Today's fun flights!

I woke up late this morning with no particular plans... but a short time later booked a local flight in the Club's C172N, ZK-FLT. After I arrived at the Club however, plans changed and I teamed up with another Club member to go on a trip to the South Island, with each of us doing some of the flying.

So, the trip ended up as Wellington to D'Urville Island, then to Motueka [NZMK], then to Omaka for some circuits then back to Wellington. It was a fun afternoon out, and much more fun than each of us doing a separate local flight!

I had not been to Motueka since 2005 [for the Flying NZ national competitions], so it was good to go back for a quick visit. the most interesting aircraft there was, without a doubt, a Pilatus PC6/B2-H4 which is operated by Skydive Abel Tasman, and appropriately registered ZK-XIT!

Pilatus PC6/B2-H4, ZK-XIT, operated by Skydive Abel Tasman.

In the short time we were there, two loads of jumpers landed and a third load got airborne.

Skydive Abel Tasman HQ

Motueka is home to a the Motueka Aero Club as well as a number of other training and flying organisations. One of these is the Nelson Aviation College, which operates a fleet of Cessna 152's, such as ZK-NAI.

Cessna 152, ZK-NAI, operated by Nelson Aviation College

Final pictures from today are two photos and a video of the arrival back into Wellington.I was a passenger by this time, and sitting back, enjoying the view.

After all that, I had another flight. This was totally unplanned until the last minute. Weather-wise, it is a lovely night in Wellington, so I took the opportunity to do some dual night circuits with Jelle, followed by some solo circuits to regain my night currency. Fun times! No pictures unfortunately, I was a busy enough just flying the plane.