The 2008 NZ World Helicopter Championship

The 2008 NZ World Helicopter Championship was held successfully at North Shore airfield on 29 March after its first scheduled date in February had to be postponed because of bad weather.

A mixed bunch of aviators, from pre-PPL to experienced commercial level, made up the 12 competing teams. The helicopters competing in the event included an RNZAF “Huey”, an AS350, a Bell Jetranger, an EC120, two Hughes 300s, two Robinson R44s and four R22s.

The NZ World Helicopter Championship is the only such FAI-sanctioned competition in the Southern Hemisphere and for the first time, this year’s event included all four World Championship events: navigation, precision flying, slalom and fender rigging. In addition, there was a “novelty” bottle-opening event to conclude the day’s competition.

In each event, points were deducted for time penalties and inaccurate flying, although accuracy rather than speed was the key in all events.

Hamish Mcleod and Simon Tomkins of Team “Hox Rox” won the “serious” competition and the BP Challenge Trophy ahead of second-placed “The Poms” (an R22 flown by PPL trainee Andrew Cronbach and co-piloted by instructor Roy Crane) and third place went to the “In Total Control” team of pilot Rianne Cole and co-pilot Tom Cashen in the EC120. A mechanical malfunction put the RNZAF (last year’s BP Challenge Trophy winners) out of the competition during the precision flying event.

Just to prove that their win in the formal competition was no fluke, Hox Rox also won the bottle opening contest in which competitors had to remove the tops of five beer bottles with a bottle opener attached to the one skid of their helicopters. Hox Rox’s Hamish Mcleod managed to remove all five bottle tops in under seven minutes.

The success of the competition will ensure its return to North Shore Airfield next year on 21 March.