NZFF

Hi all!

I was doing some building with my good mate Adam out at Omaka on Friday night when he mentioned two of the Triplanes were being flown to Masterton and another coming back, and would I like to see them off?


Craig Anderson removes the door from Piper Somethingorother ZK-DOT as Gavin Conroy readies his camera gear

Surely that was a rhetorical question.

6:40am yesterday saw Adam and I at the Aero Club, wheeling out practically every aircraft in the fleet outside to get access to the delightful, but tired, Super Cub ZK-ERB (which Adam was using to fly chase and do radio calls for the Dr.Is).



After a nice hose down and rub, we taxiied her over to the Antique Aeroworks hangar, where the triplanes of Richard Wenzl and "Von Doe" were waiting.



The pilots, Tim Sullivan and Paul "Huggy" Hughan (who'd flown down especially for the ferry flight) pre-flighted and went on their way, having a wee photoshoot with Gavin Conroy and Cherokee ZK-DOT en route. I snapped the accompanying pics myself in the meantime. Tim and Huggy are great mates, which shows in their flying - from startup til departure, they maintained impeccable formation. What a great way to start your weekend!



Lothar's Triplane was due to come back today, but the weather at Masterton may prevent this for a while. It's overcast but still here in Blenheim ATM, so there's still hope!



Enjoy!



BTW - October is "Meet The Fokkers Month" at the Aviation Heritage Centre, with four Triplanes returning for display along with information and displays. There'll be special Fokker merchandise available at great prices as well, so it's going to be the ideal time to visit. See you there!

Ahhhh NRC in the background

Very nice !

I've never been down there, but this sure looks like a good reason to visit!
Thanks for posting.

Wow- Omaka looks so much more greener than it does in my sim! I automatically presumed it was sunburnt all year long

Those are some awesome photos- I'm still looking forward to your final Dr.1 being uploaded so I can try the whole fleet formation in my sim!

BTW, does DOT actually fly minus one door for the camera ship? Surley that would affect handling and drag and whatnot?

Hey all!

Yup, that 185 is niiiiiiiice! Very lovely colour scheme!

Andrew, uploaded Manfred's Triplane last night, so fingers crossed it'll show up soon. And no, we aren't dusty and brown ALL year round....you should see the place now, so green! Even the Caribou would fit in well!

Charl, I fully expect to have you down here sometime before CF '09. You're really missing out!

Thanks Matt, much appreciated!

Is that Adam Butcher?

Thats My Warrior DOT

Did you get those pictures of ZK-DOT yet Zac? Looking forward to making a repaint for her.

Nice Shots

Oh thats right! I did, I just haven't posted them yet! Will hopefully do that after my building night tomorrow...or before....hopefully by Friday anyway!

Yup, my good mate Adam Butcher. Really top bloke, a great guy to hang out with and learn from. How d'ya know him? (*thread hijack*)

Ive talked to him a few times when Ive been over there. Was given his number by a guy by the name of Tom Ashton about staying over in Blenheim for a while.

I saw a triplane flying round last sunday when I was at Brayshaw park

Would've been Huggy in either Weiss (heading north) or Lothar's (coming back home).

Nice to have a Triplane in the circuit! Sorta disrupted our warbirds AGM a tad!

I think it was Lothar's one

Lothar's is my favourite! She's the one I want to fly when/if I get a Triplane rating. I don't know why, but Lothar and his machine have a bit of a spot in my heart.

Von Doe is my choice but I prefer Sopwith Triplanes overs those funny German things

Everyone has a favourite! Yeah, VD ain't bad. The Tripehound! Yeah, wouldn't it be nice to have one of those here?

A few more allied planes would even up the numbers around here

Don't you worry, we're working on it....and so are Vintage Aviator....