ANZAC Day Airshow at Hood Aerodrome, Masterton, NZ

[jamo]

Bad weather spoiled the previous two TVAL airshows in Jan-10 and Nov-09 so I was watching the weather forecast with some apprehension over the last few days. Today was overcast with spots of rain when I left home in Wellington to drive over the Rimutaka hills to Masterton, but the weather on the other side was perfect. Warm and sunny and only a light breeze, surely all the planes would able to fly. And they did. And it was GREAT.

Before the flying starts there are free rides available on the old WWI trucks and on an Old Bill Bus. I got up on the top story with my daughters, learning from last time to go on the left hand side so as to be closer to the planes as we did a circuit of the field. Unfortunately the bus didn't stop for photos and it really bounces around (WWI suspension, hard tyres) so I set my camera to a fast shutter speed and hoped for the best.













As you can see the crowd was not huge, plenty of room to get up close and take lots of photos. The collection of WWI vehicles appears to be growing.
More photos to come

[jamo]

These shots aren't as sharp as I would have liked (moving Old Bill bus is hardly a tripod) but they give a flavour of the airshow.





It was tantalising to pass so close to the FE2b and briefly look down into the cockpits. The Fee is too high to take photos into the cockpit from the ground. Still couldn't see much.



Once the bus trip finished it was time to scout the lineup to see what's new. Tucked away at one end amongst the vehicle park I saw this engine mounted on a test bed on the back of a WWI truck:



Wahoo! This is another 160hp Beardmore engine. To fit in the second FE2b. These engines have got to be some of the rarest in the world. How do they do find them? Hats off to TVAL!

['14-'18aviationcollector]

Wow,

They are great photos! Thanks very much for posting them! I wish I could have been there! It's great that they have some vehicles too, I didn't know about them.

Regards,

David.

[jamo]

Flying displays. First up a couple of Tiger Moths and a French copy, a Stamp I think it was? Nice aerobatic display. Then the BE2c and BE2f did a joint display, chugging around at a modest pace but still looking very graceful. The new BE2c was very 'see through' in the strong sunshine.







Shots of the BE2c are in another thread.

Three Fokker Triplanes in flight looked awesome. I heard rumours these will be re engined soon with rotary engines (TVAL's Oberursels?)

The Sopwith Camel had an amazingly short take off run once the pilot 'fed her the curry'. Looked like <100m to me and zoom she was off. Interesting seeing when the engine is blipped on the ground and the rev pick up causes one wing to dip as it digs in on one side.

The Fee took a bit of prop swinging to get her started. Flew some memorable formation with the SE5as and at the end was joined by the Biff. Beyootifool.

The Albatros was a star. I tried my camera on movie setting and filmed the engine start up. Plenty of prop wash as the engine warmed up. Unfortunately I don't think the camera takes enough frames per second and the moving prop looked very odd in the movie. The Mercedes engine purrs along.





The sun was going down, all was right with the world. My youngest daughter asked me if it was more fun than having a brithday, I said yes. She asked me if it was more fun than getting married. Time for a political answer.

Thanks to the good folk at TVAL for showing off their craft. Well done and well organised.

[jamo]

A few more photos that may be of interest. This one picked up some interesting details on the centre section - note the pipes leading from the fuel tank. What are these for exactly? Modellers could replace the moulded in pipes on the Wingnut Wings SE5a with some thin wire.



Again for modellers - interesting bit of oil spillage on the nose:

['14-'18aviationcollector]

Hi James,

The pipes allow overflow from the radiator expansion tank to flow rearwards and away from the aeroplane.

Cheers, and thanks very much for the great photos! TVAL are outstanding!

David.

[Mad Mac]

Great photos Jamo!!
I'm disappointed that I couldn't make it, but will try to get to the next one. How many other types were there? Did they fly the Nieuport, Fok DVII, and Pfalz DIII? And what about the DH5, DH2 and Pup? Maybe they are kept at Omaka?

What a great opportunity it is to see all these wonderful old planes together! Not many in the crowd though - it always surprises me how few people in the general public share our fascination with these lovely old ladies.

[jamo]

Originally Posted by Mad Mac

Great photos Jamo!!
I'm disappointed that I couldn't make it, but will try to get to the next one. How many other types were there? Did they fly the Nieuport, Fok DVII, and Pfalz DIII? And what about the DH5, DH2 and Pup? Maybe they are kept at Omaka?

What a great opportunity it is to see all these wonderful old planes together! Not many in the crowd though - it always surprises me how few people in the general public share our fascination with these lovely old ladies.

I should have written a bit more but it was getting late. The crowd thickened up a bit as the flying got underway. The Sopwith Triplane flew with the Camel against the Fokker DVII. After the lightening work on the DVII it was much better able to foot it with the other two. The Nieuport 11 flew - very zippy like a little sports car. The Avro 504 flew - the engine sounded a bit intermittent and I wondered if all was well, but it went up and was lovely - so much history with that one. Its an original RNZAF with its original engine, lovingly restored.

The Pfalz went up too. Basically all the WWI aircraft in the line up flew and the pilots were all available after the show to chat with the public, great idea TVAL.

The simulated ground battle was very attention getting with the cannon blasts sending a shock wave through the crowd. Tiger Moths scored a direct hit on the German truck with a flour bomb.

TVAL had a tent with Wingnut Wings kits for sale, plus nice postcard sets and various leather repro flying helmets for sale.

This is the last show for the season, next will be Remembrance Day in November. Maybe we'll see some new planes there. Maybe a second FE2b, a new BE2c (late) which has already had a public outing in undressed form at the Wellington Airport terminal building last year:





These photos are from fellow IPMS club member Dave Frowen and feature over at Ventura Publications website:

BE2c detail photos

I understand there will also be reproduction Fokker EV and LVG CVI aeroplanes coming to the TVAL stable at some point.



Cheers
James

[crankcase]

James
In another thread, it was mentioned that the Kiwi contribution of troops to the Great War was disproportionately large to its population...
...and here you have contributed with your terrific photos to inspiring us forumites across the world. What a great thing the internet is and what a way to commemorate ANZAC day!
May we all have the opportunity one day to make the trek to your beautiful country and see such air shows personally!
Most appreciatively,
marc

[WolfOfBadenoch]

James, thanks for your pictures of these great aircraft. What is the Remembrance event like ? I may try to save up a few dollars and get a cheap flight (if they still exist) over from Sydney.