The First Warbirds 2009 Calendar is out now and ready to buy for Christmas.
This is the second calndar produced by the Aviation heritage Centre, Omaka, with the photography of Gavin Conroy and the aircraft of The Vintage Aviator Ltd. Though I have enjoyed the current calendar all year long, this new edition for 2009 is even better than the 2008 release in my opinion.
The stunning photography captures TVAL's unique line up of WWI fighters, real and replicas, in formations that could probably not be replicated anywhere else in the world. The cover for example boasts three absolutely perfect replicas of the SE.5a side by side together in the air.
The actual calendar pages this year feature the large main photo measuring 436mmx311mm with three smaller photos on each month's date page, thus adding a lot more to the calendar. This way we see several angles of the subject aircraft and ground shots as well as aerial photos.
The months feature as follows:
January - the Pfalz D.III
February - The SE.5a fighters
March - the Etrich Taube in the AHC
April - The Fokker DR.1 Triplanes
May - The Sopwith Camel
June - The Bristol Fighter (main photo flying with the Fokker D.VII)
July - More SE.5a shots, the main one in sepia this time
August - The Fokker D.VII
September - The Red Baron's Fokker Triplane, flying and crashed
October - The AHC's wonderful SE.5a depicted showing Keith Caldwell's famous escape
November - The Nieuport II
December - Shots of the genuine NZPAF Avro 504K skeleton under restoration, just superb to see!
The back page features another air to air Fokker Dr.1 shot.
Every one of these photos is new, most were only taken a few weeks ago so they're very up to date. There are very few calendars around that are as good a value for money, and when you consider the proceeds are going to an excellent museum that is striving to keep the memory of early aviation alive, it is even more attractive.
I certainly recommend this calendar to brighten your days with classic aviaition moments all through 2009.
To purchase a calendar contact the Aviation Heritage Centre at Omaka, Blenheim, New Zealand at
info@omaka.org.nz or phone on 64 3 5791305.
The calendars are NZ$27.50 each including GST plus postage