CAPFlyer wrote:
I've seen several mentions of this "holding a wire for a precision landing competition."
I want to know what in the world would a wire have to do with precision landing. Seems to me that any wire (ground or aerial) would be a "man made obstacle" that would be a major no-no for any certifying agency, be that the insurance company or the applicable airworthiness agency (the CAA in this case).
Also, as for using the grass, I've seen several mentions that it had been used by several other aircraft that day, so was the Yak the biggest to use it, or did he just drift off centerline and that's what put him in peril?
The wire was to to held between the two cherry-pickers, with the bush planes landing between them (assuming that the Friday practice reflected the final plan). They were not (yet) in this configuration at the time of the incident, the arms were folded into a collapsed configuration. I had the impression that the two cherry-pickers were quite close together (not in their position for the precision landing event) but they were basically in line in respect to me so I couldn't really say.
While the grass had been (and was afterwards) used by everything from Tiger Moths to the Mk.IX Spitfire, I can't remember it being used earlier that day (my memory may of course be incomplete) - the incident was at 10:04, shortly after show start. The two Yaks had certainly used the seal for takeoff.
Show programme at
https://www.warbirdsoverwanaka.com/2018 ... programme/