Report and photographs by Clive Wilkinson
Central Hawkes Bay Aero Club at Waipukerau held their annual Dawn Raid on Sunday 15 May. I had intended to fly up with local Wairarapa pilot Ian Davies again as per last year but, as most aviation minded people in the North Island are well aware, the weather during the preceding days had not been ideal for flying, with strong winds and low cloud forecast for Wairarapa that weekend. Ian decided to cancel our trip so I travelled to Hastings by car on Saturday with very wet and windy weather up to Woodville before a steady change to better, clearer skies in the Hawkes Bay.
Up early on Sunday morning with fine weather but quite a bit of wind, I drove to Waipukerau, arriving at about 8am and was pleasantly surprised to see quite a group of aircraft gathered. On talking to Club Captain Lynn White, she informed me that 19 aircraft had managed to fly in, much to the delight of the local Aero Club.
To give some idea of how the weather affected the day, no aircraft managed to make the trip north from Wairarapa, Palmerston North or Feilding and only one managed to make the trip from Dannevirke, the closest airfield south of Waipukerau. However, to the north, the weather was better with the rest of the 19 visiting aircraft coming from there.
Due to a steady increase in the wind strength and a steady deterioration in the weather, the local annual Frogley Cup landing competition between Dannevirke, Waipukerau and Hastings Bridge Pa Aero Clubs could not be held, but hopefully, weather permitting, the event will be held next month when Dannevirke holds its annual Dawn Raid.
While visitors and local aviators enjoyed a fabulous cooked breakfast, it was time for some people to receive presentations of bottles of wine. First up was Ben Geerston who won the ‘Spot landing on arrival’ with Cessna 172 ZK–EWA. ‘First Arrival’ was won by Wendy Milne with Rans Coyote ZK–JDP. And ‘Furthest Distance Travelled’ was Richard Coop from Mahia with Cessna 172 ZK–RWC.
With the weather forecast for the next few hours getting worse by the minute, it was very soon time for the visitors to leave with, for me anyway, the slow and majestic take–off by Dragon Rapide ZK–SWR being the highlight.
Thanks to all at Central Hawkes Bay Aero Club who made the morning a great success despite the poor weather conditions.
- Clive Wilkinson