The 50th Anniversary AACA/SAANZ flyin at Bridge Pa aerodrome over the weekend was graced with the presence of two thirds of the Southern Hemisphere Staaken Flitzer fleet, which caused a fair amount of whimsical nostalgia for old wooden aeroplanes.
Here they both are outside the only agency of Flitzerwerke Staaken Berlin in the Southern Hemisphere, deep among the hangars at Bridge Pa. Thanks very much to Flitzermiester Brian Anderson for the photo.
Max Saunders flew his square tail Flitzer ZK-FZR up from Otaki.
While Brian Anderson bases his round tail Flitzer ZK-FTZ at the Flitzerwerke hangar on the aerodrome.
A detail shot of ZK-FZR with appropriate Germanic script. It has a Great Plains VW engine.
While ZK-FTZ is more restrained. It has a Jabiru 2200 engine. Brian and ZK-FTZ won Best Plans Built Aircraft at the flyin, and also Best Class 1 Microlight.
Max Saunders flew ZK-FZR often during the flyin, being one of the most active aircraft on the field. He nailed his wheeler landings every time.
The Flitzer series of biplanes are nostalgic open cockpit biplanes designed to represent a mythical 1920's German design of the mythical Staaken Aircraft Company of Berlin. In fact they are designed by Welsh artist and long time pilot Lynn Williams, who revealed the truth behind his prototype Z1 in an announcement on April Fools Day in 1996. Lynn Williams encourages each Flitzer builder to invent a whimsical history of their aircraft. Flitzer means "speedster" in German.
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