New Zealand Air Show Will Continue, Minus Main Attraction

A fully restored World War II fighter scheduled to make its debut at a New Zealand air show this weekend will instead spend that time in the hangar, after the plane's landing gear malfunctioned during a test flight Wednesday.

The Dominion Post of Wellington reports the two-seat Supermarine Spitfire TR.9 (similar to type shown above) suffered severe damage to its underbelly when it skidded to a landing at Hood Aerodrome in Masterdon. The aircraft's wooden four-blade propeller splintered into several pieces, as well.

The Spitfire's owner, aerobatic pilot Doug Brooker, was able to walk away from the wreck, apparently in much better condition than the airplane.

The rare Spitfire TR.9, reportedly one of just five in the world, was to be the headliner at this weekend's Wings Over Wairarapa... one of New Zealand's largest aerial exhibitions. Organizers had planned to use the Spitfire in a mock "attack" over downtown Wellington Thursday, as well.

"To have her taken out is bitterly disappointing, but the show will go on," Wings Over Wairarapa director Tom Williams said.

WWII Spitfire pilot John Patterson, 91, was supposed to ride shotgun in the plane during Thursday's flight. While he's sad to see the Spitfire damaged, Patterson told the Post he's also relieved he wasn't in the plane when the accident happened... as it would have brought back unpleasant memories.

"My plane got shot down once and I was badly wounded and I had to land the thing on its underbelly," Patterson recounted. "Jolly difficult things they are to land when the wheels are up. The propeller is the poor old thing that gets chewed up.

"So I don't get to fly in it," he added. "It doesn't matter. I am still going down to the show."

The TR.9 was a postwar training conversion of the Spitfire Mark IX airframe. The plane sports a unique, raised second cockpit behind the main one.

FMI: www.wings.org.nz/, www.arc-duxford.co.uk/spitTix.htm