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Post by Dave Homewood on Mar 4, 2007 21:25:32 GMT 12
I saw chaff flares being dispersed over Whenuapai in the dark by Skyhawks during an exercise. I was coming out of the Whenuapai Cafe with a mate after we'd been getting some chips for supper, and we heard the jet noise. We looked up and saw the lights of three A-4's, and next thing the bright sparks as they fired off these wonderful roman candles. It was right above the base itself over the married patch and I was wondering how many sparks hit the roofs as it was not that high up, and they seemed to fall a fair way. Awesome to see, but at night i didn't see the smoke angel like yesterday. I hope they keep it in their routine, it made an awesome display even better.
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Post by Citabria on Mar 5, 2007 6:52:27 GMT 12
Hi Dave,
You asked what happened to the DC3. Well she got airborne, however had to turn back after a mech issue. Should be fixed early this week.
Sorry to disappoint you.
Cheers
Andrew
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Post by beagle on Mar 5, 2007 7:02:13 GMT 12
did the skyhawk get chaff and flares with the kahu upgrade
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Post by flyjoe180 on Mar 5, 2007 7:30:40 GMT 12
Dave, the Taifun pilot is Colin Henderson. Andrew, hope the issue is resolved early, I rather prefer seeing the Dak than the Cat flying all day on Sundays.
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Post by flyjoe180 on Mar 5, 2007 8:10:10 GMT 12
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Post by skyhawkdon on Mar 5, 2007 9:07:18 GMT 12
Great photos and commentary guys. Sounds like it was a great show - good to see the Warbirds participation which was lacking at Wigram. Les that shot of the 757 appearing to go vertical is the best one I have seen of the 757 display ever!
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Post by beagle on Mar 5, 2007 9:12:18 GMT 12
hey Don, you would know, did the A4's have chaff and flares
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Post by Dave Homewood on Mar 5, 2007 10:55:35 GMT 12
Thanks Andrew, sorry to hear of the DC-3's problem. I hope it's not expensive.
Thanks Joe for the Taifun pilot's name.
Beagle, if it wasn't the Skyhawk that fireed the chaff they must have been chasing a Hercules or maybe some overseas visitor because I know A-4's were involved. They were operating on the base at the time, and it was some serious low and loud jet noise. Actually, the A-4 ysed to fire chaff in their display didn't they? In a verticle upwards roll in a manouvre called the Roman Candle? I'm sure I've seen that.
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Post by Bruce on Mar 5, 2007 12:01:11 GMT 12
Guys, just a quick note, where you are referring to chaff, I think you mean Countermeasures flares. I think there was another thread somewhere discussing the countermeasures fit on an A4 - I think they certainly had both flares and Chaff.
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Post by skyhawkdon on Mar 5, 2007 12:06:46 GMT 12
hey Don, you would know, did the A4's have chaff and flares Y es they did (post Kahu only). They used to do the flare salvo routine at airshows. Very impressive. Good to hear the Herc's have added it to their display - I have been saying for a while they should be doing it!
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Post by stu on Mar 5, 2007 12:36:59 GMT 12
Ah yes, the famous RAAF C-17 UFO (Unseen Flying Object) - a breakthrough in a/c camouflage. It was there along with the full squadron of USAF F-22 UFOs. Modern quality journalism - never let the facts get in the way of a good story. It was down on the day's schedule so it must have been there, why bother actually going out there and checking?! That aside, I'll echo the comments of others in that it was a great day and well worth the sunburn. Likewise, it was good to meet the faces behind some of the forum names. Some fantastic shots posted here, they really capture the event nicely and well worth the wait until I got to work and could make use of a broadband connection (not too bad on dial-up though). Comparatively, my photography skills are - to put it bluntly - crap but here's a link to some that was posted on the NZ Warbirds guestbook .... www.murraydouglas.com/north_aucklandCheers, Stu.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Mar 5, 2007 12:41:50 GMT 12
Thanks Bruce. I was an expert only in Skyhawk liferafts and know very little else about the type compared with some here, so it's good to be corrected.
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Post by beagle on Mar 5, 2007 15:06:40 GMT 12
oh yes, now I remember, yes I can now remember seeing them doing that, shooting flares as they spin skywards, got an image here somewhere.
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Post by lesterpk on Mar 5, 2007 16:44:06 GMT 12
The dual take off and flypast of the F-111's on there way back to Aussie this morning was prettty cool too. Nothing beats being about 100m away from full afterburner and the ground vibrating beneath your feet. The final flypast was back toward the 5Sqn hangar and not much higher than the hangar, rumour has it they were photographing a calling card left on the hangar roof in white paint.
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Post by mumbles on Mar 5, 2007 16:56:22 GMT 12
hey Don, you would know, did the A4's have chaff and flares Y es they did (post Kahu only). They used to do the flare salvo routine at airshows. Very impressive. Good to hear the Herc's have added it to their display - I have been saying for a while they should be doing it! Unfotunately I wasn't anticipating the flares so despite having camera in hand missed the shot completely. I should have a good one of the 757 departure though, will post in a couple of days if it comes out.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Mar 5, 2007 17:17:17 GMT 12
Stu, that link you posted has some excellent shots on it.
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Post by dauntless111 on Mar 5, 2007 17:27:23 GMT 12
;D Hi Guyz, I noticed someone linked to my Whenuapai Airshow page from here! awesome! Much appreciated that people are visiting my site, the Open Day was awesome! All the best, Murray Douglas www.murraydouglas.com/north_auckland
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Post by Dave Homewood on Mar 5, 2007 17:45:45 GMT 12
Welcome to the forum Murray, I really enjoyed browsing your photos from Saturday. Feel free to post some shots here too if you want to.
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Post by Bruce on Mar 5, 2007 19:37:39 GMT 12
Now I have recovered from the sunburn and had a decent sleep, I thought I might post my impressions of the Whenuapai show. The last RNZAF show I attended would have been the 1987 50th anniversary show, which was great, but this one, despite lacking any US or UK partication would easily top that one. Right from the start, driving into the carpark, you could see that great care had been taken to ensure everyone had a great day. I was impressed by the effort all the various trades had gone to in order to showcase thier various skills. things like the orion wing section in the airframe trade area (demonstrating confined spaces work) and the machinists making Aluminium dice on the milling machine. It was good to see work being carried out on phase checks of both a P3 and C130. The Safety and Surface guys were packing the parachutes used by Kiwi blue on the competition prize jumps earlier in the day. the static aircraft were very popular - the queues were too long for me, but I did have a good look inside the French Casa CN235 and was very impressed (we need to get some!) The flying displays flowed smoothly, without any noticeable dead spots with so many highlights it would be hard to narrow it down to a single thing. As Dave mentioned, there were plenty of new, eyecatching manouvers and demonstrations. The accuracy of the supply container drop out the back door of the P3 was notable - having helped judge aero club liferaft dropping competitions this was excellent - about 10m -15m upwind of the target liferaft - right where it needed to be. I suspect 3sqn and 6sqn have been engaging in some friendly rivalry each trying to present the best helo display! I reckon it was a draw - both were absolutely stunning. The C130 pass which was followed by the bizarre sound / feel of the wingtip vortices, plus the NZ flag display and of course the flares made that one memorable, and the Orion carried out some unorthodox "cobra" like manouvers as well. the 757 display has already attracted comment - awesome!. The F111 was great, however the camera batteries failed right on the dump and burn pass (Sods law...). The Red checkers did thier normal flawless display - complete with Nemo the clownfish onboard one of the machines! Then the Thunder formation of 757, Herk and Orion finished things off nicely. Dave and I spent some time chatting to Simon Goult, but I was impressed how quickly the carpark was emptied afterwards - my memory of '87 was the 3 hour wait to get off the airfield, but this time the traffic plans helped things along with minimum fuss and delays. Great work to all involved, and thanks Les for your "inside information" and hosting our forum get togethers. a few pics to finish this epic post off:
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Post by Dave Homewood on Mar 5, 2007 20:08:30 GMT 12
Yes, that wingtip vortice sound was incredible - did anyone else hear that? I was stood with my mate Sqn ldr Mike Going, and engineering officer, and he said it's really rare to hear that - it was a first time for me. It was like some shuddery thing from a horror film :-)
I for one really enjoyed the Bf108 routine, it's a really neat little aircraft and can put on a great show close to the crowd. The guns were great, and they kept firing well after it landed. I had seen it at Wanaka vs the Spitfire and Hurricane, this time vs Mustang and Kittyhawk.
I reckon it'd be great if one of the homebuilders could build one of those 1/1 scale wooden replicas of a Bf109, that would be great as an adversary at airshows. I think Jurca do a good plan.
Of course there were two Messerschmitt designs on the base on Saturday, as the Westpac Rescue Helicopter was also present.
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