Visitor from Nelson Aviation College

Last weekend, a Cessna 172S, ZK-NAX, from Nelson Aviation College visited Wellington.

Cessna 172S, ZK-NAX, operated by Nelson Aviation College

Arrival into Motueka aerodrome

Following on from my last video of the 34 Owhiro Departure from Wellington, my destination on that flight was Motueka aerodrome [ICAO code: NZMK].

Motueka is located near the top of the South Island and is a really nice place to visit, even if this visit was just long enough to refuel the aircraft then the pilots.

The flight itself was across the Cook Strait, then the very scenic Marlborough Sounds [I might do another video on this], then on to where this video starts, crossing Tasman Bay. It's a nice part of the country to visit!

Camera settings are much better than last time, but still not quite right. I figure I may as well use the Go Pro's setting to generate a linear image. This crops down the field of view, but I think does make for a better result. That of course is for another day.

34 Owhiro Departure video

This is a short video of the 34 Owhiro departure from Wellington recently. 

This was the start of a flight to Motueka, near to top of New Zealand's South Island. The aircraft is Wellington Aero Club's Cessna 172N, ZK-EKE. EKE is a wee bit special - it has a 180hp engine and a STOL kit. On this flight, with 120litres of fuel and two people on board, the takeoff roll was around 100 meters [maybe slightly over]. Not bad performance!

Anyway, enjoy the video. There will be further videos over the coming weeks, hopefully including the arrival into Motueka as well as video from across the Marlborough Sounds 👍

 

First flight with a new camera...

Here's my first flight with a new Go Pro camera. Unfortunately I had one of the settings wrong which makes for a very "interesting" effect. Accidentally shows off one of the great capabilities of the camera!

MAUW Checkride

I got to be a passenger last weekend while another pilot underwent a Maximum All Up Weight [MAUW] checkride as part of his type rating on the club's Cessna 172N, ZK-EKE.

It's actually nice to be a passenger for once and to be able to sit back, relax and enjoy the view, while someone else does the hard [fun] work. Fun times!

Anyway, here are a few photos from the flight around the Wellington circuit.

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

The old prison at the north end of the Miramar Peninsula

Right hand downwind for runway 34, looking back to the airport

A view to the south-east from the circuit

Final approach for runway 34

Flight inspection time

Saturday afternoon saw the regular navaid inspection activities being undertaken at Wellington.

At it's simplest, it appears the navaid inspection involves checking that navaids are calibrated correctly, using an aircraft, in this case a Piper PA-42-1000 Cheyanne, appropriately registered ZK-FIS and registered to the Airways Corporation of New Zealand [provider of all ATC and AFIS/ FIS services in New Zealand].

Inspection runs consist of a number of approaches testing different navaids and appear to all be conducted at fairly high speed and definitely not configured for landing... 😀 Looks like fun times for the crew, although I imagine hard [and exacting] work also!

I'd be very keen to find out more, so if anyone who has any first-hand knowledge of this if happy to provide some details, I'd be keen to hear from you. Perhaps I could put up a post providing more details of this essential calibration service.

Anyway, here are a couple of photos on ZK-FIS as it overshoots after an inspection run.

Piper PA-42-1000 Cheyanne, ZK-FIS, registered to Airways Corporation of NZ

Piper PA-42-1000 Cheyanne, ZK-FIS, registered to Airways Corporation of NZ