Getting up today, the 2000' wind was up to around a 40 knot nor-westerly and the hills between Wellington and Masterton were topped with clouds :-(, hence the need to take a departure around the south-east of the hills [perhaps you can see an issue here...]. On the plus side, I got to swap planes, when 4 people bailed on the trip, and I got to fly a PA28-181 instead of a PA38-112 and took 3 passengers instead of 1. Yippee! The extra performance would be very helpful in the conditions.
The trip to Masterton was eventful. Turbulence was not as bad as it could have been [but still enough to keep me on my toes], but flying to the south-east of some hills in a strong nor-westerly was always going to make for a fun flight. If all this sounds familiar, it's probably because they are similar conditions to the last time I flew to Masterton for an airshow :-) Darn!!
Anyway, we got there and back. The airshow, which I will detail in future posts, was OK. The absence [due to a wheels up landing] of the Spitfire Mk IX was unfortunate, but the lack of any military "heavy metal" [apart from the Kaman Seasprite helo] was very disappointing - especially since all of the advertising material indicated the presence of both a P3 Orion and a Boeing B757. Some of the World War One aircraft appeared to be grounded due winds, but such is life I guess.
What follows are a few sample images. There are many many more that will posted over the next few days, so enjoy!
The pictures are as follows.
Piper PA28-181, ZK-TDJ - the aircraft I flew to the show.
de Havilland DH.115 Vampire
F4U Corsair
Harvard
Yak 52
UH1 Iroquois
Pacific Aerospace CT4/E
Taylor Monoplane U/L, ZK-FNR
Disappointing, wasn't it? Very average for Masterton. I had expected to take close to 1,000 photos but came away with just over half of that because of the poor showing and frequently distant displays. At least the (road) traffic was unexciting this year. Roll on Omaka!
ReplyDeleteCool photos Rodney, keep em coming!!!!
ReplyDeleteSad to hear it was disappointing though...
Yes it was ok. I was gutted there was no Polykarpov or Hercules display this time. Our skilled Airforce boys do a great job with the gear they do have. Dont get rid of the Hueys they are a great piece of kit even if they are old now. What about some of the Skyhawks, we still have some pilots ....
ReplyDeleteThe volunteers do a great job out there,the Management could do better with event traffic access and signage.
Top marks to the pilots of the WW2 planes and the aircrew who maintain
them in such great condition. Well done to the private jet contingent they are a star duo.
Pity about the wind for the WW1 fighters and the unfortunate loss of the Spitfire for the event.
Bring back the Polykarpov and dont the Aussies have a fighter they could send over for training mission?
RAAF planes normally make an appearance for RNZAF exhibitions. I would love to see our A4s fly again too but I think the horse has well and truly bolted on that one.
ReplyDeleteNow to start saving for Omaka!
Ahhh, Omaka. 30-40 minute flight each way for some of us. Not much saving needed.
ReplyDeleteSee you there Euan!