Tokoroa on 11-4-2025 (2)

Well it was not Peter Beck's actual L-39 Albatros but a really large scale model jet.  What we had stumbled upon was the monthly flyin of the New Zealand Jet Modellers Association (https://www.nzjma.com/):

The L-39 was bigger than one third scale and was built by Colin Austen of Whangaparaoa from a kit.  Its all up weight is around 70 kg.

There were also some other spectacular models including the first turbo prop model that I have seen:

This is a model of a Royal Saudi Air Force Pilatus PC 21 which is owned by Paul Connor of Warkworth.

Pretty impressive!

And it even has smoke!

Then there was this model of a Blue Angels jet which I think is not of a particular jet that was flown by the Blue Angels team.  It was flown by Brian Groves of Wellington.

In talking to some of the modellers they said that Tokoroa was a great place to fly jets as it is central and not very busy, has a sealed runway and is not surrounded by much development.  These model jets fly really fast and could do a lot of damage if (perish the thought), they ever crash.