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RNZAF 80th Anniversary airshow


nuuumannn

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Hi Guys, the RNZAF turns 80 on 1st April and it had a wee shindig last weekend at Ohakea. Here are a few photos.

 

Taken the day before the show; Airbus are trying to sell A400Ms to NZ to replace its Hercs, but it didn't fly during the show.

 

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Nice civie owned Devon;

 

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An airshow wouldn't be an airshow in NZ without a Harvard;

 

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B200 Kingair;

 

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The day of the show proper; KC-135 from Kadena AFB, Japan.

 

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JASDF KC-767 was a nice surprise; these don't go very far from Japan, so was welcome - and was open to the public.

 

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Singaporean AF F-15E; the Singaporeans are eyeing up NZ to base its F-15Es for training as the airspace is uncluttered. Sadly these didn't fly at the show.

 

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More soon.

Edited by nuuumannn
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Thanks Steve, it was a great show and the weather was very warm.

 

Apparently an astronomically gigantic **** up by the organizers...

 

Don't know why, the F-15s weren't scheduled to fly.

 

Here's a few more. The Aussies are always upstaging us Kiwis somehow, and bringing their Hornets over and putting on great displays is something we just can't compete with.

 

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Canuck C-130J a welcome addition to the flight line; typically living up to their stereotype, the Canadians were friendly and gave us a look in the cockpit as well, which the rest of the open aircraft didn't do.

 

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The B757 is an attractive jet and always puts on a good display. Nice steep climbout is mandatory when its lightly loaded; waaaay overpowered.

 

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Missed the Avenger display whilst nosying around the big visitors, but caught it departing and arriving.

 

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3 hours ago, nuuumannn said:

Here's a few more. The Aussies are always upstaging us Kiwis somehow, and bringing their Hornets over and putting on great displays is something we just can't compete with.

 

They've never got over Kiwi Red in 1988 at Richmond. :D

Steve.

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On 3/3/2017 at 7:41 PM, nuuumannn said:

Don't know why, the F-15s weren't scheduled to fly.

They were more than willing to fly, but the huge CU prevented that...

 

 

Cracking photos! Great to hear of the Canadian chaps being helpful to visitors!

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Crikey you must have been on the first bus to arrive judging by shadows and lack of people.  Superb photos, so the early bird definitely got the worm.

It was a good two days, the weather played ball and the infamous Manawatu wind stayed away for the most part. The jets.......ah, the sound of freedom once again.  Even my wife turned to me and admitted to missing that noise. The Avenger, wow what a beast that is. And if anyone is interested Havard NZ1015 flew again today in it's new scheme.

 

1 hour ago, hairystick said:

They were more than willing to fly, but the huge CU prevented that...

 

So what was the CU ? It's the first that I've heard anything. There may be some very sound (pun intended) reasons not to fly the F-15s during the airshow ;).  What I can definitely say is that when they left, they took off with the wind (away from Sanson, the local town) and the burners were turned off as soon as they were airborne.  They did one full circuit then disappeared vertically skyward above the Base; no beat up, just enough to keep us interested, but without inducing a swell of noise complaints from NIMBYs. As far as I know they didn't fly at Avalon either.

We may see much more of the F15s in the future.......my fingers are crossed.

 

Cheers

Gaz :)

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Yes indeed Gaz, would like to see the Singaporeans here. The ones I talked to about it were quite enthusiastic about it.

 

The big static aircraft were popular; the A400M and C-130J in particular.

 

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C-130Hs from NZ and Singapore; I worked on NZ7002 many years ago; spent almost a whole heavy check inside its fuel tanks - I hate heavy maintenance.

 

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Aussie C-17.

 

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Armee de L'Air CN-235 from New Caledonia.

 

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USAF C-17 display was good.

 

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P-3 departing. I do like the P-3; very cool aircraft; worked on these, too.

 

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More soon.

 

Edited by nuuumannn
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Thanks, guys. Latinbear, the Airbus crew was RAF, you could follow their journey from the UK to New Zealand on faceache. They departed for Avalon after the show, as did the KC-135, Singaporean Eagles. If you look at the recent post on the airshow by another member, you'll see them in Australia.

 

The highlight of the RNZAF show was undoubtedly the USAF F-16s sent from Misawa AFB, Japan. Initially there was fear they wouldn't make it and until the day before they had not arrived. Friends of mine checked Flightradar and various forums to find out a possible ETA, and on Friday night, after a quick takeaway dinner at the Feilding McDonalds, we headed back to Ohakea to watch them arrive. Frustratingly, my batteries ran out before I got a chance to photograph their arrival after dusk. One had gone U/S in Australia and another was quickly dispatched from Japan to take its place, hence the delay. Boy, were we glad. It was a good display and the commentary was lively and entertaining, to say the least. My camera gear isn't the best, so my F-16 images are not great, but here are a couple that I think are worthy of public display.

 

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On landing the pilot spent the time gesturing to the crowd;

 

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The ceremony was kept up with its arrival in the static area, where its ground crew took the salute, much to the joy of the assembled crowd. The USAF does know how to please an audience.

 

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The RAAF F-18s were also keen to impress, although I missed most of their flying displays as I was busy chatting to folk I had met, but I did catch their return to the parking area.

 

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Note the impressive bomb tally on the side of the nose;

 

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Lastly, after all the crowds had gone, the KC-135 guys opened the aircraft up for those hangers on, like me and my party, who alerted me to it while I was photographic something else. It wasn't open during the show, so this was an unexpected treat, although I see that it was open at Avalon!

 

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Refueler's station under the rear floor.

 

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That's it folks, from this show anyway. Thanks for looking.

 

 

Edited by nuuumannn
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Super photos! A real treat to have the Misawa F16s arrive especially with the North Koreans stirring things up and another real treat to be able to go aboard the KC135 too. Looks like a really memorable show and in good weather too.

 

Thanks re the A400 crew. A nice jolly for a squadron crew. I really ought to start paying more attention to FB as much as I loathe it.

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