Wings Over Wairarapa # 13: World War One

An eagerly anticipated part of the airshow were the planned displays of various World War One aircraft. Masterton [and Omaka, across Cooks Strait] is a home to these rare aircraft, newly built to original standards, with original construction techniques - right down to replica machine guns and authentic paint schemes.

One issue with these ancient types is the need to be particularly careful about which days they fly. I'm guessing that the reason many of them did not fly was due to the wind picking up duirng the day. Bummer, although if you want to see some of these aircraft in action you can check out some earlier Remembrance Day posts from November 2008 here.

What did get up however were a couple of German types, and the Nieuport XI was pushed around a bit. There were a wide range of others on display, but I didn't get around to photographing them all. I understand that most/all of these aircraft have been reproduced by the genius' at The Vintage Aviatior.

Top to bottom are:

Pfalz DIII
Fokker D.VIII
Pfalz DIII and Fokker D.VIII in formation
Nieuport XI