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Blue skies, clear sunshine and almost no wind provided perfect conditions for a Wings & Wheels day organised by Rodney Aero Club at Kaipara Flats airfield last month.
Despite relying almost entirely on word of mouth, more than 50 aircraft flew in for the day and they were joined by the same number of vintage and classic cars.
Aero club member Keith Morris said recent developments at the Newton Road airfield meant there was a well-groomed grass runway for the planes, and a new roadway around the airstrip provided plenty of parking.
There were several rare vintage and sport aircraft, including five Tiger Moths, a DH Dragon, a Boeing Stearman previously owned by the late Paul Holmes, the NZ Warbirds de Havilland Beaver, and a Yak 52 that once belonged to renowned Lithuanian aerobatic pilot Jurgis Kairys.
Meanwhile, members of the Waitemata and Wellsford-Warkworth vintage car clubs organised their own display, which included a 1917 Ford Model T (in black, of course), a Morgan 3-wheeler and a 1924 Sunbeam 14/40 open top tourer driven by Ian and Jacqui Goldingham, who were dressed in full flying gear, complete with leather jackets, flying helmets and goggles.
Morris said the collaboration between classic car lovers and avid aircraft fans was the brainchild of someone with a foot in both camps.
“The original idea started with well-known vintage aircraft restorer and operator Stan Smith, who is also club captain of the Waitemata Vintage Car Club, and he suggested it to Bruce Lynch, who has a hangar on the airfield and is on the committee of the Rodney Aero Club,” Morris said.
The resulting event attracted way more planes and cars than expected and a sizeable crowd enjoyed looking at the many aircraft and vehicles around the airfield, as well as a flying display and a barbecue lunch.
Morris said the club was left afterwards with “a great feeling of an event well done”, and said a huge thank you was owed to a large number of volunteer helpers.
“The number of visitors, vintage cars and aircraft were wildly in excess of what had been planned for, but a herculean effort was put in by the many volunteers to make the day the huge success that it was,” he said.
“Maybe we will do it again, but we will have to pray for a similarly lovely day!”
Anyone wanting to know more about Rodney Aero Club, or to book a trial flight, should contact Brien O’Brien on 021 414 710.
