Aerobatics at the NZ Grand Prix

[flyjoe180]

Pilot set to dazzle crowds over grand prix
Manawatu Standard | Saturday, 05 January 2008

Former Royal New Zealand Air Force pilot Ray Mudgway is getting set to wow the crowds with his aerobatics skills during the upcoming New Zealand Grand Prix.

The racing event will be held at Manfield on January 12 and 13, with some of New Zealand's most promising motor racing talent competing.

Mudgway will perform his aerobatics display on Sunday.

He said aerobatic flight felt "awesome".

"It's a feeling you can't get any other way, outside an aeroplane."

The lead-up to the event starts this Thursday, with race drivers then spidering over the high and low rope-climbing course at Leisureplex. In the afternoon, they raise funds for the Child Cancer Foundation golfing at the Feilding Golf Club.

Friday morning will see drivers give demonstration runs of several TRS cars along Walding Street in Palmerston North, which will be closed to other traffic.

Feilding will host a street party for the race from 5pm to 10pm.

Tickets for the race meeting cost between $25 and $35, and are available from the Motorsport New Zealand website or Feilding Promotion, I-Site Palmerston North, Toyota and from Manfeild.

[Barnsey]

Mudgie was one of the guys waiting for an A4 conversion at 14 Squadron (next in line I think) when the ACF folded. He then went to the RAF and flew the Jaguar.

His website is www.jagair.co.nz.

A good guy!!

[area51]

An Air NZ Boeing 777 will be racing NZ's A1GP entrant "Black Magic" at Auckland Intl Airport this Tuesday morning (08Jan) at around 1030. Event will be covered by media with TV3 providing camera footage from the Airways Corp Control Tower. Something to watch out for! The 777 will roll on the active runway with the car on the secondary runway. I think the plan is for the 777 to make a rolling start and then once abeam the car the latter will perform its acceleration. The 777 will get airborne and carry out a normal circuit to land.

[area51]

Runway 23L will be used for the 777 departure even if tail wind is upto 15kts (5kts forecast at present) and the race will continue even if it is raining. Plan is for the race to be conducted sometime between 0945 and 1030 subject to airport traffic. I look forward to seeing some pics!

Mike

[Kereru]

Colin

[corsair67]

Great photo, Colin.

So, who won?

[Kereru]

Thanks Craig.
T7 on the first run by a nose. They did another run later and I had left by then.

Colin

[corsair67]

Ah, feel the power of Boeing! ;D

[stu]

area51 said:

An Air NZ Boeing 777 will be racing NZ's A1GP entrant "Black Magic" at Auckland Intl Airport this Tuesday morning (08Jan) at around 1030.

A bit of coverage .....

www.tv3.co.nz/VideoBrowseAll/ExtendedVideo/tabid/315/Default.aspx

www.tv3.co.nz/Video/A1GPWheelswinoverwingsatAucklandAirport/tabid/317/articleID/43093/cat/70/Default.aspx#video



Cheers,
Stu.

[Dave Homewood]

That was a great race to watch. They should get a 777 to fly round the circuit nice and low during the event. It'd be great watching it fly over the chicanes!

[corsair67]

God those Air NZ stewardess's uniforms are bloody ugly!

Makes them look like cleaners!

[vgp]

www.scene.co.nz/cms/news/feature/2008/01/art10001686.php

Snoopy & The Baron battle

By Frank Marvin 17 Jan 2008

LOOK out, Snoopy – the Black Baron is invading Wakatipu skies next week.

The black Pitts Special aerobatic bi-plane owned by northern raider JagAir of Wellington is going wing-to-wing for the thrill-flight dollar previously monopolised by the dark blue plane, also a Pitts, of long-established Actionflite.

But wait – we’re talking aerobatics, so as well as loop-the-loops and barrel rolls there’s also a twist.

JagAir’s Black Baron flies into town next Monday to, ahem, pit itself against the rival Pitts Special bi-plane operated by Actionflite – locally nicknamed Snoopy.

Actually, the Black Baron is winging back into town – because the Baron was formerly Snoopy until owner ActionFlite sold it off for a new model last year.

Here’s the twist – Actionflite sold old Snoopy to Wellington-based JagAir which repainted it to bring it home as the Black Baron to battle it out with the “new” Snoopy.

There’s a hint of duelling in the skies.

JagAir owner Ray Mudgway is an ex-Royal Air Force strike pilot who flew Jaguars while ActionFlite owner Wayne Jack flies big Boeing 777s for Air New Zealand.

Jack is also RAF-like by keeping a stiff upper lip about his new competitor.

He doesn’t want to sound “negative” but is surprised his old plane is returning as a rival.

“[Mudgway] told me it was only for private use,” says Jack, so Actionflite didn’t insist on a restraint of trade prohibiting its former Pitts bi-plane from flying commercially in the Wakatipu.

Absolutely not true, says JagAir’s Mudgway flatly.

Jack expected his old Snoopy to snoop elsewhere in New Zealand for other skies to zoom around in – “given that [Queenstown] does have some [aircraft noise] sensitivities”.

He says 14-year-old Actionflite has worked hard on anti-noise safeguards such as a quieter propeller and a variety of routes to ensure Snoopy doesn’t leave “a noise footprint in one place for too long”.

Jack also claims his new Snoopy is 10 years younger than the black Pitts and will out-gun the Baron with a six-cylinder engine against a four-cylinder.

There’s little or no price war – at least not yet. Standard 15-minute thrill trips are $295 with Actionflite’s Snoopy and $290 with JagAir’s Baron.