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Airfield Mock Attack, Warbirds 2004

This photo shows the airfield mock attack during its height. There's plenty of fighters around, including the Harvard at top-left which has been "shot down" and is trailing smoke.

It has become a tradition to have a mock attack on the airfield each year with plenty of fighters flying around and lots of explosions. This year featured a V1 flying bomb and a submarine which had mysteriously appeared in the middle of Central Otago!

Here's the Corsair which was part of the defending force. The mighty Corsair was one of the most successful fighters of World War II in the Pacific.|Although its a big fighter and weighs 9000 pounds, its 2000 horsepower Pratt and Whitney R-2800-8 radial engine can push it along at 420 mph at 20,000 feet.|The New Zealand Air Force used the FG version of this aircraft. Although 12,500 were produced, only about 30 are still flying today.

This explosion resulted from a "near miss" on the enemy camp by an attacking force.|Most of the explosions were quite well synchronised with the attacking aircraft they were supposed to be from, and the occasional mistake was just treated as part of the fun.