STOL Competition

STOL Competition

Wanaka: A new competition has been announced for the Warbirds Over Wanaka International Airshow 2016 which involves pilots showing off their short take-off and landing (STOL) abilities.

The main feature of STOL aircraft is the ability to land on short runways and in other tricky landing situations such as river beds and beaches.

“While these aircraft are reasonably common around New Zealand it’s not often that the public get to see the pilots showing off their skills close up. It’s amazing to see just how little runway these aircraft need to stop and take off from. There are STOL competitions held in New Zealand but they are usually only seen by a few spectators – we want to show off these skills to a much wider audience,” says Warbirds Over Wanaka Event Manager, Mandy Deans.

A majority of STOL aircraft are part of the Sport Aircraft class and the addition of the STOL competition at Warbirds Over Wanaka next year is another move towards having a much bigger Sport Aircraft component at the airshow. “Sport Aircraft is one of the fastest growing areas of aviation. This is mainly due to less red tape to fly one of these aircraft and less money needed to own one.”

“Last airshow we had a number of Sport Aircraft involved in a display so next year we will in addition have the STOL pilots show off their skills. The public will also have plenty of opportunity to check out the Sport Aircraft on the ground as well as related exhibits in a dedicated hangar” says Mandy.

The Sport Aircraft Association of New Zealand (SAANZ) is once again backing Warbirds Over Wanaka and has welcomed the opportunity for owners of these machines to be present at the airshow.

All Sport Aircraft owners are encouraged to register online at www.warbirdsoverwanaka.com to be part of next year’s event.

The 2016 Warbirds Over Wanaka International Airshow is being held at Wanaka Airport on March 25th to 27th with the Rides Day on the 28th. For more information see www.warbirdsoverwanaka.com

ENDS

© Scoop Media