Sunday, 17 November 2024

Warbirds stalwart farewelled

    By Mark Price

    The only airworthy Avro Anson MK1 in the world flies over Lake Wānaka with Bill Reid and Dave...
    The only airworthy Avro Anson MK1 in the world flies over Lake Wānaka with Bill Reid and Dave Phillips in the cockpit. PHOTO: STEPHEN JAQUIERY
    An 80-year-old stalwart of the Warbirds Over Wanaka Airshow is leaving New Zealand.

    The Avro Anson Mk I, flown by Nelson owner Bill Reid, has put on a display every show since2014.

    Mr Reid told the Wanaka Sun this week he was the process of taking the plane to pieces so it would fit into five containers bound for a vintage aircraft collection in the Czech Republic.

    "I’ve had a very, very sad face packing it up — pulling apart all that work over 23 years."

    Avro Anson pilot Bill Reid, right, takes some passengers for a flight in his World War I plane....
    Avro Anson pilot Bill Reid, right, takes some passengers for a flight in his World War I plane. PHOTO: SUPPLIED /BILL REID
    The plane is the last of its type in flying condition.

    It was built in the 1930s for the Britain’s Royal Air Force, and used during World War 2 for submarine patrols around the Australian coast.

    Mr Reid said it was later used for a time to transport crayfish from Tasmania to Melbourne.

    It was in "pretty rough" condition when he acquired it and it had taken 10 years to fully restore it.

    "I got to know it pretty well — right down to its basic bare bones."