Tiger moths make flying visit

A Tiger Moth Club of NZ “road trip” started in the South Island, rounded Cape Reinga and culminated in a visit to the Rodney Aero Club at Kaipara Flats airfield on March 7, where the fleet was welcomed by aviation enthusiasts from around Rodney.

Around 14 of the British two-seater biplanes were on show, as well as other aircraft types, and wowed the large, expectant crowd with aerial displays and games in sunny skies.

Club president John Baynes began in Gore and flew the length of the country picking up pilots from various airfields along the way including Blenheim, Hawera, Whitianga and Kerikeri.

He said the fabulous weather had made the northern leg of the journey particularly enjoyable in his open-cockpit Tiger Moth.

“We flew right around the top of the North Cape in the most spectacular conditions. I’ve done it a few times and that’s the best weather I’ve experienced – we’ve been very lucky,” he said.

The trip, known as “Tiger Camp”, was part of the club’s annual Far Northern Safari tour.

“We spread it out over a week, and eventually descended on Kaipara Flats for our AGM. We rotate the location each year, varying it from the North Island to the South Island.”

He said the de Havilland Tiger Moth was first built in England during the interwar period and became one of the most widely used military training aircraft during the Second World War.

“The principles of flight are the same from a Tiger Moth to a 747 but the sensations are totally different.

These were born in a different era and the design is basically 1930s English aviation.”

Post-war, many Tiger Moths in NZ were converted for agricultural flying (MM, Mar 2).

“After the war they were abundant in large numbers and surplus to requirements. Back then you could buy a Tiger Moth for not much money, put a fertiliser hopper on the front and it could carry around 250kg of superphosphate,” Baynes said.

“The topdressing industry was just kicking off because we became the food basket for the world when everybody was crying out for food, like war-ravaged Europe.”

Frequent accidents and crashes meant many Tiger Moths were lost during this era.

“The attrition rate was very high. They’ve got no brakes and no flaps, and were working off marginal airstrips with a pretty heavy load,” Baynes said.

“But enough have survived and parts are plentiful, so they can be rebuilt. They’re a little bit like Grandfather’s axe with various components added and replaced over time.”

At Kaipara Flats, the Tiger Moth pilots demonstrated their considerable flying skills and competed in a range of traditional club games to the delight of the onlookers below.

The “bomb” event was a highlight and involved dropping a tennis ball from the cockpit of a Tiger Moth at low altitude onto a ground target as were the stunning aerobatic displays with perfect-shaped loops outlined in the sky.

Baynes said club stopovers at local airfields were an important part of its annual flying tour.

“We like to go to interesting places and interact with the communities we visit. We get a great turnout, like we have today.

“It’s always entertaining. Just watching the Tiger Moths fly is entertainment in itself.”