Rainy day, time to fly

I was booked in to fly today, but It was a bit wet this morning and early afternoon. It cleared up in time though, so I ended up having a quick flight in the club's Cessna 172N, ZK-EKE. Just a enough time to depart to the north, do a simulated FLWOP around Mana Island, then back in to land.

It was also a chance to use my new OzRunways subscription in flight for the first time. I was looking for an easy flight so it would not be a distraction. It worked fine, but I want to use it some more before doing any sort of review.

In other news, I have a new camera. I'm sure much to the horror of some people, I have downgraded to a point-and-shoot - a Panasonic Lumix DC-TZ95. It's basic, seems to work well, and has a few pros and cons compared to my Canon EOS 700 I had been using. The major benefit is that I can stick it in my pocket. The major downsides so far is that the lens is not fantastic [but quite acceptable] and the autofocus is a bit slow. Still, I'm happy so far.

While waiting for the weather to clear, I took some photos. They turned out better than I expected. I have also adjusted the settings on the old watermarking tool I am using, so hopefully the JPEG compression artefacts are not quite as annoying. Photo sizes are quite a bit larger though.

First up are two photos of a Pilatus PC12/45, which is operated by Sounds Air. The second was taken through grubby glass, so not too bad I suppose.

Pilatus PC12/45, operated by Sounds Air

Pilatus PC12/45, operated by Sounds Air

Next up is Life Flight's British Aerospace Jetstream J32, ZK-LFW. This is operated by Air Freight NZ Ltd on behalf of Life Flight. The rain is quite obvious...

British Aerospace Jetstream J32, ZK-LFW, operated by Air Freight Ltd

Last up is this Bombardier CL-600-2B16, ZK-JCJ. This is operated by GCH Jet Operations. Again, it was raining a little at the time and this show up nicely in the photo.

Bombardier CL-600-2B16, ZK-JCJ, operated by GCH Jet Operations

Bombardier CL-600-2B16, ZK-JCJ, operated by GCH Jet Operations

The bandages have gone...

One of Life Flight's air ambulances has recently returned to service after a bit of a "birthday". The most obvious changes are the new livery and the introduction of 5-bladed props.

The old livery was the Weta-designed "bandages" livery. The new one is simpler but in some ways stands out better with the bold red fuselage.

British Aerospace Jetstream J32, ZK-LFW, operated by Air Freight for Life Flight

British Aerospace Jetstream J32, ZK-LFW, operated by Air Freight for Life Flight

Wellington Aero Club is 90! (post 1 of 2)

Last weekend was Wellington Aero Club's 90th Anniversary celebration!

Celebration activities included our first open day in several years on the Western Apron, followed by a really nice dinner at the Rydges hotel in the main airport terminal.

Anyway, on to the open day. I'm not sure how many people came through, but it seemed to be a steady stream throughout the day which was good. It was particularly good to have support from Lifeflight and Westpac Rescue, Sounds Air, the RNZAF, Kapiti Warbirds [owners of ZK-END], BAC167 Strikemaster Ltd and airport rescue who all sent aircraft [and a fire engine] in to support the day.

I was a bit busy, so didn't take many photos. Thank you to Ron Edmands for most of these photos, as indicated.

North American Harvard 3*, ZK-END, operated by Kapiti Warbirds

Pilatus PC12/45, ZK-PLS, operated by Sounds Air

Cessna 208 Caravan, ZK-PDM, operated by Sounds Air

British Aerospace Jetstream J32, ZK-LFW, operated by Air Freight NZ on behalf of Lifeflight

British Aerospace Jetstream J32, ZK-LFW, operated by Air Freight NZ on behalf of Lifeflight

British Aerospace Jetstream J32, ZK-LFW, operated by Air Freight NZ on behalf of Lifeflight

Low cloud, high humidity

So much for a plan to go flying today. The day dawned and finished with low cloud and high humidity - clearly not conducive to VFR flying...

One arrival to emerge from the gloom was the General Dynamics Allison Convair 440/580, ZK-CIE, which is operated by Air Chathams. This parked up on the Eastern Apron.

General Dynamics Allison Convair 440/580, ZK-CIE, operated by Air Chathams

General Dynamics Allison Convair 440/580, ZK-CIE, operated by Air Chathams

The cloud was so low that at one stage a Jetstar operated Airbus A320-232, VH-VFF emerged from cloud just as they started their overshoot... talk about timing! It looked good, but unfortunate;lyt he camera was not ready. Oh well, they made it on the second attempt.

Airbus A320-232, VH-VFF, operated by Jetstar Airways

Last up is a British Aerospace Jetstaream J32, ZK-LFW, operated by Air Freight on behalf of Lifeflight Wellington.

British Aerospace Jetstream J32, ZK-LFW, operated by Air Freight on behalf of Life Flight

The end of another year, but take it easy!

It's the end of another busy year... and I can't imagine that next year will be any different!

Today's photo is of the Wellington-based Lifeflight Air Ambulance, a British Aerospace Jetstream J32, ZK-LFW, operated by Air Freight NZ. Why this? Well, unfortunately there have been a lot of air ambulances in and out of Wellington over the past few days... 

Anyway, here's a picture of ZK-LFW.

British Aerospace Jetstream J32, ZK-LFW, operated by Air Freight NZ on behalf of Lifeflight Wellington

Some random shots from the weekend

Here are pictures of a various aircraft from the weekend.

Boeing 737-8FE, VH-YIS, is operated by Virgin Australia International Airlines and is seen here soon after landing at Wellington.

Boeing 737-8FE, VH-YIS, operated by Virgin Australia International Airlines

Next up is another B737, this time a B737-838, ZK-ZQB, operated by Jetconnect [a subsidiary of Qantas].

Boeing 737-838, ZK-ZQB, operated by Jetconnect/ Qantas

Next up are two air ambulances, both of which have featured in this blog on occasions. First is the local resident, British Aerospace Jetstream J32, ZK-LFW. This is operated by Air Freight on behalf of Lifeflight Wellington.

British Aerospace Jetstream J32, ZK-LFW, operated by Air Freight on behalf of Lifeflight Wellington

The second ambulance is the Starship Hospital air ambulance, a Beechcraft B300, ZK-SSH, operated by Skyline Aviation.

Beechcraft B300, ZK-SSH, operated by Skyline Aviation

Lifeflight Air Ambulance

I wasn't able to get any more pictures of the Jetstar-branded DHC-8 today - it was tucked up nice and tight in the Execujet hanger all day. Maybe tomorrow...

The one aircraft I did photograph today was the British Aerospace Jetstream J32, ZK-LFW. This is operated by Air Freight NZ on behalf of Lifeflight, as the local fixed wing air ambulance.

British Aerospace Jetstream J32, ZK-LFW, operated by Air Freight NZ

Life Flight Wellington open day

Today was Life Flight Wellington's open day. This is a big day for them the show what they do, and to raise some money for their rescue helicopter and air ambulance services.

I realised after I left I don't really have any pictures from inside the hangers, where they had food, bomb disposal, drug dogs, police, ambulances and fire service demonstrations... you'll just have to picture that :-P

Outside they had their British Aerospace Jetstream J32, ZK-LFW air ambulance and Kawasaki BK117 B2, ZK-HLF, rescue helicopter. The Jetstream was on static display with queues of people wanting to take a look through it, and the helicopter had the same queues in between its displays.

British Aerospace Jetstream J32, ZK-LFW

British Aerospace Jetstream J32, ZK-LFW

Kawasaki BK117 B-2, ZK-HLF

Kawasaki BK117 B-2, ZK-HLF

Soon after these photos were taken, I headed over the to Aero Club. As you'll see from the following photos, the weather got worse after I left the displays... very glad I was not flying today!

View across to the Eastern Apron. Not nice...

Boeing 737-33A, ZK-NGR, operated by Air NZ

Boeing 737-33A, ZK-NGR, operated by Air NZ

Wings Over Wairarapa: Intro post

Yesterday was spent at the biennial Wings Over Wairarapa airshow, held at Masterton airport [ICAO code: NZMS].

As usual it was extremely hot [up to 30 deg Celsius according to the official Metservice website] which is something I am definitely not cut out for, but there was still plenty of interesting stuff happening. The main purpose of the visit was to assist at the Wellington Aero Club stand where we had one of our aircraft on display and were giving out a bit of info about the Club.

While I remember, WAC does have a new website. This provides for online purchases of trial flights, so if you're in Wellington, NZ and interested in your first flight lesson, you can order one now or phone or visit us for more info. T's & C's apply [including of course, you'll need to fly from Wellington International Airport!].

Anyway, back to the airshow! As usual, there was a good mix of civil, ex-military and current military aircraft as well as the usual ground-based activities. The following series of posts wil cover it off in more detail, but here are a few highlights.

First up is the WAC stand with a couple of Club members chatting with a potential customer [Sorry Amy... had to get at least one of these in!]

North American Harvard 3* as part of a race... more photos in a later post.

de Havilland DH112 Venom, ZK-RVM

British Aerospace Jetstream J32, ZK-LFW, operated by Lifeflight as an Air Ambulance

Inside of ZK-LFW

Bell UH-1H, NZ3807, of the RNZAF. This will be the last year that these helicopters are displayed as they are to be retired in a couple of months. The RNZAF is replacing them with the following...

NATO Helicopter Industries NH90, NZ3301, the last helicopter in the RNZAF inventory [alongside the A109 LUH]

What airshow would be complete without some pyrotechnics to end it all? Very few, I would suspect :-)

Lastly, you can get a full lists of Wings Over Wairarapa 2015 posts by clicking here. The results of this search will increase as I add more posts over the next few days!

Lifeflight Air Ambulance

What follows are my first pictures of the Life Flight Air Ambulance, a British Aerospace Jetstream J32, ZK-LFW, since the Vincent Aviation receivership. The aircraft has recently had some additional decals applied, saying "Life Flight - Saves time. Saves lives" since I last saw it.

According to the CAA website, the aircraft is still operated by Vincent Aviation (in receivership), but in reality the crews are supplied by a company called Air Freight.

Another nice day in Wellington

It was another nice day in Wellington today. A little more breezy than yesterday, but nice nonetheless.

I spent an hour or so at the Spruce Goose cafe this afternoon with friends, and took the opportunity to get a few photos from a slightly different angle to what I usually get.

First up, it is great to see the Lifeflight Air Ambulance airborne again. It has been a rough time with Vincent Aviation going into receivership [Vincent's supplied at least the flight crew and maintenance], but these things have been worked through and now this British Aerospace Jetstream Series 3200 [J32], ZK-LFW, is flying again.

Next up is an Air New Zealand Airbus A320-232, ZK-OJB.

Following on from that is this Jetconnect [QANTAS] Boeing 737-838, ZK-ZQH. Jetconnect of course if a QANTAS subsidiary which runs most of the QANTAS branded services between New Zealand and Australia.

Last up is another QANTAS subsidiary, Jetstar. This ia an Airbus A320-232, VH-VGN.

A wee bit wet today

I was due to go for a flight today, but with low cloud and drizzle appearing and remaining, there is no way that was going to work. In fact, it's just after 16:00 NZST and the cloud is only just lifting from my house which is a few hundred feet above sea level.

Oh well. Maybe tomorrow, although I suspect the weather will still be rubbish.

At least on days like today, there are usually still a few good photos to be had. Today was no exception.

Perhaps the most interesting landing of the day would go to the Jetstar crew who managed to land an Airbus A320 on Wellington's runway 16 and pull off at taxiway A6 - around 1100 meters from the threshold. It must have been very very light to do that as they usually exit much later, especially in damp conditions and reasonably light winds.

Anyway, here are the photos. Top to bottom are;

Airbus A320-232, VH-VQC, of Jetstar
British Aerospace Jetstream J32, ZK-LFW, of Vincent Aviation [the local air ambulance]
Bombardier DHC-8-311, ZK-NEK, of Air Nelson [Air NZ]
2 x Boeing 737-8FE, ZK-PBD, of Virgin Australia Airlines [NZ] Ltd