Viking Dragonfly

Today's pictures are of a Viking Dragonfly, ZK-PJM, parked up outside the aero club earlier today.

I had never seen one of these aircraft before, although according the internet sources, it is based on the Rutan Quickie design, which seems to make sense.

This particular aircraft is registered to a Christchurch address and has been on the registered since 1992, which makes it a fairly long-lasting amateur built aircraft, and one that looks to be in great condition.

Auckland trip #4: Warbirds

Later on Saturday afternoon, I got to witness the return of a small number of the Warbird aircraft that had gone up to Whenuapai Airbase for the Royal New Zealand Airforce Open Day/Airshow.

Top to bottom are a couple of pictures of the Messerschmitt 108 Taifun [actually a Noord 1002 - a licence-built version of the 108], ZK-WFI. Following this are two pictures of the returning North American Harvards, then three pictures of the mighty Cessna A37 Dragonfly, ZK-JTL. I won't pretend to know too much about the histories of these aircraft, but a quick visit to the NZ Warbirds Association website should sort you out with the details of these aircraft and many more New Zealand-resident warbirds.

Ohakea Open Day # 10: Ex-Military Jets

Airshows in New Zealand would not be complete without a range of ex-military aircraft attending and putting on a display. For a such small country, New Zealand has a proud reputation in the restoration and ex-military aircraft that have served in various western and eastern block countries over many decades. From reproduction WW1 through to 1960's designed trainers and fighter jets, we have a wide selection; not only available to view, but, importantly, in flying condition.

The support from this group of enthusiasts was very evident at the Ohakea open day.

In this post, we have pictures of many of the civilian owned and operated, ex-military jets at the open day. Top to bottom are:

de Havilland Vampire

L39 Albatross

Cessna Dragonfly [x2]

Albatross/ Vampire/ Dragonfly formation

Ohakea Open Day # 5: Apron: Civilian Aircraft

Continuing with my walk on the apron, here are some of the civilian aircraft on the apron. As you'll see, most of these are ex-military types, several of which have been operated by the RNZAF in years gone by. It took a while but we managed to drag ourselves into the public area in about 30 minutes [and well before the displays started] :-)

Top to bottom they are: Thunder Mustang, Yak 52, Harvard, Harvard Flightline, Hughes 369, Dragonfly/ L39 Albatross/ Vampire, L39 Albatross, P40/ P40/ Corsair/ Trojan, BF108 Taifun

What can I say? How about "wow"!?

What an awesome day!

Today was the RNZAF Ohakea Open Day. Nick and I flew up from Wellington for the day, and it was well worth the trip! Apart from the B757 [in the USA getting fitted with cargo doors] and the Seasprite [would have been nice to see], every military aircraft available to the RNZAF was there, as well as a very good selection of ex-military and civil types. Oh year, there was an Australian F-111 as well.

It's going to take a little time to sort out the pictures. After deleting most of the bad ones, I'm left with about 145 :-) In the meantime, here are some teaser pictures. You should also take a look at Euan's and Chris's blogs for their photos over the next few days. I also got to meet Chris and Euan for the first time, and catch up with a number of others from around the country [Big Hello to Liz!]. Top to bottom they are:

P3 Orion
P3 Orion
Cessna Dragonfly
UH-1H Iroquois
MX-2
Harvard
Sioux
F-111
F-111

More details of the trip, and of course, more photos coming up over the next few days!