The Royal New Zealand Air Force always put on a good show and this year was no exception, from the first fly-past of the show - a surprise, high speed, low level flight from some SkyHawks - to the biggest aircraft at the show, the mighty C-130 Hercules, to the precision of the parachute team, Aeromacchis and Red Checkers.
The "Kiwi Blue" parachute team jump from the back of the C-130 Hercules and land on the runway, including a patriotic display of the New Zealand flag trailed by one of the parachuters!
The Parachute Training and Support Unit (PTSU) is the home of the Kiwi Blue display unit. It was formed in 1965. Its main role is to provide parachute training to various units of the New Zealand Defence Forces and provide personnel trained in airborne parachute missions.
They use two types of parachutes: the T-10B/D is used for statis line operations and is a conventional round design. Its used the primary conventional round parachute in use for static line operations. It is usually used in large numbers to drop a soldier with equipment up to 150 kg from below 1000 feet. The other parachute is the rectangular MTI-X which is used from high altitude and can be used to glide long distances.
Use the controller to watch the Kiwi Blue parachute team jump from their Hercules (this requires Quicktime, and is a moderately large movie). I apologise for the poor quality of this movie but it was originally encoded in the "early days" of internet video!
Use the controller to watch the Black Falcons aerobatics team fly their Aermacchi jet trainers with absolute precision (this requires Quicktime, and is a moderately large movie). I apologise for the poor quality of this movie but it was originally encoded in the "early days" of internet video!
Here are some specs for the Aermacchi MB-339 training jets. Crew: two pilots in tandem. Length: 36 ft (11 m), wingspan: 35 ft 7 in (10.8 m), height: 13 ft 1 in (3.4 m). Empty weight 6,889 lb (3,125 kg), maximum takeoff weight: 13,000 lb (5,895 kg). Maximum speed: 575 mph (926 kmh). Range: 1,140 nautical miles (2,110 km). Engine: one Rolls-Royce Viper Mk-632-43 turbojet producing 4,000 lb (1814 kg) thrust. Weapons capabilities: six hardpoints; 4,500 lb (2,040 kg), Marte Mk2A ASM (MB-339AM); 30 mm/12.7/7.62 mm gun pods; AIM-9 Sidewinder, R.550 Magic AAMs, bombs, and rockets.
The aircraft is quite widely used in different countries around the world, including Argentina, Dubai, Malaysia, Nigeria and Peru. There are over 200 in service.
The Hercules was designed during the 1950s and has been an incredibly versatile transport aircraft ever since, performing tasks such as low level attack, refuelling, Antarctic supply, fire fighting, and surveillance. The first flight was in 1954 and it is still in production and used in 60 foreign countries. New Zealand operates 5 C-130H Hercules which were delivered between 1965 and 1969. They have been returned to the manufacturers several times for upgrades to keep them up to date.
I usually write a blog post about once a week. The latest post can be viewed here: Avoid Microsoft: If you don't really like computers much you could make things a bit better for yourself. (posted 2024-12-04 at 12:05:50). I do podcasts too!. You can listen to my latest podcast, here: OJB's Podcast 2024-08-22 Stirring Up Trouble: Let's just get every view out there and fairly debate them..
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