A fantastic day, a 13,000' flight and it's not over yet!

Today was one of the magic days that just screams out for a flight! No cloud, fairly gentle breezes and very hot.

Today's flight was in the Aero Club's Cessna 172N, ZK-FLT and three of us flew out of Wellington, across to the East Coast of the North Island, climbing to 13,000' on the way across. the views were awesome - we could see all the way up to Mt Ruapehu and despite a breeze of up to 20 knots at 2000', there was virtually no turbulence, even close to hills, except perhaps on the way back down the Hutt Valley.

It is fair to say that taking off with 120 litres of fuel, 3 people and at least 24 degrees meant that the aircraft struggled through those last 3,000' but we made it!

Photos from this flights are from Andrew. Thanks!

 Crossing the Rimutaka Ranges at about Mt Matthews

Flat Point [including Flat Point Aerodrome, NZFT] from 13,000'

Masterton airfield [NZMS] from 9,500'. The full size image is very interesting - it should pockets of haze that make the photo look fuzzy, but other parts which are very sharp.

Yep, we made it.

Lastly, why it is not over yet? Well, I'm flying again tonight. My budget is taking a hit, but I do want to keep current at night, so today is too good an opportunity to pass over!