Wanganui Aero Club's open day

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My favourite aero club (https://www.wanganuiaeroclub.co.nz/) held an open day on 22 January 2023 as part of Whanganui's Vintage Weekend. After three years of events being cancelled it was great to see a large and enthusiastic crowd at the Club.

Being out in the sun is not something those us of with Sjogren's and Lupus usually do as we tend to be very sun sensitive. However, I was prepared to put up with the sun in order to see my favourite planes. The first one I drooled over was the Fox Moth. My great-grandmother had flown in a Moth with Captain Jim Hewitt at Mangawhai. There is a photo of her standing next to the plane and the cafe at the Mangawhai Museum is named after her because of this flight. The lovely owners saw how interested I was in the planes and very kindly took photos of me with both the Fox and Tiger Moths. I wish I had contacted them earlier as I could have had a flight in the Moth for a really reasonable price. I will be first in next time! www.pmhaviationltd.co.nz

Another plane I adore is the De Havilland Venom which lives in Wanganui. It is always a crowd pleaser and the pilot certainly put on a spectacular display this year. You can see some of this on my Tik Tok: slrnz_travelblogger.

However, my favourite plane at the Club this year was the incomparable Spitfire. My late father had been at the Battle of Britain and always spoke fondly of the Spitfires so it meant a great deal to be so close to one. Nothing sounds like a Spitfire! When it landed, the crowd applauded. No-one was worrying about the sun and heat because they were all there to see this fly in. There is footage of it on my Tik Tok.

Well done to everyone involved in organising the open day. It was a huge success and I suspect the crowd will be even larger next year. Please make sure the Spitfire makes another appearance.

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