I was at Wanaka on Easter Saturday, and I agree it was a superb display of real flying and airmanship, however----, most of those pilots, in fact the majority, a very, very experienced. The Gavin Trethewey's and Keith Skillings of this world are almost all ex-RNZAF or, in Ray Hannas case, ex-RAF[ though he is a kiwi of course] with thousands of hours flying experience.They are chosen because of their experience, and the fact of their military training because that can never be bought and paid for in the general aviation field. The Hunter owner/pilot was also ex-RNZAF, and what a treat it was to see that again!
I realised the other day that I have been watching Gavin Trethewy display flying for something like forty years! While on 14 Sqn RNZAF he was the dedicated display pilot for the Canberra B12, and to my mind, and I've seen a few Canberra solos, he was the best. He then went on to fly with Air New Zealand, until retirement as a 747-400 Captain.
So, while there a pilots of this calibre around, there wouldn't seem to be much room for a PPL or even a CPL unless you had somehow gained similar experience