Trip from Auckland

I recently had a brief visit to Auckland. A delayed flight home meant leaving as it started to get dark, and not having my main camera meant that the photos are a wee bit rubbish, but interesting none the less.

First up is the rather different looking, but nonetheless, Air NZ operated, Boeing 777-212/ER, ZK-OKI [ex 9V-SVL]. This has been dry hired from Singapore Airlines by Air NZ to help cover the downtime on their Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners.

Boeing 777-212/ER, ZK-OKI/ 9V-SVL, operated by Air NZ

Next is a general view of part of the international apron at Auckland International. It;s a busy place on a Tuesday evening.

This is the view of part of Manukau just after takeoff from runway 05R. I was in seat 27F, hence the relatively unobstructed view of the ground. The takeoff was slightly interesting, in that we used full length for the takeoff - not something I recall having on a domestic sector from Auckland before.

After takeoff, we climbed up almost as far as Ardmore Airfield before turning right to fly past Auckland again. This provided a reasonable view of the airport and surrounds in the rapidly fading light.

Auckland Airport and surrounds

This last photo is a shot I got as we descended towards Wellington [we were over Cook Strait at the time]. The bright light is a wingtip light... with a bit of practice, I think I could have gotten a better picture. Oh well! Certainly not much to see at that time of night.

Weather change

Today was a very interesting weather day. In terms of flying, it was a breezy north-westerly - not very comfortable for flying. Mid-afternoon, the wind had dropped and we headed off on a couple of Young Eagles flights - bright blue skies and a gentle north-westerly breeze. Everyone enjoyed the flights!

By 4:30pm though, just as forecast, the skies started to go dark, the temperature fell several degrees and the rain started. Fun to watch!

Anyway, here are a couple of photographs and video of what arrived. Enjoy!

3.6 hours flying today...

3.6 hours flying - that is the most I have done in a single day for a while.

Most of it was in a Cessna 172S, ZK-CEO, from Wellington to Whanganui and back, but while in Whanganui, I had some dual time in the Piper PA18-90 Super Cub, ZK-BTU with Wanganui Aero Club.

Thankfully it was dual, as I'm not at all current and was clearly not onto it today as the aircraft "owned" me on most of the landings. Oh well, that's what dual is for! I'll do some more in the near future. I think I just need to get the feel of it back and keep a lot more current in future :-) It was a beautiful day for all the flying and so I can't blame the weather!

Anyway, here is a picture of ZK-BTU after the post-flight refuelling. Yes, it is still my favourite type of aircraft!

Piper PA18-90 Super Cub, ZK-BTU, operated by Wanganui Aero Club

Wild and windy today

Here are a couple of movements from earlier today. The wind has been gusting up over 100km/hr at times and, although I missed them, there have been some go-arounds and diversions. Fun times.

Anyway, here are the videos. It's not exactly great cinematography :-) but good enough to give you an idea of what it was like. The first is an Air NZ Airbus A320-232 landings, the second is a Singapore Airlines Boeing B777-200 departing. The departure was rather impressive - the shortest takeoff I have seen in a B777, although not at all surprising given load limitations at Wellington and the gale force winds.

More night flying!

Last Friday was a perfect night for flying. There was very little wind, great visibility and no significant cloud, so I took a quick trip up to Paraparaumu for a couple of touch and goes, then back to Wellington.

I always like flying into Wellington at night and I think the final part of the video shows why. From the north, we descend over the harbour, over the highway then onto the runway. Fun times!


Lastly, this flight brought up my 25th night hour (actually a total of 25.75 hours). Fun times!

Cirrus SR22 ZK-LDY

I'm catching up on a few photos, and this Cirrus SR22, ZK-LDY is one of them. This aircraft is registered to an Auckland address and visited Wellington on 9 June.

Cirrus SR22, ZK-LDY

Singapore Airlines' Boeing 777 departing

Here is a picture from 10 June of Singapore Airlines' scheduled departure from Wellington. The Boeing 777-212/ER, 9V-SQJ is the largest aircraft to regularly operate into and out of Wellington, although rumour has it these aircraft are to be replaced by another Boeing, the B787 Dreamliner in the future.

Boeing 777-212/ER, 9V-SQJ, operated by Singapore Airlines

Piper Navajo

Saturday's interesting visitor was a Piper PA-31 Navajo, ZK-LWN. This aircraft is registered to Ridge Air of a Blenheim address. It appears that the aircraft has only been registered to Ridge Air since late 2017.

Piper PA-31 Navajo, ZK-LWN, registered to Ridge Air

Wellington Aero Club's "new" Tomahawk, with teeth!

Some of you will have seen this, but Wellington Aero Club has recently applied a new livery to one of our Piper PA38-112 Tomahawks, ZK-WAC.

After several years with an all-white livery, the aircraft now has quite distinct teeth and advertising on the tail and under the wings. I wasn't prepared to lie on my back for the under-wing photos, but I do have the others! There are bound to be some aerial photos at some stage in the next couple of months.

This is the only Wellington Aero Club aircraft with this livery so far, but we'll see what happens over the next year or so.

Piper PA38-112, ZK-WAC, operated by Wellington Aero Club

Piper PA38-112, ZK-WAC, operated by Wellington Aero Club

Piper PA38-112, ZK-WAC, operated by Wellington Aero Club

A kat in the back

Just a quick couple of photos of a hanger visitor, a Piper PA28-161, ZK-KAT. Apparently, this will be in the Wellington Aero Club hanger for a few days.

I was allowed a sneak peek inside and it's got a lovely panel. All of the insides look nice - it's probably one of the nicest looking PA28's of its era that I have seen.

Piper PA28-161, ZK-KAT

Piper PA28-161, ZK-KAT

A brief video from Vancouver

This is a brief video of my visit to Coal Harbour in Vancouver and the water aerodrome. The video consists of a brief view of the aerodrome, followed by a DHC2 Beaver and a DHC3 Turbine Otter.

Alberta Aviation Museum in Edmonton

While briefly visiting friends in Edmonton, we headed out to the Alberta Aviation Museum.

This was significantly smaller than the Canada Aviation and Space Museum [CASM] from my previous posts, but still quite interesting. Most of the displays were inside but as you'll see below, there were a small number of outside displays.

Unfortunately, the restoration facility was closed on the day we visited, but the rest was still interesting to see.

Anyway, here are some photos. As with the CASM photos, I'm not going to explain them all, but if there's anything interesting you'd like to know about, let me know and I'll see what I can find out!

Grrrr! A waste of a Piper Super Cub! :-)

I'll have a look, but this is likely to be the last of the posts from my visit to Canada, although I might be able to find a couple of small videos that might be of interest.

I hope you've enjoyed this short series of posts. Back now to the regular local posts [and I have some interesting topics coming up over the next 4-6 weeks!]!

Canada Aviation and Space Museum - the reserve hanger

While at the Canada Aviation and Space Museum, there was the opportunity to visit the reserve hanger for a guided tour. It was only a few extra dollars and I'm certainly glad I did! As you'll see from the pictures, the contents of this hanger would not be out of place as the main exhibit in many other museums.

First up is a panorama of the reserve hanger. To the right is an MD80 [or 88??] and to the far left, there is a glimpse of a Lockheed C130H tucked in the corner. It's a big building!

Canada Aviation And Space Museum - the main building

Part of my visit to Ottawa [a really nice place to visit] was a trip to the Canada Aviation and Space Museum. If you're in Canada and interested in aviation, this is definitely a good place to visit!

Anyway, here are a few photos from the main building, which contains a range of aircraft, with a particular emphasis on aircraft that have had an impact on Canadian aviation, such as the DHC2 Beaver, the Noorduyn Norseman IV, through to the Lancaster and the Bombardier Challenger 604.

I'm not going to provide info on most of the aircraft, but if you have an interest in particular one, please let me know the image number and I'll see what I can do.

A panorama of the main hanger

An inverted ex-Snowbird aircraft in the entrance area

A MiG 21 [?] cockpit. It was too small for me!

A link trainer!

The mighty Lancaster