Don Merton - The Early Birder

New Tees instore : Native To New Zealand : The Little Blue Penguin ~ $45
comes with a free Screenprinted Postcard. $5 from each tee goes to Forest & Bird
http://www.forestandbird.org.nz/what-we-do/projects/places-penguins for nest boxes and plants. email us if you are interested in purchasing one.

Yesterday I made a special delivery to the historic Ardmore Airfield, home of NZ Warbirds.

The NZ government, after coming to the conclusion our beloved A4 Skyhawk fleet was never to sell, dished the aircraft out to various museums on a permanent loan basis…and so as many of the folk flying with the NZ Warbirds are ex-RNZAF A4 pilots; their great visitor centre and main hangar is now home to one of them.

NZ6209 is now on static display for all to see, and to celebrate we were commissioned to produce a run of tees to go up for sale in the NZ Warbirds shop.  This project has been months in the making, and a small dream of mine also…I’ve loved these machines since visiting my uncles on the RNZAF Ohakea airbase as a small boy.

NZ Warbirds are doing great things - and anyone can get involved.  www.nzwarbirds.or.nz

After years of hard, daily use in all types of weather - the beloved ‘open’ sign of yesteryear has reached retirement…no longer will it’s tarnished, bright green way with words scream at you as you pass by.  Old friend you will be missed.

Fresh signage is in production - more to come on this soon.

Black Robin and the boys at Industrial Athletic have teamed up to create this little number.  We hope however, that the best is yet to come.

We helped out where we could with the local bike polo scene a couple of weeks back - here’s some snaps of the results.  A bit of a cold day but good times were had by all…

Just arrived Blank Canvas. Plain Black Tees, Plain White Tees, and colours to be added soon.  Keep you posted.

GIVE ‘EM STICK - Getting behind Hawkes Bays campaign for the NZ to gain gold in Hockey at the London Olympics

We have been hard at work, creating a new look for ourselves, More photos to come over the next couple of days. 

We are a new Colour!

…a fresh look for Black Robin HQ…stay tuned.

Here some images from the RNZAF’s 75th Anniversary Airshow by Gavin Conroy.

Gavin is a very talented ameture photographer with a passion for aircraft.  He’s published books as well as featured in many articles.  See more here: http://capphotography.ifp3.com

So this year is the Royal New Zealand Air Force’s 75th running…so they’re celebrating with another huge air show featuring aircraft from our distant neighbors including the USAF.  Stay tuned for more on this, but for now here’s a scan of the cover of the 50th anniversary program, a copy I have as part of a collection you could say…

The Skyhawk NZ6206 carried the special golden colour scheme to celebrate the year it was.  Sadly this aircraft crashed during an exercise with the Royal Australian Navy in 2001.  The Pilot; Flight Lieutenant Phillip Barnes ejected safely.

Here’s a sneak peak at a fresh batch of prints for our pals at Flight Coffee.  These guys are currently making huge waves in the industry…check them out here: http://flightcoffee.co.nz/