NZFF

At about 4:45 this afternoon I heard what sounded like a really low prop driven aircraft, so I ran outside my house and saw two Brittan Norman Islanders at about 500 or 600 feet passing above my house!

They always fly along the Tamaki Estuary on the NZAA-NZGB route, but always at about 1200 feet, never ever this low! And what's more, there were two of them side by side

Unfortunately I didn't have my camera and don't have a photo, and I didn't manage to check my air scanner either as all my batteries where on charge, but if any other Aucklander's saw/heard the planes and know why they where so low, please let me know!

No Trolly I didn't but did you see the 2 Hercs low level today, I live up on the rise at Devonport and they shot over me and then looped out over towards the Coromandel. Over me I would guess at about 1000 but once over the ditch they dropped down to what must have been 500 or lower, very good and smokey.
Would have liked to have seen the Islanders though, when I was growing up I lived right under the app to EGHI and we used to get a lot of the BN2's on delivery from EGHJ.
Nunner

The local Islanders do sometimes fly very low, presumably they aren't equipped to fly in low visibility. As for formation, I have actually seen a couple of Mountain Air BN-2s departing Auckland Int'l in formation before, I suppose they are probably on positioning flights.

Must be spring in the air or something.
I passed Whenuapai around midday and the 757 on a slightly low approach almost blistered the paint on the roof of the car.
I pulled over for the next go-around but he got it right this time.



Had the wrong camera otherwise it would have been full frame.
Sounds like a fishing story, huh.

Nice pic Charl, why is it that whenever I go to Whenuapi that I never see any jets, but when driving past there is always a 757 overhead?

Argh, it happened to me just the other day when I was visiting mates in Greenhithe, but I had no camera once again!

Interesting story BTW Nunner, I saw a RNZAF Herc appoaching NZAA the other day, then it just turned away and dissapeared northwards... pilot got confused and thought he was already at Whenuapi maybe

I suspect the BN's flying together must have been from the same company (Rather than 1 Mountain Air and 1 GBA), and perhaps they had too many passengers for one plane, so they just booked them on seperates flights... but that does not explain why they where flying so low on such a fine day weatherwise!

speaking of low flypasses, there was one over the city just a minute or two ago
i couldn't tell what was there because i could only hear it - i was surrounded by buildings >_<
i could hear at least the DC-3, sounded like other WWII era aircraft in formation too.

Every now and then an RNZAF C130 comes and does low passes and touches and goes at NZRO, flying really low, maybe 500ft AGL max.

Alex

yeah you were right some off everything where going past the city warbird fomation ,sea planes ,red checks it looked like and some fast low flybys for some spitfire,p51 it but who knows they where hoofing it passed
was wicked anyway

For those of you who don't know the increase in warbirds activity were the annual fly past to commemorate the Battle Of Britain....September 1940.
As usual it was raining over the city so the holding pattern appeared wider than usual this year but looked good from where I was watching it.
Nunner

Nunner wrote: For those of you who don't know the increase in warbirds activity were the annual fly past to commemorate the Battle Of Britain....September 1940.

ah, thanks. i had been wondering why that was the case.

For those of you who don't know the increase in warbirds activity were the annual fly past to commemorate the Battle Of Britain....September 1940.

Ahh, so thats what all those low planes where doing!

I kept on hearing lower-than-usual airplanes all day and ran to the window to get a look. I saw the Mustang, Catalina and a formation of Harvards (I think they where Harvards anyway)

Well I never heard about this commemorating thingy- do they do it every year here in Auckland? And why in Auckland, it's a long shot from the white cliffs of Dover isn' it? And who is benifiting from it, do crowds gather on the seafront or something?

If so, I better look out for it next year.

Trolly wrote:

For those of you who don't know the increase in warbirds activity were the annual fly past to commemorate the Battle Of Britain....September 1940.

Ahh, so thats what all those low planes where doing!

I kept on hearing lower-than-usual airplanes all day and ran to the window to get a look. I saw the Mustang, Catalina and a formation of Harvards (I think they where Harvards anyway)

Well I never heard about this commemorating thingy- do they do it every year here in Auckland? And why in Auckland, it's a long shot from the white cliffs of Dover isn' it? And who is benifiting from it, do crowds gather on the seafront or something?

If so, I better look out for it next year.

Yes it is held each year pretty much over this weekend to coincide with the actual aniversary date in the UK.
It is done for the benefit of all the airmen who lost their lives in the battle of Britain,as you know or may not know there were a lot of Kiwis who flew for the RAF.
Prety much all the warbirds go plus additional vintage a/c plus members of the Akl aero club participate.
This year they had to hold out east because of the showers that hit the cenotaph at 11am,think they got in at about 1105.
In the UK they do the same thing but the BMF send up their Lanc,Spit and Hurricane which is an amazing sight flying down the Mall at about 500'.
Anyway here endeth todays history lesson. Nunner

It is done for the benefit of all the airmen who lost their lives in the battle of Britain,as you know or may not know there were a lot of Kiwis who flew for the RAF.

Yes, so I gathered. My aunt's partner's father flew a spitfire in an RAF Squadron based at Tangmere in WW2.

This year they had to hold out east because of the showers that hit the cenotaph at 11am,think they got in at about 1105.

Yep, 'out east' is pretty much right over my house and it was a pleasure to see all the craft up and down the Tamaki Estury. I was speaking to a friend of mine, Geoff Cooper who lead the formation in the DC-3 who confirmed this.

In the UK they do the same thing but the BMF send up their Lanc,Spit and Hurricane which is an amazing sight flying down the Mall at about 500'.

Yep, I rememeber seeing the B.O.B memorial flight passing above my house in the UK each September, and got to see the Lanc, Spit and Cane trio many a time at UK airshows too