DISAPPOINTMENT - THEN A BONUS

Went over to the beach last weekend with a booking on the Stearman for Saturday afternoon but the weather gods were not kind at all.  Drizzle in the morning and, although the rain had stopped by lunchtime, when I turned up at Classic Flyers the cloud was overcast at 300 feet so there was no chance of going up.  At least I got the paperwork done for the share transfer so not totally wasted time.

I got away from work at lunchtime today so, as it was a nice sunny afternoon, decided to get some flying in.  On my way to the club I was very pleasantly surprised to see the Stearman from Classic Flyers on approach to Hamilton.

JGP was free so I took off towards the South-west for a local flight.  The wind had started at 250º at 8 knots on the surface and forecast 160º, 15 knots at 2000 feet.  It seemed a bit stronger and more westerly by the time I was at 2000' on a Pirongia departure as I was getting a fair bit of turbulence when directly East of the mountain (Pirongia, 3144').  Things calmed down a lot once I was South of the mountain and quite smooth over Kawhia Harbour and out to the coast.

Weather was changeable on the coast, nice at Kawhia, but a short distance North the cloud was covering the top of Karioi (2480') with fairly dense haze over the coast reducing visibility locally to about 15Km.  I could hear another aircraft broadcasting he was on track to Raglan from further South so gave a weather call and turned right to head directly back to Hamilton South of Karioi without going to Raglan as it was a lot clearer that way.  The plane behind followed suit and followed me in.  

It was pretty busy at Hamilton this afternoon with lots of radio activity but I was cleared for a North arrival straight away and requested 25 for landing as the wind was now 250, 13 gusting to 20 knots.  At Rukuhia (in line for a right hand downwind) I was instructed to cross the extended centre line and join left hand downwind for 2500' and was only allowed to descend once downwind.  No big deal, I flew a nice (short, as instructed) approach, got a bit of rise on short final but almost closing the throttle fixed that and, crossing the threshold at 65 knots, I did a very smooth, level hold off, column back and a lovely, soft touch down.  Not too bad in the gusty wind.  I was able to taxi off halfway and the controller thanked me as the plane behind was pretty close.

Planes at Club today:

The Stearman, of course.  One of the other shareholders was doing a few flights.

152 ZK-NPN from New Plymouth Aero Club.  They followed me in and I had a brief chat to the instructor at the fuel pumps.  They saw the weather at Raglan and had chosen the clearer route as I had.  Next stop for them, Auckland International.

172 ZK-TAT from Ardmore Flying School (had heard her call at Huntly while I was over Temple View).  Very nervous young female pilot on first solo cross-country who nearly walked across my path while I was taxying.  I had her in sight, was taxying very slowly and my feet were hovering on the brakes.  She saw me and stopped to let me pass.  I went over and had a brief chat - she landed x-wind 18 - brave girl in that wind.  Well done!  Next stop for her, Rotorua

Hope you all had good flights, folks.  And now, some photos;

     Stearman 203, ZK-XAF in the flight line with WIT AND UFS

                                Just love this plane!!

                        Kawhia township on the Harbour

                 The cloud and haze over Karioi and Raglan 

                      - Aotea harbour in middle ground

               Classics together  (ZK-TAT in the background)

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST.....?

I must say, I actually enjoy both ends of the technology spectrum offered at Waikato Aero Club, from "The Beast", JFG: taildragger, heavy manual trim, no GPS or autopilot, basic radio, to "Beauty", WIT, Twin GPS and radios, advanced autopilot, IFR capable, electric trim, EFIS.  

I can imagine a scene in The Old Yorkshire Pilots Club bar:

Bill, "Arternoon, 'Arry, how do, George"

Harry, "Can't complain, lad, won a fiver on whippets yesterday"

George, "'Ast tha heard 'bout new plane club's just bought?"

Bill, "Nay, what's it like?"

George, "Too b****y flash if tha ask me"

Harry, "Aye, it's got 'lectric powered trim wheel"

Bill, "What?"

George, "Yep, push a little switch on t' column and t' trim wheel spins."

Bill, "Bl***y Hell, in my day you had to be a body builder to shift the trim on t' planes I flew."

Harry, "Trim wheel! Luxury!!  When I were training, as soon as throttle were closed instructor'd send yer out to crawl out to tail and pull tab by hand - and there'd be a reyt rollickin' if tha got it wrong! I DREAMED of trim wheels"

George, "Got an EFIS, too."

Bill, "EFIS - yer talking foreign at me now!"

Harry, "'lectronic Flight Information System, it has just about all your instrument readings displayed on a little TV screen in front of pilot."

Bill, "Blimey, that's a bit of a far cry from knocking a nail into windscreen frame and hanging a bit of string from it.  These kids are b****y spoilt rotten these days"

George, "Got air conditioning, too."

Bill, "Air-con-bl***y-ditioning?  What's wrong wit' open cockpit?!  I dunno, youth of today......."

Well, you get the drift....

Went up this morning for a few circuits in WIT.  All went well, five good, tight circuits, three good landings, one superb greaser and only a bit bumpy for the glide approach but easily made the runway so that was all good, I reckoned.  Also, with the weather a touch dodgy I was on my own in the circuit for much of the time.  Happy pilot factor on max.

                  "BEAUTY"? (The plane not the weather!!)

                        "THE BEAST"? (but a nice one)

 Turning cross to downwind 18 - broken cloud at 1200' (circuit height)

          Late downwind - looking a bit clearer to the West

MATAMATA BEAT-UP

MONDAY  8TH NOVEMBER

Aircraft:  Cessna 180 ZK-JFG

Position: Downwind leg runway 28 circuit NZMA (Matamata)

Altitude:  600' amsl (400' agl)

POB: 2, self and Roger (CFI)

Wow, what fun!!  Another hour of tailwheel time in the logbook.  Almost an action replay of last Monday but after about five standard circuits at Matamata in ideal conditions, light wind straight down the runway, no cloud and not late enough to have the sun in the eyes on final, Roger decided it was time for some fun!

I was getting the hang of landing, I thought, although still a bit lazy on the rudder and tending to look straight ahead rather than along the cowling while holding off.  Then Roger said, "I have control", demonstrated the perfect take-off attitude, and took an early steepish turn onto downwind at low level.  Abeam the downwind threshold, he cut the power, first and second stages of flap in quick succession, full flap while turning onto a short final for a perfect 3-pointer, showing me exactly how to hold off.  Then it was my turn, Whee!!! - now I know why Ag pilots do what they do.  Not much time to think about it, just looking out, doing most of the checks by feel and, hey, I don't think I did too badly with two three pointers and a wheel landing (not intended, but remembered to keep the column back so we didn't nose over!!).  Then it was back to Hamilton, cleared straight in for 25L and a reasonable landing to finish.  The very last bit wasn't so great, though, I turned too close to the fence, missed the parking stand and had to taxi round again, Whoops!!

Total Tailwheel time 5.1 hours

TAILWHEEL TIME

My Stearman experience over Labour weekend convinced me I should take the plunge and buy the share that had been advertised on TraedeMe recently.  So, once the paperwork is sorted out I should be the proud owner of 1/30 of a classic aircraft (and, as CFI Roger pointed out, it is a BOEING!!!!)
To fly P-in-C on the Stearman, Classic Flyers want you to have 25 hours of tailwheel time, so I thought some sessions in the club's Cessna 180, JFG, would be a good way to do some of this, and also, maybe, get another type rating while I am about it.
So, today at 1645 I arrived at the club for a flight in JFG with CFI, Roger.  I have been up twice before in the 180 so not a complete novice.  Compared to the club's Alphas, Cherokees and 172s, JFG is a bit of a beast!  230hp six-cylinder engine, three blade constant speed prop and stands very tall at the front due to the tailwheel stance.
JFG has a STOL kit fitted which droops the ailerons when the flaps go down so is very short field capable for the type so we headed off to Matamata for some circuits with stop and goes.  Maybe it is the nearly two years further flying experience, or flying the Stearman, or Roger's (as always) excellent instruction, JFG today seemed a lot more benign than I remembered.  There was a 5-6 knot crosswind on Matamata's 10 runway, left to right, enough to make it "interesting" in a taildragger (runway 04 was closed and from the rich green grass after the 10 days of very dry weather here has not been mown for a while).
I was guilty of being lazy on the rudder both on take-off and landing for the first couple of circuits but was doing OK after that, setting up into a sideslip attitude on very short final, levelling off, column back, chop the throttle and settling onto a near three-point landing with only a slight bounce, keeping straight by working the rudder and a bit of brake to a halt less than halfway down the strip with plenty of room to take off again.  Then it was back to Hamilton for an acceptable landing on 36L (on the grass and no crosswind) and a taxi back to refuel.  Roger let me taxi back to park on my own - no simple task in a tailwheel plane with not much space betwen the fence and JGP's stand - I did it OK, just slightly off-centre!  Great fun, Roger, 1.0 hours in the book which means: 300 HOURS TOTAL TIME - Whoo-Hoo!!  Action replay next Monday, weather permitting.

P.S.:   Total tailwheel time: 4.1 hours!!

FLYING OVER THE FOG

TUESDAY 26TH OCTOBER

Position:  Over Rotowaro - five miles South-west of Huntly

Altitude:  2000'

Aircraft:  C-172, ZK-JGP

Weather:  See the photo!!! 

 

I had taken today off work to make it a 4-day weekend so had booked JGP first thing this morning.  My original intention was to fly North following the river up to Port Waikato and then back via the West coast and Raglan.  Didn't quite turn out like that due to our old friend, the weather!!

The ATIS had shown fog patches in the vicinity of Hamilton, few cloud at 100' and 500' and variable 3kt wind.  I could see the haze and cloud but there was very little fog to see.  That was until I was on my way North and about three miles South of Huntly.  Beyond the Hakarimata range was a sea of low cloud for a couple of miles either side of the river with the Huntly power station chimneys poking through like a two pronged fork.  Hmm!!  An ATIS for an (imaginary) Huntly airfield would have read: overcast at 100 feet!!  I made a radio call to report this (had a call from someone at Whakatane for a weather report for Hamilton a little earlier) and another station responded with, "It's all the way to the Bombay Hills, mate"!  Change of plan, then.

A look to the South-west showed the weather around Raglan was BEAUTIFUL!! - see photo below.  So, it was off to Raglan, overhead there, and back home to Hamilton for a few circuits.  These went really well but were interesting as the clouds were hanging about circuit height just to West of the airport necessitating a bit of cloud dodging in a left hand circuit off 18.  I did about five circuits including a flapless and a glide all pretty well and left for home for a well earned cup of coffee!!

FLYING A LEGEND

LABOUR WEEKEND: 23 - 25 OCTOBER

We, that is, the lovely missus and myself planned on a long weekend at Papamoa.  I had decided to have a bit of fun and had booked a flight in Classic Flyers NZ's Boeing Stearman.  This is a 1942 vintage example, imported into NZ from the US in 1988 and lovingly cared for as the true classic that it is.  The weather was wonderful all weekend making a change from the storms and poor flying weather leading up to the holiday weekend.

So I fronted up at just before 1400 on Saturday and was introduced to Andrew, Classic Flyers CEO and Pete, chief pilot who was to take me up.  Pete showed me around the plane and took me through the preflight and start up procedures and then suggested we might do two flights as he had a booking in their Ag-Cat at 1500.  I wasn't going to object!

The first flight consisted of taxying - always a challenge in a taildragger - run-up, pre-takeoff checks and then onto Grass 25 for takeoff and a 20 minute flight just seaward of the Mount for a few medium turns and then back for approach and landing.  I was in the front cockpit as this was my first time.

My main concerns before the flight were; 1)  how would I cope with an open cockpit, and 2)  coping with a fairly large tailwheel aircraft.  As it turned out these were fairly groundless.  The open cockpit was a bit noisier and draughtier than I am used too but no real bother and the Stearman was a sight easier to fly than the 180 at Waikato Aero Club which I have had a couple of flights in.  Big and slow, sure, but very light and steady on the controls and m y turns seemed pretty good.  Pete talked me through the approach and landing which I seemed to manage fine with a bit of help (hard to know how much help in tandem cockpits).

Then it was off to tell the good lady I would be a bit late, a coffee at the cafe and all aboard again for a quick local and a few circuits.  The wind had got up a bit with about 8-10 knots cross wind from the North (right to left) which made taxying a bit more of a challenge - I managed to do the weaving technique to maintain forward vision OK but swung a bit more than I intended at one point - Pete soon sorted me out.  The circuits went fairly well, a bit lazy on the rudder on the touch-and-goes but otherwise pretty good, and I ended well pleased with my efforts.  Andrew shouted me a beer to finish which went down very nicely, thank you, and then it was home to indulge in another of my interests, cooking dinner.
What a great day!!!!!

THOSE EXPENSIVE CAPPUCCINOS AGAIN!!

SATURDAY 16TH OCTOBER

Aircraft:  Piper PA28 Archer III - ZK-WIT

POB:       2

Altitude: 2700'

Position: 2 miles West of Wairere Falls en route Tauranga

Weather: Scattered cloud at 2500 - 3000' (base) just west of the Kaimai ranges, otherwise, sky clear. Wind 290º at 15kt (forecast). 

Well, it hadn't looked too good for flying this morning with overcast skies in Hamilton and Tauranga with cloud bases under 2000'.

I had booked WIT from 1400 to take eldest daughter for a flight as she has just returned from her 3 month OE in the UK and Europe and was keen to go up.  It was also a chance for some time in WIT with all its "whistles and bells". 
I thought an "expensive coffee" at the AvGas Cafe at Tauranga would be good but it was not looking promising right up until about 1300 when the ATIS from Tauranga changed (in about an hour) from OVC 1700' to few cloud at 2500'.  Hamilton was scattered at 2000' so it looked good to go.

The weather was fine all the way apart from those few clouds on the windward side of the Kaimais (which had all but disappeared on our way back) and a bit of haze.  Coffee, a brisk walk, an ogle at the classic planes parked outside Classic Flyers, and a return trip to Hamilton, all complete by 1600.

Then the phone rang at 1700.  Hmm, an 03 number, wonder who?  Yep, it was the National Briefing Office - I had forgotten to terminate my flight plan.  Much embarrassment, but at least you know there is someone looking out for you!

Daughter dearest shot some video (which she is very good at), easy to edit and now posted on Youtube at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeqkW1Q-VnU

You will see how clear it was after the morning overcast.  It was a bit windy, though, especially back in Hamilton (thank goodness for the 07/25 runways!!)

NEW VIDEO

Just finished editing and uploading my latest bit of video to Youtube yesterday.  You can check it out at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwaD4SIJUQI

ENJOY!

Went for a brief flight in DQV Thursday but conditions weren't great so passed overhead Raglan and back to Hamilton for a bit of a challenging approach and a fairly crappy landing in a 90º 10kt crosswind.  From reading some other blogs I see other kiwi flyers were challenged that day, also!

WAM RADIO UPDATE - WELL, SORT OF

Thursday 7th October

Back up in WAM again.  Despite the lovely weather of the past few days, it was a very cloudy Waikato morning and I opted for a local flight and a few circuits instead of an expensive coffee somewhere.  It was also a chance to check out the radios again.  I asked if there was anything found to explain the problem last week but no-one around at the time I arrived and departed from the club could tell me anything significant.

So, I took WAM out over to the Arapuni hydro dam, back up along Lake Karapiro and "home" for a few circuits.  Well, guess what?; everything pretty much behaved itself.  The radios were fine, the only interference being from another airborne station when it was transmitting.  Transponder OK, GPS working normally and the autopilot also behaved itself.  The only glitch was one of my landings - a bit of a bounce but that is down to me, not the plane {and there was a bit of a variable crosswind :) }.

So, WAM seemed to be OK and I am still left wondering what the problem was last week....

P.S.: Thanks for the comments on the last post, guys

GOOD.... THEN NOT SO GOOD....

Thursday 30th September

Aircraft: Cessna 172R, ZK-WAM

POB:      4

Altitude: 172' asl (on the ground at HLZ)

Weather: Broken cloud at 2500', wind 010 at 12 knots, QNH 1019 - forecast rain from 1200 local

Well, it didn't look good for a cross country so, instead of taking my 3 passengers (youngest daughter, her boyfriend and his mum) for an expensive coffee somewhere I decided a local flight was in order.  All preflight, passenger briefing, run-up and pre-take off checks done, we had been cleared to the North-East, to line up on 36L (once a couple of landing planes were down), and stay on the runway heading until advised.  So far, so good, and cleared for take off while lining up.

It stayed good for only a few more seconds.  With a heavy plane and the short runway, I elected for a maximum performance take-off, opened the throttle on the brakes and then let go.  It was about 5 seconds into the take-off run when the white noise started.  All I could hear while lifting off was a torrent of static and the very faint voice of the circuit controller talking to other traffic.

No time to do anything at present, I thought, just get the aircraft into a climb, clean up and the reassess the situation.  I carried straight on as cleared but now could barely hear anything over the static.  I levelled off at 1200', closed the throttle to 2300rpm and the radio became a little clearer.  However, the controller could neither hear me, nor detect my transponder (yes, it was on mode C).  With the controller talking and me responding with transmit pulses I got myself onto the Scott departure track and requested a return to land.

With the throttle closed further to about 1900 rpm the radio became clearer and we could now talk to each other.  I had checked all the headsets, circuit breakers and changed radio sets (two radios on WAM) and all had made no difference.  I tried the throttle again and back came the static at anything above 2000 rpm.  Having been cleared right hand downwind for 36R, the approach went well, holding at about 65 knots on final with 4 up to try a precision landing and get off the runway ASAP - there was a fair bit of other traffic about.  That worked well, I stopped with plenty of room to taxi off at "Charlie" and back to the club.

I reported the problem to instructor Peter who went off to take WAM up to assess.  I was offered JGP as that was free but there was no time for another flight.  We all went back to the car just as a few spots of rain started to fall so probably all for the best.

About an hour later I phoned the club and spoke to Peter.  He hadn't got up for a test flight as the weather turned bad pretty soon after we left.  So, no diagnosis as yet but I reckon it must have been interference from the engine as below about 1900 rpm all was fine and above 2100 rpm I could hardly hear the tower and they could neither hear me nor detect the transponder.  Interesting... anyone have a suggestion?

I did get up to fly earlier this week, on Monday with the best weather for some time.  I took the Arrow for a bit of manoeuvring and a few circuits off 25 in a moderate 12 knot or so westerly.  This all went well apart from my first steep turn which was a bit "rusty" but all landings were good.  So, things did go right at least once this week.

WEATHER!!!!!

Those of you in NZ will not be surprised that I have not been flying this past week.  High winds, plenty of rain and snow (down South and on the mountains) have grounded most of us PPLs for much of the past week - and not improving for a few days yet.

So, having caught up with the blogs I follow, I thought I would do a bit of template redesign on mine.  I think it looks better - what do you readers/followers think?  Comments please.
Fingers crossed for the weather this Thursday too (but I'm not getting my hopes up!!)

CIRCUITS IN THE RAIN...

... with the CFI (Chief Flying Instructor)!

    RED SKY IN THE MORNING - SAILORS' (AND VFR PILOTS') WARNING!

Of course, it is the early Spring weather which is really to blame - those fronts keep arriving from over the Tasman Sea - all the way from the West Island (or Australia, if you prefer!!)
Having flown the club's 172s mostly over the Winter I felt in the need of a "refresher" on the Arrow and had booked DQV with CFI, Roger for a couple of hours this morning.  All looked good early on with light winds and overcast at around 2500'.  That started to change, though.
I dragged the plane out of its hangar, preflighted, and wandered back to the club to tell Roger all was well.  He took a look at the book and saw we had two hours and decided a cup of tea and a bit of cake was in order before going up as the weather was starting to close in and it would be circuits only;  plenty of time for that.
So, after a cup of tea, we walked to the plane, started up, called the tower and were cleared to taxi to E1 for runway 18L.  I remembered to "exercise" the prop after the engine run-up (that means bringing the pitch lever back - coarser pitch - until the revs drop and then full fine again three times to get the oil circulating in the constant speed mechanism) but was told off a little for taxying on the brakes - naughty, stresses the undercarriage.
At the holding point it was just starting to rain and everyone was coming home and a quiet circuit quickly became very busy.  We were told there would be a delay for circuits, Grrr!!  At least the air switch on the Arrow meant I was not paying for the time.  It was also starting to rain lightly.  After three landings and several minutes Roger called the tower and asked for a clearance to the East instead of circuits.  That was given and just after the next landing we were cleared to take off from 18L.  We did the pre take-off checks while on the move, turned onto the runway centreline and started to roll without waiting.  Nice and straight back on the column and rotate at about 65 knots, out of runway, quick squeeze of the brakes and gear up, fuel pump off, 80 knots and climbing, flaps up then climbing power and pitch - all done pretty smoothly and with no hesitation.  So far, so good.
Even better; at 500' indicated (300' agl) we were recleared for circuits by the tower.  I thanked them, read back the clearance and turned crosswind to start my first circuit.  Visibility was not good (great British understatement, it was b****y awful; I would not have been going up on my own) and it was taking longer than usual to spot traffic ahead - white painted planes in rain haze against light grey, lowish cloud are not easy to pick out.  Good job there were two pairs of eyes in the cockpit.
The first approach was Ok but I let the speed bleed off a bit too much and was only 60 knots at a half mile out.  Too slow in the Arrow as Roger correctly pointed out to me.  That was rectified by a bit of throttle and nose down and we flew onto the runway nicely but I was a bit slow closing the throttle and the flare went on for a good 100 metres or so - OK on the 6000' 18L but might have been interesting on a short grass strip.
After that, all went pretty well.  Speeds correct on the approach, only 25º flap because of the crosswind and flare pretty near perfect and two smooth touch and goes.  The weather was getting progressively worse, visibility barely more than the circuit dimensions so we called for a full stop, this time on 18R, the 625m (2050') paved/grass strip parallel to the main runway.  Precision landing, then, full flap and about 65 knots over the threshold, putting the wheels down pretty much on the numbers but a little to the right close to the grass edge, quickly corrected, though and a straight landing roll to the end and taxi off.  Strictly speaking, we should have refuelled but Roger looked out and muttered about the rain coming down and told me to taxi to the hangar.  There had been 110 litres in at the start and we had only been going for 40 minutes so at least we weren't leaving the plane totally empty for the next flyer.
Nice one, thanks Roger.  He hadn't seen any major problems with my flying and suggested I go up solo soon on a better day and do some steep turns and stalls.  I made a booking in DQV for two weeks today.  (I have 172, WAM booked for next week).  Fingers crossed for the weather!!

MORE CIRCUITS AND A NIGHTIME CROSSCOUNTRY

THURSDAY 26th AUGUST

It isn't often I get to go flying twice in one day but today was the day - great stuff!!!
I had booked Robin/Alpha WKF for a couple of hours in the morning.  It was one of those cool but humid late Winter/early Spring Waikato mornings with a bit of mist early on but clear around the airfield by mid-morning with a lot of low cloud and mist patches still lingering all around the outskirts of the city and the hills with no wind (variable 3 knots was the call on the ATIS).  Circuits then thought I.
Now, I hadn't flown an Alpha for a good few weeks and it showed at first.  The 160hp engine in these little birds produces a fair bit of torque and needs (subjectively at least) a fair bit more right boot on the rudder on the take off roll than a Cherokee or 172.  I was a bit wimpish on the rudder on the initial take off, drifting well to the left and to add to my embarrassment on instructor Ash was lining up behind and gave a quick, "More right rudder, Barry" over the intercom.  Thanks, Ash, I was just getting around to that, honest!!
After that, things were fine.  I did six pretty decent circuits, including a flapless and glide approach with all landings OK so was quite pleased.  The weather appeared to be improving, too so maybe my booked night cross country to Auckland was going to happen.......

1645: phoned the club, with the weather report in front of me and spoke to Ash.  He quizzed me on my thoughts on the weather, the only possible problem being the predicted cloud in the Tamaki (Auckland) area at 2000 feet.  From the Auckland ATIS this had yet to arrive so I said I thought it was OK to go and Ash didn't object.

1745: after an early dinner I packed up my gear (headset, cellphone, headtorch, spare torch and batteries, map, AIP volume 4) and headed to the club.  The place was deserted but I had been given the code for the gate and went in to preflight WAM.  Everything OK - just some fuel needed.

1815: Ash had arrived and gave me the key to start up the plane and get some fuel.  He had phoned Auckland - no chance of a landing there due traffic and it had started to rain; still all clear at Hamilton, however.  As a compromise we would do a short x-country to the North on track to Auckland and turn back if and when the weather started to deteriorate.

1845: gassed up, started up and cleared to depart over the city 2500 feet or below, we left off runway 36R.  Ash had got me to set up the track to Auckland on the GPS as a guide.  I set the course I had written down on my flight plan, 305º magnetic, having allowed 9º drift to the East (right) and it turned out to be an underestimate of the wind as I needed to track 300ºM to stay on course.  Not that it was a problem - the lights of Hamilton city were bright and clear leading my eye northwards to the parallel ribbons of yellow light marking the course of highway 1 to Auckland

1900-1930: Past the familiar landmarks of the lake and hospital (bright lights by a "black hole"), Te Rapa dairy factory and racecourse (another "black hole"), I could recognise the lights marking Horotiu (quite faint) and Ngaruawahia (bright).  It took me a moment or so to pick out Taupiri - to the right of Ngaruawahia and could the see the flashing red light on Huntly power station.  We carried on past Huntly dodging around a small patch of isolated cloud downwind of the power station - ? due to effluent from the station chimneys.  We were just north of Te Kauwhata and thinking of turning back when Ash decided to have a little "fun" with me.

"I have control,  put your head down and close your eyes while I fly around a bit", said Ash.  After about a minute I was told to open my eyes, head up and take control.  "Right, get us on track back to Hamilton".  A quick look at the DI showed a North-easterly heading so I reckoned Hamilton was to our right (South) and it only took a quick look around to locate the power station and a steady right turn to get us on track.  That was all fine and the Ash asked me where we were.  I thought we were at either Rangiriri or Te Kauwhata.  I could see Springhill prison (very bright - good landmark) and we were just South of that so should be at Te Kauwhata but I couldn't locate the small town - why?; because I was right overhead and couldn't see the lights.  Took a minute of so to work that out, duh!!

Then a bit more fun.  I was head down again, unusual attitude this time.  While head down, I got my brain focused to look at the AH (artificial horizon) as soon as I was head up as that should give me an instant idea of the plane's attitude.  This worked - as soon as Ash said, "Head up, you have control", I focused on the AH which showed a steep angle of bank to the left and nose down = spiral dive. Checked throttle closed, wings level with aileron and ease back the column out of the dive.  We had been descending at > 1000fpm and pretty soon were climbing at a similar rate once I put some throttle on again.  I levelled out to a gentler climb rate and was soon back at 2500' where we had started.  I had got it all sorted out without delay and think (?hope) Ash was suitably impressed.
Ash had one other tip for night cross-country regarding terrain avoidance;  if you can see lights below you, you are clear.

1930-2000;  It was now time to get back home and we set course to the South.  We could see the mist starting to form around Hamilton and had seen the deteriorating weather further North (rain in Auckland).  We finished with a couple of circuits which were OK but not enough flare on the landings probably because I have done all my previous night flying in the Alphas (which you don't flare much or you can strike the tail - they have a ventral fin).

2015;  Home, time for a beer!  Great fun tonight and thank you very much, Ash.  Must do it again next year and maybe we will get to Auckland then!

CROSSWINDS CAN BE SO..... INTERESTING?!

Another Thursday and another chance to fly .... or maybe not!  The photo above is the windscreen of WAM while I was pre-flighting prior to doing a few circuits.  The rain had just started!!  Thankfully, this little shower did not stay long and I was able to get going.  There was quite a lot of traffic about and I had a bit of a wait to get a taxi clearance - photo below!

CTC's 172s JMY, JZM and twinstar CT?M queuing up at Echo1 - JMC on the right has just landed.

Once cleared for taxi I found a nice clear area to run up and do my pre-takeoff checks and then waited at Echo1 for some of the landing traffic - I think everyone was trying to get things done before the weather really got bad.  The ATIS went something like this;  Visual approach runway 18L - damp; wind 260º at 6 knots; cloud - few 500', broken 3000'; QNH 1009; 2000' wind 220º at 20 knots.

So, quite windy above us (could see that from the clouds moving!) but only a light 6 knot crosswind to contend with - should be good crosswind practice.

Once moving again, I backtracked to the end of 18R and as I started my 180 at the end was asked to confirm ready for immediate takeoff - I had half prepared for this by switching the transponder to mode C and as I turned flicked the landing light on.  I answered "affirm" and was cleared immediate take off.  I read that back, flicked the strobes on, had a quick look around and pushed the throttle forward as soon as I was lined up.

Five quite interesting circuits followed.  There were a few others up and I was generally number three for approach on each downwind call.  The first circuit was pretty routine and an acceptable landing resulted in what was still a fairly steady and light cross wind.  Oh, before I forget, this bit is for flyinkiwi:  On one of the climbouts I made a point of checking how WAM was performing - 95KIAS and climbing at 900fpm (feet per minute) - not bad at all.  Not quite up to JGP's climbout performance but no slouch.  I didn't try it any slower (i.e. steeper) as with all the traffic about I wanted to keep a decent lookout and didn't want the nose too high.

The second circuit was quite long (following a rather wide cicuiting Katana) and the landing not quite as good.  The wind was getting up a bit and from the way the windsock was turning about variable in both strength and direction.  There was also a wee bit of windshear through 900' on the approach.  Nothing frightening, but enough to rock the wings a bit.  The third circuit was much the same.

The fourth circuit restored my faith in my flying abilities.  I was approaching 18R in sideslip mode (that is nose straight to the runway and wings into the wind using a bit of left rudder and opposite aileron - column to the right) and this time the wind was fairly constant.  It was easy to keep straight down the centreline and I was about 65 knots over the threshold with 20º of flap, flared and held off just right so that the mainwheels touched down so lightly I hardly knew I was on the runway.  Perfect, YEAH!!

It couldn't last.  The next circuit was my last as there was a turboprop about to go out so was called for a full stop on 18R and reckoned I didn't have time to hang around for more circuits (would have to queue behind at least two others).  I think I caught a bit of the wake from the departing plane on very short final as I got a sudden bit of lift an roll to the right.  By the time I got the plane straight I was almost on the runway, so flared and came down a tad to the left of centre but straight enough with only a moderate bump and no bounce.  I taxied back to refuel and put WAM away and the clouds were now looking very ominous (pictures below) so I reckoned my decision to stop was good.  Not surprisingly, my planned night flight to Auckland later today is not going to happen!

NOT ONE OF MY BEST DAYS!!

I guess we all have our "off" days and I think today was one for me and flying!

Due to a combination of work and weather I had not been up for 4 weeks and was keen to get going again.  I had booked one of the club's older Archers, UFS, for two hours in the morning.  It was pretty chilly at -2 overnight but after a touch of morning fog all was clear and sunny over the field by 1000.  After unwrapping the plane and preflighting, it was a bit of a mission to coax a cold UFS into life (I was a bit concerned about the battery for a wee while until the engine eventually fired at my fourth attempt!)

I promptly called the tower and asked for a city departure clearance and, what had I forgotten? Yep, the ATIS, der!! - not a great start.  The tower were very forgiving and gave me the clearance to taxi to holding point Golf for 18R (the smaller sealed runway), my city clearance and a brief on the ATIS - thanks guys and sorry, I guess I was way too eager to get into the air.

Things progressed pretty smoothly after that.  While I was running up they changed the duty runway to 36 and from Golf the tower asked me to take off from 25R, no problem in a 3 knot variable wind and merely a 180º turn from that holding point and a very short taxi to line up on 25R.  I departed over the city, climbing to 2000 feet once clear of the CTR and to the North, Ngaruawahia, Taupiri, the Hakarimata range and Huntly were all shrouded in low cloud/fog up to about 1200', the tops of the hills almost completely covered.  It didn't look too inviting.

It was much clearer over Raglan harbour to the west so my plans changed and after a traffic call on 119.1, "Te Kowhai traffic, UFS is Horotiu, 2000', turning left on track Raglan".  I got to Raglan uneventfully, turning over the airfield there to track back to Hamilton.  As I was crossing the foothills North of Pirongia listening to the tower after getting the new ATIS, it sounded as if there was a bit of a holding queue for the North arrival so I elected to turn South and track around the control zone, eventually calling the Tower at Kihikihi (SE corner of the zone) where, after only a short delay, was cleared South arrival.

When approaching Mystery Creek (reporting and holding point on South arrival) I was instructed to track overhead the tower maintaining 1700' and join left downwind for 36L.  No problem with that, I reported turning downwind and once the tower heard that a North arriving aircraft had me in sight, I was cleared to approach "descent unrestricted" and cleared for circuits.

This approach went pretty well.  I had the speeds just about right but was just a tad late on the flare so the nosewheel touched down a little quicker after the mains than ideal, throttle forward, flaps to 10º and back into the circuit.

The next one wasn't so good.  Approach was OK but this time the flare was somewhat early and a bumpy landing on the mainwheels resulted.  Back into the circuit for the last one (time just about up) as I turned downwind an ATR was being cleared to backtrack to start its takeoff roll on 36R and it was no surprise that I was asked to make a short approach to 36L for a full stop.  All looked good until short final where I was high. I closed the throttle almost fully and got back about right but my rate of sink was too high.  I bounced on the seal, settled, bounced again, blipped the throttle to stop the sink and bounced very slightly the third time!!  

I taxied off the runway cursing myself.  No excuses - light wind and good visibility, etc.  That was the messiest landing since a fairly big "Cessna bounce" at Great Barrier over 18 months ago and I was annoyed with and a bit ashamed of myself.  A bit of lack of currency, I guess, but, never mind, Spring is not far away and more time to fly, hopefully.

To cap it all, when I parked at the pumps to refuel the earthing wire was completely tangled around the spool and the fuel line and it took a good 10 minutes to sort it out!!!

Oh well, there's always next week - two flights booked in C172 "WAM", one dual at night to Auckland.  Should be fun if the weather holds - fingers crossed.

NEW VIDEO

Here's the link to my latest bit of aviation video.   Flight was back in April - not very nice weather but some good views around Hamilton and the 25 circuit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dCS0lygKuY

Enjoy!!!

Just returned from a conference in Queenstown - stunning views from an ATR on the way down - will post a link to the video as soon as I have got around to editing it.

VISIBILITY 200 KM!!!

So much for the Waikato Winter fog!!!  Today was a magnificent day (as it has been all week).  Cool and frosty overnight (temperature 1, dew point zero at 0800) but wonderfully clear and ideal for a flight.

I had offered to take my work colleague's son up for a flight.  He is only 13 but mad keen on flying and has already started to learn.  He has ambitions to be a pilot, possibly in the air force.  Good on him, I say.

My work colleague dropped her lad, Chris, off to our house at 0745 (Yes, I was awake!!!) and after I had finished my tea and toast and made the lovely missus a nice cup of lemon tea we headed off to the club at about 0830.  There were a few patches of mist by the river but the airfield and all around were frosty and beautifully clear.

                                     FROST REFLECTION!

After getting my fingers a bit frozen preflighting and gassing up (Chris was sensible and stayed in the warm!) we hopped in and asked for taxi and departure on track to Pauanui Beach.  We were cleared straight away to depart on track to Pauanui, 2500' or below and, when ready, were given the option of using 36R for a (4kt) tailwind take-off but that saved a bit of time as our track to Pauanui was 016.  Thank you tower (and lack of traffic) - no need to fly 3/4 of a circuit and track around the instrument sector. (Pilot's happiness factor on high!)

It was an uneventful flight to Pauanui.  We saw only two other aircraft, both miles from us and, once in the Coromandel CFZ (common frequency zone) we heard no radio calls at all! (Yes, I was on the right frequency before you ask, and we heard plenty of calls on the way back)

We arrived overhead the airfield at Pauanui and, joining overhead, it was kind of difficult to tell where the wind was from as the socks were hanging limply by their poles.  I decided to go for the most direct approach, joining downwind for 05 (winds from the forecast were generally South-east) and carrying out a fairly accurate approach it was as smooth a landing as possible on the rather rough grass strip.  I seemed to drift along quite a bit in the flare before touching down and used a fair bit of brake but was able to stop with about 200 (out of 750) metres of runway left.  As I taxied back the reason for that became clear.  During my approach the wind had decided to puff a bit from the estuary to the West of the strip and the windsock was indicating a light breeze from the West.  Yep, a downwind (but only about 3kt) landing! 

   MISTY PATCH ON THE HAURAKI PLAIN WITH THE SNAKY WAIHOU RIVER

After a coffee at "The Chocolate Pretzel" we headed off back to Hamilton. (Pilot's happiness factor on very high!).  The views on the outward flight were stunning, but with the Winter sun a little higher in the sky the vista on the way back was truly amazing with Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu clearly visible to the South once we cleared the Waihi Gap and a short time later Chris announced he could see Taranaki also.  Truly stunning (Pilot's happiness factor maxed and on overload!!). 

(For non-NZers:- Ruapehu, 9176', 100Nm distant, Ngauruhoe, 7501', 105Nm, and Taranaki, 8259', 120Nm, that's the 200km visibility factor!!!)

MATAKANA ISLAND (centre mid-ground) WITH THE MOUNT BEYOND

       SLIPPER ISLAND (left) and the "ALDERMEN" (far right) IN THE SUN

                             PARKED AT PAUANUI BEACH AIRFIELD

                                           COFFEE TIME!!!

We were back in Hamilton for 1130 and back home a short time later after refuelling, etc.  Chris left on his bicycle and I had a quick lunch, put the photos from the flight on the computer and headed off to work for the afternoon (Pilot happiness factor dropping down to medium but soon rejuvenated by showing Chris's mum and others at work the pictures from the flight!).  I've included a few here to share with you all.

           NGAURUHOE (left) and RUAPEHU (right) SHOW THEMSELVES

WEATHER (OR NOT) TO FLY - BEST LAID PLANS AND ALL THAT....

Well, the weather forecast was looking a tad dodgy for flying later today but it looked good to go early this morning.  Overcast at 6500 feet and similar at Tauranga where I had planned our first stop. I had booked Cessna 172, "WAM" from 1000 for the rest of the day to take oldest daughter out for a flight before she departs these shores on a 3 month OE. 

However, by 0900 the clouds had lowered and it was raining and my heart sank a bit.  It did appear to be clearing and by the time we had driven over to the club and preflighted the weather in the direction we were going looked acceptable, the same only a little windier at Tauranga, and I made the decision to go.  It turned out to be a great flight over.  The Kaimai range was clear enough to get over with plenty of height to spare even though it did not look too inviting to the North and West.  However, with a South-easterly blowing it away from us, it appeared to be favourable for getting back, too.

The approach to Tauranga went really well.  The wind was 120º at 10 knots gusting to 18 so a maximum cross-wind of 12 knots on runway 07 - well within my mental 15 knot limit.  On turning final we were a bit high so I used a side-slip technique rather than crabbing to lose some of that height.  As I got progressively lower I found I was needing less and less rudder so the surface wind was much more benign and a very good (one of my best ever!) cross-wind landing resulted.  Very pleasing and we headed off to the AvGas cafe for a bit of brunch and a look around the Aviation Museum.

How things can change!  We had just started our browse around the museum when I heard that distinctive pitter-pat sound on the roof.  It was raining.  Probably just a shower, I thought but the noise got louder and I went outside to take a look.  Oh dear!  In the 40 minutes or so since we left the plane the weather had really closed in.  Visibility was around 10km at best and the hills to the south completely obscured by cloud with showers all round and more to follow from the East.  OH @#**@!!!  

We decided to complete our tour of the museum and then head over to Bayflight to get a weather update.  I phoned the Aero Club to find the weather back in Hamilton and was told the weather there wasn't too flash, either.  So, trapped in Tauranga by the weather at least for a while.

We had a look around the Military Collection at the Museum next and then went back to the cafe to take stock.  It appeared to be slowly clearing from the East so we headed back to Bayflight to call Hamilton (the cafe was a bit noisy).   The wind was getting up and the very nice people at Bayflight suggested I taxi WAM around to use their tie-downs.  This was gratefully accepted.

I spoke to Ash (instructor) again and he reckoned Hamilton would be clear enough to come back in about half an hour and it was certainly clearing over the hills.  20 minutes later the way across the Kaimais looked clear enough, I confirmed things were OK at Hamilton with Ash, and made the decision to go.  It was now or never I reckoned as there was more rain heading our way.

We got up and were cleared on track to Hamilton at 2500' or below.  The rain was indeed on its way again but I could clearly see a way over the hills where the road from Tauranga to Hamilton crosses and headed that way.  Now, I drive that road fairly often and know the summit is 499 metres (1650').  I was out of the control zone now (when I made my "clear" call to the tower they gave me a favourable weather report for Hamilton - thanks, guys) and at 2700' had ample room to cross. I was just clear of the cloud above but having to negotiate around some lower wisps. which threatened to obscure my vision ahead for a while.  I was making sure I still had an escape route behind or to my left and right back to Tauranga and pressed on carefully.  The way ahead became clear as I manoevred around, I was over the ridge and into the much clearer Waikato very quickly (20-25 knot wind at our backs) and breathed an inward sigh of relief.  All that training had kicked in and I had successfully got us through a "real weather" situation.

The flight back to Hamilton was quick and otherwise uneventful.  Ash had advised tracking a little further South as there was a lot of weather to the North and this turned out to be good advice.  A routine approach, landing and taxi later, we were putting the cover on the plane when more rain hit Hamilton and by the time we left the club the weather was back to "VFR unflyable" again.  I had a peek at the weather radar later and we appeared to have come through a fairly narrow gap between two banks of cloud and rain to get home.

OK, then, lessons previously learned (some in theory) and acted upon:

1) Weather can be very unpredictable and even the best forecasts can be wrong (the bad stuff today was 3-4 hours early!)

2) Get help.  The aviation community are very friendly and helpful - particular thanks to James at Bayflight who gave us a couple of short rides to keep us out of the rain and to Ash for his help and advice.

3) Don't fall victim to get-home-itis.  As we sat in the cafe, we worked out a "get-home" plan which did not involve using the plane (hiring a car, which my daughter could return the next day).

4) Keep your options open.  One of my main tasks when flying towards the ranges was to keep my "escape routes" in view and check they were "clear".

We got home safe and sound but were fortunate there was a clearer weather "hole" to fly through.  If it hadn't been there, lesson 3) above would have been acted on.

Finally, a few pictures:

                         Wispy Cloud - Hamilton side of the Kaimais

              High overcast towards Tauranga as we crossed the ridge

                            At the museum (we recommend a visit)

A LOT OF WEATHER WE HAVE BEEN HAVING LATELY........

A month since my last post, I see, so time for an update. Thanks to the variable Waikato Winter weather (like, beautiful when I am at work and foggy/wet when I have time to fly) I haven't done very much recently.

So, a bit of a summary:

Along with a lot of other club members I went to the AvKiwi seminar on Mountain Flying on 31st May. Excellent - note to self - must get some training once our instructors are up to speed. More about this on "Flyinkiwi"'s blog (see my followers) which I won't repeat here.

Thursday 3rd June: 

I had booked one of the Alphas to get current again by day (got current by night a couple of weeks before). It turned out to be a regular pea-souper foggy morning which persisted until gone lunchtime but eventually I was able to get up for an hour later in the afternoon. Went South-West initially with cloud hanging around Pirongia below the peaks looking very like some of the scenery shown on the video at the seminar. A timely reminder that although Hamilton is in a river plain the hills are not too far away. I elected to stay well clear!

I did some medium and steep turns to check out my general handling (the little Robin/Alphas are very light on the controls if you are used to a Cherokee or 172) and returned for a few circuits which I seemd to fly pretty accurately with nice, smooth landings. However, the weather up North was closing in (looking like a giant fog bank heading our way obscuring the horizon) so it was time to stop. Well, at least I got up so not a totally frustrating day.

Thursday 10th June:

Another "interesting" day. I had thoughts of a cross-country flight in 172 "WAM" but the weather was looking rather poor to the South and not that great in other directions so I elected to do some circuits only. These all went very well until I heard a Cherokee being told to line up on 36R, having myself been cleared to approach "number 1" for the same runway. As I was only just turning base this was not likely to be a problem.

Or so I thought...... On turning final I could see said Cherokee still holding for the runway and not lined up. The tower called telling the pilot that they had been instructed to line up and now should hold as I was now about a mile out. The pilot misinterpreted this and began to line up. I didn't hear the scream from the tower controller - he didn't have his mike switch on (I just imagined it)!! The next call was to me to redirect to 36L (the smaller parallel strip) but I had already sorted things out in my mind that I was a bit too close to do that and decided a go-around was best; called I was doing so and pushed the throttle forward. The tower then told (rather tersely) the Cherokee pilot to hold on the runway.

No more excitement and, all in all, a tidy set of circuits. Good for the currency factor.

Thursday 17th June:

More thoughts of a cross-country flight and I had booked the Arrow for the morning and prepared a flight plan for Taupo and back. Not to be, once again due to the weather.

Up until just before take-off things looked acceptable, but only just. There was low cloud to the South but further East the conditions looked better and I decided I would get up, ask for a change to a Scott (NE) rather than a Swamp (SE) departure if necessary, have a good look around once out of the zone and then decide whether to carry on or come back.

Well, that decision ended up being made for me. I lined up on 18L just after one of the club Cherokees had taken off. I noticed that said Cherokee (on an IFR flight) had disappeared fairly quickly into the cloud and heard over the radio that a flight in had found significant cloud South of the field down to 600'. Hmm! How far South, though.  The ATIS mentioned "few" at that sort of height.

I took off, instructed to climb to circuit height before turning as there were helicopters operating over Mystery Creek for Fielddays (big Agricultural expo), but as it turned out I didn't make it that far. I no sooner had got the wheels and flaps up, set correct power and pitch and I was almost into the cloud. I levelled off and called the tower that I was 600' indicated, almost in cloud and asked to turn crosswind; that low cloud had certainly closed in!

So, having been cleared, I turned cross wind to find myself in a genuine low-flying situation. OK, slow down, wheels down, call the tower and ask for a circuit at low level to return. Looking around it didn't look too flash and all thought of Taupo had evaporated. The tower suggested a right hand orbit to align for 36 (no wind) which I started but was still unable to see much.  Using both what vision I had and the instruments I came around onto a Northerly heading.  Problem now was I could not clearly see the airfield as visibility was rather poor.  I asked the tower for a vector to intercept the runway centre line which they duly obliged with and as I got nearer the cloud cleared into relatively good visibility.  

I was heading towards the  Mystery Creek car park so still about half a mile or so to the East of where I needed to be.  Having informed the tower of this, they called back suggesting a climb to circuit height onto downwind for 18L which I gladly took, keeping a careful eye on a helicopter descending into Mystery Creek - he was well clear.  Wheels up, back into a climb and then duly completed a circuit to land.  Not my best landing but acceptable and I guess I was a little shaken by the experience.  Down safe and sound, though and pleased that all that training and the wonderful controllers in the tower had helped get me out of a (potentially) sticky situation.

Should I have gone at all?, you may ask.  Good question and, with the retrospectoscope (a wonderful instrument but it doesn't work in reverse!!!), the answer is, "No" but, at the time of take-off the cloud base from the ground looked OK and it was clear enough to go out to the North-East if necessary.  A good lesson in how fast weather conditions can change or can look fairly benign from the ground but very different from only a few hundred feet up.  By the time I had put DQV away in its hanger the sun was starting to come out and it was looking like a nice afternoon!!

FOG, HAZE AND THE "MILLENIUM FALCON"

I always used to say "It's not a real winter unless you have to dig your car out of the snow to go to work".  Well, that was true when I lived in the North of England before emigrating to NZ but now living in the Waikato I reckon it is a real winter when Hamilton Airport is closed all day by fog!!

That was almost true today.  I awoke at my usual 7ish and looked out of the window.  Yuk!!  Pea-soup fog with about 200 metres visibility if that!  Never mind, I thought, it will probably clear by mid-morning like it had the past couple of days and I should be able to go flying.  Well, it didn't clear much at all for most of the morning and a watery sun was just about seen by 1230 and the fog had been replaced by overcast at a few thousand feet, generalised haze and patchy mist.  I had phoned the club a few times to check the weather but decided to drive out and see what it was really like for myself.
It was very hazy still but visibility was adequate for circuits so I was good to go.  I had originally planned a cross-country but that idea disappeared once I saw the morning fog.  I had originally booked WAM, the club's newer 172 but as that had a recent engine rebuild and was running in I had been switched to JGP, the older 172 which I had not flown for some while.  That was OK, having got current on 172s again recenly in WAM it was about time to go up in JGP.
One of the other Waikato Aero Club bloggers has dubbed JGP the "Millenium Falcon" of the WAC fleet.  For those who are not familiar with Star Wars, "Millenium Falcon" is Han Solo (Harrison Ford)'s spaceship which is old and a bit battered but goes like the clappers.  JGP may be 20-odd years older than WAM but has the same 180hp engine, is carburetor aspirated and carries less additional equipment so has significantly better performance. 
And don't it just!! - especially with just me and only 90 litres of fuel.  On my first climb out JGP was going up at 1000fpm (feet per minute) at 100 knots.  Whee!!  I noticed one or two changes as well.  The radios have been upgraded and there is now a GPS - nice one.  I did seven circuits including a glide approach and a flapless all of which went well (one landing was a bit bumpy but acceptable).  It was approaching 1500 (3pm - I think in 24 hour clock but happy to translate for those that don't!!) and the horizon to the North was disappearing in the haze as the front approached as predicted.  Rain tonight and tomorrow, folks and time for me to stop.
A good afternoon's flying and happy to fly both the club 172s now.  Just have to watch that currency factor.  Hoping for a night flight in WAM next week.

NIGHT RATING RESURRECTION

MONDAY 10th MAY

With the weather getting cooler, although still very mild and up to 21C during the day this past week, the clocks have gone back, the evenings are drawing in and time to get up for a bit of night flying.  I hadn't done any night flying for eight months so thought it about time to "resurrect" the old night rating.

I had booked one of the club's Robins (or Alphas if you prefer) with instructor Loreen for, hopefully, a few dual circuits and then some solo to get me current again.  Loreen asked me about currency (by day) on the Robin and I had to confess I was out having not flown one for quite a while.  However, I do have more hours on them than any other type and reckoned it should not be a problem.

So it turned out.  The preflight and taxi out were no problem and we lined up on 36R for takeoff.  There were two others in the circuit but one was coming to land and the other heading out over the city and we had the circuit to ourselves for a while.  The first takeoff wasn't so good.  There was a 5Kt or so crosswind from the East which I didn't allow for and we ended up rather off the centreline on the climbout.  Never mind, concentrate on the instruments, lookout, upwind checks and onto crosswind leg, downwind, call the tower and set up for the approach. This went really well, height and speeds good and it was a near perfect night landing, holding off just right with the lights and closing the throttle as the wheels touched.  I was impressed - not sure about Loreen but she said it was OK.  I kept it pretty much dead on the centreline on upwind this time, so that was better.  Another touch and go, this time with the lights off and flapless which also went well.  I remebered to get my torch on straight away (I recommend a head torch as long as it is not too bright - saves fumbling for a hand held torch). On this circuit ATC went off watch so we were on unattended procedures.  Like a country airstrip, but with a 2000m+ sealed runway and lights!!

We had to extend downwind behind a landing Beech 1200 (twin turboprop) on the next circuit and Loreen said make this a full stop.  "Pop" went the light bulb in my brain - OK to go on my own - then Loreen added the rider, if this landing is OK!  

It was, we taxied back to the club where Loreen hopped out to take the next person up and I was on my own.  As I lined up for the first solo circuit I heard a helicopter over City call in that he was joining the circuit.  I saw his lights and he was at least five miles away so I made a call and took off into the circuit.  As I was doing the downwind checks I heard the chopper call he was joining "behind the fixed-wing" (as if I was a lower form of life, almost - cheek!!!).  

Well I landed and went again OK and the chopper did a stop and go and started a right hand circuit.  This time he went for an autorotation (at night - not me, thanks) behind me just as I was doing my next touch and go.  I made this third solo circuit the last as it was kind of late and called as I turned base that I "have rotary-wing traffic in sight".  Slightly bumpy final landing - not as smooth as the other five, but acceptable and I was a very happy pilot.  Loreen was on her way out with her next "student" and called goodnight to me which I called back with a thank you.

A good night and the rating current again.  Next step - get checked out in a 172 at night.  Almost went up on the Thursday but the aircraft was in maintenance - shucks.  Next week maybe....

ANOTHER EXPENSIVE COFFEE!!

Thought it was about time I posted again having not written anything for nearly a month.  The weather has not been terribly kind to me on the days I have had an aircraft booked.

Three weeks ago I took my youngest daughter up for a flight.  I had intended to go to Pauanui Beach but there was cloud all around Hamilton at 2000-2500' so it was a quick local flight and a few circuits around 25 as there was a 12Kt+ crosswind on 18.  Daughter took some video which I will put on youtube when I have tidied it up.

Two weeks ago I went up with instructor, Loreen in Cessna 172, WAM to get me current again.  We did three acceptable circuits (again from 25) and then she let me "off the leash" and I did 4 more solo.  So, current on 172s again :))

A week ago Hamilton was pretty much fogged in until lunchtime so a Thursday morning flight was out and I was too busy in the afternoon to rebook.  Still, at least I got the lovely missus her birthday present so not a wasted day!

Which brings us to today......  THURSDAY 6TH MAY

Just to let us all know that Winter is on its way it was a chilly 2C overnight but a lovely clear, sunny morning followed so it was all good to go flying.  I had decided to take the Arrow on a short cross country to Tauranga.
It was calm with variable 2-3kt winds at both Hamilton and Tauranga and only 5-10 knots at 3000 feet so no worries with the weather at all.  It took me a good half hour to file a flight plan, drag DQV out, preflight and fill up with Avgas and put a bit of oil in but eventually I was on my way.
At line-up I was cleared on track to Tauranga, 2500' or below, so a climbing left turn off runway 18 and set course for my destination.  What a stunning day!  Just a few clouds around and only a few bumps as I crossed the Kaimais.  I called up the tower at Tauranga and was cleared to track to the hospital and report there.  Runway 07 was active so it should be an easy approach on to a right base direct from the hospital.  I descended down to 1500 feet and DQV became a rocket ship.  With cruise power and pitch a fairly gentle 500ft/min descent took me up to 160 knots - just brushing the yellow caution arc so I throttled back a wee bit to ensure I was at a safe speed.
I reported at the hospital at 1500' and was cleared right base for 07 as expected.  Throttle back and as soon as the airspeed touched 120 knots I lowered the wheels which helped to bring the speed down a bit more and after the downwind checks, a bit of flap and a turn onto final I was about right to land on the grass.  Only problem, there was a Cessna lining up and a Beech backtracking on the seal.  Ho hum, a late clearance, I guessed.   The Cessna didn't hang about and, at about 250' up I was cleared to land.
I had the speed and approach profile about right to land just beyond the threshold but the thought about the sealed taxiway which crossed just ahead of my landing spot.  I didn't want to bounce off that so I held off for a bit longer with a bit of throttle on and, thanks to a bit of ground effect, crossed the seal and touched down smoothly on the grass.  Not at all bad, I thought and taxied off to park by the aeroclub.
I walked round to the Pilot shop where I bought Ross Ewing's "Catalina Dreaming" and then over to the Avgas cafe at the museum for a coffee before returning uneventfully back to Hamilton.  Thanks to the very high pressure (1031-1033 HPas), lowish temperature and low humidity, the aircraft performance was good and only 0.8 hrs on the Hobbs at the end - 24 minutes each way.  Good old DQV, definitely not a sluggard!!  A good morning's flying - just hope this weather continues....