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Aerobatics, 2024

This is one of 4 L39s flown by the "American Eagles"'Jet Formation Aerobatic Team from the USA. They were very tight and precise, flying very close to each other on occasions.

This is the Yak 52 Aerobatic Team flying loops while leaving smoke trails. You can see the perfect blue sky here. The weather was great and the only problem was avoiding the sun while taking videos and photos.

This is the AFH 25 Glider flying some much more quiet aerobatics than the other aircraft we saw! It has a large wingspan of 25m, an empty weight of 478 kg, and a top speed of 280 kph.

As I have already said, the "American Eagles" team flew a very precise aerobatics program. You can see in this photo that they were occasionally just a meter or two from each other. I guess you just have to trust that your colleagues know what they are doing!

This movie shows some impressive aerobatics by the Pitts Special. This one is highly modified and was hand built by Ray Philpot of Rotorua in 1988. It has a 160 hp fuel injected Lycoming engine, weighs just 377 kg, and is rated for +6 and -6 Gs. The maximum speed is 184 knots. It was flown by Ivan "Krazzy" Krippner from Te Anau.

Sources: Warbirds Over Wanaka 2024 program, Wikipedia.