Click the image above to view slideshowThreatening weather has failed to put a damper on the Classics of the Sky Tauranga City Airshow with organisers calling the weekend's event one of the best yet.
Cloud cover and light rain in the early morning had organisers worried they would have to cancel the airshow, but as eager spectators began to arrive, the patchy weather left.
WW1 aircraft take flight in the war's 100 year demonstration. Photos by Tracy Hardy and Bruce Barnard.
Squadron Leader John Leslie (Les) Munro meets fan Diana Robinson at the airshow. Photo: Bruce Barnard.
'We're so glad, the weather behaved itself and it was a really fantastic day,” says organiser Andrew Gormlie.
Without knowing exact ticket numbers, Andrew estimates thousands of people attended the airshow – many approaching him to boast about the day's success.
After an early start, low visibility put the show on hold for half an hour at about 11am. But the day's cloud cover meant many of the pilots made an extra effort to perform tricks, spins and flips for the audience, says Andrew.
A surprising highlight came in the way of model aircraft – which reached speeds of 380km/h as the zipped past spectators.
As well as the antipated WW1 aircraft, other sky-high features included classic jets, aerobatic display teams, warbirds, helicopters, gliders, sports aircraft, and the RNZAF aircraft and crews.
Thousands of people came to see the in-flight action at the airshow.
On the ground Les Munro, the last surviving pilot of the Dambuster raid, offered visitors a thrill by signing memorabilia and event programmes during the afternoon.
Back from his trip to England marking the 75th anniversary of the Dambuster raid, Les says it was an incredibly busy visit.
Today he smiled and met with fans – one of which was a very star-struck Diana Robinson.
Along with her daughter, Diana had her programme signed by Les and posed for photos.
'That's Les Munro, I can't believe it,” she says.
'I'm all in a shake. I've heard so much about the Dambusters from my brother.”
Also causing a stir was the police dog display – which saw fake villains take to the runway. They were soon swarmed by armed police, who let their police dogs loose.
An overall success, the Classics of the Sky Tauranga City Airshow will return in 2016 with more aviator action and thrills, says Andrew.
'We'll definitely be back.”
See the video for more information on the weekend's show.
6 comments
Strange
Posted on 27-01-2014 07:31 | By maildrop
I'm surprised at the comments by Andrew. On Saturday the skies were buzzing with planes but yesterday it was so quiet I thought it had been called off. Surely the programme had been altered due to the poor visibility? It's a bit of a worry that in poor visibility pilots make "extra effort" to perform "tricks, spins and flips"! I would have thought they'd be more careful in bad weather and make hay when the sun shines instead but what do I know. This seems like a bit of PR trickery to me and I wonder what the poeople who attended thought about the show, particularly those that have attended previously on a sunny day.
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Posted on 27-01-2014 08:05 | By Sambo Returns
comments are slow, a marked difference to the positive and energetic comments being posted about the "jet sprints", unfortunately for the "air show", when you try and put together an out door event, the weather will always have the final say, also no word yet on how the Mills Reef concert went last evening.
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Posted on 27-01-2014 09:54 | By NZgirl
Yep. It was a lot quieter on Sunday than Saturday. I wouldn't of thought you would have seen a lot on Sunday.
Great effort!
Posted on 27-01-2014 10:29 | By nerak
Surprised at maildrop's comments, would suggest that the efforts of show's organisers/participants was the best it could be, under circumstances(weather). I don't know a lot either, but guess the "extra effort" offered even more challenge, and they proved they were up to it! Congrats to all, and especially sunlive for excellent coverage/videos/photos.
Fantastic Event!
Posted on 27-01-2014 11:26 | By JAS
Contrary to some of the other comments, we actually attended, and found the day to be fantastic. Yes the cloud cover made for a different show to normal (we have attended in the past), but the pilots put on amazing displays beneath the cloud cover, in probably smaller zones than they had originally intended. The crowd looked as large as it did 2 years ago, and all seemed to be enjoying themselves immensely.
Well done
Posted on 27-01-2014 11:30 | By Dune Dog's Dad
Despite the dubious weather the turn out was huge and the show fantastic. Thank you to all involved, as the cloud for showing up.
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