A slower day today

Today's weather has not been quite as good as yesterday, with no Club flying until this afternoon and just a few hours later it has started to drizzle.

Photo today are of one of the smallest "airliners" to operate through Wellington, a Piper PA34-220T Seneca, ZK-ZAG of Golden Bay Air, followed by a Cessna 208B Grand Caravan, ZK-SAA of Sounds Air. Finally we have an ATR-GIE ATR72-212A, ZK-MCW, of Mount Cook Airline/ Air NZ.

[As an aside - the smallest "airliner" that I am aware of is a Golden Bay Air Piper PA28-181 Archer, ZK-ZOG]

A great day for a flight!

If you've read my previous post, you'll know that the weather was not great this morning, but the forecast was for an improvement in the afternoon, which is just what happened. Furthermore, the surface wind was unusually light for Wellington [4-8 knots, about 7-15 km/hr] almost straight down the runway. Awesome!

Today's flight called for a bit of sightseeing, some simulated instrument flight [i/f - flying by instruments without looking outside] and to finish off with some circuits. To prevent me from cheating during the i/f, I was wearing a particularly fetching pair of "foggles" - basically goggles that have a translucent portion, so the outside view is obscured but the instruments are still visible.

The intelligent among you may have already realised that flying without looking where you are going is a wee bit like driving down a motorway with your eyes shut - not a great idea and bound to result in a big bang... for this reason it's a requirement to take a safety pilot, so thanks Pete for coming along and being just that!

I spent 30 minutes flying straight and level, doing some turns, climbing and descending, all without looking outside. Hard work, but good to know that my skills are not too rusty! After a bit of sightseeing we headed back to the airport and ended up with three circuits to practice takeoffs and landings [a fairly essential skill in this game].

Anyway, on to the pictures. The first three are of the flight's handsome pilot-in-command with his fetching foggles, then instrument panel and the view looking south-east over Lake Onoke and Lake Ferry township. Following this is Wellington City with the clouds at about 1500 feet, a example of a nice approach, and the last one where I was waaaaay too high [but that's what the Cessna's big flap is useful for]. Pete referred to it as the "space shuttle approach" [ie: really steep!]... NASA - I'm available! :-)

Western apron visitors at Wellington

I had a flight booked this afternoon, but it wasn't looking good when the day dawned with low cloud and a wee bit cool [but by no means "cold"]. After a lazy start to the morning I headed out to the aero club to find, as expected, all aircraft parked up in the hanger. Stink!

Oh well, while waiting for the flight, I did get to see two unusual airline visitors to this side of the airport and a GA [General Aviation] visitor who arrived soon after the weather started clearing up.

The first airline visitor was this Eagle Airways/ Air NZ Beech/ Raytheon 1900D, ZK-EAI. The aircraft parked up outside of Vincent's maintenance base. I'm not 100% sure why it was here, but I later saw it was up on jacks, so perhaps an undercarriage problem?

The second airline visitor was an Air New Zealand Boeing B737-3U3, ZK-SJC. I didn't manage to get a photo as it was mostly hidden inside the the Execujet hanger, so probably undergoing unexpected maintenance of some sort. Can anyway confirm if this is the same aircraft that turned back the other day with a cracked windscreen?

The GA visitor was a Cessna 185C, ZK-CHL, registered to a Dannevirke address. Enjoy the photos and the next post will have the details of my flight.

Bizjet arrival

After the airliners, I was just about to leave when I saw this Cessna 650, N163JM, landing. I previously photographed this aircraft in November 2012 and it's good to see it again. Note in the first photo that the thrust reversers are deployed.

Airliners at Wellington

The weather has been fantastic today! I was going to flying... unfortunately the aircraft went unserviceable, and the other aircraft I could have flown was already booked. Still, it is great to see the aero club being very busy.

This left me to take a few photos. These included the following:

Boeing 737-8FE, ZK-PBF, registered to Virgin Australia Airlines (NZ) and wearing Virgin Samoa titles

Airbus A320-232, ZK-OJF, registered to Air New Zealand

Boeing 737-3U3, ZK-SJC, registered to Air New Zealand

Boeing 737-838, ZK-ZQE, registered to Jetconnect/ Qantas

Air New Zealand's 'Star Alliance' A320

It has been another Sunday of lovely weather [unlike the forecast...]. I didn't get another flight in, but i have booked in for next Saturday - if I'm not pushed for time, I might make it a trip across Cook Strait to take a look at the Marlborough Sounds.

Anyway, here are two pictures of an Air New Zealand Airbus A320-232, ZK-OJH, in their 'Star Alliance' livery.

Finally... I got to go flying again!

After about 6 or 7 weeks of no flying, I finally got to go up again today in the Aero Club's Cessna 172N, ZK-FLT. It was a fairly quick flight to the north [over Petone], around the coast and back in around the south coast. The flight finished with some circuits to maintain competency.

The weather was pretty much perfect... virtually no turbulence apart from a little when I flew between a couple of hills which funnelled the gentle winds and provided a few lumps and bumps... nothing much though.

Anyway, here are some pictures. The first is the C172 [being flown by another Club pilot], then:

Diamond DA42, ZK-CTL, registered to CTC Aviation Training in Hamilton
Kawasaki BK117 B2, ZK-IME, registered to Helicopters Otago
Boeing 737-3K2, ZK-NGM, registered to Air New Zealand
Airbus A320-232, ZK-OJR, registered to Air New Zealand

A couple of civil aircraft

Apart from the RNZAF Boeing, there were a couple of other aircraft I haven't seen/ don't see often. The first of these is the Golden Bay Air Piper PA34-220T Seneca, ZK-ZAG. It appears that this aircraft was doing some training today, with a number of circuits and refuelling on the Western Apron [most commercial traffic parks on the Eastern Apron].

The other visitor is a Eurocopter AS350 B3, ZK-IWI, registered to Rural Aviation of a Manukau address. This aircraft stopped off briefly to refuel and pick up two passengers before departing to the north.

RNZAF ANZAC day-related visitor

Today's largest visitor to Wellington was an RNZAF Boeing 757-2K2, NZ7572. In additional to a number of New Zealand Defence Force personnel [at least RNZAF and Navy, probably Army also], there were a sizable number of veterans getting off [and later back on] the aircraft.

I'm sure someone else has more information, but it appears that this aircraft originated from overseas - probably in relation to ANZAC day commemorations in Noumea, New Caledonia.

Here are a number of photos of the arrival and departure.

Gulfstream departures

Both of the Gulfstream GV-SP/ G550 aircraft which have been at Wellington for the past few days, departed today. The first to leave was the Oman Royal Flight's A40-AE, which departed in rather gloomy conditions direct to Bali [ICAO code: WADD].

A few hours later the other Gulfstream, N773MJ, departed in much sunnier conditions - where to? I'm not sure.

The final picture is of an Air Chathams General Dynamics Allison Convair 440/ 580 which arrived this morning.

Another Gulfstream at Wellington

Another Gulfstream GV [G550] arrived at Wellington today. This aircraft is registered A40-AE to the Oman Royal Flight. It will be an official visit of some sort as it's parked on the RNZAF Air Movements Base apron.

Here are 3 photos, plus an extra picture of yesterday's Gulfstream, N773MJ, which is still parked up.

Enjoy!

Gulfstream GV-SP at Wellington

I had to leave home for a couple of hours this evening [time to exterminate some biting insects that decided to move in uninvited...] so I grabbed some dinner and popped out to the airport for a while and saw a US-registered Gulfstream GV-SP, N773MJ parked up for the evening. Apparently this arrived in Invercargill 7 days ago [click here for more details on the MRCAviation blog].

Anyway, here's the photo. I think it has turned out OK considering I didn't have a tripod :-)

RNZAF Iroquois arrival

Just one arrival of note today - an RNZAF Bell UH-1H Iroquois, NZ3805, flew in today. I'm not sure of the reason, but it could possibly be in preparation for the ANZAC Day commemorations later this week. It won't be long before these helicopters are seen no more with the NH90's coming online

I'm hoping for some better weather next weekend - I'm booked to go for a flight on Sunday afternoon :-)

Lifeflight Open Day 2013

Today was the Life Flight [air ambulance] open day for 2013.

I popped down to the Life Flight hanger for an hour or so this afternoon to have a look around and to get some photos. The open day is designed to raise awareness of what Life Flight does [air ambulance and helicopter rescue charity], and every year it seem to attract a good crowd who enjoy the atmosphere and attractions.

In addition to the aircraft [a British Aerospace J32 Jetstream, ZK-LFW, and a Kawasaki BK117 B-2, ZK-HLF], there were airport and Fire Service fire engines, Police, Ambulance, Coastguard and Aviation Security displays and equipment. I also got to see a winching demonstration off the back of an airport fire truck.

All in all, a good day which was enjoyed by all!

If you want to find out more, or to donate to this charity, visit the Life Flight website for details [click here].