Classic Fighters 2015

[Kiwithrottlejockey]

Classic Fighters airshow is on at Omaka Aerodrome, Blenheim, New Zealand this weekend.

Here is a tiny sample of photographs from the first airshow day (yesterday was a practice day). As you can see, a V1 was launched during the airshow....


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[Kiwithrottlejockey]

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[VH-UFO]

Oh, I thought that was actually the current RNZAF on display, oops.

[joy ride]

Great photos, thanks. I like Ansons. Surprised to see a V1 flying, is it original or a replica/different motor?

[Tupperware Pilot]

....real or not?:ok:
Bombs away - TV News Video | TVNZ (http://tvnz.co.nz/seven-sharp/bombs-away-video-6275606)

[joy ride]

Cheers TP, had a feeling it must be a replica! Still quite a sight though, and I love that BoB film theme!

[ian16th]

What is the dogs name? :ok:

[joy ride]

^ I think you might be confusing BoB with Dambusters, and it's not a very PC name these days!

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

Great pics. Thanks. Ruth and I were at the show in 2007 when we had a ride in the Catalina. Hope the repairs are going OK.

[AtomKraft]

Looks like a great show!

V1 flying!
Anson dropping bombs!
9 triplanes!

Marvellous! :ok:

[joy ride]

Er, one's a bi-plane

[AtomKraft]

Joy.

Thank you so much.....

Eight triplanes and a biplane.

Happy?

[joy ride]

Just being a bit pedantic, I too thought at first that they were all triplanes!

[India Four Two]

I've seen pictures of an FW-190 landing accident at Omaka. It is not clear from the reports if this is a full-size one or not. Does anyone know?

[tubby linton]

Local news report suggests that it is a full size one.
WW2 fighter's brake fails during landing at Omaka Aerodrome | Stuff.co.nz (http://www.stuff.co.nz/marlborough-express/news/67607269/ww2-fighters-brake-fails-during-landing-at-omaka-aerodrome)

[joy ride]

^ At the end of that article: "Focke Wulfs have a tail dragger instead of a wheel at the back of the plane which made it difficult to control in strong winds, Wilson said.

- The Marlborough Express"

Slight confusion perhaps.

[treadigraph]

It's one of the Flug Werk full size modern reproductions.

Good to see to the Spitfire XIV ZK-XIV flying again after its terrible accident with Sir Tim Wallis nearly twenty years ago. Such a shame that he hasn't been able to make such a full recovery.

[Kiwithrottlejockey]

V1 launch on Sunday, 05 April 2015....

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How's that for a neat party-trick by rat-cunning Kiwis? Look carefully and you can see a Supermarine Spitfire Mk.XIV in the second-to-last photograph.

BTW....the V1 is 80% of full-scale size, is radio controlled, and can be gently landed on its belly on the grass. It is also quite manouverable in the air and it did several passes in front of the crowd on each occasion it took to the air. Believe it or not, once launched, it is actually powered by a total of five electric motors powering ducted-fans. As I already said, it is a really neat party-trick!

There were also three full-sized static V1s constructed as props. On each of the two main airshow days, one of the static V1s was blown to bits in a huge fireball during an attack by allied aircraft. The flying V1 managed to successfully launch each day during that attack.

[joy ride]

Cheers for those photos, great stuff!

[Kitbag]

That V1 replica is fascinating, do you have any further information, like range, speed etc? It would be great to see something like that over the UK (if you see what I mean), I'm afraid Google has not been my friend today

[treadigraph]

On each of the two main airshow days, one of the static V1s was blown to bits in a huge fireball during an attack by allied aircraft

Photo of the fireball captioned by the Daily Mail as the Fw190's denouement... Didn't pause to wonder how anyone could walk away from that...

Kitbag :ok:, not sure my old mum would agree about seeing one flying the UK again though! :p Shhh, we won't tell her!

[brokenlink]

Seem to recall that a couple of chaps in the USA have built a full size replica pulse jet. Sounds awsome but a combination of this replica and the engine would invoke too many emotions in the UK I fear, with good reason too! Cracking effort to get this built and flying though.

[Kiwithrottlejockey]

The FW190 incident was basically a groundloop which resulted in an undercarriage collapse, the propeller flying to bits as it hit the ground under power, and the engine being shock-loaded. The basic structure of the aeroplane appeared to be not too badly damaged, but that was only as viewed from the crowdline. I imagine the repair costs will be substantial, but the owner has vowed to repair the aeroplane and get it back in the air. While a new propeller will need to be sourced, and the engine will need specialist help offshore from NZ, the rest of the repair/restoration will probably be done locally at Omaka Aerodrome as there are some specialist restoration facilities based there. The FW190 involved in the incident was the prototype of the new-builds from recent years.

As for the V1, it is mostly constructed from timber and polystyrene. And as I mentioned in a previous post, it is electrically-powered once it has been launched. It appears to use a bank of lithium batteries to feed the five electric motors. The actual launch itself is achieved using rubber bungies which are tensioned before launch, then the V1 is released. All of the smoke seen in my photographs was created purely for dramatic effect. I heard that the project cost NZ$10,000 to build.

[Stanwell]

KTJ,
Re the damaged Flug Werk FW-190, do you know if its engine is a Shvetsov ASh 82?
Also, I understand that new props are available from MT in Germany.

Thanks for the great pix.

[Kiwithrottlejockey]

My understanding is that the engine is a Shvetsov ASh 82, so in a worst-case scenario (when the engine is stripped down), a replacement could be acquired.

While unfortunate, it is one of those things which can occur when high-performance aircraft are being displayed at airshows. Winds were fairly high over the weekend in Marlborough and I understand there was a sudden shift in wind direction just as the FW190 touched down when the incident occurred.

The main thing is that nobody was hurt, the pilot extracted himself from the cockpit and walked away, so a good result under the circumstances.

[Kiwithrottlejockey]

I found this video clip on YouTube....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBz5SEHG0PI




And another video clip which shows you a lot more about the V1....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hv8NmmmZB3w