Based at the Balclutha Aerodrome, the South Otago Aero Club (SOAC) birthday will be marked with an aviators-only "fly-in" on Sunday, where pilots from across the lower South Island are invited to gather for lunch at noon, and to test their skills in a spot landing competition, aiming to touch down closest to a marked target on the airstrip.
Club member Paige Win has been compiling SOAC’s history, and said the fly-in would celebrate "the enthusiasm and spirit of aviation in South Otago" and showcase what the club had to offer.
"It’s a great opportunity to share our club’s milestone with the aviation community and maybe inspire the local community."
Founded in 1935, SOAC’s roots stretched back to 1929 - just 26 years after the Wright brothers’ first flight - when local enthusiasts first formed a committee under the guidance of the wider Otago Aero Club.
The club’s early years were marked by determination and community spirit - from leasing land and building the airfield to training pilots on Tiger Moth and Auster aircraft through the late 1930s and 1940s.
During World War 2, the aerodrome was taken over by the Royal New Zealand Air Force as an auxiliary landing site.
After the war, the club rebuilt its facilities with the help of local volunteers, ushering in a busy era of aerial topdressing that sometimes saw half a dozen planes taking off from Balclutha at dawn each morning.
More than 400 students had trained through SOAC’s instructors since then, many going on to earn private and commercial pilot licences.
Club president Israel Win said today the club had nearly 40 members who continued to maintain its aerodrome and aircraft.
"The feeling of flying is something you can’t explain," Mr Win said.
"When you push that throttle in, you’ve got freedom - you’re working in a three-dimensional world."
The airfield and club continued to hold importance to the community, providing for rescue helicopters, commercial small aircraft and educational and sightseeing opportunities for students and groups such as Scouts, as well as budding pilots eager to reach the sky themselves, he said.
Organisers hope up to 30 aircraft from microlights to historic aeroplanes would drop in. However, he said numbers would be strictly weather-dependent not only in Balclutha, but in other regions pilots must take off from and pass through.
Though not a publicly open air show, spectators were welcome to watch the fly-in and spot landing competition from the safety of the fence alongside the SOAC airstrip and hangar, he said.
