F-111

We're in Wanaka for 2 events, one of them being Warbirds over Wanaka. My brother in law and I went along to todays show, despite the (bad) weather it was the best day, as tomorrow is his birthday, and Easter egg day (for the kids).

We got there earlyish not the 7am we anticipated, but 9am, but we still got a fence side seat (byo). It was cold - 10 deg C and wind.

Nonetheless, we stuck it out and had a great day. Bi-planes, Tri-planes, you name it. Including this f-111.

This shot is really for my son Adam, he loves this plane. It shoots fire with its famous "dump and burn" manoeuvre. 2000L of fuel per minute being burnt. Makes me shudder. The Australian Airforce is the last military to fly this plane, it's to be retired in 2010. Currently I believe it is the fastest plane in operation, with speeds of Mach 2.2 (1,450 mph / 2,300 km/h) at altitude. This means a trip from Australia to NZ in a little over an hour.

So a great day, but one that didn't help our carbon footprint ...