Been a while... Sim time?

A couple of weekends ago I went down to Christchurch for the Flying NZ AGM and Conference. That was a lot of fun - a great opportunity to catch up with fellow aviators from around the country, to help set the direction of the organisation for the next year and to learn a lot, especially on the conference day.

Amongst all the business, there was time for a bit of fun. One bit of fun was taking a look at the IAANZ/ Canterbury Aero Club simulator facility. More than just a chance to take a look, but to have a "fly" in their A320 simulator. I understand they are open for bookings, even if you don't fly and just want to have a go.

This is not some home-built bit of kit, but a professionally built masterpiece. For my turn, we took off to the south and did a rather large figure-eight pattern to end up back on the ILS for runway 16. Pleased to say I didn't break anything! Taxiing was perhaps the hardest part, but as you see here, I did manage to park it at one of the gates. Fun times!

I guess there would only be a couple of more fun ways to fly an A320, and nobody is going to give me a full motion sim, or the real aircraft, so this is it for now! 😂

Weekend photos

After quite some time of not going out to get aircraft photos, here a few photos I took last weekend from Palmer Head.

Dassault-Brequest Falcon 50, N115MF

British Aerospace Jetstream J32, ZK-JSK, operated by Origin Air

Airbus A320-232, VH-VFO, operated by Jetstar Airways

Airbus A320-232, ZK-OXI, operated by Air New Zealand

Bombardier DHC8-311, ZK-NED, operated by Air New Zealand

Luxury two day escape to Wharekauhau!

 ... and help Wairarapa Flying Tigers to restore Harvard 33!

How to enter? Super simple, just click here for the Trademe auction!

Easy as, and supporting the Wairarapa Flying Tigers to get an awesome historic aircraft back in the air is a good thing to do!

North American AT-6C Harvard, Wairarapa Flying Tigers

Nanchang fun

I recently went for a quick flight in the Nanchang CJ6A, ZK-MAO. It was just over 1.5 hours, from Wellington, abeam Paraparaumu then Foxpine, to Tokomaru, across the ranges and down to Masterton. After a quick stop to refuel, we returned to Wellington.

Coming along for the ride was Ady, who took the photos and video in this post.

Enjoy!

Off the coast from Paraparaumu

Just over the Tararua ranges

Heading south to Masterton

Short final for runway 06 at Masterton

Looking south from Greytown towards Palliser Bay

 

Lastly, the landing at Masterton wasn't too bad. I blame the shuddering on the videographer 😂😂

Avplan online history

Here's a nice little feature available for subscribers to Avplan which was pointed out to me yesterday.

You can log in with your Avplan subscription and access flight history! Here's an example of a quick C172 flight back in April.

There are recorded flights from when I had my old iPad mini, as well as the new one. It seems that all you need is to have a flight plan open on the device when you go flying. Nice feature.

Been a while...

 ... since I last flew - one month to be precise.

Today's flight was just a series of circuits at Wellington International Airport, in the aero club's Cessna 172N, ZK-EKE. Fun times, with sweet clearances, no delays and great weather.

Anyway, here's a reminder of what this awesome machine looks like.

Cessna 172N, ZK-EKE, operated by Wellington Aero Club

Next up is a small video of today's Fiji Airways departure to Nadi [NFFN]. This is a Boeing 737-MAX8, DQ-FAD. It is good to see the regional operators returning to Wellington as the Covid restrictions are reduced.

This was shot on my new Samsung A73, so I'd say the image stabilisation is pretty good!

This would be nice!

This would be a nice little machine - two seats, 1200km range, turboprop, 800kg MAUW. Christmas present for me anyone? 😁

Avweb ditching video

Here is an interesting video on ditching survival rates, from Avweb. Take it how you want, but there would seem to be worse options than ditching [in some cases] and if landing in the water is your best option, then it is highly survivable.

Enjoy watching, it's only 5 minutes long.

I would actually like this

Here is an interesting aircraft and one I would love to have a go in one day [no chance, of course!].

It's an English Electric Wren, 99 years old [in 2022] and has a massive 3hp engine! Fun times!

Another hour in a Cessna 172

Saturday was a chance to take a couple of people for a flight to the Marlborough Sounds. The weather was nice - a bit breezy, but nice enough.

Yet again 😂 I have managed to not take any photos of my own, but in a one hour flight, we managed to get across to the Marlborough Sounds, taking a look from Long Island down to Picton then across to Port Gore, before returning to Wellington.

The flight path

Murphy Super Rebel

There was an interesting visitor to Wellington last weekend, a Murphy SR2500TD Super Rebel, ZK-MSR. This is registered to a Tauranga address, although I understand it has just been sold and will be moving shortly.

I don't know too much about the aircraft, but it's a Canadian designed homebuilt, seat four, it looks great and I'm rather jealous of anyone who gets to fly one of these for fun! 😀

Also, the bear on the tail looks cool also!

Murphy SR2500TD Super Rebel, ZK-MSR

An hour in a Cessna 172

Last weekend [Monday to be precise] I had a flight in a Cessna 172N, ZK-EKE. I was by myself, so rather than just go sightseeing, I thought I would practice some manoeuvres instead. So, after just one hour, I had practiced turns, stalls, FLWOP, constant radius turns, then rejoined with a short approach to land.

Fun times! No pictures from the flight, just this screen grab from an app.

The flight path

Propeller from a World War 1 aircraft?

Here's an interesting picture of an old propeller, apparently from a SPAD aircraft with a 200hp engine.

It appears to have been made by a company called Hispano-Suiza. It would be really good to know if there is more history to this propeller, and particularly if it could be confirmed as a type that would have been fitted to a World War 1 SPAD aircraft.

If you do know more, and particularly if you have links to information to support your views, please leave a message. I'm definitely keep to learn more!

Old propeller

Old propeller - do you know more?

The Boss

Monday's flight was in the Club's Cessna 172S, ZK-CEO. It was a quick trip across to Omaka aerodrome to pick up a couple of people and return home. It was a fantastic day for flying with bright skies and light winds - almost the perfect day for a flight across Cook Strait.

Cessna 172S, ZK-CEO, operated by Wellington Aero Club

While crossing Cook Strait I had radar monitoring, and this was followed by a very welcome clearance to "track direct to Omaka, 2500 feet or below" - a sweet clearance that saved me from having to descend earlier and navigate the transit lane. Nice. On arrival, a slight change of wind meant and overshoot and reposition for another vector. All fun. Heading home a short time later was another easy flight across Cook Strait and back into Wellington.

The only real challenge was someone flying around Omaka/ Woodbourne with a stuck mic. Heavy breathing is not really wanted on the frequency 😬, especially with various aircraft wanting ATC clearances and the like. Oh well, these things happen, nothing to get too excited about.

Flight track

All fingers accounted for

Saturday was another day to head to Masterton airfield and continue my flight training on the Piper J3C-50, ZK-AHD, with Wairarapa Flying Tigers.

Today's flight was more upper air work - stalls, steep turns, slow flight, slips and an overhead rejoin. I was also seated in the rear seat, which was an interesting experience with limited visibility, but one I'll get used to since this aircraft is flown solo from the back seat. Next lesson will likely be lots of circuits. That'll be a lot of fun!

Not only that, but I am also learning some of the ground stuff, like starting the engines of the J3 and the de Havilland DH82A Tiger Moths. These aircraft don't have starter motors [it seems to be just additional dead weight to carry around 😁], so they start using the Armstrong method, or swinging the propellers by hand. Fun times, and at the end of the day, all fingers are accounted for.

Only two photos from today, of two of Wairarapa Flying Tiger-operated de Havilland DH82A Tiger Moths, ZK-ANL and ZK-BLK. Once up to speed on the J3, this will be the next bit of fun.

de Havilland DH82A Tiger Moth, ZK-BLK, operated by Wairarapa Flying Tigers

de Havilland DH82A Tiger Moth, ZK-ANL, operated by Wairarapa Flying Tigers