The weather is back to usual...

Last weekend's perfect flying weather couldn't last. In the later part of the week we had a bit of rain, now we have strong winds, light rain and it's grey and gloomy. As I write this, the winds are gusting up to 55 knots [about 100 km/hr].

Needless to say, there's a distinct lack of light aircraft flying around Wellington today and having watched a few arrivals and departures this morning, I'm very happy to be on the ground! Photos are of an Air NZ Airbus A320-232, ZK-OJQ and an Air Nelson Bombardier DHC-8-311, ZK-NEP.

Here's hoping for better weather next week

Wellington, Hawera, Whanganui and back to Wellington

What a FANTASTIC day for a flight! Smooth air, sunshine and not too much other traffic around - just about the best combination you could have :-)

Last week another club pilot ["hello Rhys!"] asked if I wanted to go to Hawera [ICAO code NZHA, about 1.5 hrs flying from Wellington]. Rhys was picking up another aircraft to take to Nelson and needed someone to get him there and to fly back. I could see that the weather was looking good and I'd never flown into Hawera, so why not?

First thing for me was to get current on the Cessna 172. A quick flight with the Club's new CFI in our C172N ZK-FLT last night [also in perfect conditions!] sorted that. This morning was a thorough preflight, refuel, check of the weather and NOTAMs and off we went. Rhys flew to Hawera and we arrived 1.5 hrs later. Smooth flying conditions and helped by the fact that Rhys flies really well.

My flight back went via Wanganui Airport [NZWU] for a quick lunch with the folks ["thanks for paying, Mum!"], a brief wait for the Air NZ B1900 service to depart, refuel, then back to Wellington. Again, perfect flying conditions. I was enjoying it so much I completely forgot to take any photos. Darn!

In short, I had a relaxing, fun flight to Hawera, I'm current again on the C172 [as well as being current on the PA28], have practiced an overhead rejoin [at NZWU] and accumulated another 2.3 hours flying [yesterday's check ride plus today]! Awesome! did I mention how much fun it was? :-)

OK, so it's hardly "local", but...

... it is quite funny none-the-less!

Here is Boeing latest design, the Boeing 797-1 - rumoured to replace the B747-8I when it comes out in a few years time :-)

Personally, I'm booking a space on the pool deck!

Latest Boeing model B797. Click for a larger version.

Today's landings

Following on from my previous post, here are pictures of a few of the landings today.

While the weather was nice, the winds were low and they changed during the day which made some of the landings a bit trickier than others [there were reports of tailwinds on final approach for some aircraft], although neither of the featured aircraft here seemed to have any issues.

Top to bottom we have:
Boeing 737-8KG, VH-VUY, registered to Virgin Australia Airlines
Cessna 208B, ZK-SAY, registered to Sounds Air

Today's takeoffs

It has been yet another day of very nice weather in Wellington today. A bit of cloud but very nice flying conditions. I didn't get to go flying [although I'm booked in for next weekend] but I did get some nice photos instead.

In this set, we have a few of today's takeoffs. Top to bottom are:

Boeing 737-33A, ZK-NGR, registered to Air New Zealand

Bombardier DHC-8-311, ZK-NEJ, registered to Air Nelson/ Air NZ

Cessna 172S, ZK-CTT, registered to CTC Aviation Training in Hamilton

General Dynamics Allison Convair 440/580, ZK-CIF, registered to Air Chathams

[it appears that several of the Air Chathams fleet have lost most of their markings now - does anyone know why?]

New! Aerodromes and Airstrips page is now available

This is an admin notice to advise that a new "Aerodromes and Airstrips" page is now available form the top menu bar of this blog or by clicking here!

This page highlights to many aerodromes, airstrips and occasional beach I have had the pleasure of flying into over the past few years. At the time of writing this post, I have a large number of additional markers to place [mainly in the upper and central North Island], so bear with me while I do that!

Each marker is clickable and contains the name of the location [including the associated ICAO location code where relevant], and maybe a link to an operator of interest.

I';m using this page to remind me of the many places I have visited over the past 14-15 years and also to highlight places I haven't [but perhaps should] visit.

If you see anything which is out of date or inaccurate, please let me know!