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Display Aircraft Details: Post WW2
The following sections provide some information about the aircraft from the Post War-era (1946-1999) that you'll see at Wings Over Wairarapa. |
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Percival Provost :: Vampire :: L-39 Albatross :: Yak 52 Team
Percival 'Piston' Provost
 From 1953 to 1959, 461 Percival Provosts were built, and of these, 330 were used by the RAF for standard training duties (the Provost replaced the Percival Prentice, which in turn had replaced the Tiger Moth as the standard basic trainer in 1946).
The need for this aircraft arose in the late 1940's as the RAF realised that there current training sequence of Percival Prentice, then North American Harvard, was proving inadequate for preparing pilots to move onto the jet aircraft then in use by the RAF.
The (Piston) Provost remained in RAF service until they were replaced by a major revision of the design that evolved the aircraft into the Jet Provost trainer. In 1967, this aircraft evolved into the BAC Strikemaster multi-role trainer and light attack aircraft, which was used extensively by the Royal New Zealand Air Force until the late 1990's.
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de Havilland DH-100 Vampire
 De Havilland aircraft are well represented on the airfield over the weekend. Take a wander along the flight line and see how many different types you can spot that were produced by this prolific British manufacturer.
The Vampire was developed in 16 months and Geoffrey De Havilland flew the prototype in 1943. The Vampire carried a war load of 4 x 20 mm Hispano cannon and 550 kg of ordnance or drop tanks. In 1945 she became the first jet in history to complete a landing on an aircraft carrier.
It is one of the most fascinating looking jets flying and makes a great photo subject.
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L-39 Albatross
 If you were asked to draw a jet fighter and didn't know what one looked like the L39 is what you would draw.
We are lucky to have the gorgeous looking Albatross advanced jet fighter trainer coming to Wings Over Wairarapa 09. The tandem seater is powered by a 4500lb thrust turbofan engine and has a ceiling of 37000 ft. This is the closest thing you get to a modern military jet fighter in New Zealand.
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Yak-52 Display Team
 A group of very enthusiastic display pilots have imported a number of the radial engine Yaks and do the sharpest seven ship formation display in the national civilian arena. These things have everything that the spectator wants from a airshow formation team , the robust look of a serious display aircraft, colour, noise, and precision aerobatics.
As we move closer to the big weekend, these guys have promised to pull something else out of the bag not seen before………so watch this space.
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... plus we're expecting others which we'll announce as soon as we can ...
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