Warbird Adventure Rides Ltd

Jill recently flew with us in the P40 and sent through the following account of her flight. Thanks Jill for flying with us👍

My warbird journey started when I was quite young with my father taking me to Ardmore occasionally when the Harvard’s were flying. Then in 2007, I had the opportunity to sit in a friend’s Kittyhawk, up in Canada, which was purely for static displays and to be kept as a time capsule as it had not flown since the second world war. This plane is known as the Maude Kittyhawk which is now under new ownership and being restored for flight.

Since moving to Whangarei, our only opportunity to get up close and personal to these fantastic machines was to attend display days at Ardmore. Something we’ve not missed for a number of years. Imagine my surprise when we went to Ardmore on the 16th of December where my thoughtful husband had purchased an adventure flight, to celebrate my 60th birthday, with the wonderful and talented Liz Needham.

I think I was still in a bit of shock, as it all felt very surreal. I was given the instructions should the unfortunate happen (I’m quite good with an axe!) and I was then strapped in but once we took off, I was totally enthralled. I think you could have slid a banana in my face sideways due to the huge smile on my face.

We circled Ardmore, which gave Liz the chance to make sure everything in Currawong was working as it should before heading out towards the eastern end of the Waitemata harbour, towards Maraetai. Flying at the regulated height, we then circled Karamuramu Island before looking for torpedoes, disguised as mussel beds around the Kawakawa Bay area. I gave Liz the go ahead to head for the heavens before performing a barrel roll. I wasn’t going to let that opportunity go and then regret it for the rest of my life. The G force whilst making the initial climb was something that I hadn’t thought about but didn’t last very long. The feeling of looking up to see the ground though is something that I will never forget and really enforced my decision to do this.

We then started making our way over the Hunua Ranges back to Ardmore where we circled once again before making our landing. The 25 minute was over so fast, but it felt like we had been flying longer. I still can’t believe that I had gone up in this wonderful icon of the skies and only wished I could have told my father of my journey. He would have been seriously jealous. I know that every time I see Currawong now, it will be accompanied with a special smile on my face in the memory of a very special day. Here’s hoping we can ‘Keep them flying’ so others can enjoy this journey. Thank you Liz for a truly unforgettable day.

What where ??