Spitfire MkIX and P51 Mustang to take to the Skies over Wellington

On Friday January 16, 2009, a Spitfire MkIX and a P51 Mustang, two of the stars of New Zealand’s Trust House 2009 air show being held at Hood Aerodrome in Masterton on Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 January, will take to the skies over the national capital, Wellington, in a historic flypast.

Making the occasion even more unique will be the fact that sitting in the back seat of the Spitfire will be ex former Commanding Officer of 485 NZ Spitfire Squadron, John Pattison DFC, DSO, who last flew his Spitfire alongside the other heroes of the time in the Battle of Britain, nearly 70 years ago.

At the age of 91, John is one of the few surviving Battle of Britain pilots and was recently honoured by the French Government being awarded the "French Legion of Honour" at the D-Day commemorations.

John will be one of many Wairarapa airmen from WWII attending this year’s Wings Over Wairarapa show. Tom Williams, Director of Wings Over Wairarapa, said: “We are delighted to have so many veterans attending this year’s show. A lot of the interest around modern air shows is the opportunity to see these WWII fighters which played such a significant part in our history. The pilots who flew these aircraft are certainly heroes of our time and sadly their ranks are decreasing year by year. To have them join us in this celebration of historical aviation is a privilege for us and we look forward to sharing our special 10th anniversary show with them.”

The aircraft will depart from Masterton at approximately 12.45pm on Friday, and plan to be overhead in Wellington at 1.00pm.

Tickets to Trust House Wings Over Wairarapa 2009 are on sale through all Ticketek retail outlets in New Zealand by phoning 0800 TICKETEK or online at  ticketek.co.nz. Direct flights are also available from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane to Wellington.

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