February 24, 2020
Ruatoria hosts te reo Maori fly in
Ruatoria Aero Club is hosting the world’s first te reo Maori fly in.
It will waive landing fees for pilots who report into the tower in te reo Maori as they land on March 21.
The Ruatoria Papa Rererangi Charitable Trust, which owns the Thatcher Rd paddock used by the club, has just been granted $100,000 from the Provincial Growth Fund’s Whenua Maori Fund to upgrade the grass airstrip so can be registered on the Aeronautical Information Publication used by pilots.
Club supporter Derek Fox, who has flown for more than 40 years, says club leader Mahanga Maru has lined up a full programme for to mark the club's 60th anniversary.
"People are going to be able to stay at a local marae. The local community's putting on a big dinner that night. It's a chance for people to go to a part of the country where they might not have been before – the thing about aeroplanes is it makes it so much more convenient to get there and get in and out, let's hoping the weather is good – and it will be a bit of fun and it will be people turning up on different types of aircraft," he says.
Among the planes lined up for the flying are a vintage Tiger Moth and Harvard Trainer, and there will also be an Air Force presence.
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