A Different Birds in Flight Opportunity – Warbirds

Photo of a North American T6 Texan/Harvard laying a smoke trail during an aerobatic display
North American T6 Texan/Harvard laying a smoke trail during an aerobatic display

January 18th turned on perfect weather for the Classic Flyers Aero Day in Tauranga. With a childhood fascination with flying things and a bedroom festooned with models hanging from the ceiling, it is always exciting to see the real things up close and flying. The unique sound of the Harvard evoked memories of seeing the South African airforce trainers at our local aerodrome in the 1960s.

Harvard tracing lines in the sky
Harvard tracing lines in the sky

The NZ Yak Formation Aerobatic team are always a delight to watch.

7 aircraft of the NZ Yak Formation Aerobatic team
7 aircraft of the NZ Yak Formation Aerobatic team

Seeing the Goodyear FG-1D Corsair with it’s folding inverted gullwings is always impressive.

Goodyear FG-1D Corsair
Goodyear FG-1D Corsair

Some clouds low on the horizon gave opportunities for some more interesting photos than the clear blue areas of sky.

Goodyear FG-1D Corsair
Goodyear FG-1D Corsair
Goodyear FG-1D Corsair
Goodyear FG-1D Corsair

When there’s a Spitfire present it will always steal the show and this time was no exception despite sharing the limelight with a P-51 Mustang.

P-51 Mustang
P-51 Mustang
Spitfire Mk IX
Spitfire Mk IX

Photographing propellor driven aircraft is always a bit of juggle as you want a slow enough shutter speed to blur the propellor to avoid a frozen appearance. I found 1/400s a reasonable choice but that does risk camera shake with the fast moving subjects. The warm day brought heat haze into the equation too.

Photos with Nikon Z9 and Nikkor Z 180-600mm f5.6-6.3 VR apart from the Harvard images with the Nikon Z8 with Nikkor Z 28-400 f4-8 VR

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