RNZAF A-4 Skyhawks On Low Level Sortie

[@goatculler]

And along came Helen Clark. Good one Helen

[@dudemcdude7025]

Is anyone able to shed any light on how the A4 was used in the defence of NZ? Great at airshows and a lot of fun for the operators. The NZ SAS on the other hand have done incredible things over the years...jus sayin

[@NZCraigNZ]

@@dudemcdude7025 Protecting our national water ways, training with overseas forces in order to show the world that NZ isn't easy pickings should you get the urge. Now though.....

[@dudemcdude7025]

@@NZCraigNZ with a few ye olde A4s....hmmmmm

[@crankhandle]

Such a shame helen did that.. he was the worst politician besides cindy

[@clubmusicnz]

HelenGrad

[@timsbitsca]

A Sad day for NZ when the A4 was dropped.

[@nztitirangi]

Wow - this brings back the memories. Served 2 wonderful years with 75 and loved every minute of it.

[@MaoriMan76]

All through the 80s right up til they had their last days in early 2000s... Miss that roar of the Skyhawks flying low and the pilot's waving out lol 😆

[@stockcar269s]

Was onboard HMNZS Waikato (Leander Class Frigate) in Company with HMNZS Wellington exercising in the Hauraki gulf prior to being deployed to the Far East. Another Frigate Southland was out there as well and she had a Family day going on and nothing to do with us, 3 Skyhawks were supposed to do a display for Southlands family day but they gave it to us instead, Apparantly the comms guys gave them shit. So anyway here we are steaming along with Wellington off on the Port side and we were aft of the flight deck having our Rum issue. The 3 A4's came racing up between us, Lead aircraft in the middle and one either side. We watched them coming and man they were low at full noise, The aircraft closest to us flicked the aircraft sideways and his canopy was at deck level to us that how low he was, If he hadnt flicked it on its side he probably would have lost a wing on the stern. As he flew past he was giving us the middle finger. We all just pissed ourselves laughing. To fly that fast and low as well as giving us the finger took some skill and balls. Big thumbs up and kudos to that pilot. Never forget that

[@Wackywoodworks]

I was on Wellington when they did that...

[@MaoriMan76]

That ugly old frigate Waikato is a fish museum now right?

[@bigrobnz]

Helen closed down the best squadron for some schools that produce students who can"t read......great work......

[@cnm757]

Yeah? You want to spend millions instead giving another squadron leader or whatever the chance to loose a few 20mm across the bow of another rogue fishing boat? That'd be you.

[@ZacYates]

I love this so, so much. I was born just before Kahu so grew up with these flying around all the time, and I had a very specific idea of what being an RNZAF Skyhawk pilot was. This is pretty much what I thought of. More of this please!

[@peteroliver9042]

I can remember sitting in my classroom at school in a small town in Otago, which must have been around 1983 and hearing a scream that sounded like an 18 wheeler rig going completely sideways at 100mph. The teacher put her hands over the back of her head and bent down - and I think we were all expecting a big truck to come crashing through the classroom wall, only for the scream to turn into a big whoosh has two Skyhawks pulled up out of a dive right over the school. We could see them climbing up through the big windows on the other side of the room. I will never forget that sound.

[@november2076]

Great footage! Glad a few of these Skyhawks are in Draken Adversary contractors hands

[@HistAvFilmUnit]

Very cool!

[@MarsFKA]

I lived at Ohope Beach, east of Whakatane, from 1972 to 1998, and saw many Skyhawks flying overhead out to the bombing range at the Volkner Rocks west of White Island. It was always noisy and spectacular for a few seconds as the Skyhawks came and went and, one day, I was watching a flight of three through binoculars as they came back to the coast between Ohope and Opotiki. Then they were bounced by another flight of three and for thirty seconds there was a glorious swirling dogfight with six Skyhawks all over the sky. The noise level for everyone on the ground under them must have been colossal.

[@warriorsfan1602]

It would of been the early 90's and I was surfcasting off Kariotahi beach on the west coast and two Skyhawks came down flying lower then the cliffs of the coast. I reckon they would of been no higher then 50 mtrs above the sea level. They were beauitful and loud. I'll never forget them

[@HistAvFilmUnit]

Nice memory!

[@Z4Zander]

Back country fishing,walking down a low ridge.Look down in the valley and see the top of two A4K's flying down the valley.Impressive.

[@Darknamja]

Did numerous Cope Thunder/Combat Sage deployments from the ROK as a maintainer in the '80s. :D

[@mickellis8747]

I think some of these aircraft were owned by Australia before moving to NZ. These were just a big engine with wings and are one of my favorite aircraft. I was a Qantas apprentice in the 70s and worked in the hangar where the maintenance was carried out. I remember when the aircraft were ready for pickup all the the staff from all the hangars would gather down by the runway to watch the Skyhawk take off. Awesome stuff for a 17yo apprentice.

[@HistAvFilmUnit]

Yeah, nothing like watching these things take-off.

[@jasonmcnamara2079]

we used to operate them off the carrier HMAS Melbourne and when we retired her I think the RNZAF bought them off us. We had around 12 of them. Underrated aircraft but in the right hands, like stated, very potent. Technology isnt always the most important thing as you guys proved.

[@mickellis8747]

@@jasonmcnamara2079 I used to race dirt bikes at Yerriong in the 80's behind Hmas Albatross near Nowra, NSW and I remember the Skyhawks training there, I think at that time they were owned by the Kiwis.

[@jasonmcnamara2079]

@@mickellis8747 yes after some more research they were sold to NZ before Melbournes retirement

[@EndTimeDreams]

New Zealand received 14 A-4K's purpose built for NZ in 1970, then a further 10 A-4G's off Australia when the Melbourne aircraft carrier was retired. The A-4G's were converted to A-4k standard.

[@governorriffraff7601]

Holy crap man. Whats it like being a fighter pilot? Looks like a good time. Basically living the dream. We all want to fly fighter jets.

[@slicedbread5360]

i remember seeing sorties like this over my house as child, you knew the moment you heard that sound to look up otherwise you'd miss them, they were so low, even had a few fly overs from the aermacchi mb's but they just didn't have rawness the A-4's had, now its just a lowly old Hercules now and then,

[@deniseobrien5617]

Loved the NZ a4k sky hawks. I grew up with them down at Jarvis bay, Nowra, santuary point, basin view ext, loved the sound they make, brilliant

[@HistAvFilmUnit]

We miss them here, too!

[@Booyaka9000]

Whether it was Aussies with their F-111s, or Kiwis with their Kahus, there's two things Aussie and Kiwi pilots reveled in: hunting in the weeds and giving the Yanks the shits at exercises. XD

[@carlkrebs1]

Kiwis r some badass pilots . Period

[@sullyman72]

Kiwi gold out of NAS Nowra were a force to be reckoned with, got beaten up a few times while 'working up' in the naval exercise area off Jervis Bay. Standing on the GDP of Canterbury looking down (briefly) into the cockpit of the A4's flying at around 30 feet...good times.

[@4C0-q7h]

It's quite sad that we only have C-130, NH90 and T-6C Texan II now, but I can understand why, the price for maintenance for a jet fighter would be nightmare to cover getting new parts for and the amount of fuel used. I just I wish could hear and see a Jet fighter flying through the sky over Auckland.

[@chocolatesandwichesofficia8445]

we also have p-3s, p-8s (on order) 757s, seasprites, king air 350s and a109s

[@korybeckwith834]

Get rid of the NH-90s and save money.

[@kiwidiesel5071]

Awesome footage and awesome to hear the good ol kiwis smoked the yanks in those training exercises.

[@NighthawkNZ]

There is a video on youtbe somewhere where a RNZAF Kahu A4s were in exercise and you see from the HUD them shooting down F15s, F5s, F16s and F18s etc...

[@EndTimeDreams]

This one kzbin.info/www/bejne/anzYpXikdqmhm9E

[@Foxtrop13]

every airforce/navy that had a4 seems to love them

[@NewmaticKe]

Argentinian A4s hurt the Brits at Falklands

[@RawiriMatahiki654]

Always seen them on the beach along the east coast tokomaru bay flying low as kid that's sound😮😮

[@anguskirk918]

Helen Clarke, the KAREN of all KAREN's

[@karenmetz4500]

The Karen's save the RNZAF 💕WATCH, WAIT, SEE, 🌬️🛩️✈️🌅🇳🇿💯the restoration, ❤️Maori are demanding with our Treaty Partner alongside🇳🇿🇬🇧👸That the Labour govt (Jacinda) undo what the Clark admin put in place❤️rejoice people!!!!! 🎇💎🌏🕊️❤️

[@kiwibonsai2355]

I wonder how many millions have gone back into the community instead of playing warlords. While I was a fan to see them in the sky the tax spent on fuel and maintenance was crazy, then ya get the oohh we want the latest xbox oh I mean plane. Just look at the American society with 50% of Tax going towards military funding. With weapons manufacturing being private peace isn't an option as greed of the few outweighs the needs of the masses.. ✌️❤️🇳🇿

[@20mmGamer]

I'd love to hear what they could do with the A4 Kahu!

[@gruntabro1]

Nick Grant just ask the Australians , when the RNZAF flew there A4s in air combat exercises with the Australian air force F18s the NZ A4 pilots out gunned em time and time again

[@EAFSQ9]

When the USN's Navy Fighter Weapons School (aka TOPGUN) used them, A-4s were able to nearly out manoeuver F-14's, F-18s and F-4s. The reason why was they had similar characteristics to old Soviet MiG-17's which were very good at dogfighting and excel in BFM (Basic Fighter Manoeuvers) albeit slow. But in a turn fight, the slower you go and still turn, the better it is in regards to getting onto your targets 6 o'clock (behind them). Basically, A-4s did and still can turn harder and faster than today's modern fighter jets, but can not catch up to them in a speed chase (A-4's max airspeed: 1083km/h /585knots compared to a F-18 that is capable of Mach 1.8 (1,915km/h / 1034 knots).

[@LogieT2K]

Nathan. There more to today though, a f35, f-22 or f-15 on brand new software are aboe to perform manouvers you would generally think are impossible. Out kahus were fantastic aircraft though

[@jessking5971]

i remember these A4s flying over us during training at 50 feet though Waiouru tekapo and malaysia we could hear them but never saw them tell it was to late i once watch a skyhawk dogfighting with an F15 ova Waiouru the skyhawk stuck to its victim like glue thus the F15 went to after burner to get away i think it was all ova for them though good kill to the skyhawk

[@allgood6760]

Thanks for this👍

[@HistAvFilmUnit]

No problem 👍

[@philwells4341]

used to whip round the water tower in Hawera.,

[@josephnatana5305]

Go the RNZAF...Air Combat Wing will arise again...

[@richardcordell4266]

time to reinstate the strike wing

[@maori_Mcsouljah]

God damn 50ft off the deck

[@HistAvFilmUnit]

RNZAF fighter pilots were good, very good!

[@maori_Mcsouljah]

@@HistAvFilmUnit yes mate I live whanagnui not from them I use to see them fly over alot as kid.

[@NZTiger1]

I think he's meaning when we went nuclear free & the Americans got a bit sour on that & withdrew or didn't ask us to join in other military exercises for a while ... taking a break but still friends so to speak.

[@VFRSTREETFIGHTER]

Well that's ridiculous. Thanks for the information, hopefully the US gets over its hurt feelings soon.

[@aaron8862006]

NZTiger1 had NO clue that had occurred! Hoping the pettiness has since ended.

[@jeffkeith637]

NZTiger1 well, it's not just sour grapes. The US never confirms or denies whether its assets are nuclear armed. Doing so provides intell to others - allies and non-allies alike. It weakens your capabilities. NZ wouldn't allow territorial access unless they were declared to be non-nuclear armed, so the US couldn't use NZ territory. Bit of a problem for ANZUS. Loosened the ties a bit, but it was never repudiated. I don't know if it is still in force.

[@hogey74]

Good post.

[@rosselliot8971]

It was NZ that effectively broke the alliance since the US policy existed long before NZ decided to go nuclear free. You can't expect one nation to hold up its end of the bargain while the other one changed the rules. The US had no option. What was it to do, remove its nukes from ships every time it entered NZ waters? That would render a vessel useless in terms of its mission. Since NZ is a sovereign nation and can change its laws as it sees fit, the US had no option but to distance itself when NZ changed the rules of the game, rules which had been in existence for more than 30 years.

[@steved2623]

Bloody awesome guy's

[@marcusaurelius6012]

When l saw the RNZAF F16s dropping those JDAMs on ISIS in Syria in 2014-2015, my chest swelled w pride. (Helen Clarke - you maniac??)

[@michaelchambers4466]

We never operated theF16 as the strike wing was disbanned in 2002, your speaking absolute crap

[@marcusaurelius6012]

@michaelchambers4466 Correction. Mike. (It's called sarcasm)

[@lerch122]

i was driving along at about 90 miles per hour and heard a loud screech ,i thought my vechicle was falling to bits.Ipulled over and another skyhawk flew over,i said to a friend who fixes them they could use them for road policing

[@MarsFKA]

I read a story, years ago, about a cop out on the highway in Mid Lothian in Scotland. He was pinging motorists with his radar speed detector when his readout suddenly went to 300 miles per hour and jammed there. Next instant a low-flying Harrier came booming down the road, over the top of the cop and away. The cop's radar had stopped working, so he went back to base and his station officer wrote a complaining letter the the local RAF Station. The reply he received said that the cop was fortunate that the Harrier was not carrying weapons as, when its systems detected that it was being scanned by enemy radar it automatically locked on to the source and fired an anti-radar missile.

[@NighthawkNZ]

​@@MarsFKA That one is a myth story... and been spread on the webs...

[@MarsFKA]

@@NighthawkNZ I believe you - it was old when I first read it thirty-odd years ago.

[@Battleneter]

We need the combat wing back before these guys all pass away and the knowledge is lost.

[@AirsoftReviewArgentina]

Are these still in service?

[@HistAvFilmUnit]

Sadly they are no longer in service - retired in 2001. Now being operated privately in the USA.

[@AirsoftReviewArgentina]

Wouldn't it be nice to have an A4 in your back garage? LOL

[@andrewwade8464]

Draken International have the restored remains of our old strike force still operating. We on the other hand should be flying f16s Helen!

[@syntheticnz2917]

No they are not!

[@lukechilds1691]

We are elite

[@jefftheriault7260]

Scooter!!

[@les8518]

Helen Clarke stuffed up NZ Defence forces.

[@stevejory9679]

Losing the fighter component of the RNZAF is a very short sighted government view on defense. It did NZ s military standing no good.

[@acreepykiwi6788]

But perhaps a necessary sacrifice. how much would NZ have pumped into maintaining a fighter wing in the last 20 years, not to mention the original cost. The cost of updating the fighter wing would have meant the setback of many other defence needs such as the NZLAVs and rifle upgrades for the army. With our remoteness and borderline isolationist stance, especially in defence makes it hard to justify the costs associated with a modern fighter wing (although the Clark government really did seem to have it in for the Air Force, also trying to remove the ASW capabilities of the Orion fleet, only saved by 9/11 and our need to contribute to the War on Terror

[@rontate7719]

Nice to see em flying.... They needed moar 20 mm ammo supply,,,,Alot moar...

[@LogieT2K]

Need a better gun to be fair. Those 20mm cannons had a nasty habbot of jamming. I reckon if they had swapped them for 30mm adens they would be even better

[@Shanetangybits]

Anyone keen to chip in or have a bake sale and lease a sqd or two or Gripen's? Very in season with the global destabilisation goings on.

[@NewmaticKe]

At least allow the RSAF to deploy F15SG at Ohakea.

[@LogieT2K]

dave choy they tried to do that, but people who chose to live near airforce airbase said it was too loud😐

[@shauncummings2361]

80 mill ea..... pocket change

[@Swatmat]

he said back when NZ and the US were allies, is that implying they are not now?

[@HistAvFilmUnit]

After NZ went Nuclear Free in the mid-1980s the US Military stopped 'playing' with New Zealand. We're only now (in the 2010's) getting back to cooperating for joint military training etc.

[@isaacbenis9910]

I have no actual military or political knowledge, but I would imagine that our current government would maintain a fairly weary stance against the current intent and actions of the current USA government, given the leader of the country seems to be an insane far right borderline dictator with extremely questionable intent and a complete divorce from reality. NZ and US are still political allies, and I'm sure we'd be on their side if a WW3 broke out, but we're not really directly involved in US military operations.

[@TonyRule]

I see a couple of people get all their information from CNN and MSNBC.

[@NighthawkNZ]

We ll know the story of th ANZUS breakup... However with the Washington and Wellington Declarations it is basically say on a case by case basis we will help each other... RNZN is allowed in US naval ports... and the USN still don't have to confirm nor deny, and a case by case look at the vessel. All nukes were removed from 90% of the US fleet back in the late 90's except SSBN's and CVN. And it is easy enough to know what vessel is nuclear powered or not. It is up to the PM to decide which ship can or can not enter (always has been) the last USN fighting vessel to visit was the USS Sampson 2016.

[@mattyallen3396]

And we let it all go

[@hogey74]

Nice vid, but.... could you run it through an image stabilizer? software can remove that judder. yt has some options I believe, bud dunno if they'd automatically fix this one. Cheers. great to see these jets over the green fields of nz

[@HistAvFilmUnit]

Way too much shake in this footage to stabilise to any useful degree.

[@josephcrosswell3861]

Not all U.S. Ships are Nuclear or carry Nuclear arms the point is moot

[@NighthawkNZ]

It was due to the "neither can confirm nor deny" policy ... Now days only carrierss and subs carry the nukes and not many are nuclear powered... that is was USS Sampson was invited to the RNZN 75th (and then the Kaikora EQ happened) and Sampson was deployed there to help in 2016.

[@Peorhum]

Skyhawks are like beautiful teenage girls. They may not have what a more mature woman may have but they are still dam sweet.

[@LogieT2K]

Dude😶

[@idabthereforeiam7479]

Bro that was kinda creepy. I hope to God you mean over 18 otherwise wtf.

[@Peorhum]

@@idabthereforeiam7479 hahaha, doesn't have to be sexual.

[@idabthereforeiam7479]

@@Peorhum You're back tracking

[@Peorhum]

@@idabthereforeiam7479 nope. I just don't have as dirty of mind as you. The thought of sex never even entered my mind. Note I said sweet, not sexy.

[@MichaelSmith-nd4rr]

He's got a mean case of oxygen lung

[@rodrigomoreiradias6759]

Rodrigo brazil germany 7 a 1 brazil.

[@peterkirgan2921]

Lovely Aircraft then Herman Munster aka Helen Clark destroyed it all !!!!😢

[@arielgariboglio4327]

MALVINAS VOLVEREMOS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@martinleifnymark7432]

The Falklands will be back??? They never went away 😁 The only thing that did go away was the Argie army., with its tail between its legs. Adios amigo 🇬🇧

[@douglasnakamura6753]

Time for NZ to get it's jet capability back. 10 super hornets would be a wise purchase.

[@SuperEdge67]

Douglas Nakamura Snowballs chance in hell of that happening.

[@daniel1982641]

or 10 single seat and 4 two-seat Gripens 😁

[@FarrFromPerfect]

We should buy the a10's the us is so keen to get rid of.

[@williamcraske3822]

Kiwis would find to costly to operate. Better off with Gripens or Rafaels.

[@MaoriMan76]

The fighter squadrons days are over gentlemen. And will remain over in our lifetime. The cost of recruiting and retraining pilots, as well as buying new jets will blow the defence budget. Its simply unthinkable now 😊

[@richardbell466]

those goddamn kiwis

[@TheDisabledGamersChannel]

How would it astound the Americans when it's an American made aircraft, makes no sense.

[@megafauna8374]

Bullshit.

[@HistAvFilmUnit]

If you can't say something nice (or at least speak politely), don't say anything at all.

[@findouglas1736]

Terrible