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Comfortably cruising at 85 knots, 1000feet above Mount Maunganui in a vintage 1943 Boeing Spearman is the one true way to view the Bay of Plenty, says Tauranga pilot Pete Ham.

Ahead of the start of the bi-annual Classics of the Sky, Tauranga City Airshow, SunLive jumped on board with Pete in the open cockpit Boeing Stearman - one of the countless planes on show this weekend.

'It's an experience that a lot of people have never had. Their expression and reaction their first time is great,” says Pete.

'This is what I call real flying; open cockpit with the wind in your face. This is the type of flying I enjoy.”

And what an eye opening experience it was.

Seated in front of Pete and holding on for dear life, I sat in awe as we headed out through Tauranga Harbour before performing a series of breath taking turns across Mount Main Beach in the brief flyover.

This weekend's Classics of the Sky – Tauranga City Airshow celebrates 100 years since the outbreak of WW1 and has been chosen by organisers as the main theme for the two-day show.

The aircraft include two Allied fighters and two German Fokkers. When the aircraft are not flying, they will be moved to a location where the public can get up close to them.

Pete says the Boeing Stearman, one of about 8584 worldwide and owned by Classic flyers for the last eight years, is a popular attraction for visitors of the aviation museum who cherish the chance to view the cockpit.

The Boeing Stearman is a biplane used as a military trainer aircraft built in the United States during the 1930s and 1940s.

After the conflict was over, thousands of surplus aircraft were sold on the civilian market – many modified for crop-dusting use, with a hopper for pesticide or fertiliser fitted in place of the front cockpit.

During the two-day show air displays vary from vintage biplanes and triplanes, to gliders, WWll fighters, RNZAF aircraft and jets.

Other displays are as diverse as a local police squad ‘arresting' some bad guys with the ever-popular police dog section, and radio controlled model aircraft.