Warbird Adventure Rides Ltd

08/06/2024

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT

As some of our followers will know Warbird Adventure Rides Ltd. is not renewing its PT115 Adventure Aviation certificate and at the end of last month ceased operations.

With the sale of the P-40 earlier this year and with the sale listings of the Spitfire and Mustang we felt the time was right after 10 years of providing adventure flights to the public to hang up our flying overalls. At the end of the day we are just guardians of these aircraft for a period of time.

The P-40 will be making its way to Oregon to its new owners - the Soaring by the Sea Foundation - who are committed to keeping CAG flying in its current RAAF colours and honouring its ANZAC history.

Thank you to all who chose to fly with us over the last 10 years. We are proud that we were able to give the public the opportunity to fly in these 3 iconic aircraft which historically represent so much. It has been a huge privilege.

The WARL team

16/02/2024

David's father went for a fly with us last month in the Spitfire and sent through the following.

"We claimed that we heading out to see the museum at Ardmore.
Turned up and I was greeted by Gary in the car park. He mentioned the spitfire was close to taxiing down, so we all walked around to the flight line.

Dad was still oblivious at that point, and I think he thought Gary was a mate of mine so just kind of went along with it. We all chatted about warbirds for a bit, and then she came around corner.

Everyone was super excited and started filming, including the old man.

Spitty came down, turned around and shut down.
I said to dad, "you figured out what's going on yet?" and after some confusion and tears I confirmed he'd be going for a flight today.

Afterwards he confessed he still didn't really believe it was going to happen, as it's such a bold gift to receive. An opportunity only a few people get. Only after signing forms and putting on the flying overalls did the reality sink in.

So we did the flight briefing with Liz, which was good fun. Then we went out and did the pre flight with Frank, who was also great and took the time to explain the spitfire in detail. Then dad got in.

He loved it. Every minute. Said it felt unbelievably powerful and agile, and could see why we won the war. He was just doing his best to take in the moment, the noise and feelings. Had to remember to communicate with Liz to show that he was still alive. Felt a little queezy after bombing the dam, but it didn't detract from the amazing experience.

While he was up, Gary took us for a personal tour through the early birds hangar, and we got to see the takeoff and landing, plus get some cool fly over shots. What a sound!

After she landed dad was over the moon, could not smile any harder. He was proud that he didn't have to use the sick bag haha. A few more laughs, tears and thank yous were had, then Gary took us on a personal tour through both the hangars again, which was great, he has so much knowledge on every frame and a real fun guy to share the tour with.

Since then dad's told everyone he knows about the experience, won't bloody shut up.

Once again can not thank yourself and the rest of the team enough for making this dream come true, for me and my old man.
All he ever does is help and give to everyone else, including myself. He's a real salt of the earth kind of guy and a great role model for me.

It's so nice to be able to give back for once."

We love stories like this. 🥰

01/02/2024

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.

21/01/2024

The Thames Wings and Wheels event is proceeding - organisers have confirmed this today, after a mysterious Facebook post was circulated that the event had been cancelled. Wings and Wheels is being held at the Thames Airfield on Saturday January 27.

06/12/2023

The next Ardmore airshow is March 10th 2024. We can't wait to see the Corsair up in Auckland!

The most popular question we get asked after an airshow is "when is the next one"? Well we can answer that for you - Sunday March 10th 2024!

✈️WARBIRDS ON PARADE
📆Sunday 10 March 2024
📍Ardmore Airport, Auckland, New Zealand.

Join us for a day of aerobatics, formation fly pasts and aerial displays. See New Zealand’s aviation heritage where it belongs – in the sky.

⏰Flying display slots at 10:30am | 12:30pm | 2:30pm (gates open at 9:00am)

Static aircraft, classic cars and military vehicles on display.
Merchandise and refreshments will be available🍟️🥤

The perfect outing for the whole family👨‍👧‍👦
Pricing and ticket details will be announced when live.

Follow us on Facebook or visit our website to keep up to date with details such as ticketing and aircraft announcements as they come.

Mark it on your calendars and we will see you there👍

And yes, that is a Corsair on the poster!

24/04/2023

19/04/2023

Anzac Day Flyovers for Auckland region.

15/04/2023

UPDATE Postponed Again. We will update this post when a new date is settled on.

Event Announcement!

The latest edition of our popular Hangar Talk series has been a rather hasty affair… hence the short notice.😁

Following on from a successful presentation at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, Steve Church is visiting NZ Warbirds and giving us his presentation "FIGHTER COMBAT WW2" on Sunday 07 May at 3pm.

The fighter pilots of WW2 were Steve's primary inspiration for wanting to be a pilot. In his forum, Steve's intention is to honour their accomplishments as aviators by explaining “how they did it”. Steve has been a pilot for 40 years. He flies professionally in a Phenom 300 and a King Air 350. His personal plane is a Vans RV-4.

Fighter Combat WW2 is an approximately one-hour presentation that includes the methods and tactics of WWII fighter pilots in an easy-to-understand way, with lots of visuals.

There are over 100 slides. Subjects include The Basics of Attack, basic air-to-air gunnery, fighter formations, and dogfighting.

📅Sunday 7 May 2023
⏰3:00pm
📍NZ Warbirds at Ardmore
🎟NZWB Members $20.00 (membership card must be shown)
🎟Non-members $40.00

Link to buy tickets👇
https://nzwarbirds.rezdy.com/558243/hangar-talk-fighter-combat-ww2-steve-church-3pm-sunday-april-30-2023?_gl=1*w5m3qn*_ga*MjA4MzY4NjE1NC4xNjc2MzM5MzI3*_ga_J7SXS0R0D6*MTY4MTQ0MzA5OS4yNi4xLjE2ODE0NDQzNzMuMjIuMC4w

All monies from ticket sales goes to NZ Warbirds Association Inc

Stay for drinks at Mac’s bar afterwards!😀

05/04/2023

Only at Omaka !!

04/04/2023

Nice day in Wellywood !!

31/03/2023

What where ??