Wanganui Aero Club Aero Day 2025
Just a little reminder that summer is coming and as the days now start to get a little longer, memories from the last summer often pop into one’s head. This is a post I didn't manage to put up at the time but thought it might be of interest. It was definitely a hot day that saw a group of us turn up to Memorial Park looking for a run around the countryside with a café and maybe an air show thrown in.
We headed up to Hunterville as a group through Vinegar Hill and after a bit of a natter, we decided on some different routes to get home. Some decided on a quicker run home with a coffee stop en route through some of the lovely backroads that parallel State Highway 1, whilst Grant, Rich, and I thought Whanganui via Turakina Valley Road looked a little more interesting with a coffee stop at Upokongaro. What a great run it was with its lovely mix of tight and more open sections of road through some very scenic landscape. Wonderful sitting behind Grant on his GSX 1100 as the four-into-one barks its unfused burble and Rich’s 650 VStrom torquing its way out of corner after corner. Summer riding at its best with a modicum of wariness for those corners with a splash of pea metal midway around or a stray escaped sheep confused as to its boundaries.
All too soon, Fordell appeared and we skirted around Whanganui through Okoia and arrived at our lunch destination at Upokongaro. Behind the Door on Four is a great café that has earned a great reputation amongst the locals and even amongst those further afield. Located on State Highway Four at the beginning of the Paraparas, it is a great destination in itself, and we decided on eating on the front porch where a continuous stream of people and vehicles went by. After a great lunch, our next destinations saw Grant head back home to Palmy and Rich and I head to Whanganui Airport.
What a change that was. People and vehicles everywhere with the sound of aircraft greeting us as we lane split our way down to the airport. After parking the bikes, we were made our way through one of the hangers to the fenced-off area of the airport. And what a great sight, as an F4 Corsair buzzed the airport with its big radial thrumming away, and then very quickly the sound of jets with the local Venom doing a routine, and the Bluntey (Strikemaster) finishing things off. On the tarmac in front of the terminal sat the Air Chathams DC3, NZ AWP, looking great in its NAC livery. It was taking up plane loads of people for a flight around the district and looks as though this was the last public outing for the aircraft in New Zealand. It was recently flown to Australia and in Darwin, providing nostalgic transport for tourists, which means we only have one DC3 left flying in New Zealand. A big thank you to the organisers of such a great Air Show and it will definitely be on the calendar for next year.
It was a great day out and about on the bikes, and with Winter well and truly underway, it is nice to look back at some of those summer memories to remind ourselves to get things in order for the next riding season. I had better get out to the garage and get the old T500 sorted so I can have a choice of bikes to ride for this coming summer!
What a change that was. People and vehicles everywhere with the sound of aircraft greeting us as we lane split our way down to the airport. After parking the bikes, we were made our way through one of the hangers to the fenced-off area of the airport. And what a great sight, as an F4 Corsair buzzed the airport with its big radial thrumming away, and then very quickly the sound of jets with the local Venom doing a routine, and the Bluntey (Strikemaster) finishing things off. On the tarmac in front of the terminal sat the Air Chathams DC3, NZ AWP, looking great in its NAC livery. It was taking up plane loads of people for a flight around the district and looks as though this was the last public outing for the aircraft in New Zealand. It was recently flown to Australia and in Darwin, providing nostalgic transport for tourists, which means we only have one DC3 left flying in New Zealand. A big thank you to the organisers of such a great Air Show and it will definitely be on the calendar for next year.
It was a great day out and about on the bikes, and with Winter well and truly underway, it is nice to look back at some of those summer memories to remind ourselves to get things in order for the next riding season. I had better get out to the garage and get the old T500 sorted so I can have a choice of bikes to ride for this coming summer!
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