My first visit to Invercargill!

At Invercargill
I had the privilege of spending last week working at a couple of my employer's more remote worksites. This trip saw me fly firstly into Invercargill and then up to Taupo.

I had never been to Invercargill before, so I was interested to see what the airport was like. The terminal itself was pretty basic, but mostly functional. It is also undergoing a major revamp, to the extent that the baggage collection point is currently in a marque outside the main terminal.

The following pictures are from Invercargill airport [ICAO code: NZNV] on the day of my departure. Top to bottom are the terminal, the baggage claim area and the control tower.

In additional to some local light aircraft, there were two commercial flights that came and went. The first is an Air Nelson Bombardier DHC8-311, ZK-NFB and the second is the aircraft that would take me to Christchurch, an ATR-GIE ATR72-212A, ZK-MCU, operated by Mount Cook Airline:

Flights to Taupo
The flights to Taupo [Invercargill - Christchurch - Wellington - Taupo] were reasonably eventful.

We were flying abeam Christchurch when the ATR72 was struck be lightening. I did not see anything, but it was one very loud bang. One of the flight attendants just about jumped out of her skin... hardly surprising!

The flight from Christchurch to Wellington was in a Boeing 737, and we got "moved around' a wee bit. Nothing frightening at all, actually, just a bit of fun.

Wellington to Taupo in a Raytheon B1900D was less eventful, although we did get to land, and de-plane in a fair amount of rain. Fun times!

I only have a couple of photos from this part of the trip - the first is looking out at the clouds below us in the cruise towards Taupo and the second is the inside of the mostly empty plane. More pictures from Taupo will be in my next post.

Night flying last night!

Last night was my first night flight after gaining my night rating. The weather was absolutely perfect with hardly a breeze [variable direction, 2-3 knots most of the time], no cloud and very little other traffic. Just perfect for a newly night rated pilot flying a Cessna 172N :-)

What was even better was that Saturday night was the night of the Wellington Guy Fawkes night public display. I swear I only found that out on Saturday morning :-) but who could resist the temptation? There was a NOTAM covering the display, and we [Amy, Rhys and I] would be flying well clear of the display area.

After takeoff on runway 16 we flew via the harbour to Lower Hutt/ Petone and flew around there for a while [sorry for keeping you awake Glenn B! :-)] and after the display started we came back for a few circuits.

Anyway, here are some photos from Amy and Rhys. It's hard taking photos on cameras at night, but I think they did a good job.

First up is a picture of the departure from Wellington. It was only a few minutes past ECT, so there's still plenty of light around.

This was what greeted us as we circled over Lower Hutt for 30 minutes or so. What the picture doesn't show are the many small fireworks being let off in backyards all over Lower Hutt and on the beach. It was a great sight from above!

This picture is of Wellington City as seen from Lower Hutt. Before the display, obviously! :-)

The display has started as we headed back for some circuits. As good as the photos are, they don't really do justice to what we saw, but such is life! There's a reason I think the three of us had the best seat in the house!

At this point we are left base for runway 16, and the display continues.

This is one of the best photos we got. Please remember we are using phone cameras, which is why there is nothing too detailed or close up [that and I was keeping my distance!]

Last, but hardly least, it has been a busy few weeks of flying. The top sticker is from October's strip flying course at Marlborough Aero Club and below that, the all-important night rating sticker!

[Many thanks to Rhys and Amy for sharing their photos!]

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.

More from windy Wellington

Next up from today's "sightseeing" are some of the smaller aircraft [in fact, I think these were the very smallest aircraft] I saw operating today. Not surprising really!

Top to bottom are:

Beech B200 King Air, ZK-MYM, operated by Air2There.com. This was operating an Air Ambulance service while the Wellington-based Lifeflight operation gets sorted after Vincent Aviation folded recently. Hopefully some good news on that front in the next week or two.
Beech B200 Super King Air, NZ7121, operated by the Royal New Zealand Air Force [RNZAF]. The two photos show the departure and a later arrival back into Wellington. Odd that the RNZAF is flying around on a Sunday [not unheard of, just a little unusual].
Raytheon [originally Beech] 1900D, ZK-EAP, operated by Eagle Airways [Air NZ].
Cessna 208B, ZK-SAY, operated by Sounds Air.
The slightly smaller Cessna 208, ZK-PDM, also operated by Sounds Air.

Windy Wellington Weighs In With Worth While Wingding

You might need to look up the Wingding bit, but if you know anything about Wellington's wind, the rest will make sense!

Yes, the wind was blowing hard today. Gusts up in the mid-40 knots and crosswinds always make for exciting times at Wellington airport and today was no exception. This really was one of those days where I was very grateful to be on the ground! Needless to say, there was plenty of opportunity for photography and I came away with just over 150 photos for the day. This and following posts will highlight just a few of them.

Anyway, on to the first set of photos. This set contains:

Boeing 737-319, ZK-NGH, operated by Air NZ. Take a close look as this aircraft is airborne on runway 34 just past A8! It must have been lightly loaded.
Airbus A320-232, ZK-OXD, also operated by Air NZ. This picture was taken just as it hit some turbulence which swung it to the left.
ATR-GIE ATR72-212A, ZK-MVD, operated by Mount Cook Airline [Air NZ]. The two photos show the start of the missed approach. It landed safely later on.
Bombardier DHC8-311, ZK-NEQ, operated by Air Nelson [Air NZ]
Bombardier DHC8-311, ZK-NEP, also operated by Air Nelson [Air NZ]. This provides a nice contrast between the new and old liveries [ZK-NEQ having the new livery].

Time to be a passenger and other aircraft

After an almost record [for me] 10.8 hours of flying in October, I was planning on remaining on the ground for the first day of November [far out - less than 2 months until Christmas!?!]. Plans of course are made to be changed, so when I was invited to go for a quick flight as a passenger in a Cessna T206H, ZK-JWH, it was a very quick decision :-)

The flight was a quick one up to Paraparaumu, a few circuits and back again, but still a lot of fun [thanks, Simon]. These first pictures are of the panel and of the approach into Paraparaumu.

Next up are a couple of diamonds. Well, Diamonds, from Massey University School of Aviation. First up is a Diamond DA40, ZK-MTL and second is a Diamond DA42 Twinstar, ZK-MTR.

Who switched off [most of] the light?

Yesterday evening was unexpectedly fun!

It started with some txts then a phone call asking if I wanted to do some more night flying training, with a view to finishing off my night rating. It was somewhat unexpected as the weather forecast was for slightly stronger winds, but hey, I'm hardly going to pass up a chance like this!

ECT [Evening Civil Twilight] was about 8:30pm last night, and so after my instructor Richard did a couple of circuits, we went up for 30 minutes of dual circuits followed by 1 hour of solo circuits in WAC's Cessna 172N, ZK-FLT. 

The weather was not as nice as the last night, with a surface wind of around 010 deg magnetic [30 deg right of runway 34] at 9-10 knots. Not a strong wind, but it was still a wee bit lumpy from the surface to about 800' with all of the terrain around the place. Still, it kept me on my toes, was a great experience to have and my crosswind landings are somewhat better now...

On the plus side, there was no cloud and with a tiny of of the moon reflecting sunlight back, it was easy enough to see the terrain and the surface.

Anyway, that's my night flying requirements done [for flight within 25 nm of a lit aerodrome]. After several years of trying [and only managing one flight a year... not ideal] I've managed to get this completed in a couple of weeks. I pick up the logbook sticker on the weekend.

Many thanks to my instructors, James and Richard who enabled this to happen!

Now for some practice... :-)

Yet another flight today...

It has been a busy flying month for me today. In what is probably my second busiest month's flying, I've accumulated 9.3 hours of flying this month, including strip flying, night flying and just general mucking around enjoying myself flying!

Today, Andrew, Amy and I headed off to Masterton in Cessna 172N, ZK-FLT. No real reason, except to have a fly, some fun and a few circuits at a quiet, uncontrolled, aerodrome. Ok, we had to avoid some meat bombers [parachutists], but the jump pilot was friendly and helpful, telling us where they be descending etc.

I got to fly from Wellington to Masterton and a few circuits. We took the Pencarrow Departure from Wellington, into Palliser Bay and then north to Masterton. This first picture is in Palliser Bay, looking south-east.

On the way there, we past another Club aircraft - Piper PA38-112, ZK-TAW. the Hatchet must be slow for our old C172 to overtake it easily :-)

Andrew did some circuits at Masterton, then I flew us back again. It was mostly smooth enough flying, although the gentle breeze and thermals at Masterton were interesting. The aircraft was moving around most of the time, and the windsocks were all a little different. Not at the level of being character building but enough to keep us awake and on our toes.

On the way back we came down the Hutt Valley, past Kaitoke airstrip then on towards Wellington.

Finally, here we are short-final approach into Wellington, followed by Andrew's GPS track of our arrival. The magenta line shows our flight path, and yes, it was a fairly tight base leg to fit in with inbound IFR traffic.

Now all I need is some good weather to finish off my night rating!

Pictures in this post are from Amy and Andrew. Thanks!

Wow. That was fun!

I think I have found a new fun thing to do in aircraft [alongside strip flying, of course!]. It's this night flying thing, which, on a night like last night [a very gentle breeze, good visibility and no cloud] is just about the perfect way to spend an evening, even a series of circuits around the airport!

One of the best things about night flying is the lack of traffic. There were only two circuits with any sort of holding [plus a couple where we extended downwind for runway 34]. The rest of the time I was getting my touch&go or landing clearances when I called downwind. Nice :-)

The evening started with me arriving a bit early to fuel and preflight the aircraft [WAC's Cessna 172N, ZK-FLT] in daylight, then a short wait until it got dark.

The first few approaches were a little stink [it has been a long time since I overshoot the centreline... grrrrrr], but with good instruction [thanks James] and a bit of practice they seemed to come about right. Normal circuits, simulated electrical failure [so flapless landing], and the PAPIs were off for one approach also [not sure how that got organised without me knowing ahead of time :-)]. We discussed procedures for handling an actual electrical failure [could I divert to PP with an electrical failure? No... because I need the radio to turn on the lights at PP etc etc*].

After an hour of dual circuits, I was sent off on my first night solo for another hour. Yep, there were a couple of landings where I gently bounced, but nothing dangerous or evening frightening. Did I mention just how much FUN this is?? It's nice just how much clearer the stars are when you're just south of all the city lights.

What a way to spend the early night time. I could get used to this. There are no photos [I was busy...!], but I am looking forward to some more circuits. Combine that with the dual time I already have, plus a "diversion" to Paraparaumu so I can see what it is like to approach and landing at an unfamiliar aerodrome at night, I should be close to done for my night rating. Can't wait - I've been trying for a few years, but that's another story :-)

* actually, there are ways this could be done, but you get the picture...

Another flight today

It has been a good weekend as I managed to get another local flight in WAC's Cessna 172N, ZK-FLT. Unlike yesterday which where I did some turns, a FLWOP and some circuits, this one was all about having a bit of fun.

Grant [another Club pilot] and I went out to Palliser Bay for a look around. As you can see in some of the photos, the weather was hardly what you'd call sunny, and there was some low cloud [around 1100' in places] and rain, but there was still plenty to see, including waterfalls along the Rimutaka Ranges. We also headed out to the Pinnacles [rock formations on the eastern side of Palliser Bay] before returning to Wellington. All done in 1 hour. Easy!

Anyway, here are a couple of photos from Grant. The first is rounding Turakirae Head at 1000', the second is over Lake Onoke at 1500' with Ferry township in the centre-right looking south-east.

A nice enough day to go flying

Today was a nice enough day to go flying. Not perfect, but not rubbish either.

Considering the northerly breeze at Wellington, I had expected some turbulence when heading out the Palliser Bay in the southern Wairarapa area, but there was very little.

The only weather-related stuff I did encounter was a line of cloud at about 1100' up against the eastern side of the Rimutaka Ranges. Photos follow of ahead, beside and behind me. Apart from this, the cloud was nothing to be concerned about.

Heading back to Wellington, I completed a couple of circuits just to keep the skills up. I think I managed ok :-) although after experiencing the manual flap last weekend, I have come to realise just how slow the manual flap is in ZK-FLT... :-(

Last up is a nice picture of Air NZ's Airbus A320-232, ZK-OAB, landing at Wellington.

Now I just hope the weather is good enough for me to go flying tomorrow also. May as well make use of the fine weather we're having in Wellington these days!

Odds and sods

Ok, I couldn't resist... one more post, although this time of the random photos from the weekend.

Some of which are pretty impressive :-)

First up is an Air NZ Airbus A320-232, ZK-OXB, which was taxiing in as I was waiting for the Sounds Air departure.

Next up is a fairly random picture from inside the Sounds Air Cessna 208B Grand Caravan, ZK-SAA, on the trip over to Woodbourne.

Omaka aerodrome is home to some fairly fancy aircraft.

Among the best of them would have to be the Avro 652A Anson, ZK-RRA [ok, the Flug Werk FW190 A8/N, ZK-RFR, is cool also, but no good photos of that!]. Also on display was this Cessna 195, ZK-BEB, and a line-up of Nanchang CJ6's. There were many other aircraft, but I didn't stop to get photos of them all :-(