We collected our "Britz" van at Christchurch after spending the night
in a motel. The motel was adjacent to the airport and the van
collection point was just around the corner- all very convenient. We
hired a Britz "Elite" model which is set up for two people and is
self-contained (includes toilet and shower). The shower worked well,
and we only used the toilet for pissing so emptying it wasn't an
onerous (or odorous) task. The van was a VW turbocharged diesel. I
forget who it was on here that advised me to go for the diesel, but it
was good advice. Unlike the situation in Oz, the diesel price in NZ is
less than the price of petrol, and while I didn't accurately measure
the fuel consumption, it would have been around 11-12 litres/100k. The
only hassle with the van was that I was continually...

"Coop" chariotnose.netwheel.au> wrote in message
news:j21k041oq1qnj4h5h4hop9lmedbjg2llag@4ax.com...

Excellent write-up Coop, thanks - to the extent I might give a little
consideration to going to have a look.

Having Raglan (The Old Station) so close handy and having been to a couple
of the excellent shows there sort of reduces the urgency to go somewhere
else. Did make a trip to Bris years ago to see Bob Hoover when he was
using an Oz licence, but. The 1300 km trip was worth it just to see his
demo.

Mmm - Dad had something to do with an a/c that had a Gnome-Le Rhone rotary
and the all-or-nothing blip-switch. He did make serious mention of castor
oil :-)

G'day Coop,

That was a great write-up of a wonderful air show at, probably, the
world's best air show location. Sorry I missed you there, but there
were a lot of people in the Gold enclosure - and most seemed to be
wearing blue jackets ;-) Anyway, you seem to have had a ball.

We were on a package tour which stayed four nights in a pub in
Queenstown, then bussed to and from Wanaka each day. I went by
myself on Friday, and spent most of the day wandering around the
static exhibits and pausing whenever there was something interesting
flying. In spite of the cloud and a big hat I got a bit sunburned.

Next day my wife came with me. Good choice. It had rained most of
the night at Queenstown, and going to breakfast it was not only wet
but bloody cold! Fortunately the rain mostly cleared by Wanaka, but
it didn't get much warmer. We went straight to the Gold enclosure,
and stayed there until it was time to leave - my lady spent most of
the time in the marquee near a heater watching the show on CCTV, while
I watched the action from the 'paddock'. Perhaps she was the smart
one!

On Sun, 20 Apr 2008 16:55:49 +1000, "RT" nowhere.com.au>
wrote:

Can relate to that. Saw him at one of the Avalon events and was very
impressed with his routine. Videos could give you some idea, but to
appreciate his skill you need to see it live.

Coop

On Sun, 20 Apr 2008 22:24:52 +1000, Mike Mackenzie
wrote:

"RT" nowhere.com.au> wrote (in part):

That airshow was organised by the Australian Aviation Heritage Group
under Noel Bellamy (who died in Jun 99), and I was Program Director.
CASA was under a lot of pressure from the FAA to stop Hoover
performing here, so there was plenty of wheeling and dealing to get
approval. However, it was worth it. This is a comment I made about
Bob after that show.

Coop chariotnose.netwheel.au> wrote (in part):

Yair. Probably the way to go - but I haven't seen many of his shots
here yet. Perhaps I should check Warbirdz.net ;-)

Mike

"Mike Mackenzie" wrote in message
news:tjto041bekkklgi3m7e5b3v301iq9q64l3@4ax.com...

Yeah maybe you should but I haven't put many there yet either. :-)

But seeing a you've pressured me here's a few

http://www.warbirdz.net/largepic.php?ID=14901

http://www.warbirdz.net/largepic.php?ID=14897

"Mike Mackenzie" wrote in message
news:05ro04104ubt8g2cf6kbjmf9n8vre64epi@4ax.com...

Did make a trip to Bris years ago to see Bob Hoover when he was

"Glenn" nospamwarbirdz.net> wrote (in part):

I had a look last night but couldn't find any.

Thanks, Glen. They're great - I look forward to seeing some more.

Mike