Gallery
Nine Yakovlev Yak-52s approaching in formation flight (2021)
Four North American NA-88 Harvards climbing vertically into a loop (2021)
Boeing B-52 Stratofortress (2021)
Wings Over Wairarapa is a biannual air show at the Hood Aerodrome in Masterton, New Zealand, that has been taking place since 1999. [1]
A B-52 Stratofortress was going to the show in 2019, but this was cancelled last minute. It featured in the 2021 show. [2]
The Wairarapa, a geographical region of New Zealand, lies in the south-eastern corner of the North Island, east of metropolitan Wellington and south-west of the Hawke's Bay Region. It is lightly populated, having several rural service towns, with Masterton being the largest. It is named after its largest lake, Lake Wairarapa.
The South Wairarapa District is a district at the south-east tip of the North Island of New Zealand, governed by the South Wairarapa District Council. The district comprises the southernmost part of the Wairarapa, and is part of the Wellington Region.
Masterton is a large town in the Greater Wellington Region of New Zealand that operates as the seat of the Masterton District. It is the largest town in the Wairarapa, a region separated from Wellington by the Remutaka ranges. It stands on the Waipoua stream between the Ruamāhunga and Waingawa Rivers – 100 kilometres north-east of Wellington and 40 kilometres south of Eketāhuna.
Warbirds over Wanaka is a biennial air show in Wānaka, held on the Easter weekend of even-numbered years since 1988. It is held at Wānaka Airport, 10 km south-east of Wānaka, in the southern South Island of New Zealand. Initially conceived by New Zealand live deer recovery pioneer, Sir Tim Wallis, as a show for him to display his collection of World War II aircraft, the event has grown into a major institution. Roads are closed and traffic is detoured around the area during the weekend. Hotels, motels and backpackers around Wānaka are usually booked well in advance. Accommodation is impossible to find if one does not have a booking.
The Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum (WOTR) is located on the former Lowry Air Force Base in Denver, Colorado, United States. The museum preserves the history of Lowry AFB's operations from 1938 to 1994 in its collections, archives, and research library.
The Wairarapa Line is a secondary railway line in the south-east of the North Island of New Zealand. The line runs for 172 kilometres (107 mi), connects the capital city Wellington with the Palmerston North - Gisborne Line at Woodville, via Lower Hutt, Upper Hutt and Masterton.
Balls 8 is a NASA Boeing NB-52B mothership which was retired in 2004 after almost 50 years of flying service with NASA. The aircraft is famous for dropping the X-15 aerospace research vehicle on 106 of the 199 X-15 program flights.
The 328th Weapons Squadron is the United States Space Force's weapons school. Assigned to Space Training and Readiness Command's Space Delta 1 and located at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, the squadron offers the Space Superiority Weapons Instructor Course and the Space Warfighter Advanced Instructor Course. Students undergo five to six months of rigorous advanced training, after which they become weapons officers, a reservoir of tactical and operational knowledge.
The Hutt Valley Line is the electrified train service operated by Transdev Wellington on behalf of Metlink on the section of the Wairarapa Line railway between Wellington and Upper Hutt, New Zealand.
Hood Aerodrome is an aerodrome, located in Masterton, New Zealand, it is located 1 NM South West of the town centre in the suburb of Solway. The aerodrome was named after George Hood, a pioneer Masterton aviator who died trying to make the first Trans-Tasman crossing in 1928. The aerodrome is used extensively for general aviation flights, and has also been used for commercial flights, Air New Zealand stopped serving the airport from 5 February 2014. Two new airlines have looked at re-instating a service to Auckland using larger aircraft but the runway will need to be lengthened to 1400m and widened to 30m first before it can start.
Woodville railway station is the northern terminus of the Wairarapa Line and is located at the junction with the Palmerston North–Gisborne Line in the small Tararua town of Woodville, 27 km (17 mi) east of Palmerston North in New Zealand's North Island.
The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is an American long-range, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber. The B-52 was designed and built by Boeing, which has continued to provide support and upgrades. It has been operated by the United States Air Force (USAF) since the 1950s, and NASA for nearly 50 years. The bomber can carry up to 70,000 pounds (32,000 kg) of weapons and has a typical combat range of around 8,800 miles (14,200 km) without aerial refueling.
The 822d Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Strategic Air Command (SAC) at Turner Air Force Base, Georgia, where it was inactivated on 2 September 1966.
The 821st Strategic Aerospace Division is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Fifteenth Air Force at Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota, where it was inactivated on 30 June 1971.
The Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC) is a Major Command (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force, headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. AFGSC provides combat-ready forces to conduct strategic nuclear deterrence and global strike operations in support of combatant commanders. Air Force Global Strike Command is the Air Force's service component to the United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM).
Kuranui College is a state co-educational secondary day school for the South Wairarapa located in Greytown, New Zealand. The college opened in February 1960 to replace the four district high schools in Greytown, Featherston, Martinborough, and Carterton. The college was built in Greytown, for it was the midpoint of the towns. In the midst of the post-World War II baby boom. It has been said to have as many as 900 students in the mid-1970s, but since the end of the baby boom, that number has dropped.
Kieran Michael McAnulty is a New Zealand politician. He was first elected to the New Zealand House of Representatives in 2017, representing the New Zealand Labour Party. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Wairarapa between 2020 and 2023, and is currently a list MP.
The Wairarapa District Health Board was a district health board that provided healthcare to the Masterton, Carterton, and South Wairarapa districts of New Zealand. In July 2022, the Wairarapa DHB was merged into the national health service Te Whatu Ora.
The AGM-183 ARRW is a hypersonic air-to-ground ballistic missile planned for use by the United States Air Force. Developed by Lockheed Martin, the boost-glide vehicle is propelled to a maximum speed of more than Mach 5 by a rocket motor before gliding toward its target. The program was cancelled in March 2023 after multiple failed tests. The program, however, continued despite the cancellation and was announced to still be in development following additional, undisclosed testing. However in 2024 it was announced that in the fiscal year 2025 budget, no funding would be provided for procurement or further research and development.