Air New Zealand Airbus' at Wellington

Here are photos of two Air New Zealand-operated Airbus A320's at Wellington earlier today. It has been a while since I have seen either of their Star Alliance [ZK-OJH] or All Blacks [ZK-OAB] branded aircraft, so here they are.

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

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

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

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

Dassault Falcon 900EX EASy

Earlier today another Dassault Falcon 900 departed Wellington. This time it was Falcon 900EX EASy, VP-CMB. The VP- nationality code shows it is registered in the Cayman Islands. I'm not sure who the operator is, but then, I guess the Cayman Islands are known for their secrecy :-)

Dassault Falcon 900EX EASy, VP-CMB

Dassault Aviation Falcon 900

Another catch-up post from a few weeks ago...

This Dassault Aviation Falcon 900, VH-PPD, departed Wellington on ANZAC Day, 25 April. The aircraft is registered to Lloyd Aviation Jet Charter, of a Parap, Northern Territory, Australia address.

Dassault Aviation Falcon 900, VH-PPD, operated by Lloyd Aviation Jet Charter

A Douglas DC3 at Whanganui

This is a bit of a catch-up post, with a photo of a Douglas DC3C-S1C3G, arriving at Whanganui late in April.

From memory, this is ZK-DAK [and I'm sure I'll be howled at if I'm wrong! :-)], which stopped in Whanganui for fuel while heading north after the Omaka airshow.

Douglas DC3C-S1C3G, ZK-DAK, operated by Flight 2000 of Ardmore, Auckland

Douglas DC3C-S1C3G, ZK-DAK, operated by Flight 2000 of Ardmore, Auckland

Young Eagles at Wellington

No photos from me, unfortunately, but I had a fun afternoon of flying 5 Wellington Aero Club Young Eagles [over two flights] around Wellington today.

The first flight took us over the city, then south to Island Bay, around to close to Makara and back again. The second was north up the Hutt Valley towards Te Marua and back for an East Arrival into Wellington. again, a fun trip. Mind you, just about any day in a C172 with passengers is a good day :-)

There are a couple of photos up on Wellington Aero Club's FB page [https://www.facebook.com/WellingtonAeroClub], so check them out there before they disappear.

Fun times!

Overhead rejoin at Foxpine aerodrome

As per my last post, last ANZAC day afternoon, two friends and I headed off for a flight up north.

Not being able to get past Whanganui due to the weather, after refueling, we turned back and flew into Foxpine and Paraparaumu aerodromes.

This video shows the overhead rejoin I carried out at Foxpine. The aircraft is Wellington Aero Club's Cessna 172N, ZK-EKE.

Whanganui, Foxpine and Paraparaumu

Three of us Wellington Aero Club members went on a trip today. Originally, we were looking at visiting Mounts Ruapehu, Ngaruahoe and Tongariro, followed by a flight around Mount Taranaki.

This was not to be, with the weather a little less favourable than expected, the plan changed during out stop in Whanganui, to return to Wellington via Foxpine [NZFP] and Paraparaumu [NZPP], with a bit of sightseeing on the way.

The flight was a lot of fun, and we fit in a bit under 3 hours in total, with me doing 2 hours, and Rhys just under an hour. Our aircraft was the club's Cessna 172N, ZK-EKE.

Here are a few of the photos from the flight. Some are mine, with a couple from Matt, our passenger. I hope to have some video up from the Whanganui to Foxpine and Paraparaumu sectors in the next week or two.

Wellington airport and surrounding suburbs

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

NZFP - Foxpine aerodrome

NZPP - Paraparaumu aerodrome

The sun is getting lower after departure from Paraparaumu

The southern end of Kapiti Island, looking south

Cessna 150/152 type rating flight

Last Sunday I undertook a type rating with Wanganui Aero Club in their Cessna 150H, ZK-CTF. It was a fun flight and after an hour or so of dual flight I did some solo circuits.

Only some of the flight was recorded [unfortunately the Go Pro Session 5 battery is rubbish, so not everything was recorded] and of that, I've found a few bits that might be interesting. Obviously, with a 6-minute video, most of the flight is not included...!

Enjoy the video and let me know what you think...

A new type rating today!

I wasn't intending to fly today, but while visiting family in Whanganui, I popped in to see the friendly people at Wanganui Aero Club. I might be needing an aircraft next weekend. As my normal type of a Cessna 172 will have a new engine around then, I underwent a type rating in their C150 instead.

What a fun time! I had 1 hour of dual with Leroy, followed by 0.4 hours to get three circuits in. It has been a while since I'd had to fit in all the manoeuvres in on one flight, but in that one hour we managed the following:

Medium turns, steep turns, slow flight [including turns with and without flap], basic and wingdrop stalls, FLWOP, rejoin the circuit, flapless approach, glide approach, EFATO and precision approach and landing.

Just to make it more fun, all the circuits had a crosswind component.

Following this, I did the three solo circuits including finishing with the precision approach and landing. The C150 doesn't need much room to land, even though I wasn't trying hard for a short landing roll. Fun times!

Cessna 150H, ZK-CTF, operated by Wanganui Aero Club

Wellington Airport's Runway 34 City Departure

Is there a more scenic departure from any international airport? It would certainly be hard to beat the runway 34 City Departure at Wellington airport!

On a nice day, this departure shows off the harbour, then the city, the wind farm and finally Cook Strait. all in seven or eight minutes of flying.

This video is 2 x normal speed, so it's under 4 minutes to see much of Wellington. Well worth the watch! I was a passenger on this flight and the aircraft is Wellington Aero Club's Cessna 172N, ZK-EKE.

Dassault Falcon 50 departing Wellington

Today's business jet departure was a Dassault Falcon 50, N115MF. It appears the aircraft ended up in Tauranga later in the day.

What a nice way to travel!

Dassault Falcon 50, N115MF

Dassault Falcon 50, N115MF

Trans-Tasman Pilatus

Crossing the Tasman from direct from Sydney was a Pilatus PC12/47, VH-YWO. This aircraft is registered to the Royal Flying Doctor Service [RFDS]. With a flight time is 4 hours 40 minutes, it was quite a quick trip for a fairly small turboprop.

It appears that the aircraft has been delivered to Sounds Air.

Pilatus PC12/47, VH-YWO, operated by the Royal Flying Doctor Service

Yet another Bombardier at Wellington

Last Saturday I saw an Australian-registered Air Ambulance parked outside the Execujet hanger at Wellington airport.

The aircraft was a Bombardier CL-600-2B16, VH-URR, which is operated by Lifeflight Australia Ltd of a Brisbane address.

Bombardier Cl-600-2B16, VH-URR, operated by Lifeflight Australia Ltd

Bombardier CL-600-2B16, VH-URR, operated by Lifeflight Australia

Bombardier CL-600-2B16, VH-URR, operated by Lifeflight Australia

A day for making clouds...

Today was grey, gloomy and damp. There was rain in the morning and it was drizzly the rest of the day, but at least the cloud lifted as the day progressed.

Today's Singapore Airlines movements were much the same as always, although as can be seen below, the air and dew point temperatures were close enough that some cloud was created as the B777 landed and as it powered up to depart.

Click on the images for more detail.

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

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

Another Bombardier at Wellington

Last Sunday at Wellington, about the same time as Eminem was leaving, this Australian registered Bombardier CL-600-2B16, VH-BLM, arrived for a very short visit.

This aircraft has been going back-and-forward between Auckland and Queenstown over the past few days, although today it popped into Wellington for just over an hour from Queenstown before heading back to Auckland.

Bombardier CL-600-2B16 Challenger, VH-BLM