NZ International Air Show

Tim B · #1 1st February 2013, 04:18 PM

On the Australia Day long weekend, I was in NZ, and it so happened that the inaugural NZ International Air Show was happening on the same weekend (Auckland Day weekend).
Having a look at only their website, I decided that a day at the Airshow had to happen, and I booked my ticket on-line, but on reality, it didn't quite live up to the hype.
It's hard to say where it went wrong, but looking at the program of events it was obvious what was missing.
The logistics of moving people around, the airshow facilities at the airport, and the hospitality of the staff on-site were second to none, but the actual flying display was sadly lacking.
The airport itself (North Shore Airfield, about 20km north of Auckland) had only one runway of 790m in length, with a width of a suburban 2 lane road (read, narrow), meant that any decent size aircraft had to fly in from a different airfield, do their display, and fly off again, meant that any on ground plane spotting was lacking.
I won't whinge too much more except to say that they picked the wrong airfield to conduct the show, and the actual number of aircraft performing was lacking in numbers. It has potential, but perhaps at an airfield with more capability, such as Ardmore, about the same distance south of Auckland.
Anyway, here are some photo's of the local aeroclub finishing their Airtour, and later some shots of the Airshow itself.

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Tim B · #2 1st February 2013, 04:40 PM

A couple of biplanes and a couple of aircraft in the hangars.

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Tim B · #3 1st February 2013, 04:56 PM

A few model aircraft were displayed, and the jet powered aircraft such as the 1/5 scale Mig25 were awesome (built by a 20yo kid as a school project).

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Tim B · #4 1st February 2013, 05:17 PM

As for real aircraft, there was a BAC Strikemaster, an RNZAF B757, and the Red Chequers Aerobatic Team in their CT4's.

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David Ramsay · #5 1st February 2013, 06:32 PM

From the photos, I'm guessing you were there Monday. You picked the best of the three days. I was there Saturday and it was very low key.

One had to be impressed by Jetman, though.

Nigel C · #6 1st February 2013, 09:03 PM

Did Air New Zealand set up a temporary Koru Lounge for your arrival Mr Ramsay?

Tim B · #7 2nd February 2013, 08:13 AM

There were your usual parachutists,

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Aerobatic displays,

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But "Jetman" Yves Rossy was the star of the show with his wing and jet engines strapped to his back.
He headed up into the sky by helecopter, jumped off and flew in formation with 5 Robin aircraft for about 10 minutes and then parachuted back to ground. Impressive stuff. www.jetman.com for further info on jetman.

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You can just make him out at the back of the formation. He was actually faster than the real aircraft.

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Will there be another NZ International Air Show? I think they chose the wrong airfield (probably should have used Ardmore) and with only around 2500 people attending each day, I'm sure the organisers made a loss on the weekend. Pity, as Auckland is big enough to host such an airshow.

Tim B · #8 2nd February 2013, 08:27 AM

Meanwhile over at Ardmore, about 20km south of Auckland city, it was business as usual,

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And the security fencing did its best to keep out the terrorists.

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David N · #9 2nd February 2013, 09:31 PM

Strange as it was, this Airshow was advertised to be at Ardmore before the tickets went on sale, not sure why it was changed.

Tossing up if I wanted to go or not it was decided for me when my partner booked flights & accommodation to Auckland that very weekend and gave them to me for Christmas.

So we decided to attend the Airshow on the Saturday with Premium Tickets.
None of the organizers knew where holders of these tickets were to park & we found a paddock where many were going just up the road from the entrance.

An email was sent on the Friday telling us where parking was available, this was to late as we had already arrived in NZ and I didn't receive it until we got home.

I was still excited to be there but found it very strange an Airshow gets the title of "International" because a Aussie, Kiwi & Yank race each other in Robins.

Jetman was way too high & having four large monitors available to view what was happening, it seemed to be an Airshow TV program and lack of action in front of the crowed line.

With Whenuapai not far away I thought more than an NH90 on static display and B757 fly-by would had been possible by RNZAF.

The show finished an hour earlier than there program stated with the Seasprite & Vintage Fly-by being cancelled.

Hope they have it again & learn from the experience, NZ have great Airshows and I believe this was probably just a venue learning curve.

Tim B · #10 3rd February 2013, 05:54 PM

Agreed with you David N. I got back to my motel room that night to see a whole half hour show on TV3 dedicated to the Airshow, and mainly the parachutists and Yves Rossy (who you could dedicate the whole half hour show to), and not much else.
It just needed more planes in the air in the morning part of the show, and more planes on the ground for people to look at.
I hope they can bring it back again with lessons learnt, as NZ'ers do this stuff well with a minimum of fuss, and maximum efficiency.