Nice synopsys Whirly.
Jonzarno really sums it up in a few words.
As for me then if I had truly made some historic flights I would want to celebrate where it all started.
In TCT's case it was Ardmore,Auckland New Zealand.
A small flying community where everyone knows everyone.
Has she returned to fly again with the military pilots she trained with?
The big question is what does Liz Needham know?
She was a major player of the flight training set up when TCT got her licence.
Was our intrepid aviatrix the real champion of advancing women in aviation at Ardmore while mere instructors took care of the mundane tasks?
Outside of New Zealand’s small aviation community, most people won’t have heard of Liz Needham. Yet this remarkable Kiwi has achieved many first's for women’s aviation in this country and today is one of only two female Spitfire pilots in the world.
Few would argue that she is New Zealand’s most experienced female pilot and a great role model for any aspiring aviator.
Inspired by her brothers, Liz signed up with the Rex Flying School at Ardmore in 1974, clocking up her first solo flight in February that year. Just over forty years later her log book records 25,000 hours flying time… mostly on commercial airliners (for work) and warbirds (for play).
Liz is currently an Air New Zealand captain on 767s but it is the challenge of the warbird flying that really ignites her passion for flying.
Along with husband Frank Parker, she has enjoyed much involvement with the New Zealand Warbirds Association. This group is dedicated to restoring, preserving and flying ex-military aircraft. It began in the late 1970s with the focus on ex-RNZAF aircraft but today encompasses a huge range of types from Russia, China, the US and beyond. Located on Harvard Lane at Ardmore Airport, the group now have a visitor centre and considerable warbird educational resource.
“Ardmore is the home of New Zealand Warbirds so I have been a member right from the start. As you can imagine it is a privilege to fly these historic planes,” Liz says.
The group support pilots wanting to fly warbirds and work hard to get the aircraft out and about at airshows and open days.
About ten years ago, Liz began flying in the ‘Roaring Forties’ aerobatic display team. Flying ex-RNZAF Harvard trainers, the Roaring Forties team are the flag bearers of the New Zealand Warbirds Association. Again it was the challenge, Liz says, that drew her in to this demanding flying role where precision aerobatics are performed in front of large crowds. But it is also the opportunity to honour those that flew the aircraft in combat, when the team undertake flypasts at ANZAC and other commemorative services.
Always cool and calm, Liz takes each new challenge in her stride and has also been a display pilot at the popular Warbirds Over Wanaka International Airshow since 2000, piloting the P-40 Kittyhawk as well as the Harvards.
Five years ago, when the Civil Aviation Authority approved a rule change to allow paying passengers into warbirds, Liz and Frank began Warbird Adventure Rides. The couple take people for the flight of their life in their AT-6 Harvard, Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawk or in a colleague’s Supermarine Spitfire.
Customers are universally thrilled with their experience and comments on social media tell the story best, such as the following… “This is the sort of place where you want to just go back and sit near the hangars, even if it's raining, even to just play cards, beside some of the most beautiful and well cared for classic Warbird aircraft.”
So between flying 767s, taking joyrides in WWII fighters and working the airshow circuit, does Liz have time for anything else? Well, yes, she has her own flying school at Ardmore and in 1983 became the first woman in New Zealand to gain an A Category instructors rating. An ‘A Cat’, as it is known in aviation circles, is the highest possible qualification for instructors and Liz’s school has been described as one of New Zealand’s premier training facilities.
Her influence in the aviation world continues to be felt strongly throughout New Zealand, particularly as a great inspiration to Kiwi women.
I can find no credits for TCT's adventures on the NZ Association of Women in Aviation
www.nzawa.org.nz website
Nor can I find any credits from the NZ Warbirds. Interestingly her claim to have been trained by military pilots has disappeared from the wiki entry.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tracey_Curtis-Taylor
This is Liz Needham, a true aviatrix.
