Warbirds Over Wanaka – Saturday 31st March – Day 12 – 0 KMs

The crew stirred, had a chin wag and ambled off on foot to the Airshow. This was the major benefit of staying within walking distance as the adjacent highway closed to through traffic and cars queued to enter the Airshow.

The very first event involved a Yak which had an oops landing on the grass. There were two cherry pickers parked on the side of the runway for a later event and the Yak pilot hit one of these while landing with major damage. When on the ground he had extremely restricted visibility so random cherry pickers parked alongside the strip proved to be a hazard. This event closed the airport for about an hour which was a bit of a disrupt.

The morning so far had been overcast and cold. Mavis Moodie arrived for the NZMVC AGM scheduled for later that day and she caught up with various people as the day progressed. That is commitment right there spending the time and resources to do the job.

Photo credit: Brent and Julie Bevan

The show proceeded with many excellent displays. Two American aircraft put on displays – a transport and an F16. It’s cool to see a current jet fighter in our skies, even if they had upset the locals over at Franz Joseph Glacier the previous day. The American commentary was next level, as you would expect from people doing lots of shows to big crowds. The local commentary boys referred to this and seemed a bit overwhelmed when they had to follow.

Chris and Tracy Bass and Terry Marshall had left the convoy to fully participate in the large “War Horses” re-enactment community displaying at the Airshow. We saw lots of MV’s unique to the region in this display. Chris reported that he was completely satisfied with the copious amounts of free food. The Armistice100 convoy did not officially display at the Airshow because the organisers required a four day commitment which was just too long for our schedule.

Photo credit: Brent and Julie Bevan

Overall the Airshow was a fantastic experience enjoyed by all.

Photo credit: Brent and Julie Bevan

In the evening the NZMVC AGM was held in the Volunteers tent, organised by locals Duncan and Tina McGregor. About 30 people attended and the hard edge of organising and running the Club was done in a positive way. In the last few years these meetings have been very productive and thankfully left behind the politics of years gone by. We are focussed on working together to get great outcomes.

Another great day, this time with jet aircraft!