About 50 of New Zealand’s best model aircraft will be in Hawke’s Bay over the weekend for the annual Warbirds over Awatoto, based on an occasional airfield that was under as much as two metres of water a week ago.
New Model Flyers Hawke’s Bay president Marty Hughes, who’s convened the event organisation for the last five years, expects pilots from as far as Whangarei and Dunedin.
The club operates from a “rights-to-occupy” site on a floodplain at Awatoto, just south of Napier, and inundation like that of last week isn’t unexpected.
But while the ground’s soft, weather forecasts give particular hope for the first day, offering mainly fine conditions with light winds and afternoon northeasterlies.
It’s open to the public from 10am-4pm on Saturday and Sunday, and could attract up to 2000 people.
