Four airforces feature at air show
Defence Minister Ron Mark was in a jovial mood at the Warbirds Over Wanaka International Airshow this weekend, joking he parachuted into town so he wouldn’t ‘‘create any more hassle’’ or upset any more National Party politicians.
Mark was recently defended by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern of allegations by National defence spokesman Mark Mitchell that he’d used an airforce NH90 helicopter flight for personal business.
Both Mark and Ardern said the flights were work related.
Warbirds Over Wanaka included military displays by four airforces: New Zealand, Australia, United States and France. The United States ambassador to New Zealand, Scott Brown, also attended the show for a couple of hours on Saturday morning.
Mark was impressed with the New Zealand Air Force’s fleet of aircraft, most of which were on display.
Mark said the relationship between the four airforces needed to be close.
It was encouraging the other nations had made the time and resources available to support the airshow and show off their capability and expertise, as New Zealanders wouldn’t normally see that, he said.
He believed the RNZAF had ‘‘really turned it on’’ but lamented the scheduled C130 Hercules had not been able to make it on Saturday morning.
Mark said the C130’s role was to support the US Air Force this week, so when the C130 couldn’t make it, it also meant the opening fly past of F16 Falcons couldn’t happen (they were able to come after lunch).
It was disappointing to get a last minute change of plan ‘‘but hey what do you expect when you still fly an aircraft that was built in the 1960s ... Every now and again you get a mission failure and that guts everyone’’, he said.
While ‘‘taking his hat off’’ to the servicemen and women who looked after the aircraft, ‘‘the bottom line is we have to replace them’’, he said.
However, his decisions on both the airforce’s C130 Hercules and P3K2 Orion fleets were still some time away.
First he had to review a white paper, then a capability plan, then the ability of the Government to deliver the capability plan, he said.
Once the decision to replace was made, he needed to drill down into the specifics, such as whether new aircraft would be strategic or tactical, and ‘‘what birds would be better’’.
He would also consider what fitted in with the resources of New Zealand’s military partners.
‘‘I anticipate that decision will be made in this term of Government,’’ Mark said. He stressed the decision would be made within the context of the coalition agreement with the Labour Party and a $20 billion plan.
‘‘It might be slightly more, or slightly less, or phased in over a longer period,’’ he said.
Founder Sir Tim Wallis opened the airshow in a fly past by a Royal New Zealand Air Force NH90 helicopter.
It flew with its door open, so Sir Tim could wave to the crowd along the runway.
The tribute was followed by a Yak 3 display, a late minute replacement the first scheduled F16 flight.
The airshow proper was then delayed by more than half an hour after a Yak 3 collided with a cherry picker on the grass runway.
The F16s arrived shortly after the lunchtime programme, delighting the crowd with a noisy display of up to 10 minutes.
The airshow is celebrating its 30th anniversary and continued on Sunday. Monday is ‘‘rides day’’.