calculations we have:
Texan II - NZ1401 to 1411 11 aircraft
B200 - NZ7121 to 7124 4 aircraft
C130 - NZ7001 to 7005 5 aircraft
P-3 - NZ4201 to 4206 6 aircraft
B757 - NZ7571 7572 2 aircraft
A109 - NZ3401 to 3405 5 aircraft
NH90 - NZ3301 to 3308 8 aircraft
Total 41
If we then get into a bit of inter-service rivalry and include
SH-2 - NZ3611 to 3614, NZ3616 to 3619 8 aircraft
That totals 49
So presumably they either have two more aircraft hidden away (NZ1015 and NZ662?)
or they are including the two Seasprite attrition airframes NZ3615 and NZ3620.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Mar 5, 2017 22:42:18 GMT 12
Spitfire and Avenger?
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