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Warbirds over Wanaka 2026

This is my report on the Warbirds Over Wanaka Air Show for 2026. Unfortunately a lot of what I really wanted to see was cancelled, because of the Iran war and fuel shortage allegedly, but I have a conspiracy about this! Also, for the first time ever, the weather wasn't great, but the rain cleared fairly quickly, leaving a cool wind instead.

As I said above, many of the "stars" of this show were absent, and the weather wasn't great, but it was still worth attending. The American Eagles Aerobatic Team from the USA were back, and did another very impressive precision display in their L39 jets.

I used a Canon EOS-70D with a 75-300 mm lens (equivalent focal length about 480 mm) for the close up photos, and an Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max for the movies and wide angle shots. Photos were processed in PixelMator Pro on my MacBookPro M1.

The American Eagles are a group of 4 ex USAF and commercial pilots who flew precision displays in L-39 Albatros jet…

Harvards and Yak-52s are two vintage aircraft models often used to fly massed displays at air shows. Unfortunately …

Unlike past shows, no modern jets appeared at this show because the various air force displays (including the F-22)…

Various other older aircraft flew at the show this year, including the Broussard, Waco UOC, DHC-2 Beaver, and Chipm…

Other stuff here includes some interesting cars, a helicopter, a glider, one of the strangest aircraft designs ever…

What air show would be complete without at least one Spitfire? At the show this year, we saw 3 of them, including a…

Steadfast is a modern version (built in 2005) of the Soviet World War 2 fighter, the Yak-3. It has several speed re…

There were 6 De Havilland Tiger Moths displayed this year, plus a Fox Moth. These were used by the Royal New Zealan…

Other World War II era aircraft flown this year included the P-51 Mustang, Avenger torpedo bomber, and the (recentl…

My latest blog post: Think for Yourself: In the end, everything is just an opinion. Be skeptical, and think for yourself! (posted 2026-04-25).

My latest podcast: OJB's Podcast 2026-04-14 How Far is that Star?

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