Aircraft that were displayed included the return of ex RNZAF P-40E Kittyhawk and an FG-1D Corsair, which accompanied the locally based Spitfire Mk.XVI and P-51D in the final Breitling Fighters display. The 2004 airshow attracted an estimated 99,000 people over the 9th to the 11th April. Three of them were Polikarpov I-16 monoplanes and the fourth a Polikarpov I-153 Tchaika. This was also the last display of the RNZAF A-4 Skyhawk fighter jets and also the Aermacchi MB-339CB Black Falcons display team, due to the disbandment of 75 Squadron and 14 Squadron by the Labour Government under Helen Clark.įour Polikarpovs participated in the flying display. The public flying debut of the Alpine Fighter Collection's Hawker Hurricane P3351 and three Polikarpov I-153s. The Saturday event was tragically marred by the death of pilot Ian Reynolds while displaying his de Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk. The star attractions were a Mitsubishi Zero replica and a Corsair, among 11 aircraft types new to the event. The Alpine Fighter Collection's Curtiss P-40K Kittyhawk made its first post-restoration flight at the show, also flown by Mark Hanna. The star of the show was a Messerschmitt Bf 109 ( Hispano Ha.1112 Buchon) owned by the Duxford-based Old Flying Machine Company and flown by Mark Hanna. A feature was Tim Wallis's repaired Spitfire XVI. 1990 Ī more detailed organisation together with increased promotion saw attendance double to 28,000. A profit of $41,000 was made, which was divided between the Wanaka Swimming pool and the next Warbirds event. The RNZAF put on a display with their Red Checkers aerobatic team. Among the aircraft was Tim Wallis's Mustang, a Hawker Sea Fury, de Havilland Venom, DC3 and Harvards. The event attracted an estimated 14,000 visitors. Events 1988 Īs well as aircraft there were displays of vintage vehicles and agricultural machinery. It is traditional for RNZAF aircraft heading to Wānaka for the airshow to perform aerial displays over the cities of Christchurch and Dunedin on their journey to the show. Also on alternate (odd) years Wings over Wairarapa airshow is held at Hood Aerodrome, Masterton, in the North Island. Its emphasis is on World War I aircraft including as many as seven Fokker Dr.I triplanes. A new charitable trust has been established to run the event in the future.Īt Easter on the alternate (odd) years a similar air show is held at Omaka air field in Blenheim in the northern South Island, under the title of Classic Fighters. However, this collection is currently (2006) in the process of being broken up. The mainstays of the display have traditionally been the aircraft from Sir Tim's Alpine Fighter Collection, based at the New Zealand Fighter Pilots' Museum. Numerous aviation personalities from all over the world attend Warbirds over Wanaka, Gen Chuck Yeager and Buzz Aldrin being the most notable of recent times. Accommodation is impossible to find if one does not have a booking.Ī large contingent of historic and contemporary aircraft of note from all over New Zealand and the world converges on Wānaka each second Easter for the air show. Hotels, motels and backpackers around Wānaka are usually booked well in advance (two years ahead). Roads are closed and traffic is detoured around the area during the weekend. Initially conceived by New Zealand live deer recovery pioneer, Sir Tim Wallis, as a show for him to display his collection of World War II aircraft, the event has grown into a major institution. It is held at Wānaka Airport, 10 km south-east of Wānaka, in the southern South Island of New Zealand. Warbirds over Wanaka is a biennial air show in Wānaka, held on the Easter weekend of even-numbered years since 1988. Royal New Zealand Air Force, Royal Australian Air Force, United States Air Force, Air National Guard, French Air Force of New Caledonia, Alpine Fighter Collection
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