Wings Over Wairarapa # 4: Yakovlev Yak 52

For me, the first of the more exciting displays had to be the Taranaki-based Yakrobats flying their Soviet-designed-built Yakovlev Yak 52's. I'm not used to seeing these aircraft, so to see eight of them at one time was certainly a treat! Perhaps the brightly coloured and varied paint schemes helps to add some interest also.

The Yak 52 pilots also had the task [privilege?] of flying what was billed as a "Reno-style" pylon race around three sheep trucks [a bit of Kiwi ingenuity there!] strategically placed around the airfield. The sight of these aircraft racing around the "track" was certainly a highlight, and one I would like to see repeated [and expanded on] in future.

For more information about these aircraft, I'd suggest this Wikipedia site [if anyone knows of a New Zealand website for these particular aircraft, please leave a comment].

Anyway, enough of my jabbering, time for the pictures! I've included a larger than normal number of pictures - I want to show off the paint schemes as much as the fantastic flying.