AC venue remains an open question

Pictured left: Johnny Montgomery (centre) perched on the tailgate of a C130 high above Auckland. Above: P.J. and Johnny Montgomery with two other guests.

Standing on the open tailgate in the open maw of a Royal New Zealand Air Force Hercules C130 flying more than 3km high in the sky, Johnny Montgomery was buffeted by the 120-knot winds as he gazed down at the passing landscape below.

As the wind tugged and clawed at him, he was comforted by the harness securing him to the aircraft, but acknowledges, “It was a bit scary standing on that open platform in the wind. But it was amazing.”

The Hercules flight was the highlight of a day spent at the RNZAF base at Whenuapai, which Life Member P.J. Montgomery (and Johnny’s dad) won in an auction at the 2019 Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron charity regatta. Because of Covid, it took until this year to redeem their prize.

At the auction, Johnny noticed the RNZAF item and suggested it would be a cool experience. “Later in the evening, the bidding had gone quite high, so I said to my dad to forget it,” Johnny said. “I was surprised when I discovered it was one of my Christmas gifts.”

As part of their day on the base, PJ and Johnny joined a group of 11 military personnel who were doing parachute training from the Hercules. “We were not allowed to take photographs, because these were special ops forces,” says PJ.

“To start, we flew at 4,000ft and watched the first group prepare to jump. It was like you see in the movies, with their orange tapes tethered to a line. The amber light came on and out they went.

“Then we climbed to 11,000ft and a group with massive packs strapped to their chests stepped up. These are the people who parachute behind enemy lines and have to be self-sufficient for days on end. We later learned that these groups would be doing four jumps that day, finishing at 11pm.

“It was so impressive to see the level of professionalism and attention to detail in everything they did.”

Once the parachutists had leaped out, Johnny was harnessed up and joined the two jump-masters to stand at the edge of the open platform. “Although it was a bit nerve-wracking, I did feel that with proper parachute training, I would happily give it a go and jump out,” said Johnny.

The flight ended with a circuit out over East Coast Bays and up the Waitemata Harbour and back to the base. It brought to a close a busy day which began at 8am and included visits to see the Navy Seahawk helicopters and the Orions, which play an important search and rescue role and have been involved in a number of missions to assist stricken yachts at sea.

Lunch in the Officers’ Mess hosted by the Commander Officer and Deputy Commanding Officer was followed by the Hercules adventure. “All in all an unbelievable experience,” says PJ.

The next RNZYS charity regatta is on November 4 and, once again, will include an auction with a wide range of desirable items donated by members and supporters. The proceeds this year will go towards the International Sailing Fund and the tree-planting project at Kawau Island, which is part of the 150th anniversary’s legacy programme.

“As always, a number of interesting and exciting experiences will be available,” says Membership Director Kim Bond. “It would be great if we were able to secure another visit to the RNZAF base, as this one was such a success.

“If members have any high-value items or experiences they would like to offer for the auction, we would love to hear from them,” says Kim.

The Squadron and ETNZ have been in this down-to-the-wire territory before. Following the 2017 victory in Bermuda, there was no certainty that the New Zealand government would come to the party with vital financial support for an Auckland defence.

In the circumstances, investigations began into offering hosting rights to a venue outside of New Zealand. “It was less than 45 minutes before we were about to sign to go somewhere else that the deal was done to

ASHLEY TAITAREINZ

021 325 009 ı a.tait@barfoot.co.nz ı barfoot.co.nz/a.tait

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