The highlight of every airshow since 1988 for general manager Gavin Johnston is the moment when the first plane roars down Wanaka Airport's runway for takeoff.
It is just the beginning of a weekend-long spectacle for tens of thousands of spectators and the culmination of two years' work for Mr Johnston, but he never ceases to feel amazed.
"The highlight of every show is when it starts.
The first Saturday - not the Friday practice day but the Saturday when it opens - at 10.30am and we've actually got an airshow and 50,000 or 60,000 people are standing there watching," Mr Johnston said this week.
The feeling of satisfaction has been well-earned.
Organising each Warbirds Over Wanaka has posed its own challenges.
There are aircraft to find, politics to play, customs officials to appease, health and safety rules to obey, volunteers to rally, grandstands to organise.
And that's only the half of it.
Mr Johnston's oft-repeated message in airshow programmes is that the hardest thing is making the next show better than the last.
Expectations are high, and not just because Warbirds Over Wanaka (WOW) now pumps an estimated $50 million into the Lakes district economyThe show has grown from a relatively small profile in 1988 and, according to Garth Hogan, who chairs the WOW Community Trust, it now foots it with Oshkosh and Sun 'n Fun in the US and Flying Legends in the UK as one of the big four warbird airshows.
The trust only recently took over organising the show from the company structure set up by show founder and patron Sir Tim Wallis.
This year's show (the 11th since 1988) was the first organised under the trust's umbrella and despite persistent and unfounded rumours that each show surely must be the last, the trustees insist the warbird story is not yet over for Wanaka.
While the airshow vision and commitment remain constant, the trust must operate without the backing and private resources of Sir Tim's Alpine Deer Group.
To achieve that, the trust must avoid debt and seek funding and sponsorship from outside sources.
It is also restructuring the general manager's position and has indicated WOW's key employee should live in Wanaka.
Mr Johnston has lived in Christchurch for 10 years and he and his wife, Julie, intend to remain there.
He announced his resignation this week in an open letter emailed to "colleagues and business partners", stating he believed there might not be room for a general manager.
His employment contract expires at the end of September but he has elected to finish early on June 20 rather than reapply for any new position that might be created.
Mr Johnston would not be drawn on his relationship with the trust but said he didn't have a clue what the future of the airshow might be under the trust and he had not spoken to the trustees recently about the show's future.
In his letter, he said he was leaving with fond memories of the friendships and contacts made over the past 20 years, and described his involvement as a "wonderful journey".
"I have very much enjoyed my role and appreciate the opportunity to work with you all," Mr Johnston wrote.
Since sending out the email on Tuesday, he had received more than 50 responses from all over the world, he said.
Mr Hogan confirmed the restructuring programme but said it was important to give Mr Johnston his dues.
"He is an exceptional organiser.
People come away from Warbirds Over Wanaka not knowing the efforts behind the scene.
The efforts of the management team over the years has been remarkable," Mr Hogan said.
- Gavin Johnston was raised in Dunedin and arrived in Wanaka in 1974 when he was in his late 20s.
Like many newcomers, he quickly became involved in the community and in developing businesses in the fledgling tourism town.
He and his first wife Helen owned and operated the Manuka Crescent Motels for 11 years, before selling the business in 1988 and establishing the gift shop Kaleidoscope, which Mrs Johnston still operates.
Mr Johnston also owned Wanaka Taxis for a while, operated a small bus business Matuki Services and drove an Education Services school bus.
He also became very active in the Wanaka and District Lions Club, serving as treasurer and president at various times.
He was the chairman of the swimming pool committee that built the Wanaka Community Pool and was club captain and president of the Wanaka Golf Club for a time.
He also joined the Wanaka Improvement Society and Lake Wanaka Tourism.
In 1988, when he was the president of the Lions club, Mr Johnson helped with the organisation of the first airshow.
The following year, on Anzac Day, airshow founder Sir Tim Wallis invited Mr Johnston to be the part-time airshow co-ordinator for the 1990 airshow.
His first official meeting was to fly down south with Sir Tim and his brother George to visit Don and Shona Robb on their farm and learn about their vintage machinery display.
"That was also the beginning of the `committee of three' and those were the good days when decisions were easy to make, especially when one of the three were absent," Mr Johnston wrote in the 2008 airshow programme.
By 1996, the airshow had grown hugely.
Sir Tim had been seriously injured in an aviation accident at the beginning of the year and Mr Johnston was appointed full-time general manager.
Charged with making a profit, Mr Johnston did everything from licking stamps to importing aircraft.
He moved to Christchurch in 1998 and began working from an office at his home.
The show and the airport continued to boom.
First, the large crowds competed for space with ground displays.
Now, the expansion of new businesses at Wanaka Airport pose additional challenges but the airshow continues to squeeze into its confined space.
The Queenstown Lakes District Council has also bought more land for future expansion.
For the 2006 airshow - the last under Alpine Deer Group management - Mr Johnston tried something different, as he usually did.
Important changes were being made to the airshow structure, so he concentrated on bringing in aircraft from within New Zealand.
No vintage machines were imported from overseas, for reasons mainly to do with cost.
However, he pulled off an eight-year dream: the Royal Australian Air Force brought two F-111 aircraft to Wanaka to wow the crowd.
"Before Easter, we sent the press release to the media, confirming the visit.
However, the next day I was told from Australia `you know it's not confirmed yet, mate'! My heart skipped a beat and my nerves went into overdrive.
I had assurance from Australia that I `shouldn't worry mate, we'll make it work'.
And they did.
What a relief," Mr Johnston wrote in the 2006 WOW programme.
Even so, he didn't completely believe the Australians would arrive until they turned up to practice the Thursday before.
His grin was a mile wide.
Now, it is time to move on but Mr Johnston doesn't know yet what he might do.
'`I'll be sitting on a beach under a palm tree, planning my holiday and thinking what to do next," he said.
