Warbirds Over Wanaka

We've always wanted to see the Warbirds Over Wanaka, and being in the area at the right time was too good an opportunity to pass up. Add to this that we could get a deal through NZMCA (NZ Motorcaravan Association) where we could buy a three-day general admission ticket through them and live up on a hill across the road from the airport for three days. The view was spectacular.

Early on Good Friday we lined up with the other motorhomes, buses, caravans, fifth wheelers, all waiting for the gates to open.

They couldn't let us up there until after sunrise . . . here it comes . . .

As we entered, we were each given a programme—an excellent resource with lots of photos, history, and a daily programme of what to expect.

You can see the line of motorhomes in the gloom, travelling up the track. It wasn't very wide. No room to pass anyone coming the other way.

Then we were all directed as to where to park. 200 had come up the previous day. I think they were the early ticket buyers. Altogether, I understand there were 350 of us up here.

Setting up our chairs to watch the performance. We had front row seats for the first two days, but it really didn't matter too much. There was so much space. Although you couldn't hear the commentary very well, you could see everything without getting a crick in your neck from looking up all the time!

We could climb down the hill and go through the exhibits (as we did) and this was the view looking back up. This was on the Friday, which was really a "practice run" for the air show. It was a lot quieter with not so many of the general public around, so we chose this day for our "up-close" visit. 

Disclaimer: It's just as well I had a programme, or I wouldn't be able to identify which plane was which! If you notice an error anywhere in the coming photo descriptions, please feel free to let me know. I'm an amateur! In spite of my ignorance about the names and details about planes and such, we had an absolutely fantastic time. I took a gazillion pictures and most of my favourites are in this blog post.

As well as the expected planes, they had a few other displays.

Steam Engines

Packards

The Armed Forces

Black Falcons

Boeing B757-2K2

USAF Boeing C-17 Globemaster

Buchon Me-109

Choppers

F-16 Fighting Falcon

Armée de L'Aire (French Air Force)
CASA 235-300

Harvards

Hawk 127

C-130 Hercules

JUKA
Jurgis Kairys (the pilot) developed this aircraft and named it from his initials. It's quite a small plane, very agile and fun to watch.

Click here for a video of the JUKA in action.

Curtiss Kittyhawk P-40

P51-D Mustang

RNZAF NAC DC-3

Consolidated PBY Catalina 

T-28 Trojan

Supermarine Spitfire Mk IX

Avro Anson Mk I 

Tiger Moth

Aero L-39 Albatros Jet Trainer

De Havilland Vampire Jet

YAK 52 Team

Yakovlev YAK 3-M
Sadly, there was a crash on the Saturday morning. Fortunately, I don't believe anyone was injured.

The YAK clipped one of its wings on this red thing. He landed awkwardly and "nek minnit" . . . :(

It took them about an hour to clear the runway.

And some random pics to finish off . . .

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All pics