Tiger Moth Club of NZ -Vintage Air Rally
By Sam Higgins, Vice-President SVAS
Late February, early March - what better time of the year to enjoy the good weather as you tour around the country in an open cockpit biplane in the company of several dozen other vintage aircraft of varying marquees? Meeting at Manderville over Weekend Eight, then flying around the Bluff before heading for the North Cape, ending at Kaipara Flats for the annual Tiger Moth Club competitions. Lots of relaxed flying, friendly uncontrolled airfields and plenty of the characters that make this type of flying so social and enjoyable.
Well, that was the theory when the Tiger Moth Club of New Zealand planned the 2004 Vintage Air Rally around New Zealand. However, who ever would have expected the lower North Island to be deluged by floods and the entire country affected by unseasonable and unsettled weather. Not the best conditions for flying vintage open cockpit biplanes!
The SVAS Tiger Moths ZK-BLK (Catherine and Martin) and ZK-BAT(Sam and Dave) were fortunate in having the weather gods on our side, and once the roads to the Masterton had been cleared of the previous nights landslides, we got to our planes and were airborne. Masterton-Kaikoura-Rangitata Island in perfect conditions. Here we meet up with two Swedish characters who had returned to NZ with their wonderful Klemm 35. Two days later the three aircraft flew via Taieri to Manderville, making Weekend Eight - just as everything was being put away! But at least we made it.
Come rally start and many of the rally participants were still scattered around the country sheltering their aircraft from the weather. Half a dozen planes ventured around the Bluff, and then it was onwards to North Cape via the east coast of the South Island and west coast of the North Island.
The numbers of aircraft built up at each at each stop. Tiger Moths, Chipmunks, Austers, Staggerwings, the Dragonfly, Proctor, Beaver, L4 Cub, Klemm 35 and brief appearances by the Fox, Leopard and Hornet Moths, Dragon, Dominie, Devon, Miles Messenger, Ryan, Avro 631, Fokker Triplane, Bristol Fighter and various other vintage types. All up, well over 60 vintage aircraft participated in some manner of the rally. This made for quite a diverse selection of impressive aircraft as we flew around the country.
The Gipsy Moth from the film “Out of Africa” and the Jungman, two of 9 European aircraft on the rally, both got to the bottom of the South Island before mechanical problems kept them there for the duration of the rally
There is something special about touring in these type of vintage aircraft. It certainly is not the lack of luggage space for clean clothes, nor the level of comfort of being confined to a small cockpit wearing bulky jackets with extra oil and tie-downs bouncing around on the cockpit floor! It is slow, the wind beats your forehead each time you peek out the side. But the views are spectacular and the vibrations of the Gipsy Major engine therapeutic. There is no better way to see the landscape - low, slow and in the close company of others.
There were warm receptions at the airfields and aeroclubs as we arrived, often cold, cramped and wondering how to get into town for some food and Mogas. There is the delight of children enjoying viewing these old aircraft up close for the first time, and older folks being reacquainted with the aircraft that gave them so many memories in the past.
With North Cape rounded, and the rally complete, it was back to Kaipara Flats for the Tiger Moth Club annual competitions and dinner. Finally it was time to load the planes for a dawn start to get back to our home hangars.
The highlights for me are having the opportunity to fly a Tiger Moth the length of the country , 35hrs flying time over two weeks is the type of holiday I once only dreamed about! A number of us also got the rare privilege of flying the Klemm 35.
Despite everything that the weather threw, a few of us rounded both the Bluff and North Cape, with BAT and BLK being the only Tigers to make both ends. Many others joined for the legs that suited their schedules. The success of the rally was in no small part due to the enormous amount of planning that the Tiger Moth Club committee put in.
It was great to see more young faces sitting in the rear cockpits of Tiger Moths this rally. I would thoroughly encourage any aviator who has always wanted to ‘pole a Tiger around the sky’ to become involved in flying these machines while a number of clubs still provide training in them. Lets hope the next vintage rally isn’t too far away!
New Zealand Sport and Vintage Aviation Society
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