Page 57 - MFW June 2024

Saturday – Day 1 of competition started at 8am. First
name out of the hat, Bogan !! The sun was like a laser
beam on the horizon, directly over the left hand marker
pole. Sun spot required, and by 9:30 / 10am the sun was
moving out of the box. Competition flying for the F3A TT
class, the F3A “Locals” class, and the Masters class, went
on all day, with little time for breaks, to make sure we got
through 3 rounds of flying. By 6pm we were all done, and
then before the Saturday night function in Te Rapa at the
Foundation Bar and Restaurant, there was just enough
time for the official boat race. Won by the slimmest of
margins by the kiwis, and the brand new boat race trophy
was held aloft by the wining team. An F3A stab half
mounted on a timber base, the Norm Morrish trophy, what
a prestigious award. Saturday nights doo at the Foundy Scott Kay from Tasmania Grant Finlay from Hamilton was the
was a cracker, with 25 people in our own room, constant winner of Masters
supply of platter food, and plenty of banter. This is what the
TT is all about.

Sunday – Day 2 of the competition, and once again we
had an early start. Perfect weather again, with a slight
westerly breeze building during the day. By midday the
finals rounds were being flown, with the top 6 F3A pilots
working their way through the tricky F sequence. Late
afternoon Jarrod Briggs put on a demo with his 120cc
freestlye machine, and before long it was time for the prize
giving ceremony.

Team NZ took the top spot for team standings, making this
win the fourth win in a row for the kiwis. Looking on the
trophy, this event has been run since the late 60’s and the
name Australia features on the trophy lots up till about Shane Suffolk from Queensland Mike Ralph from Tasmania – his
Australia stayed in NZ after the TT father flew in the first ever F3A
1998, when the kiwis won for the second time ever. and also flew in the Rumble the Aerobatics TT back in the late 60’s.
following weekend.
An interesting bit of info, visiting flier Mike Ralph from
Tasmania, his father Steve Ralph flew in the first ever
Trans Tasman, held in Australia back in 1967. His father
had found some old photos from the event and scanned
them for us to see. Names like Paul Lagan, Alf Leong and
Don Putt feature back in those days.

The Trans Tasman was a huge success, fantastic
weather, great location, lots of fun. The ozzies went home
all smiles.

Time for some thank you’s. During the course of the
weekend Andrew Stiver assisted by Shelly Knox and
various other helpers ran a canteen in the marque that
keep everyone feed and watered. Plus also John Danks Ruben Woods from Pahiatua was John Danks flew Masters with his
Integral
3rd in Masters
who loaned us his eftpos machine, it got a bit of a workout
over the course of the weekend. Derek Whelan was the came out for a look, and at times the “peanut gallery” was
CD and kept the Nortymatic scoring system ticking over. the length of the marquee. I’m sure the local club were
Hamish Galloway, with graphics man Steve Johnson on proud to have hosted such a major event at their site.
hand, had gotten a range of really nice looking pine
lasered trophies made, and everyone went home with Congratulations to all competitors, it was a busy 3 days,
something for the mantle piece. Ryan Cadwallader and lots of flying, lots of judging, hardly time for a rest. And we
Grant Finaly hosted / billeted a few people. Lyndon Perry were so lucky with the weather. Monday was really windy !!
was a main local helper, and Bogan connected all the dots.
Also of course a big thankyou to Trina Briggs who coped By Tuesday night, almost all of the ozzies had packed their
with so many visitors over the weekend, and kept things models back into boxes, and were on their way home.
running in the back ground. Shelly Knox did a couple of final airport runs on Tuesday to
get the last of them on their way. Thanks Shelly !!
Last but not least, a big thanks to the Hamilton MAC, the
field was superbly mowed, and their club gave up a perfect Next Trans Tasman ? Australia in 2 years time, the Tazzie
weekend of flying weather. Good to see a few of the locals boys reckon they could do it. Watch this space !!
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