Brian's place - Warbirds over Wanaka 2004 Page 1

Brian's place

Aviation

HOME : Aviation : Warbirds over Wanaka 2004 Page 1

Warbirds over Wanaka 2004

After all my grizzling about the ticket prices, I went both Saturday and Sunday, and (shock, horror) enjoyed it as much as ever. Very expensive, but very enjoyable! I am guessing that the cost of insurance on such an event has gone through the roof over the past couple of years. We're lucky that The Alpine Fighter Collection are still willing to host a display.

Highlights this year had to be the final performance of the Breitling Fighters team (weren't Breitling nice to sponsor them? Buy their watches to say thanks! ), and the chance to see the RNZAF Corsair and the incredible Lavochkin La-9. A very beautiful aircraft, and not an Fw190 copy like the commentators speculated, but a logical development from the Lagg 1!

One of the most thrilling aspects this year was the appearance of the beautiful Lavochkin La-9. This aircraft had been a "no show" at the previous Warbirds over Wanaka, and had subsequently been shipped to the U.K. for a couple of seasons.

As I mentioned in the introduction, the commentators speculated that the La-9 was a copy of the FW-190. Nothing could be further from the truth, I wish they wouldn't make up facts to fill in the gaps!

It put in a great display, the Shvetsov M-82 radial engine sounding very different.

T his aircraft was restored in New Zealand by Pioneer Aero Restorations Limited . They have a good section on their website devoted to it, click here to see it (opens in a new browser window).

The blue-grey mountains form a beautiful backdrop.

I-153 Red 10, very cute! These things (like most single engined warbirds) have no forward visibility whatsoever. The airshow must be a huge workload for the pilots and support crew.

I153 (left) and I-16.

The Polikarpovs give a distinct sense of power and manouverability.

I think I have mentioned how fast these suckers land, very scary. At this point the pilot must be thinking "I've got her down, how do I keep it straight?".

Yak trainers in a "Simpson's" sky.

Yak 3

Another nice surprise was this MiG-21 UB parked in the toy and transport Museum compound on the airfield.

On to Warbirds over Wanaka 2004 page 2 >>>>>------>

<-----<<< Back to Classic Fighters Marlborough 2003