{"id":397367,"date":"2026-04-25T18:03:25","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T18:03:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/397367\/"},"modified":"2026-04-25T18:03:25","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T18:03:25","slug":"on-the-up-veteran-pilots-on-decades-of-flying-mount-maunganui-anzac-day-dawn-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/397367\/","title":{"rendered":"On The Up: Veteran pilots on decades of flying Mount Maunganui Anzac Day dawn service"},"content":{"rendered":"

Losing medical clearance brought a reluctant end to his 53-year flying career<\/a> last May. <\/p>\n

Williams\u2019 said it was a \u201cprivilege\u201d flying out to the rising sun on Anzac morning. <\/p>\n

Gormlie said he would have to \u201cbehave\u201d with the \u201cmaster watching\u201d.<\/p>\n

He described flying next to Williams as, at times, \u201cremarkable\u201d.<\/p>\n

Headed out to sea with the rising sun, Gormlie watched the light shine behind William\u2019s aircraft, silhouetted as thick white smoke released from the exhaust. <\/p>\n

\u201cFirst thing you say to yourself is, \u2018man, I wish I could just snapshot this\u2019.\u201d <\/p>\n

Gormlie said it was a \u201cspecial thing\u201d to be part of – \u201cwe really enjoy it\u201d.<\/p>\n

They typically flew Harvards, but two Yak-52 Russian trainers will go up this year as a part of the annual Classic Flyers Anzac parade flyover. <\/p>\n

The sound of the aircraft was \u201cvery emotional\u201d, Gormlie said – even from on the ground. <\/p>\n

Crowds at Anzac Day services were \u201cgrowing in size\u201d as \u201cpeople are understanding the gravity\u201d of the day, he said.<\/p>\n

It may be \u201cold-fashioned\u201d, but \u201call walks of life can be involved\u201d, with many having a personal connection.<\/p>\n

\u201cYounger people are becoming aware of the sacrifices made.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere aren\u2019t too many opportunities to show up to something like this, so when you get the chance, you do,\u201d Gormlie said. <\/p>\n

\"AA strong community turnout at the Mount Maunganui Dawn Service in 2024. Photo \/ Simon Dawson Photography.<\/p>\n

Preparation begins the day before, with the aircraft checked, engines run and readied for the early start.<\/p>\n

The crew ran through a briefing, determining who\u2019s flying, when they\u2019ll be airborne and how the flyover will unfold.<\/p>\n

On the morning itself, they gather at Classic Flyers NZ<\/a> for breakfast. <\/p>\n

They were both involved in the organisation – Gormlie as chief executive and trustee. <\/p>\n

The cafe and museum will be open from 6.30am. Gormlie said a crowd often gathered to watch the aircraft leave.<\/p>\n

He encouraged people to \u201cget out of bed\u201d and support the service. <\/p>\n

Gormilie and Williams tried to attend a few different ones each year.<\/p>\n

Anzac Day services in Tauranga: <\/p>\n

Today, Anzac Day services are happening across Tauranga to remember and honour our past and present servicemen and women.<\/p>\n

There are some changes to services this year:<\/p>\n

There will be no separate Mount Maunganui Civic Service at 9.30am. <\/p>\n

Instead, the Tauranga Civic Memorial Service will incorporate both the Tauranga and Mount Maunganui RSAs. <\/p>\n

Holding the city-led civic service in one location reflects a unified approach to remembrance across Tauranga.<\/p>\n

The Tauranga Dawn Service, previously held at the old Tauranga RSA on Cameron Rd, will take place at Memorial Park. <\/p>\n

Hosting the dawn service at Memorial Park brings the commemoration to a central civic location and will be followed by the Tauranga Civic Memorial Service at 9.30am.<\/p>\n

Services in Tauranga in 2026: <\/p>\n

Tauranga Moana T\u016bmatauenga Anzac Commemorations <\/p>\n

Time: 5.45am Location: Opopoti Maungatapu Marae Opopoti (Maungatapu) Marae <\/p>\n

Mount Maunganui Dawn Service <\/p>\n

Time: 6am Location: Mount Maunganui Cenotaph, Marine Parade <\/p>\n

Tauranga Dawn Service <\/p>\n

Time: 6am Location: Memorial Park, Memorial Field <\/p>\n

P\u0101p\u0101moa Memorial Dawn Service <\/p>\n

Time: 6am Location: P\u0101p\u0101moa Memorial, Stella Place beach car park <\/p>\n

Tauranga Civic Memorial Service <\/p>\n

Time: 9.30am Location: Memorial Park, Memorial Field <\/p>\n

Pyes P\u0101 Remembrance Service<\/p>\n

Time: 11amLocation: Pyes P\u0101 Cemetery, 403 Pyes P\u0101 Rd<\/p>\n

There are free park and ride services for the Mount Dawn, Tauranga Dawn and Tauranga Civic Memorial Services.<\/p>\n

For the full list of Anzac Day services and event details, please visit the Tauranga City Council website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Annabel Reid<\/a> is a multimedia journalist for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post, based in Rotorua. Originally from Hawke\u2019s Bay, she has a Bachelor of Communications from the University of Canterbury.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Losing medical clearance brought a reluctant end to his 53-year flying career last May. Williams\u2019 said it was…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":397368,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1443,20251,78459,8984,5972,9060,75102,17628,205321,17707,13233,111,43,139,69,1118,90,19723,81,2552,223,810,9347,1530],"class_list":["post-397367","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-about","tag-andrew","tag-anzac","tag-dawn","tag-day","tag-decades","tag-flown","tag-flying","tag-gormlie","tag-maunganui","tag-mount","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-of","tag-on","tag-pilot","tag-pilots","tag-service","tag-the","tag-up","tag-veteran","tag-years"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397367","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=397367"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397367\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/397368"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=397367"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=397367"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=397367"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}