Already it is a week since the dust settled and the organisers sighed with relief as the weather was near perfect and some 20,000 people (or a fifth of the population of this city)  attended an incident free spectacle of aviation to be proud of.

My Rotary Club had been responsible for the trade and entertainment sites and such items as car parks, people handling and clean up.  Smooth running and friendly was the hallmark and the litter amounted to half a bin bag – well done all you Mums who set a good example and left only footprints.

The flying was the traditional warbirds event with plenty of loud bangs and aeros from both vintage and modern.  Sadly the Airforce aerobatic team was noticeable by its absence.

We were fortunate to be offered a display slot due to the wow factor that was attributed to the chase routine that Sid Lane and I have developed.

Unfortunately it was cut in half to accommodate other items that were overrunning in the program.  For the first time we were able to provide our own commentator, Barry Winslade, to bring some knowledge to the microphoneAnother first was the smoke system that we trialled at Dannevirke which added a touch of interest but obviously needs improving.  Our display stand was visited by a constant stream of interested people, most of whom left their fingerprints on Mark Humbke’s immaculate paintwork!  By the Sunday a protective rope arrived!

Well that was a week ago and we seem to have been airbourne ever since.  Mark and Hub Hall flew to Raglan in their Eagles, Mike O’Rourke has been completing his check out/conversion in KIW and Elton Haakma has tried instructional training from both front and rear seats in the Eagle.
It is a week until our next consignment from Germany arrives in a container which will be just a month before the start of the Flyingnz Safari 2010!  In between we have a show at Parakai then Pilot Expo at Ardmore followed by a display at Matamata and Rotorua on the same afternoon!

Colin at SoloWings is planning hard how to maintain his flow of fixed wing machines while satisfying the CAA requirements for new Gyros and servicing the ones already flying.  With the fleet expanding at this rate it is lucky he is moving to a bigger hangar.  We hear that our German pilots will not be here much before the Safari start which will also create pressure all round!

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