D-Day 2009

[43willys]

[Dave Homewood]

I have added this to the calendar, thanks Mike.

[43willys]

Please note the dates on this poster are slightly out, and the show will be held on Saturday the 6th and Sunday the 7th.

[Dave Homewood]

This just in from Diane Jefferies at Classic Flyers:

D-Day at Classic Flyers, Tauranga Airport
D-Day 6th June 1944 is celebrated as an important historical milestone, the landing of combined Allied forces on mainland Europe leading to the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II.
Classic Flyers NZ.Com set the stage at Tauranga Airport in 2008 for what turned out to be not only a celebration of the lightening clouds of war back in 1944, but also a grand day of entertainment for families and others who enjoy military spectacle.
The event has been recreated for 2009 and will now encompass both Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th of June, open 10am to 4pm on both days.
Saturday will give the opportunity to inspect the permanent collections in the Aviation and Military Museums, plus the exhibition and sale of weapons and military memorabilia. Additionally, there will be live demonstrations of military vehicles. There will also be a hive of activity as the military re-enacting troops and aviators set up camp and prepare for Sunday’s spectacular battles.
Sunday really is D-Day Tauranga. There will be two battle re-enactment scenarios, the first commencing at 11.45am and the second at 1.30pm.
11.45am - Airfield Invasion: ‘Z’ team have established a new tactical airfield. ‘A’ team discover the airfield during aerial reconnaissance. ‘Z’ team scramble their fighter aircraft and dog fighting commences overhead. Meanwhile ‘A’ team invade with ground troops inserted by helicopter, supported by jet ground attack aircraft. Medivac by helicopter features amid the battle scenes. Who will win?
12.30 to 1.30 pm: Lunch break
1.30pm - WW2 European theatre: German troops have set up camp. They are invaded by Allied paratroopers dropped from a DC3. Allied aircraft strafe the encampment and a hot battle rages with intense gunfire and vehicle manoeuvring. There is further intense strafing, this time by WW2 fighter aircraft to bring the spectacle to a close.
The program for this event may be varied or cancelled due to bad weather affecting safe flying or other adverse circumstances. Listen to BOP radio if in doubt.

[ErrolC]

Anyone else planning on going to this?

My mate Mike (who was at Omaka with me) and I (and possibly respective other-halves) will probably go Sat arvo onwards. Mainly to point camaras at the re-enactors.

[Kereru]

I went down on the Dc 3 from Ardmore. Great trip and great weather.



Cheers

[Dave Homewood]

Neat photo Colin. I think that Hughes has changed unit markings since I last saw it, hasn't it?

[madaero]

If only they could pull something like this off in Hamilton?

[Deleted]

The 500/"Loach" looks superb! Loving the Hugh Mills markings, very sharp. More pics, Colin! ;D

[Kereru]

Jun 8, 2009 15:53:13 GMT 12 Dave Homewood said:

Neat photo Colin. I think that Hughes has changed unit markings since I last saw it, hasn't it?

First time I had seen it Dave, not sure. Its reg is ZK-IUS and was with Volcanic Air Safaris as ZK-HSE. It is listed as a KHI Kawasaki-Hughes 369HS and came from Japan 2001 reg JA9131

[fletcherfu24]

So thats how the Yanks won D-Day,they arrived in helicopters..bet that surprised the Germans..

[ErrolC]

Jun 8, 2009 15:30:32 GMT 12 Kereru said:

I went down on the Dc 3 from Ardmore. Great trip and great weather.

Nice shot Colin - I thought I spotted you briefly, but you had moved on when I turned around.

A great day for it, and glad no-one was hurt by the mishaps (which I totally failed to observe :-(). I'll try have a sample of mine up in a couple of days (have visitors this evening).

[Kereru]

Remember the Catalina fuselage that was at Ardmore? Looks a bit better for some TLC now!!



Togetherness and then separation for landing?





Some of the second wave of parachutists dropping out of the Dc 3.



We are sure to meet again sometime ErrolC and I look forward to some of your pics here soon.

Colin

[Dave Homewood]

That's a nice precise parachute formation there, who were the team?

The Catalina indeed looks much better now, but I'm not a fan of that postwar US Marine (?)colour scheme. If it were me choosing the scheme it would have been a No. 6 Squadron RNZAF machine with one of the nose arts they carried, probably Wandering Witch (despite the wheels, yes).

Are those dark regions under the Dakota just from the exhaust or is it painted darker under the engines? I haven't noticed that before.

[Peter Lewis]

Jun 8, 2009 15:53:13 GMT 12 Dave Homewood said:

Neat photo Colin. I think that Hughes has changed unit markings since I last saw it, hasn't it?

Yes it has changed a bit from the livery it wore in October last year:

Jun 8, 2009 20:00:54 GMT 12 Kereru said:

Remember the Catalina fuselage that was at Ardmore? Looks a bit better for some TLC now!!
Colin

That's truly amazing. Congrats to all involved.

[Kereru]

Action shot of ZK-IUS



Cheers

[Kereru]

Some of the ground troops.









Coming in to round them up?



The re-enactors did a great job well done to them all.

Colin

[Gavin Conroy]

Thats a great action shot of the Chopper Colin, well done.

[ErrolC]

First one (more tomorrow)

[Dave Homewood]

So was there anything remotely related to D-Day in this airshow? Or was it just all Vietnam stuff, plus a Bf108 and a Yak?

Not commenting on the photos, just it seems odd that the event was called D-Day so i assumed it had that as a theme - ie Operation Overlord. The closest thing I've seen so far is a Dakota (in Vietnam War era colours dropping modern parachutes ). Did they do anything with a D-Day theme in the display?

Colin, congrats on 1000 posts by the way, that's a lot of fantastic photos you've shared here. Thanks!!