Flight to D'Urville Island - post 2

Arrival at D'Urville Island airstrip was exciting! The maps made it look a bit more spacious than reality, but I was shown how to do a nice controlled approach, which in essence involves good airspeed control and a nice tight "circuit".

Some time after landing, I got to do it for myself in the Club's Cessna 172N, ZK-FLT. That was a huge amount of fun, although needing a bit more concentration than landing on most runways! The gravel surface could also be challenging if you try to brake too harshly or have trouble with directional control.

It is very nice being at a quiet airfield, with 4-5 landings in around 30 minutes. The strip itself is about 800 meters long, so plenty of room for a most light aircraft. The terrain is the biggest issue - there are hills pretty much everywhere, and where there are no hills, sand dunes :-)

The first three photos are looking over the strip, including of the Cessna landing. Next are a few of the Club instructors and members on one of the dunes. What each of the photos show is the the weather was perfect! We don't get many of these days - bright sunshine and very low winds. Nice!