Thirty years of Warbirds
There are three certainties in life: death, taxes, and hordes of people flocking to Wanaka for the twoyearly Warbirds over Wanaka airshow. Sean Nugent looks back 30 years to when it all began.
THE explosions, the twirls, the dives, the roar of the engines, the collective gasps — every time’s a winner.
This Easter marks the 30th Anniversary of Warbirds over Wanaka, an event that as well as being fresh and evolved each time it is put on is now an internationally acclaimed attraction.
It all started back in the 1980s, with Wanaka deer industry pioneer Sir Tim Wallis.
Sir Tim had always had an affection for aircraft.
He first took to the skies in 1965 as a helicopter pilot on deer recovery operations, and in 1984, purchased his first Warbird, a P51D Mustang, launching the Alpine Fighter Collection and planting the seeds for the airshow.
In 1987, following the sealing of the Wanaka Airport runway, Sir Tim began planning for the inaugural show, called Warbirds on Parade, by getting assistance from his brother George Wallis, the local Lions Club, and using aircraft provided by the Warbirds Association.
The show was planned for January 1988, but Mr Wallis told the Otago Daily Times this week he soon put a stop to that.
‘‘I persuaded Tim not to do it at Christmas time or in the New Year, because everyone was busy doing summer things, and it was far better to do it at Easter, when the people would be up in Wanaka and not have any other distractions.’’
The first show attracted 14,000 people and the ball was rolling.
‘‘The whole district got behind it,’’ Mr Wallis said.
The first event under the name Warbirds over Wanaka was held in 1990.
It was two days, the first being the airshow and the second a country fair, and it attracted a crowd of 28,000.
Fiftyfive thousand attended 1994’s threeday show. Numbers continued to grow, peaking at an estimated
100,000 in 2006.
Mr Wallis believed much of that success was due to the work of the late Gavin Johnston, the show’s event manager from 1988 to 2008.
‘‘He was a born organiser, and he did it so well. He did the whole lot himself.
‘‘It was his life.’’
This year’s airshow will look a lot different from 1988’s.
For a start, no longer are Warbirds the main attractions.
Instead many will come to see the supersonic F16’s and other modern jets from four air forces.
Mr Wallis said that was a shame, but not necessarily a bad thing.
‘‘I was always told by my seniors that everybody collects of their youth, that’s what you relate to. What the youth want to see today, they don’t want to see these old aircraft. They’re not interested in the history of them or anything else. It’s not a bad thing. They’re just not brought up with them,’’ he said.
A lot had changed with Warbirds over Wanaka, the organisation’s general manager Ed Taylor said, but the ‘‘essence of it hasn’t’’.
‘‘One of the big differences, I believe, is back when they held the first airshow there was only one building here. The airport has changed over time. There wasn’t even any paved roads or anything. It was a lot easier to hold an airshow on a basically empty airfield. It’s grown now, being a truly international event, there’s a lot more things that we have to organise.’’
For event manager Mandy Deans, it was the demographics of people coming along that had changed the most.
Mr Taylor agreed.
‘‘Initially the core audience, which has always been but was much larger in the early days, was the planespotters. It was an older male demographic, hugely interested in Warbird aircraft. Nowadays it’s them, plus everything in between,’’ Mr Taylor said.
Both managers said it was a unique airshow, given its proximity to the mountains and nearby Clutha River, and had a huge impact on not just Wanaka, but the Otago-Southland region.
‘‘I personally believe Warbirds over Wanaka is the single event that has done more for Wanaka to put it on the map than any other thing. It’s still the biggest event in the Southern Lakes District,’’ Mr Taylor said.
‘‘I was talking to a guy from Shell and he said their petrol station in Twizel had their biggest weekend at Easter because Warbirds was on and people are driving down from Christchurch. That’s how far out it reaches. Our Australian visitors, most will come on a five, eight, 13day tour and will tour the whole region.’’
Visitors to this year’s show will be treated to a mix of classic and modern aircraft and ground exhibits, including a Packard car once owned by Amelia Earhart.
Mr Taylor said many acts from the early days of the airshow would be returning to celebrate the 30th anniversary.
He believed the show still had a strong future.
‘‘For Warbirds to still be as vibrant and to be growing in lots of ways 30 years on is pretty amazing for an event. A lot of events come and go and have a certain lifespan and for whatever reason disappear. We’re like the A&P Show, we’re just part of the furniture around here.’’
‘‘We’re really the only airshow of this kind in this part of the world. The fact we’re as popular as we were then is testament to the fact we put on a damn good show.’’